I find it difficult to believe that fans of Sims 1, 2 and 3 have been demanding online features for so long. I've never seen it in the couple of years or so that I've been playing Sims 3.
I just hope that EA are NOT using any statistics taken from Facebook and Sims Social, which I discovered the other day is most definitely NOT the same as Sims 3. It's a whole different ball game, reyling on friends to progress through the game. it's nothing like Sims 3. And any statistics taken from Facebook would obviously rule in favour of facebook contact or similar, because those players have already proven they like social networking because they are already there!
But this is not the case for a large number of Sims 3 players, who up to now, have remained loyal and continued playing for however many years, alone! Clearly, playing alone is working for them. Why change something that works. What comes to mind is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
If EA are so determined to bring in social features, then why not create a new game rather than try to change something that is loved by so many? I don't get it, but it just seems to be the way the world is going these days. What happened to choice? It just seems that everything is bland and the same nowadays. 'Unique' has just gone out the window. Great shame!
OMG guys here is the main issue everyone is missing 99% of polls on this site are a 1 option answer there is no "place these in the order you like more" just because a poll said i like this more does not mean those 500 people dont also want online features. Im going to make a broad statement here but alot of those want to spend time with their friends no complaining over how they feel cheated because a company didnt make something EXACTLY they way they wanted it.
I for one can not wait for showtime I want to try on these social features if i dont like it ill shut it off. I did not play sims online and only lasted 2 days on sims social. However this social network has already been stated that it is NOT CONNECTED TO FACEBOOK this is an internal network like this site and the memories, but more interactive and responsive and ALL INSIDE THE GAME.
Okay, for a start, SimPort cannot be turned off. The in-game messaging can, but SimPort cant. You can only opt out of using SimPort.
Secondly, people aren't complaining because it is connected to Facebook. We have known for sveral weeks now that it is not. People are complaining about the social features being added at all.
Just think When it comes out you can complain in real-time with other people who want to complain and leave it off the boards.
I am actually considering taking a two week break from the forums after Showtime coms out. I am not looking forward to all the dissapointment and complaint threads when people realise that SimPort is not what they think it is. SimPort will, most likely, be a rabbithole - the ultimate rabbithole. You will not see your sim, only your friend will and they will be an NPC to your friend. They will only be able to visit the required stage venue and then leave. It is not a massive online world where you cna control your sim to do everything they would normally do. You will also not control your sim and allow them to run free in your friends town.
OMG guys here is the main issue everyone is missing 99% of polls on this site are a 1 option answer there is no "place these in the order you like more" just because a poll said i like this more does not mean those 500 people dont also want online features. Im going to make a broad statement here but alot of those want to spend time with their friends no complaining over how they feel cheated because a company didnt make something EXACTLY they way they wanted it.
I for one can not wait for showtime I want to try on these social features if i dont like it ill shut it off. I did not play sims online and only lasted 2 days on sims social. However this social network has already been stated that it is NOT CONNECTED TO FACEBOOK this is an internal network like this site and the memories, but more interactive and responsive and ALL INSIDE THE GAME.
Okay, for a start, SimPort cannot be turned off. The in-game messaging can, but SimPort cant. You can only opt out of using SimPort.
Secondly, people aren't complaining because it is connected to Facebook. We have known for sveral weeks now that it is not. People are complaining about the social features being added at all.
Just think When it comes out you can complain in real-time with other people who want to complain and leave it off the boards.
I am actually considering taking a two week break from the forums after Showtime coms out. I am not looking forward to all the dissapointment and complaint threads when people realise that SimPort is not what they think it is. SimPort will, most likely, be a rabbithole - the ultimate rabbithole. You will not see your sim, only your friend will and they will be an NPC to your friend. They will only be able to visit the required stage venue and then leave. It is not a massive online world where you cna control your sim to do everything they would normally do. You will also not control your sim and allow them to run free in your friends town.
I'll be waiting for the 'I sent my sim into simport an he/she never returned' threads to appear.
I am not sure how SimPort exactly works but some say the game may copy your sim to send to the friend, so it is not your actual sim. Even if I try SimPort and that happens I will cry because of laughing so much. Like the time I thought it was funny because the club closed but the elevator never came and my sim and all these other sims were stuck. Could not even interact with the elevator or stairs.
Even more hilarious is that I just reset my sim and then the following evening went to another club only for the game to freeze and become unresponsive. That only happened once after recently installing LN. That was funny to me, I do not usually take glitches seriously even if I lost my data and have to start again. But that is just me.
“What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”
I am not sure how SimPort exactly works but some say the game may copy your sim to send to the friend, so it is not your actual sim. Even if I try SimPort and that happens I will cry because of laughing so much. Like the time I thought it was funny because the club closed but the elevator never came and my sim and all these other sims were stuck. Could not even interact with the elevator or stairs.
Even more hilarious is that I just reset my sim and then the following evening went to another club only for the game to freeze and become unresponsive. That only happened once after recently installing LN. That was funny to me, I do not usually take glitches seriously even if I lost my data and have to start again. But that is just me.
That's because there is a problem with the elevators in EA's highrises. Many believe it is because they used 'moveobjects' to place them. If you want to fix, type in the cheat 'testingcheatsenabled true' to turn off the Home Owner's Association stuff, then simply replace the elevators with new ones and don't use 'moveobjects'.
I didn't want online features. They must think online features will make people remember there is a store they can spend money on or something.
EA is a business, which means revenue first, cost reduction second, player happiness is only important when it affects revenue, and they know that since the sims is so unique, they can get away with making simmers mad while still keeping them as customers from a lack of better similar game options. (Modern warfare competes with Battlefield, what does this compete with??)
actually sims 2 is probably a competitor, which is probably why they won't release a complete collection from fear that people will buy it and be content.
ANYWAY, I'm saying I understand why they really aren't listening to a majority of fans about the online stuff.
I didn't want online features. They must think online features will make people remember there is a store they can spend money on or something.
EA is a business, which means revenue first, cost reduction second, player happiness is only important when it affects revenue, and they know that since the sims is so unique, they can get away with making simmers mad while still keeping them as customers from a lack of better similar game options. (Modern warfare competes with Battlefield, what does this compete with??)
actually sims 2 is probably a competitor, which is probably why they won't release a complete collection from fear that people will buy it and be content.
ANYWAY, I'm saying I understand why they really aren't listening to a majority of fans about the online stuff.
I think you're right about that sims 2 being a competitor to sims 3 right now as many have flocked back to it which in away is bad for ea and probably good. One being that well it's a loss in sales that's for sure, but the later meaning people have not lost their entire interest with sims just with this version of the game. I think something is better than nothing and maybe if ea can appeal to what those simmers want they'll get that money flowing back into their future games.
I don't know i don't think the social feature is for advancing the game i honestly think it's for a marketing objective. I know for as long as i've played EA games that they generally change the recipe of the game to what they think is popular and tend to drift away from what made the game sell in the first place. 1st case was the rpg elements sims 3 adapted, to try and attract rpgers which again just caused the to chase away some of their fanbase who don't want to play a watered down rpg.
Then it was build/designing and cutting down on interactions and gameplay of the open neighborhood. That was more for casual gamers, and to attract more. I think they did attract more new fans however that was not enough to make up for those that have left the series. Again sims appeased to a variety of playstyles and that changed after many of the changes that ea felt was the best for the series.
Now this new feature which is sims social, which i feel has been met with a lot of opposition, as iv'e seen from the polls here, pools with simsprogram, simsvip, and other sites. This is an obvious tatic by EA to once again try to boost sales and make up for what was lost. Maybe they will suceed however i've never seen this happen for their games when they do this. As a business the run the risks of losing more fans with this but can the make up the loss with the new facebook fans they will get. No i don't think they will. Sims social is still a free ap game. Where as sims 3 is not. Many people who play it play it with friends because it is free. It's probably doing very well in money from the people who are actually spending money. Free 2 play games do not have a high spending population. I think once again the marketing tatics to boost sales are making huge mistakes.
I am saying this because we know a game that this happened to in this same pattern Simscity when they developed SimSocieties which was created and designed by Rod Humble same as he did Sims 3, for both games he jumped ship. With SimSocieties it was a big flop, it was a game that implemented social features into a simcity game, but it dumbed down the gameplay to appease to more casual players, the game was more quest driven than actually being an openended city simulation game.
Unfortunately when you see this happen before you know what to expect again. These are big mistakes that could end up very costly with sims. Especially if half of this player base that is still left walked away from the series again and they could not make up those numbers with new consumers.
I didn't want online features. They must think online features will make people remember there is a store they can spend money on or something.
EA is a business, which means revenue first, cost reduction second, player happiness is only important when it affects revenue, and they know that since the sims is so unique, they can get away with making simmers mad while still keeping them as customers from a lack of better similar game options. (Modern warfare competes with Battlefield, what does this compete with??)
actually sims 2 is probably a competitor, which is probably why they won't release a complete collection from fear that people will buy it and be content.
ANYWAY, I'm saying I understand why they really aren't listening to a majority of fans about the online stuff.
Ya know, I find it funny how people keep saying that the polls don't represent the entire population... what these people are forgetting is that in ANY poll, example Presidential polls, a certain percent of the the population is polled, because obviously not every single person can be polled, and that percent is supposed to represent the rest of the population. It's based on basic statistics. Naturally EA doesn't have statistics experts, but hello we here on this site and on FB and anywhere else they posted a poll DO represent the rest of the Sims players, because we are the ones here speaking our minds. Based on statistics formulas you can pretty much bet that the rest of the Sims players feel the exact same way that the polls reflect.
Do I see a lot of support here for online featuers? Nope. And certainly not at the expense of actual gameplay. The last 'online feature' they implemented was facebook spamming and that really sucked. It was basically an ingame advertisement for EA.
While people are entitled to like and want online features, I think it is incorrect and false for EA to say the community wants it. Most of us want a game to play. I can chat and do facebook on my own.
I didn't want online features. They must think online features will make people remember there is a store they can spend money on or something.
EA is a business, which means revenue first, cost reduction second, player happiness is only important when it affects revenue, and they know that since the sims is so unique, they can get away with making simmers mad while still keeping them as customers from a lack of better similar game options. (Modern warfare competes with Battlefield, what does this compete with??)
actually sims 2 is probably a competitor, which is probably why they won't release a complete collection from fear that people will buy it and be content.
ANYWAY, I'm saying I understand why they really aren't listening to a majority of fans about the online stuff.
I think you're right about that sims 2 being a competitor to sims 3 right now as many have flocked back to it which in away is bad for ea and probably good. One being that well it's a loss in sales that's for sure, but the later meaning people have not lost their entire interest with sims just with this version of the game. I think something is better than nothing and maybe if ea can appeal to what those simmers want they'll get that money flowing back into their future games.
I don't know i don't think the social feature is for advancing the game i honestly think it's for a marketing objective. I know for as long as i've played EA games that they generally change the recipe of the game to what they think is popular and tend to drift away from what made the game sell in the first place. 1st case was the rpg elements sims 3 adapted, to try and attract rpgers which again just caused the to chase away some of their fanbase who don't want to play a watered down rpg.
Then it was build/designing and cutting down on interactions and gameplay of the open neighborhood. That was more for casual gamers, and to attract more. I think they did attract more new fans however that was not enough to make up for those that have left the series. Again sims appeased to a variety of playstyles and that changed after many of the changes that ea felt was the best for the series.
Now this new feature which is sims social, which i feel has been met with a lot of opposition, as iv'e seen from the polls here, pools with simsprogram, simsvip, and other sites. This is an obvious tatic by EA to once again try to boost sales and make up for what was lost. Maybe they will suceed however i've never seen this happen for their games when they do this. As a business the run the risks of losing more fans with this but can the make up the loss with the new facebook fans they will get. No i don't think they will. Sims social is still a free ap game. Where as sims 3 is not. Many people who play it play it with friends because it is free. It's probably doing very well in money from the people who are actually spending money. Free 2 play games do not have a high spending population. I think once again the marketing tatics to boost sales are making huge mistakes.
I am saying this because we know a game that this happened to in this same pattern Simscity when they developed SimSocieties which was created and designed by Rod Humble same as he did Sims 3, for both games he jumped ship. With SimSocieties it was a big flop, it was a game that implemented social features into a simcity game, but it dumbed down the gameplay to appease to more casual players, the game was more quest driven than actually being an openended city simulation game.
Unfortunately when you see this happen before you know what to expect again. These are big mistakes that could end up very costly with sims. Especially if half of this player base that is still left walked away from the series again and they could not make up those numbers with new consumers.
Agreed with every sentence.
It's funny how the one who contributed to (what I feel as) sucky features of The Sims 3 and its expansions just left for a new project not even under EA. Now EA is left to try and fix (what are mostly his ideas) those features. I think whoever is developing the next Sims game, if there is one, should have a plan to stick on it and actually complete a project they have in mind before leaving it incomplete.
And there are many more of incomplete ideas brought into The Sims 3 such as what many simmers like, dating. It was brought in early for a reason. I saw in a video with Grant Rodiek that the developer who brought it in did it so he could hear the player feedback, such as what we wanted and any ideas we had for it. It's about 3 expansions later and it hasn't been updated once. I don't use the feature mainly because I think it's pointless and don't really bother using too much time with that crap but I have t admit, it is very boring and limited with what you can do with it.
It is the big lie
If they tell it long enough and often enough EA thinks everyone will believe it.
EA thinks we are all stupid sheep.
I remember WWII and that was a ploy done by a certain dictator leader and his followers which resulted in millions dying.
The best way is to tell the truth.
Send a clear message to them.
Please ask folks do not buy this EP.
Thank you.
Did you just compared game company to world war 2? That doesn't sound right. As Hiltler manipulated people by making them go against other rase. While this is just an EA pushing their crap to us. And what is the truth? Maybe someone did asked for social thingy in the game? I actually so on ideas and feedback that they wanted sims online to return.
To the person who said 'you don't see us who don't want it coming here and being rude etc.' or whatever you said actually, yes I have. I am a supporter of the online features, but if you tell anybody that they instantly dislike you and assume you must be 12, that you don't think for yourself, or that you fail to realize how the feature can be bad. I am none of those things, yet I have seen people, in writing, admit that's how they see supporters of the social features.
Is it so hard to believe people actually want this? I have been playing since TS1 and have never been to their website. Does that mean the majority doesn't go to it? No. Does it mean they do? No.
Also most of the people *I* know who play sims social are 18-25. Does that mean most people that play it are 18-25? It doesn't. Please stop using faulty statistics and numbers in your arguments. Basing it off that one poll is also silly. We don't know if people have been requesting it or not, whether it be on the forums or elsewhere. We don't know if a majority answered the polls, no matter where it was posted. There are millions of Sims players and the most I've seen on the forum at once is a few thousand.
I believe you can still play the game without relying on other people. If you can't get an extra stage- does it matter that much? I can't get half of the promo items because I don't drink Dr. Pepper...should they stop the promotion because the game shouldn't rely on purchasing an outside product?
I respect your opinions against the features- there are good points raised. But please please PLEASE respect ours.
Thanks
i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you were talking about me and thats not what i said at at all. i never said people who didnt like it werent rude cause some are this is what i said
"idrc if you like the social features thats great but you dont see us who dont like it coming on here and talking to a bunch of crap to you telling you to change your mind or stop talking about it."
i'm saying you "supporters" are rude to us non supporters of the social features i;m not coming on here trying to change your mind and ranting to you about how horrible the social features are.
sometimes when people say they dont like the features little supporters say " who cares, dont buy it, you can turn the features off etc etc."
and i havent seen ONE person who doesnt like the feature snapping at you guys and basically calling you ignorant cause you support it.
OMG guys here is the main issue everyone is missing 99% of polls on this site are a 1 option answer there is no "place these in the order you like more" just because a poll said i like this more does not mean those 500 people dont also want online features. Im going to make a broad statement here but alot of those want to spend time with their friends no complaining over how they feel cheated because a company didnt make something EXACTLY they way they wanted it.
I for one can not wait for showtime I want to try on these social features if i dont like it ill shut it off. I did not play sims online and only lasted 2 days on sims social. However this social network has already been stated that it is NOT CONNECTED TO FACEBOOK this is an internal network like this site and the memories, but more interactive and responsive and ALL INSIDE THE GAME.
Okay, for a start, SimPort cannot be turned off. The in-game messaging can, but SimPort cant. You can only opt out of using SimPort.
Secondly, people aren't complaining because it is connected to Facebook. We have known for sveral weeks now that it is not. People are complaining about the social features being added at all.
Just think When it comes out you can complain in real-time with other people who want to complain and leave it off the boards.
I am actually considering taking a two week break from the forums after Showtime coms out. I am not looking forward to all the dissapointment and complaint threads when people realise that SimPort is not what they think it is. SimPort will, most likely, be a rabbithole - the ultimate rabbithole. You will not see your sim, only your friend will and they will be an NPC to your friend. They will only be able to visit the required stage venue and then leave. It is not a massive online world where you cna control your sim to do everything they would normally do. You will also not control your sim and allow them to run free in your friends town.
I'll be waiting for the 'I sent my sim into simport an he/she never returned' threads to appear.
THIS ^ BIG TIME
all these little supporters are gonna come whining that their game is skipping cause it can handle the chat room and running the game. and that their sim are gone in internet world and i'm honestly gonna just laugh
I only remember one person demanding online features before. EA needs to realize that The Sims Series has always been a one player game.
As far as I am concerned TS3 is and always will be an one player game.
Talking, writing on your wall, posting pictures, etc., to friends from in-game does not make the game all of a sudden two players because the truth is both are playing their "own" game and not together in the same world. However players have the opportunity to communicate with each other while playing their "personal one player game" and can let their friends know what is going on in "their" game by chatting, posting pics, etc from in-game. Same thing like this forum only now it can be done in-game.
While using SimPort, you cannot control your sim while on tour, it may act just like a rabbithole. The friend may send screenshots and review your sims performance while having their sims watch yours. Afterwards, your performer goes back to their hometown.
This is my POV.
“What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”
Here's my criteria for whether I will purchase Showtime:
1. It must NOT require FaceBook. <- This is apparently confirmed.
2. It must be sold through Steam. <- I bought the base and addons through that so...yeah.
3. Steam must put it on sale. <- Why? Simple economics. Also, the only time I saw Steam put Sims on sale was after Thanksgiving, which'd give plenty of time for EA to fix the most glaring bugs.
I don't care for FaceBook. I won't use it, but I also won't waste time hating on those who do. There's no point; you like what you like and I have my preferences. As for chatting and Simport, I might use them, but most likely not as I tend to play alone. I'll probably leave the chat off most of the time and just turn it on when I decide to fire up SimPort so I can get feedback on my sim's performance from the other players, and likewise give feedback on theirs. If SimPort opportunities keep popping up all the time, I'll just tell them to go away, just like I already do with that stupid "Eat at the Bistro" opportunity my Celeb-5 sim in Twinbrook gets. No, he does not want himself to eat at the restaurant he owns.
Do I want social features? Not really, but I can understand their place as long as they don't annoy me. Like the Memories, the FB button is there, but it doesn't nag me and I can choose to just upload to the Sims3 site instead. Or do absolutely nothing with the things. Besides, I probably already have some kind of ingame chat available simply by purchasing and playing Sims 3 via Steam, unless in this case it instead simply gives control of managing the game to Origin after booting up the launcher, which would be odd but I guess makes sense.
The content looks alright, though I wonder why we don't already have singers given we have the rest of the band. Does the addition of singers mean the Band Limit will be raised to 5? Or 6? That would be cool.
I only remember one person demanding online features before. EA needs to realize that The Sims Series has always been a one player game.
As far as I am concerned TS3 is and always will be an one player game.
With simport you have to depend on other people in order to play the game (I know, only if you want the rewards, but still). Also you can chat.
Dependig on others and chatting.... Does not sound like a single player game IMO. :XD:
Also, who says that they will ONLY add this and not go further in future EPs? They already took first step, so why not take step 2, 3, 4....
I only remember one person demanding online features before. EA needs to realize that The Sims Series has always been a one player game.
As far as I am concerned TS3 is and always will be an one player game.
With simport you have to depend on other people in order to play the game (I know, only if you want the rewards, but still). Also you can chat.
Dependig on others and chatting.... Does not sound like a single player game IMO. :XD:
Also, who says that they will ONLY add this and not go further in future EPs? They already took first step, so why not take step 2, 3, 4....
Just my opinion about this.
Obviously yes one does need at least one friend to participate in social features and SimPort, that does not surprise me as ST is partly about connecting with friends and being social.
Yes, everyone has their own definition of what is considered single player or multiplayer to them.
Does this really surprise you that social features/SimPort is being added? Sometimes game designers/games influence each other and eventually what works well for one game/company others will try and if they succeed then more and more games will implement features from other games. Yes, it may eventually become standard to have some kind of social feature in "all" video games. Maybe not just future TS3 EP's.
What happened to VHS Cassettes?
What happened to CRT Televisions?
You can still find them but can you buy them from Best Buy? How about Sears?
My point being just like technology advances and older technology begins to go extinct, so does the way companies progress with the "main stream" of what is popular with most consumers. If the CEO thinks this is a good move then that is his or her decision to make. Although customers do have an influence on some decisions, the CEO can do whatever they want, it is their business after all.
Do not like it? Then like that fiasco with NetFlix leave and do not contribute your time, effort and money into something you have no passion for anymore. This is the only way I would know to send a message that no this is not what you (not specifically you but "in general") want. Either:
A) Majority feels the same way and leaves too.
OR
Majority likes the direction the company is taking and stays.
We will know if TS3 becomes extinct or TS3 continues and onto TS4 I suppose.
“What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”
Does anybody remember Eastman Kodak, the camera company that also makes camera film? This company is famous in the photography business; it's a landmark in the American business scene. It just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
If it can happen to Kodak, it can happen to Electronic Arts. The Sims 3, and the entire Sims franchise, despite its many flaws, still has a loyal fanbase, many of whom play it because its a nice way to spend an afternoon away from all the hustle and bustle of daily life and doesn't require them to interact with others.
Despite *some* people's opinion that those of us who oppose social interactions in the Sims 3 are old fossils who are being close-minded and set in our ways, just because we're not jumping on the bandwagon and cheering this new approach to what *used* to be a private experience, I think that those of us who do oppose this can read the future for this series, and it is alienating us fast, causing us to feel betrayed by a game we learned to love through 3 different iterations.
And a telling indicator that EA is beginning to feel the sting from all the negative feedback is that Simport is not mentioned once in the latest publicity release that is on this thread.
EA Marketing Department Motto:
"We Don't Care If You LIKE The Game, Just As Long As You BUY The Game!"
I Disapprove (Naturally) I Took The Pledge!
Comments
I just hope that EA are NOT using any statistics taken from Facebook and Sims Social, which I discovered the other day is most definitely NOT the same as Sims 3. It's a whole different ball game, reyling on friends to progress through the game. it's nothing like Sims 3. And any statistics taken from Facebook would obviously rule in favour of facebook contact or similar, because those players have already proven they like social networking because they are already there!
But this is not the case for a large number of Sims 3 players, who up to now, have remained loyal and continued playing for however many years, alone! Clearly, playing alone is working for them. Why change something that works. What comes to mind is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
If EA are so determined to bring in social features, then why not create a new game rather than try to change something that is loved by so many? I don't get it, but it just seems to be the way the world is going these days. What happened to choice? It just seems that everything is bland and the same nowadays. 'Unique' has just gone out the window. Great shame!
Secondly, people aren't complaining because it is connected to Facebook. We have known for sveral weeks now that it is not. People are complaining about the social features being added at all.
I am actually considering taking a two week break from the forums after Showtime coms out. I am not looking forward to all the dissapointment and complaint threads when people realise that SimPort is not what they think it is. SimPort will, most likely, be a rabbithole - the ultimate rabbithole. You will not see your sim, only your friend will and they will be an NPC to your friend. They will only be able to visit the required stage venue and then leave. It is not a massive online world where you cna control your sim to do everything they would normally do. You will also not control your sim and allow them to run free in your friends town.
I'll be waiting for the 'I sent my sim into simport an he/she never returned' threads to appear.
Even more hilarious is that I just reset my sim and then the following evening went to another club only for the game to freeze and become unresponsive. That only happened once after recently installing LN. That was funny to me, I do not usually take glitches seriously even if I lost my data and have to start again. But that is just me.
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”
EA is a business, which means revenue first, cost reduction second, player happiness is only important when it affects revenue, and they know that since the sims is so unique, they can get away with making simmers mad while still keeping them as customers from a lack of better similar game options. (Modern warfare competes with Battlefield, what does this compete with??)
actually sims 2 is probably a competitor, which is probably why they won't release a complete collection from fear that people will buy it and be content.
ANYWAY, I'm saying I understand why they really aren't listening to a majority of fans about the online stuff.
I think you're right about that sims 2 being a competitor to sims 3 right now as many have flocked back to it which in away is bad for ea and probably good. One being that well it's a loss in sales that's for sure, but the later meaning people have not lost their entire interest with sims just with this version of the game. I think something is better than nothing and maybe if ea can appeal to what those simmers want they'll get that money flowing back into their future games.
I don't know i don't think the social feature is for advancing the game i honestly think it's for a marketing objective. I know for as long as i've played EA games that they generally change the recipe of the game to what they think is popular and tend to drift away from what made the game sell in the first place. 1st case was the rpg elements sims 3 adapted, to try and attract rpgers which again just caused the to chase away some of their fanbase who don't want to play a watered down rpg.
Then it was build/designing and cutting down on interactions and gameplay of the open neighborhood. That was more for casual gamers, and to attract more. I think they did attract more new fans however that was not enough to make up for those that have left the series. Again sims appeased to a variety of playstyles and that changed after many of the changes that ea felt was the best for the series.
Now this new feature which is sims social, which i feel has been met with a lot of opposition, as iv'e seen from the polls here, pools with simsprogram, simsvip, and other sites. This is an obvious tatic by EA to once again try to boost sales and make up for what was lost. Maybe they will suceed however i've never seen this happen for their games when they do this. As a business the run the risks of losing more fans with this but can the make up the loss with the new facebook fans they will get. No i don't think they will. Sims social is still a free ap game. Where as sims 3 is not. Many people who play it play it with friends because it is free. It's probably doing very well in money from the people who are actually spending money. Free 2 play games do not have a high spending population. I think once again the marketing tatics to boost sales are making huge mistakes.
I am saying this because we know a game that this happened to in this same pattern Simscity when they developed SimSocieties which was created and designed by Rod Humble same as he did Sims 3, for both games he jumped ship. With SimSocieties it was a big flop, it was a game that implemented social features into a simcity game, but it dumbed down the gameplay to appease to more casual players, the game was more quest driven than actually being an openended city simulation game.
Unfortunately when you see this happen before you know what to expect again. These are big mistakes that could end up very costly with sims. Especially if half of this player base that is still left walked away from the series again and they could not make up those numbers with new consumers.
makes sense.
online i was expecting was actually playing in the same world as others..:P
as for the 2 weeks after showtime comes out... it will be no shocker... just like pets.
While people are entitled to like and want online features, I think it is incorrect and false for EA to say the community wants it. Most of us want a game to play. I can chat and do facebook on my own.
Agreed with every sentence.
It's funny how the one who contributed to (what I feel as) sucky features of The Sims 3 and its expansions just left for a new project not even under EA. Now EA is left to try and fix (what are mostly his ideas) those features. I think whoever is developing the next Sims game, if there is one, should have a plan to stick on it and actually complete a project they have in mind before leaving it incomplete.
And there are many more of incomplete ideas brought into The Sims 3 such as what many simmers like, dating. It was brought in early for a reason. I saw in a video with Grant Rodiek that the developer who brought it in did it so he could hear the player feedback, such as what we wanted and any ideas we had for it. It's about 3 expansions later and it hasn't been updated once. I don't use the feature mainly because I think it's pointless and don't really bother using too much time with that crap but I have t admit, it is very boring and limited with what you can do with it.
Did you just compared game company to world war 2? That doesn't sound right. As Hiltler manipulated people by making them go against other rase. While this is just an EA pushing their crap to us. And what is the truth? Maybe someone did asked for social thingy in the game? I actually so on ideas and feedback that they wanted sims online to return.
"A quarter of a thesims3.com forums requested online features, but we're not implementing them quite the way they thought we would..."
It wouldn't be much of a news article, would it?
i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you were talking about me and thats not what i said at at all. i never said people who didnt like it werent rude cause some are this is what i said
"idrc if you like the social features thats great but you dont see us who dont like it coming on here and talking to a bunch of crap to you telling you to change your mind or stop talking about it."
i'm saying you "supporters" are rude to us non supporters of the social features i;m not coming on here trying to change your mind and ranting to you about how horrible the social features are.
sometimes when people say they dont like the features little supporters say " who cares, dont buy it, you can turn the features off etc etc."
and i havent seen ONE person who doesnt like the feature snapping at you guys and basically calling you ignorant cause you support it.
THIS ^ BIG TIME
all these little supporters are gonna come whining that their game is skipping cause it can handle the chat room and running the game. and that their sim are gone in internet world and i'm honestly gonna just laugh
As far as I am concerned TS3 is and always will be an one player game.
Talking, writing on your wall, posting pictures, etc., to friends from in-game does not make the game all of a sudden two players because the truth is both are playing their "own" game and not together in the same world. However players have the opportunity to communicate with each other while playing their "personal one player game" and can let their friends know what is going on in "their" game by chatting, posting pics, etc from in-game. Same thing like this forum only now it can be done in-game.
While using SimPort, you cannot control your sim while on tour, it may act just like a rabbithole. The friend may send screenshots and review your sims performance while having their sims watch yours. Afterwards, your performer goes back to their hometown.
This is my POV.
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”
1. It must NOT require FaceBook. <- This is apparently confirmed.
2. It must be sold through Steam. <- I bought the base and addons through that so...yeah.
3. Steam must put it on sale. <- Why? Simple economics. Also, the only time I saw Steam put Sims on sale was after Thanksgiving, which'd give plenty of time for EA to fix the most glaring bugs.
I don't care for FaceBook. I won't use it, but I also won't waste time hating on those who do. There's no point; you like what you like and I have my preferences. As for chatting and Simport, I might use them, but most likely not as I tend to play alone. I'll probably leave the chat off most of the time and just turn it on when I decide to fire up SimPort so I can get feedback on my sim's performance from the other players, and likewise give feedback on theirs. If SimPort opportunities keep popping up all the time, I'll just tell them to go away, just like I already do with that stupid "Eat at the Bistro" opportunity my Celeb-5 sim in Twinbrook gets. No, he does not want himself to eat at the restaurant he owns.
Do I want social features? Not really, but I can understand their place as long as they don't annoy me. Like the Memories, the FB button is there, but it doesn't nag me and I can choose to just upload to the Sims3 site instead. Or do absolutely nothing with the things. Besides, I probably already have some kind of ingame chat available simply by purchasing and playing Sims 3 via Steam, unless in this case it instead simply gives control of managing the game to Origin after booting up the launcher, which would be odd but I guess makes sense.
The content looks alright, though I wonder why we don't already have singers given we have the rest of the band. Does the addition of singers mean the Band Limit will be raised to 5? Or 6? That would be cool.
All in all, I'll wait and see.
Dependig on others and chatting.... Does not sound like a single player game IMO. :XD:
Also, who says that they will ONLY add this and not go further in future EPs? They already took first step, so why not take step 2, 3, 4....
Just my opinion about this.
This is a great point. I do fear this will become a reality..
Obviously yes one does need at least one friend to participate in social features and SimPort, that does not surprise me as ST is partly about connecting with friends and being social.
Yes, everyone has their own definition of what is considered single player or multiplayer to them.
Does this really surprise you that social features/SimPort is being added? Sometimes game designers/games influence each other and eventually what works well for one game/company others will try and if they succeed then more and more games will implement features from other games. Yes, it may eventually become standard to have some kind of social feature in "all" video games. Maybe not just future TS3 EP's.
What happened to VHS Cassettes?
What happened to CRT Televisions?
You can still find them but can you buy them from Best Buy? How about Sears?
My point being just like technology advances and older technology begins to go extinct, so does the way companies progress with the "main stream" of what is popular with most consumers. If the CEO thinks this is a good move then that is his or her decision to make. Although customers do have an influence on some decisions, the CEO can do whatever they want, it is their business after all.
Do not like it? Then like that fiasco with NetFlix leave and do not contribute your time, effort and money into something you have no passion for anymore. This is the only way I would know to send a message that no this is not what you (not specifically you but "in general") want. Either:
A) Majority feels the same way and leaves too.
OR
We will know if TS3 becomes extinct or TS3 continues and onto TS4 I suppose.
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter”
If it can happen to Kodak, it can happen to Electronic Arts. The Sims 3, and the entire Sims franchise, despite its many flaws, still has a loyal fanbase, many of whom play it because its a nice way to spend an afternoon away from all the hustle and bustle of daily life and doesn't require them to interact with others.
Despite *some* people's opinion that those of us who oppose social interactions in the Sims 3 are old fossils who are being close-minded and set in our ways, just because we're not jumping on the bandwagon and cheering this new approach to what *used* to be a private experience, I think that those of us who do oppose this can read the future for this series, and it is alienating us fast, causing us to feel betrayed by a game we learned to love through 3 different iterations.
And a telling indicator that EA is beginning to feel the sting from all the negative feedback is that Simport is not mentioned once in the latest publicity release that is on this thread.
"We Don't Care If You LIKE The Game, Just As Long As You BUY The Game!"
I Disapprove (Naturally)
I Took The Pledge!