Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
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!
So basically they downgraded the game to cater to lower-end PCs... and now it's getting worse? Wow, EA, that's way too much fail.
sadly, we've been dumped by EA for someone much younger (probably not even legal), with less money, and with the attention span of a gnat.
I strongly recommend you edit your post. Your frustration with how the game plays for you is no justification for hurling an unfounded insult at a segment of the population based solely upon their age and their economic status.
. . .Either that or change your avatar. Equal for all, huh?
Sure..
Sensitive, much?
It's not an insult. It's a fact. Most tweens and teens don't have any money of their own. And their attention span is very short...they bounce from fad to fad to fad. Today's fad becomes old news in a short span of time.
I personally don't agree, those types of comments don't add anything to the discussion.
While the advertising appears to aimed at a younger audience, a lot of games are now doing similar adverts. Except perhaps those with a mature rating. Of course it is a big difference from the series earlier advertisements, which were interesting and good fun to watch.
The advertisements however don't stop older sims fans from enjoying the game.
Do they...? I'm not familiar with the gaming industry, I only play Sims, but any advertisement I see concerning games isn't as childish as the way they are promoting Sims right now. I remember thinking that already when the painful presentation at E3 2014 took place. I really wonder if they are right. Isn't there a market for a game like this aiming at older teens and adults?
Advertising for Sims 1 and 2 wasn't childish at all. For Sims 3 it became kind of ageless and for Sims 4 they've completely changed it into selling it to ten year olds. That's how it sounds to me anyway.
And yet there is still an older audience the people who mainly purchase the Sims 4 are the ones who have experience with the other games Sims has a name to it's brand it being a very recognizable so no matter how childish the advertisement gets there will always be a big market for this game. I remember when I was in line to collect the Sims 4 on the release day there where like 8 others there mostly female but aged between their 20s and 30s so still quite diverse (except for men on the day).
I bought Sims 4 on the release day, I'm old. Well.. Yeah, I am.
I can assure you that doesn't mean anything.
Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
They already did 3 trailers several mins long for each career - having a silly trailer here and there isn't bad. It was lighthearted and goofy and I don't think we should be so harsh on them for having a bit of fun.
On the other hand, I somehow doubt we can do that at the Doctor career so the whole potential for...erm...misleading advertising is concerning.
They already did 3 trailers several mins long for each career - having a silly trailer here and there isn't bad. It was lighthearted and goofy and I don't think we should be so harsh on them for having a bit of fun.
On the other hand, I somehow doubt we can do that at the Doctor career so the whole potential for...erm...misleading advertising is concerning.
Yeah, they did, but there was no point to this one. How much better would it have been if it had been an extended trailer with an hilarious storyline that would showcase doctors, detectives, scientists, aliens, a bakery, and a fashion botique? Some bright and creative mind could have taken on all those themes and woven them into a short story. I hope someday some machinima maker does exactly that.
And they did lie with the "You control, you create, you rule the hospital" line.
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!
Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
Because that wouldn't attract a 12 year old female playing on a 200 dollar HP laptop.
You don't need a bigger indication than that trailer to see the age group they're targeting this game for. It's not only that trailer either, just go to http://www.thesims.com/ What do you see on the first banner? Mind you, this is the FIRST thing people see when they load up the site -- their first impression of The Sims. What I don't understand is why they feel this sort of advertising is needed, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 were *real* Sims games and they attracted all types of groups, including the tween group. All this does is alienate the male fanbase.
After hearing of all the cuts in GTW, seeing that tiny 🐸🐸🐸🐸 neighborhood they're throwing in the EP, this, and much more, I'm definitely not getting GTW and am drawing the line here.
The developers don't know what they're doing and, using just PR (among the MANY other things) since BEFORE The Sims 4 was released as an example, neither does EA. I'll look into TS5, I suppose, but hopefully these developers and their broken re-envisioning of The Sims will be long gone by then. EA has more cleaning up to do at Maxis.
The game could very well turn out to be one 🐸🐸🐸🐸 good game. But until then it just feels....off. I like it and all but I can't deny that there's just something missing.
I think it sold adequately enough that it is keeping its doors open atm. However, I do believe it has sold no where near what it has in previous iterations. I also think the gurus are worried about their jobs. I think there is a bit of panic there to be honest, no matter what they are portraying to us. I say this, because if the one place closed down, it means they are downsizing. That never makes employees feel safe, no matter where you work. My husband, many long years ago, was one of those who made it through several cuts at work, as they downsized. The final cut got him. There was just a level of stress working where he worked in good old corporate America, that was enough to wear you down.
Just wanted to add, that just because it sold enough initially in the beginning, doesn't mean it will remain in business, because if the discontent in the forums is any indication, they are going to have a hard row to hoe to keep things going with the game and any further expansion packs in the future.
I do think they are on high alert over losing their jobs. The Sims is nowhere near a top earner for EA. It might be a bestseller for PC, but that is nothing compared to consoles and mobile. The one thing that The Sims had going for it was that it was a steady revenue stream. It was a good enough investment because it brought in money each month. Going forward, I don't know if that will remain true. Many people have already dropped out of the game and even some of these youngsters are getting bored. I seriously think EA/Maxis overestimated their brand and underestimated the intelligence of the fanbase they built up. We can see the glaring cut corners and the lack of playtesting. We can see that they didn't put much thought into the artificial intelligence, which is the basis of a simulation. So in essence, we can totally tell this isn't exactly a simulation game anymore. Hello...we're not that dumb.
So with one Maxis studio shuttering their doors, this studio has about a year or two to turn it around and get their act together. Honestly, I don't see this game getting any better as far as simulation. Their only hope is to amass the playerbase that they tossed to the wayside in a sliver of a fraction of the time. I don't see many of us oldies sticking around and wasting our money anymore. I hope they had a plan B or I foresee an early demise of TS4 just like SimCity and The Sims Medieval.
Exactly. It had a huge following, because it was a good series overall. There isn't much competition either, but I think that made them way overconfident. When Rachel Franklin said "oh, we don't need help with the psychological thing because we have a diverse bunch of people working for us" I facepalmed. Really?!? Well you obviously do, because you all really didn't get it right.
I am going to say a few things. It might be way different than what some of the Sim4 players say. I believe that there are good and bad things with theSims4.
Good:
Graphics
Multitask with your sim
Building houses is a lot better (that my opinion)
Bad:
You don't know what your sim is afraid of.
The baby goes to being a child. (That might change in the future who knows)
Goals for your jobs for your sims
Your child grades depends on getting skills up and doing homework.
You can in the first week of your sim start a fire on the stove.
You can't lock doors.
Once upon a time, not so long ago... there were live demonstrations by the gurus about the game. Says something. Right from the start of this game there are modders fixing the game's broken things and adding mods to help the player have more control over their game, but not as many as we had in the previous series... says something. The attitude with their disgruntle or out right ticked off customers.. says something.
The silly trailers that they put out.. says something. The outright lie about the player rules and controls..says something.
We all know what happened to Sims Medieval game when they didn't listen to their fanbase (I like Sims Medieval as a silly RPG, but NOT as a Sims game).
The way they ignore all the tasks that many simmers don't like..well again says something. The missing toddlers (I still see toddlers glued to a playpen if they did introduce them in game)...says something.
SimCity went mobile which EA has mentioned that .. that is their intention in the end game.. Even with Sims Free to play (which in fact is not true and there is negative views on that)... Says something.
Them shutting down even just one studio well that screams something.
Their vision isn't working but they keep on with it ...says something.
I will say, it isn't too late to change, but once again that is on EA and releasing some $$$ for the dev team and dropping this whole vision.
If WoW can do it, so can they. It comes down to how much they value their customers.
The new expansion looks interesting, but once more I read tasks are attached to it..
Maybe they hope it fails so they can turn it into another mobile game like SimCity.. that is what it seems to me and dancing doctors aren't going to change my mind on that.
Once upon a time, not so long ago... there were live demonstrations by the gurus about the game. Says something. Right from the start of this game there are modders fixing the game's broken things and adding mods to help the player have more control over their game, but not as many as we had in the previous series... says something. The attitude with their disgruntle or out right ticked off customers.. says something.
The silly trailers that they put out.. says something. The outright lie about the player rules and controls..says something.
We all know what happened to Sims Medieval game when they didn't listen to their fanbase (I like Sims Medieval as a silly RPG, but NOT as a Sims game).
The way they ignore all the tasks that many simmers don't like..well again says something. The missing toddlers (I still see toddlers glued to a playpen if they did introduce them in game)...says something.
SimCity went mobile which EA has mentioned that .. that is their intention in the end game.. Even with Sims Free to play (which in fact is not true and there is negative views on that)... Says something.
Them shutting down even just one studio well that screams something.
Their vision isn't working but they keep on with it ...says something.
I will say, it isn't too late to change, but once again that is on EA and releasing some $$$ for the dev team and dropping this whole vision.
If WoW can do it, so can they. It comes down to how much they value their customers.
The new expansion looks interesting, but once more I read tasks are attached to it..
Maybe they hope it fails so they can turn it into another mobile game like SimCity.. that is what it seems to me and dancing doctors aren't going to change my mind on that.
I think it sold adequately enough that it is keeping its doors open atm. However, I do believe it has sold no where near what it has in previous iterations. I also think the gurus are worried about their jobs. I think there is a bit of panic there to be honest, no matter what they are portraying to us. I say this, because if the one place closed down, it means they are downsizing. That never makes employees feel safe, no matter where you work. My husband, many long years ago, was one of those who made it through several cuts at work, as they downsized. The final cut got him. There was just a level of stress working where he worked in good old corporate America, that was enough to wear you down.
Just wanted to add, that just because it sold enough initially in the beginning, doesn't mean it will remain in business, because if the discontent in the forums is any indication, they are going to have a hard row to hoe to keep things going with the game and any further expansion packs in the future.
I do think they are on high alert over losing their jobs. The Sims is nowhere near a top earner for EA. It might be a bestseller for PC, but that is nothing compared to consoles and mobile. The one thing that The Sims had going for it was that it was a steady revenue stream. It was a good enough investment because it brought in money each month. Going forward, I don't know if that will remain true. Many people have already dropped out of the game and even some of these youngsters are getting bored. I seriously think EA/Maxis overestimated their brand and underestimated the intelligence of the fanbase they built up. We can see the glaring cut corners and the lack of playtesting. We can see that they didn't put much thought into the artificial intelligence, which is the basis of a simulation. So in essence, we can totally tell this isn't exactly a simulation game anymore. Hello...we're not that dumb.
So with one Maxis studio shuttering their doors, this studio has about a year or two to turn it around and get their act together. Honestly, I don't see this game getting any better as far as simulation. Their only hope is to amass the playerbase that they tossed to the wayside in a sliver of a fraction of the time. I don't see many of us oldies sticking around and wasting our money anymore. I hope they had a plan B or I foresee an early demise of TS4 just like SimCity and The Sims Medieval.
There is no plan B sadly. Maxis wen't "all in" with the revival of SimCity and the refresh of The Sims. What you see is what you get. So if you can imagine the limitations we have right now applied across EVERY SINGLE EXPANSION AND CONTENT PACK then that's the future of The Sims 4. I really, REALLY hope extra stuff brings some life into this game but honestly I can't tolerate over half of the design choices in this game. All the pointless loading screens, the weird interactions, the cumbersome UI, and on and on. We all know the drill. Again, the base game is the basis of the rest of the franchise. I don't know who tested these games but I have a feeling it was very late in development, more of a PR thing than an actual early development situation wherein aspects could have been changed without it hurting the final product. I'm not exactly sure Maxis/EA thinks we're dumb (though it certainly is possible!) but I think there was an internal push to get this thing to run on tablets as well. The entire design of the game screams of a mobile port. The mobile market, while bringing in a lot of money for developers, is nowhere near as mature as the PC market. The range of devices and hardware for phones and tablets makles it nearly impossible to determine if a user can run a game or not and the hardware on the mobile market is pathetic compared to a desktop or an ultra- high end laptop. I'm starting to get irritated by people saying "Well it's hard to determine if a PC can run a game or not...blablabla". The PC games market has over 30 years of evolution and understanding on how to scale a game to different hardware configurations. Sure sometimes something conflicts but with the knowledge the industry has it usually gets fixed quickly. The mobile market is new, unexplored, and not well understood save for the fact that it makes tons of cash for games that are cheap to make and maintain. It all comes down to expectation...for a game designed to run on a desktop that has a median cost of 75 dollars we EXPECT a full experience. If this was released across consoles and mobile devices and cost 5 bucks we EXPECT...well...not very much in terms of content. Also, the actual interaction between players and their mobile games is VASTLY different than the anticipated time-sink "traditional" PC gaming has. People "game" on a tablet while they wait for the commercial break to end or while they sit on the bus. Those "games" have to be quick and have almost no input as they're loaded, messed around with for about 5 minutes, and then put away when the user has to focus on whatever they were waiting for. Trying to enter this mobile market is proving disastrous for developers as they figure they can just apply the current understanding of mobile gaming to desktop expectations. And in the end the games are so superficial and lame that the mobile gamers walk away as they discover an endless stream of disposable junk on Google Play and iOS App Store and the hardcore gamers leave because there isn't enough to keep them entertained for hours on end. What we see here is the overzealous over-application of concepts from an untested market (the mobile game sector) that continues to prove it's inability to coexist with an established and mature market (PC games) and we're ALL suffering for it!
I think it sold adequately enough that it is keeping its doors open atm. However, I do believe it has sold no where near what it has in previous iterations. I also think the gurus are worried about their jobs. I think there is a bit of panic there to be honest, no matter what they are portraying to us. I say this, because if the one place closed down, it means they are downsizing. That never makes employees feel safe, no matter where you work. My husband, many long years ago, was one of those who made it through several cuts at work, as they downsized. The final cut got him. There was just a level of stress working where he worked in good old corporate America, that was enough to wear you down.
Just wanted to add, that just because it sold enough initially in the beginning, doesn't mean it will remain in business, because if the discontent in the forums is any indication, they are going to have a hard row to hoe to keep things going with the game and any further expansion packs in the future.
I do think they are on high alert over losing their jobs. The Sims is nowhere near a top earner for EA. It might be a bestseller for PC, but that is nothing compared to consoles and mobile. The one thing that The Sims had going for it was that it was a steady revenue stream. It was a good enough investment because it brought in money each month. Going forward, I don't know if that will remain true. Many people have already dropped out of the game and even some of these youngsters are getting bored. I seriously think EA/Maxis overestimated their brand and underestimated the intelligence of the fanbase they built up. We can see the glaring cut corners and the lack of playtesting. We can see that they didn't put much thought into the artificial intelligence, which is the basis of a simulation. So in essence, we can totally tell this isn't exactly a simulation game anymore. Hello...we're not that dumb.
So with one Maxis studio shuttering their doors, this studio has about a year or two to turn it around and get their act together. Honestly, I don't see this game getting any better as far as simulation. Their only hope is to amass the playerbase that they tossed to the wayside in a sliver of a fraction of the time. I don't see many of us oldies sticking around and wasting our money anymore. I hope they had a plan B or I foresee an early demise of TS4 just like SimCity and The Sims Medieval.
There is no plan B sadly. Maxis wen't "all in" with the revival of SimCity and the refresh of The Sims. What you see is what you get. So if you can imagine the limitations we have right now applied across EVERY SINGLE EXPANSION AND CONTENT PACK then that's the future of The Sims 4. I really, REALLY hope extra stuff brings some life into this game but honestly I can't tolerate over half of the design choices in this game. All the pointless loading screens, the weird interactions, the cumbersome UI, and on and on. We all know the drill. Again, the base game is the basis of the rest of the franchise. I don't know who tested these games but I have a feeling it was very late in development, more of a PR thing than an actual early development situation wherein aspects could have been changed without it hurting the final product. I'm not exactly sure Maxis/EA thinks we're dumb (though it certainly is possible!) but I think there was an internal push to get this thing to run on tablets as well. The entire design of the game screams of a mobile port. The mobile market, while bringing in a lot of money for developers, is nowhere near as mature as the PC market. The range of devices and hardware for phones and tablets makles it nearly impossible to determine if a user can run a game or not and the hardware on the mobile market is pathetic compared to a desktop or an ultra- high end laptop. I'm starting to get irritated by people saying "Well it's hard to determine if a PC can run a game or not...blablabla". The PC games market has over 30 years of evolution and understanding on how to scale a game to different hardware configurations. Sure sometimes something conflicts but with the knowledge the industry has it usually gets fixed quickly. The mobile market is new, unexplored, and not well understood save for the fact that it makes tons of cash for games that are cheap to make and maintain. It all comes down to expectation...for a game designed to run on a desktop that has a median cost of 75 dollars we EXPECT a full experience. If this was released across consoles and mobile devices and cost 5 bucks we EXPECT...well...not very much in terms of content. Also, the actual interaction between players and their mobile games is VASTLY different than the anticipated time-sink "traditional" PC gaming has. People "game" on a tablet while they wait for the commercial break to end or while they sit on the bus. Those "games" have to be quick and have almost no input as they're loaded, messed around with for about 5 minutes, and then put away when the user has to focus on whatever they were waiting for. Trying to enter this mobile market is proving disastrous for developers as they figure they can just apply the current understanding of mobile gaming to desktop expectations. And in the end the games are so superficial and lame that the mobile gamers walk away as they discover an endless stream of disposable junk on Google Play and iOS App Store and the hardcore gamers leave because there isn't enough to keep them entertained for hours on end. What we see here is the overzealous over-application of concepts from an untested market (the mobile game sector) that continues to prove it's inability to coexist with an established and mature market (PC games) and we're ALL suffering for it!
This has to be, by far, one of the best replies that i have ever seen on any Sims forum in 15 years!
Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
It would appear that EA is only interested in marketing to tweens. Such a shame.
Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
It would appear that EA is only interested in marketing to tweens. Such a shame.
Yet these 'tweens' will grow up and loose interest
Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
It would appear that EA is only interested in marketing to tweens. Such a shame.
Yet these 'tweens' will grow up and loose interest
And such tweens are only interested in playing Call of Duty games.. not this.
I think EA was initially marketing to the social media community, regardless of their age. The kind of people who speak in hashtag These people aren't going to spend days playing a family, they are going to buy the game, play it couple times and have a laugh or two before something newer and trendier comes along. That is what I saw with the first (I'm assuming) intentionally awkward commercial. However, since these kinds of players are not going to buy EPs, I think EA is now focusing it's marketing on it's older (not age, but time/loyalty) players.
I think the recent GTW commercials are a throwback to TS3 where the video walk throughs are informative and game focused. This appeals to all players.
I will say my YA daughters have mobile devices.. they are played on breaks(work ... kids down for nap..) And they never spend a cent on any mobile game.. My youngest daughter can certainly afford it, but instead she downloads more games and switches between them and no money is spent. My teenage niece is the same way. From what I see and the people I know these games are indeed play while I wait for -insert whatever- as WaterHornet said.
I guess there are some out there that pay for some of the mobile games and it makes some good cash, but so does a Free to Play MMO on the desktop.. but unlike the F2P MMO, I think that the paid mobile games are a fad, and something will come along and replace it.. Look at Myspace.. took awhile but it faded. Low pixel games are in right now..fad. Early access.. fad that is already got heated words said about it.
Sims has lasted years just the way it was.. why mess that up?
That is the problem with some gaming companies they see a fad and go for it... An example is minecraft that person made millions so now a bunch of gaming companies are trying to copy that.. thing is? They aren't the person that started it..
I had a cellphone once.. because I wanted in the fad of being a cellphone owner. But now I have a good old landline that cost me a lot less. And my thoughts on that are if it is important when they call while I am out, they can call back and it saves me money because the landline doesn't have a bunch of hidden charges..
Some fads will stick, but throwing a game that has been successful into a fad that may not be long is just crazy.. Everyone thought Myspace would last forever...well.. there you go.
Most people I know and who my fiancé knows (from little kids to old people)..want to sit down on a desktop or laptop to play games and the mobile is more the while we wait kinda of thing...
Well, the newest trailer with the dancing half naked male doctors isn't doing the expansion pack any favors. Why can't they take the time to make a video that tells a story that highlights the features of the game...and make it 3 to 4 minutes long? Machinima is a great tool for telling stories, and it *would* showcase how the game can be played creatively in spite of the limitations.
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
Yep my wife showed this video to me and I thought "oh well even in the hospital it's all about party and whoohoo again". :-/
Comments
EA needs to hire a new PR firm.
"We Don't Care If You LIKE The Game, Just As Long As You BUY The Game!"
I Disapprove (Naturally)
I Took The Pledge!
I can assure you that doesn't mean anything.
They already did 3 trailers several mins long for each career - having a silly trailer here and there isn't bad. It was lighthearted and goofy and I don't think we should be so harsh on them for having a bit of fun.
On the other hand, I somehow doubt we can do that at the Doctor career so the whole potential for...erm...misleading advertising is concerning.
Yeah, they did, but there was no point to this one. How much better would it have been if it had been an extended trailer with an hilarious storyline that would showcase doctors, detectives, scientists, aliens, a bakery, and a fashion botique? Some bright and creative mind could have taken on all those themes and woven them into a short story. I hope someday some machinima maker does exactly that.
And they did lie with the "You control, you create, you rule the hospital" line.
"We Don't Care If You LIKE The Game, Just As Long As You BUY The Game!"
I Disapprove (Naturally)
I Took The Pledge!
Because that wouldn't attract a 12 year old female playing on a 200 dollar HP laptop.
You don't need a bigger indication than that trailer to see the age group they're targeting this game for. It's not only that trailer either, just go to http://www.thesims.com/ What do you see on the first banner? Mind you, this is the FIRST thing people see when they load up the site -- their first impression of The Sims. What I don't understand is why they feel this sort of advertising is needed, The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 were *real* Sims games and they attracted all types of groups, including the tween group. All this does is alienate the male fanbase.
After hearing of all the cuts in GTW, seeing that tiny 🐸🐸🐸🐸 neighborhood they're throwing in the EP, this, and much more, I'm definitely not getting GTW and am drawing the line here.
The developers don't know what they're doing and, using just PR (among the MANY other things) since BEFORE The Sims 4 was released as an example, neither does EA. I'll look into TS5, I suppose, but hopefully these developers and their broken re-envisioning of The Sims will be long gone by then. EA has more cleaning up to do at Maxis.
I do think they are on high alert over losing their jobs. The Sims is nowhere near a top earner for EA. It might be a bestseller for PC, but that is nothing compared to consoles and mobile. The one thing that The Sims had going for it was that it was a steady revenue stream. It was a good enough investment because it brought in money each month. Going forward, I don't know if that will remain true. Many people have already dropped out of the game and even some of these youngsters are getting bored. I seriously think EA/Maxis overestimated their brand and underestimated the intelligence of the fanbase they built up. We can see the glaring cut corners and the lack of playtesting. We can see that they didn't put much thought into the artificial intelligence, which is the basis of a simulation. So in essence, we can totally tell this isn't exactly a simulation game anymore. Hello...we're not that dumb.
So with one Maxis studio shuttering their doors, this studio has about a year or two to turn it around and get their act together. Honestly, I don't see this game getting any better as far as simulation. Their only hope is to amass the playerbase that they tossed to the wayside in a sliver of a fraction of the time. I don't see many of us oldies sticking around and wasting our money anymore. I hope they had a plan B or I foresee an early demise of TS4 just like SimCity and The Sims Medieval.
Good:
Graphics
Multitask with your sim
Building houses is a lot better (that my opinion)
Bad:
You don't know what your sim is afraid of.
The baby goes to being a child. (That might change in the future who knows)
Goals for your jobs for your sims
Your child grades depends on getting skills up and doing homework.
You can in the first week of your sim start a fire on the stove.
You can't lock doors.
The silly trailers that they put out.. says something. The outright lie about the player rules and controls..says something.
We all know what happened to Sims Medieval game when they didn't listen to their fanbase (I like Sims Medieval as a silly RPG, but NOT as a Sims game).
The way they ignore all the tasks that many simmers don't like..well again says something. The missing toddlers (I still see toddlers glued to a playpen if they did introduce them in game)...says something.
SimCity went mobile which EA has mentioned that .. that is their intention in the end game.. Even with Sims Free to play (which in fact is not true and there is negative views on that)... Says something.
Them shutting down even just one studio well that screams something.
Their vision isn't working but they keep on with it ...says something.
I will say, it isn't too late to change, but once again that is on EA and releasing some $$$ for the dev team and dropping this whole vision.
If WoW can do it, so can they. It comes down to how much they value their customers.
The new expansion looks interesting, but once more I read tasks are attached to it..
Maybe they hope it fails so they can turn it into another mobile game like SimCity.. that is what it seems to me and dancing doctors aren't going to change my mind on that.
Well said!
*hive fives*
There is no plan B sadly. Maxis wen't "all in" with the revival of SimCity and the refresh of The Sims. What you see is what you get. So if you can imagine the limitations we have right now applied across EVERY SINGLE EXPANSION AND CONTENT PACK then that's the future of The Sims 4. I really, REALLY hope extra stuff brings some life into this game but honestly I can't tolerate over half of the design choices in this game. All the pointless loading screens, the weird interactions, the cumbersome UI, and on and on. We all know the drill. Again, the base game is the basis of the rest of the franchise. I don't know who tested these games but I have a feeling it was very late in development, more of a PR thing than an actual early development situation wherein aspects could have been changed without it hurting the final product. I'm not exactly sure Maxis/EA thinks we're dumb (though it certainly is possible!) but I think there was an internal push to get this thing to run on tablets as well. The entire design of the game screams of a mobile port. The mobile market, while bringing in a lot of money for developers, is nowhere near as mature as the PC market. The range of devices and hardware for phones and tablets makles it nearly impossible to determine if a user can run a game or not and the hardware on the mobile market is pathetic compared to a desktop or an ultra- high end laptop. I'm starting to get irritated by people saying "Well it's hard to determine if a PC can run a game or not...blablabla". The PC games market has over 30 years of evolution and understanding on how to scale a game to different hardware configurations. Sure sometimes something conflicts but with the knowledge the industry has it usually gets fixed quickly. The mobile market is new, unexplored, and not well understood save for the fact that it makes tons of cash for games that are cheap to make and maintain. It all comes down to expectation...for a game designed to run on a desktop that has a median cost of 75 dollars we EXPECT a full experience. If this was released across consoles and mobile devices and cost 5 bucks we EXPECT...well...not very much in terms of content. Also, the actual interaction between players and their mobile games is VASTLY different than the anticipated time-sink "traditional" PC gaming has. People "game" on a tablet while they wait for the commercial break to end or while they sit on the bus. Those "games" have to be quick and have almost no input as they're loaded, messed around with for about 5 minutes, and then put away when the user has to focus on whatever they were waiting for. Trying to enter this mobile market is proving disastrous for developers as they figure they can just apply the current understanding of mobile gaming to desktop expectations. And in the end the games are so superficial and lame that the mobile gamers walk away as they discover an endless stream of disposable junk on Google Play and iOS App Store and the hardcore gamers leave because there isn't enough to keep them entertained for hours on end. What we see here is the overzealous over-application of concepts from an untested market (the mobile game sector) that continues to prove it's inability to coexist with an established and mature market (PC games) and we're ALL suffering for it!
This has to be, by far, one of the best replies that i have ever seen on any Sims forum in 15 years!
*bows down*
It would appear that EA is only interested in marketing to tweens. Such a shame.
Yet these 'tweens' will grow up and loose interest
I think the recent GTW commercials are a throwback to TS3 where the video walk throughs are informative and game focused. This appeals to all players.
Not the stripper doctor commercial
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
Marcus Aurelius
Now that one is just good fun
I guess there are some out there that pay for some of the mobile games and it makes some good cash, but so does a Free to Play MMO on the desktop.. but unlike the F2P MMO, I think that the paid mobile games are a fad, and something will come along and replace it.. Look at Myspace.. took awhile but it faded. Low pixel games are in right now..fad. Early access.. fad that is already got heated words said about it.
Sims has lasted years just the way it was.. why mess that up?
That is the problem with some gaming companies they see a fad and go for it... An example is minecraft that person made millions so now a bunch of gaming companies are trying to copy that.. thing is? They aren't the person that started it..
I had a cellphone once.. because I wanted in the fad of being a cellphone owner. But now I have a good old landline that cost me a lot less. And my thoughts on that are if it is important when they call while I am out, they can call back and it saves me money because the landline doesn't have a bunch of hidden charges..
Some fads will stick, but throwing a game that has been successful into a fad that may not be long is just crazy.. Everyone thought Myspace would last forever...well.. there you go.
Most people I know and who my fiancé knows (from little kids to old people)..want to sit down on a desktop or laptop to play games and the mobile is more the while we wait kinda of thing...