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Graham's Hot Tub Tweet - I just don't get it
BryonyRae
Posts: 5,181 Member
For those who might not have seen it, @SimGuruGraham tweeted today that "Hot Tubs won't appear outside of Perfect Patio Stuff for a long time, if ever." This was in response to someone who was asking if they'd be available in future packs because he is unable to purchase the stuff pack online. While I appreciate that Graham was honest in his response, I just don't get the thinking behind such a decision. The developers were able to create functional hot tubs for Perfect Patio Stuff; how hard could it be to duplicate them and modify the aesthetics a bit for future content? They know that hot tubs are one of the big ticket items that players want. Why would they produce them for one minor pack and then shut the door on the whole thing? Why limit our options, and theirs? I hope that the powers that be will rethink this approach.
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It would dilute Perfect Patio's appeal to have its sole premium item available elsewhere. Quite simple, really.
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Adding a couple extra different types in an EP would have been nice for some of us. At least for us who can't do digital everything. I agree all about money and making the most they can. I imagine the stuff packs will be themed with the items from the base game; Gourmet Kitchen featuring Dishwashers & Trash Compactors.
If they do it the way your are saying then we would be stuck with only the original versions no themed versions. Limited much!
Having very appealing items digital-only it's a great marketing strategy for making people sample and switch. I was a disc-only player for 12 years. A huge origin discount enticed me to get an EP on Origin. The experience was great and I never bought a disc after that.
When hot-tubs shows up in a SP in TS3, many complained they were "ripped-off". So they are 🐸🐸🐸🐸 if they do and 🐸🐸🐸🐸 if they don't. Supernatural had many cool items. I never got the EP to avoid a flood of supernaturals in my game, but I understood that certain items belonged to that EP.
I could suggest a TS2-style Store where all Pack items can be purchased individually, but I think a thousand simmers cry at the very mention of a Store...
I agree it is the direction that gaming is going. The original question about the hot tubs was about those of us who can't do digital for whatever reason and or who have limited downloading, as like myself. Disc is the more affordable way at the moment for some of us. Cutting off some of their customers. Just so confused by the not only limiting customers but also amount and different styles of hot tubs in the future. No sims game in my memory has ever limited a item to a single pack UNLESS it was an name brand item such as IKEA or the like. Hot tubs and furniture have always had different themes/versions in EP/SP before.
What's sad is in the past their packs would offer enough content and additions that it didn't need one item to sell it. This is worse than the store. Two hot tubs in the whole TS4 series? Sounds like very bad news.
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So this is how it's going to be? Their best selling points put in crappy mediocre stuff packs, forcing simmers to by them just to get those items that should've been in the base game/EP? I am so happy I only bought the base game for TS4 and only played it for 20 hours in total. I am not going to spend another dime or play another minute of that atrocious monstrosity of a failure.
The fact that I managed to secure the entire sims 2 collection when it was free, makes me actually not bothered at all that I won't be moving on with the franchise. I'll miss having the entire neighbourhood having the same time at once and not lot by lot, but it's still a better option than this crap of a scam!
R.I.P The Sims.
They might want to keep the hot tubs exclusive to the pack.
If this is how they market bringing base game items back, then Sims 4 is in a really bad place. They're making it similar to the pay-to-win motive that MMORPGs had or that you need to pay to unlock new gameplay options. Which isn't at all very bad until you remember that Sims 2 and Sims 3 are complete in bringing the necessary materials to get you keep playing. Sims 4's system is entirely different. You are being forced into buying as many DLCs just so your game will feel complete again.
Yep, they can't do pay to win in The Sims 4, so instead they've done, Pay to complete (which considering the price that was paid for the base game is ridiculous).
Offering a disc for a content that cost $10 might be impossible. You need the disc. The box. Shipping. The stores carrying that product get a large cut. The way I see it, they decided to benefit the majority slashing prices in half than having us subsidise discs.
You might not like it or agree, I just don't get why it's confusing.
Having the hot tub a Perfect patio exclusive pumps its sales.
Having a digital-only version of digital content allows it to be cheaper overall.
I have to agree. I did not like the Store that much. But I don't like the Game Pack idea at all. What I would have liked was a COMPLETE game. Then a subscription like http://www.thesimsresource.com/. But only if affordable but less than whatever it would have taken to get all the store items on the Sims 3. So you could download all or what you wanted as they released stuff each month. But the subscription would only work for me if maybe the base was free. Or no more expansions to buy. With the subscription you get it all. Censored quote of John Legere(T-Mobile CEO) 0 ********! Look up recent video he posted. EA needs a CEO like him for sure.
Because the cost of mass producing DVD's isn't that expensive nor is the brick & mortar stores cut. My uncle sell his own music and the cost is minimal. The digital issue does cut out all middlemen but also gives the publisher/distributor total control of not only the product but also data mining your computer. Info mined from your computer is listed in both ORIGIN EULA & Privacy Policy. Data collecting and sharing **cough selling cough** is a lucrative business. What better way to collect data than to require regular online connects?
eta; I don't think paying $10 for a hot tub is cheap. Plus said digital only SP costs me an extra $10 in bandwidth. So what costs you with your unlimited internet $10 costs me double. Some compassion for those who don't have unlimited available would be nice.
And if the digital version is so much cheaper then why is this version of the sims $60+ ? Digital has nothing to do with price in this case. They charge more actually, if you go by TS3 store, because of the exclusive factor. So no being digital doesn't mean it is going to be cheaper!
To answer the confused part. Why limit your sales? Why not get the fullest amount of sales you can. Making it available to all is only in your own best interest. many who wont buy because of digital only can influence friends and family only hurting the business and sales more. If it is so hard to do DVD at stores then sell them through origin on demand. Not that big an issue. I learned in business Never limit yourself or your product!
I've been thinking about this for a while and at first I thought you all were just complaining just to complain when it was clearly obvious that hot tubs would be Patio Stuff exclusive. Like, it would prevent sales from Patio Stuff if they made more hot tubs for other stuff packs, game packs, and expansions.
But no. It doesn't. I just realized that it doesn't affect there sales at all. What difference would it make if more hot tubs were released in other expansions? You still have to pay for them. They are still getting money for it. They wouldn't be losing money at all. They already have the work done for hot tubs. All they have to do is change the aesthetics. That shouldn't take any developer very long at all. And when I think about it, it's called Perfect Patio stuff. Not Perfect Hot Tub stuff. So, following their logic, are we not getting any more outdoor stuff just because it would hurt sales for Perfect Patio stuff?!
No, this is just pure laziness on their part. I was really hoping that one day a Sims 2 Love Hot Tub would appear but I guess that's too much to ask for.
They pay, at most $5 for a product they sell for $10. Because they have taxes and costs of business too. Throw in a dollar or two for the CD, packaging, plus shipping, that ate out 50-60% of those 10 dollars.
If you factor in worldwide distribution, it shoots up.
Perhaps my compassion is with those who can now afford a stuff pack for $10 instead of $20 now that they have gone all digital.
Then they need to get a different company to do it for them. To produce a DVD cost approx $1.50 total, (my uncles cost)that's with the case and color insert. His store cost is 10% of sales. That is on a small production not a large mass produce like TS3. The higher the amount being produced the cheaper the cost. EA has all of their discs mass produced in Mexico and shipped from there. Much cheaper all around. Don't believe me look on your disc it says made in Mexico.
No production of discs isn't the issue or all game companies would be enforcing it.
If that is what you want to believe then good for you. But I do know for a fact that it does not cost that much to mass produce DVD's. Heck I can do it myself cheaper than you have quoted. Mass production of a million copies of a game I bet would cost less than .50 cents each doing it in Mexico.
Thanks for your understanding and compassion. Have a great evening!
I have ran a business for 25 years the last 5 years being a Corporation. I do know business and all the costs of doing said business. I know the shipping and tax figures that you are,,,um,,,quoting and no they are not that high. I can tell you thy get cheaper the bigger you go. Ours being smaller didn't have all the bene's that a multimillion dollar corp like EA has.