Hopping in here because it seems like there is a lot of misleading information being presented that I want to squash:
Please link to a source whenever you make any kind of statement. Do not simply state something as being factual without any information to back it up.
The Sims 4 is doing just fine. As many of you have noted from our financial report that The Sims 4 player base grew by nearly two-thirds in the fiscal year <<this is fact, not opinion (and before it gets asked: no I will not be providing any additional information that was not shared in our financial reports.)
Additionally: I am seeing this far too often here and I want to make it clear. Your personal opinions are not fact and should never be stated as such. Do not make statements about what you *think* is going on within studio and try to pass it off as being factual information. Do not make statements of what you *think* myself and the other SimGurus feel about the community or the game --you are not us. The SimGurus are people not a product and should be respected as individuals --this means that slamming the developers and making personal attacks towards them is not and will never be okay. The Sims 4 is a product and you are welcome to provide your opinions on said product whether it is negative or positive. The forums are a place for you to provide feedback / ideas, share your creations, and talk / debate with one another about The Sims 4 and the franchise as a whole --not a place for you to attack / slander / defame the people who work on it.
I'm happy to answer the questions that I can. I'm also changing the title of this thread as it is extremely misleading.
OK, here are some questions. Why are actual sales numbers shared for some EA games but not for TS4?
Is culling (Sims, relationships) going to be fixed?
This falls into future content territory which I can't comment on.
You know, nothing personal against you, I'm sure you're just lovely, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you saying that you're happy to answer our questions and then just don't. What CAN you answer? You'd (general sense) have to be some new level of ignorant to not know what most of our questions are! At this point, I honestly don't care about culling. Toddlers!? Toddlers, toddlers, toddlers!? Where are they? And please, point me to somebody that CAN answer this question. "No comment" is getting old.
--T
ETA: Tidy up. Typos...
NDAs are NDAs and I'm assuming that's the reason there are often topics that just cannot be discussed here. If it's anything like the company I work for then there are some pretty serious penalties involved for anyone who breaks an NDA. Getting frustrated just isn't going to get around the fact that they're just not allowed to talk about it, no one is going to sacrifice their job and reputation in the industry to make a few people on an internet forum be happy / quiet for a few minutes.
It does seem a bit counterproductive to mention questions and then be unable to answer said questions; but in fairness it's kind of predictable at this point that people are going to ask about things we already know they can't reply to.
You're telling me this like I care when I really just don't. If she can't answer me, then as I asked, put me in touch with somebody who can. I want to know about a product that I potentially would I like to invest (more) in. If they're not even going to tell me if a CRUCIAL part of this product that is missing is a possibility or not then why should I give them my money? And quite frankly, until they address the issue, my interest in anything else they show me is at zero. But because they've said diddly-squat I don't even know if I might regret giving up on the game altogether or if it will be worth it in the long run. I honestly don't care about anything else at this point. Are they even going to ATTEMPT to add toddlers? That's all I want to know. No release dates. No promises. Just a yes or no. Then I can move on with my life (dramatic, I know, but this is what it does to me)
--T
ETA: forgot, like, a whole sentence. Lol coffee!
No one is going to answer that for you unfortunately. We'll either know just before they come out, or not at all.
Why not? Why is it so hard to answer this question? I'm sorry, but it's just not acceptable.
For me, the ironic thing is that I could enjoy this game for what it is, even if they told me, officially, no toddlers. Until they do this, I'll always just see what this game could've been.
--T
They won't because it's EA's policy not to talk about future content. Full stop. There is no such thing as a right for consumers to get information about a company's future plans regarding new products or releases. Every company has a right to manage their affairs, including PR and marketing, as they please. However if you don't like a certain comany's policies, you have every right to stop purchasing their products.
EA/Maxis caused everything that is going forward and from the beginning by being quiet because if Sims 4 is supposed to be mind blowing they would be very happy to share it. Right now I would not be sad if the series closes Yes, Sims 3 had it moments, but Sims 4 has moments almost everyday. Drake can keep quiet if he wishes because it does not matter to me being they going to do what they do. Heck, as long as their other franchises are holding up why worry about Sims 4? I also can't blame Drake because he is not the boss he has to follow orders from higher up.
Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
Hopping in here because it seems like there is a lot of misleading information being presented that I want to squash:
Please link to a source whenever you make any kind of statement. Do not simply state something as being factual without any information to back it up.
The Sims 4 is doing just fine. As many of you have noted from our financial report that The Sims 4 player base grew by nearly two-thirds in the fiscal year <<this is fact, not opinion (and before it gets asked: no I will not be providing any additional information that was not shared in our financial reports.)
Additionally: I am seeing this far too often here and I want to make it clear. Your personal opinions are not fact and should never be stated as such. Do not make statements about what you *think* is going on within studio and try to pass it off as being factual information. Do not make statements of what you *think* myself and the other SimGurus feel about the community or the game --you are not us. The SimGurus are people not a product and should be respected as individuals --this means that slamming the developers and making personal attacks towards them is not and will never be okay. The Sims 4 is a product and you are welcome to provide your opinions on said product whether it is negative or positive. The forums are a place for you to provide feedback / ideas, share your creations, and talk / debate with one another about The Sims 4 and the franchise as a whole --not a place for you to attack / slander / defame the people who work on it.
I'm happy to answer the questions that I can. I'm also changing the title of this thread as it is extremely misleading.
OK, here are some questions. Why are actual sales numbers shared for some EA games but not for TS4?
Is culling (Sims, relationships) going to be fixed?
This falls into future content territory which I can't comment on.
You know, nothing personal against you, I'm sure you're just lovely, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you saying that you're happy to answer our questions and then just don't. What CAN you answer? You'd (general sense) have to be some new level of ignorant to not know what most of our questions are! At this point, I honestly don't care about culling. Toddlers!? Toddlers, toddlers, toddlers!? Where are they? And please, point me to somebody that CAN answer this question. "No comment" is getting old.
--T
ETA: Tidy up. Typos...
Yeah I mean it's not @SimguruDrake 's fault but really, what's the point of saying 'I'd be happy to answer questions' if you can't answer ANYTHING?
@SimGuruDrake cannot answer on the deep issues and there lies the problem. Many of their customers want more communication and transparency when it comes to issues around the base and why culling like @halimali1980 says has been known to be a huge negative for a lot of people and despite being told it's being looked into new forms of it are appearing. These are big issues that are often sidestepped any time they do talk.
I appreciate Drake and the situation she funds herself in is a tough one. She doesn't have the power to give some customers what they are really looking for-and despite knowing (I am sure she knows full well after being around the community for long enough now) what the issues are if she's not authorised to speak on those topics she can't. It's an impossible situation for those customers and her I'd imagine-I'm sure she would love to help if she could!
In my opinion it's not very fair that she's getting the rough end of the situation where some people are frustrated (I'm not talking about anyone in particular just generally!) and she sometimes gets terse replies but I am sure she does her best to relay the concerns she sees from customers-proved by the little bit of extra information she obtained from EA recently. It may not be a lot to some people but I'm sure she worked hard to get us there. Essentially she's just EA's messenger between them and the community. We all know that saying about what not to do to messengers relaying information!
The issue is EA obviously think they are transparent when translated at the customers end that hasn't been the experience for many of us. Whether you like the game or not this version has had very little information and marketing in comparison to what we are used to. It would be nice if EA would acknowledge the experience their customers have had and at least say they hope to do better if that's how we feel. It's not a lot to say but it would go a long way to assure their customers that they were being heard. I'm pretty sure *most* of the frustration lies in the lack of acknowledgement of the issues customers have found in this situation and by not commenting it gives an impression that they aren't taking in what's being said by their customers. They could be taking it all in-we don't know! But impressions mean something when there is no other communication there to turn to.
I believe they are doing their best on the team-I just wish that we had better communication in terms of acknowledgement of the biggest issues and an obvious attempt to address these or just to acknowledge and repair the feelings customers have experienced behind the issues. The erosion of trust many people have mentioned for example. Sims fans are very loyal. I would like to see an indication that it was appreciated even if those customers were disappointed in TS4 thus far.
I agree. I do feel bad for @SimGuruDrake , I would not want their job. It just seems pointless to say 'i'll answer questions' when they aren't allowed to answer anything anyone really wants to know. I understand they don't want to look like they're not paying attention to us at all, but...ugh this just feels like a lose/lose situation.
Agreed. Yes it does. Basically if you are already happy you are more likely to get communication. If you want to know whats going on in regards to the base then you won't get anywhere.
@Slawfish no it really wasn't discussed 'thoroughly'. It was a comment within a conversation in regards to similar issues but by no means was it an official acknowledgement of the issues and an explanation of exactly what is going on-they could offer a blog like the pre release one to address the situation but as of yet we haven't seen anything close to that level of communication in regards to issues like this despite the promises of better communication post release in those pre release blogs.
Does that mean my whole mimick Is degraded? Cause I honestly feel like that. Maxis Is very misleading too, they said some things were going to be In game and turned around and took 60$ that I could've spent on something with more satisfaction. My head Is spinning on a stick.
The way you make seem Is like I said It, @SimGuruDrake.. I have a quesion, does anything In these forums contribute entirely to the game or has It before, besides glitches/etc?
I'm a bit confused by this post. We were upfront about what would and wouldn't be in the game at launch two months prior to the games launch (What's out and What's in blog) We were very transparent with you (the community) about it. That doesn't take away from you (as an individual) feeling that your money was not well spent since the game is currently not meeting your expectations nor does it mean that you aren't allowed to be upset when something you want isn't in the game. I won't be commenting on future content questions (which I assume will be asked after this.)
Also I'm not sure what you are asking with this:
does anything In these forums contribute entirely to the game or has It before, besides glitches/etc?
Do you mean ideas / feedback that are provided here outside of the bug/issues reports?
I honestly disagree with this notion that you guys were up front. That blog (and the one before it) are filled with all kinds of misleading speech intended only to plant an idea of what's to come in players heads'. Ideas that have since ruined your companies reputation and relationship with it's customers (most of which have been loyal for 10+ years... Just sad).
If you guys were that transparent than why are toddlers still an issue? You guys were not "transparent" at all, and last I checked I don't even think you were community manager at the time these events took place so how on earth can you come here and say these things?
I'm not asking about future content, but do not for a second try to mislead this community into believing Maxis never hinted toddlers were on the horizon. You guys did, and you did it solely to sell more copies of the base game. Is that what's going on now? You gain 2/3 of your player base and now you wanna replace the 1/3 that made your company what it is? I am not impressed by the communication I see from Maxis, nor am I impressed by this game. If the game is doing oh so well according to you then there is absolutely no reason it should be in this sorry state, with poorly developed DLC and abysmal communication.
Hopping in here because it seems like there is a lot of misleading information being presented that I want to squash:
Please link to a source whenever you make any kind of statement. Do not simply state something as being factual without any information to back it up.
The Sims 4 is doing just fine. As many of you have noted from our financial report that The Sims 4 player base grew by nearly two-thirds in the fiscal year <<this is fact, not opinion (and before it gets asked: no I will not be providing any additional information that was not shared in our financial reports.)
Additionally: I am seeing this far too often here and I want to make it clear. Your personal opinions are not fact and should never be stated as such. Do not make statements about what you *think* is going on within studio and try to pass it off as being factual information. Do not make statements of what you *think* myself and the other SimGurus feel about the community or the game --you are not us. The SimGurus are people not a product and should be respected as individuals --this means that slamming the developers and making personal attacks towards them is not and will never be okay. The Sims 4 is a product and you are welcome to provide your opinions on said product whether it is negative or positive. The forums are a place for you to provide feedback / ideas, share your creations, and talk / debate with one another about The Sims 4 and the franchise as a whole --not a place for you to attack / slander / defame the people who work on it.
I'm happy to answer the questions that I can. I'm also changing the title of this thread as it is extremely misleading.
OK, here are some questions. Why are actual sales numbers shared for some EA games but not for TS4?
Is culling (Sims, relationships) going to be fixed?
This falls into future content territory which I can't comment on.
You know, nothing personal against you, I'm sure you're just lovely, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you saying that you're happy to answer our questions and then just don't. What CAN you answer? You'd (general sense) have to be some new level of ignorant to not know what most of our questions are! At this point, I honestly don't care about culling. Toddlers!? Toddlers, toddlers, toddlers!? Where are they? And please, point me to somebody that CAN answer this question. "No comment" is getting old.
--T
ETA: Tidy up. Typos...
NDAs are NDAs and I'm assuming that's the reason there are often topics that just cannot be discussed here. If it's anything like the company I work for then there are some pretty serious penalties involved for anyone who breaks an NDA. Getting frustrated just isn't going to get around the fact that they're just not allowed to talk about it, no one is going to sacrifice their job and reputation in the industry to make a few people on an internet forum be happy / quiet for a few minutes.
It does seem a bit counterproductive to mention questions and then be unable to answer said questions; but in fairness it's kind of predictable at this point that people are going to ask about things we already know they can't reply to.
You're telling me this like I care when I really just don't. If she can't answer me, then as I asked, put me in touch with somebody who can. I want to know about a product that I potentially would I like to invest (more) in. If they're not even going to tell me if a CRUCIAL part of this product is missing, then why should I give them my money? But because they've said diddly-squat I don't even know if I might regret giving up on the game altogether or if it will be worth it in the long run. I honestly don't care about anything else at this point. Are they even going to ATTEMPT to add toddlers? That's all I want to know. No release dates. No promises. Just a yes or no. Then I can move on with my life (dramatic, I know, but this is what it does to me)
--T
Have you tried calling EA on the phone and ask for the supervisor or the man in charge? maybe then they will talk to ya, who knows.
I believe that you are close because it seems like:
1. Only EA's board members are allowed to talk about future content in EA's games.
2. EA's board members don't read this forum. They probably only read sales reports and other reports from EA's market department.
3. EA's board members regard the Sims games as easy games targeted at young teens. So they don't care about this forum which is dominated by adult simmers.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
Hopping in here because it seems like there is a lot of misleading information being presented that I want to squash:
Please link to a source whenever you make any kind of statement. Do not simply state something as being factual without any information to back it up.
The Sims 4 is doing just fine. As many of you have noted from our financial report that The Sims 4 player base grew by nearly two-thirds in the fiscal year <<this is fact, not opinion (and before it gets asked: no I will not be providing any additional information that was not shared in our financial reports.)
Additionally: I am seeing this far too often here and I want to make it clear. Your personal opinions are not fact and should never be stated as such. Do not make statements about what you *think* is going on within studio and try to pass it off as being factual information. Do not make statements of what you *think* myself and the other SimGurus feel about the community or the game --you are not us. The SimGurus are people not a product and should be respected as individuals --this means that slamming the developers and making personal attacks towards them is not and will never be okay. The Sims 4 is a product and you are welcome to provide your opinions on said product whether it is negative or positive. The forums are a place for you to provide feedback / ideas, share your creations, and talk / debate with one another about The Sims 4 and the franchise as a whole --not a place for you to attack / slander / defame the people who work on it.
I'm happy to answer the questions that I can. I'm also changing the title of this thread as it is extremely misleading.
OK, here are some questions. Why are actual sales numbers shared for some EA games but not for TS4?
Is culling (Sims, relationships) going to be fixed?
This falls into future content territory which I can't comment on.
You know, nothing personal against you, I'm sure you're just lovely, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you saying that you're happy to answer our questions and then just don't. What CAN you answer? You'd (general sense) have to be some new level of ignorant to not know what most of our questions are! At this point, I honestly don't care about culling. Toddlers!? Toddlers, toddlers, toddlers!? Where are they? And please, point me to somebody that CAN answer this question. "No comment" is getting old.
--T
ETA: Tidy up. Typos...
NDAs are NDAs and I'm assuming that's the reason there are often topics that just cannot be discussed here. If it's anything like the company I work for then there are some pretty serious penalties involved for anyone who breaks an NDA. Getting frustrated just isn't going to get around the fact that they're just not allowed to talk about it, no one is going to sacrifice their job and reputation in the industry to make a few people on an internet forum be happy / quiet for a few minutes.
It does seem a bit counterproductive to mention questions and then be unable to answer said questions; but in fairness it's kind of predictable at this point that people are going to ask about things we already know they can't reply to.
You're telling me this like I care when I really just don't. If she can't answer me, then as I asked, put me in touch with somebody who can. I want to know about a product that I potentially would I like to invest (more) in. If they're not even going to tell me if a CRUCIAL part of this product that is missing is a possibility or not then why should I give them my money? And quite frankly, until they address the issue, my interest in anything else they show me is at zero. But because they've said diddly-squat I don't even know if I might regret giving up on the game altogether or if it will be worth it in the long run. I honestly don't care about anything else at this point. Are they even going to ATTEMPT to add toddlers? That's all I want to know. No release dates. No promises. Just a yes or no. Then I can move on with my life (dramatic, I know, but this is what it does to me)
--T
ETA: forgot, like, a whole sentence. Lol coffee!
No one is going to answer that for you unfortunately. We'll either know just before they come out, or not at all.
Why not? Why is it so hard to answer this question? I'm sorry, but it's just not acceptable.
For me, the ironic thing is that I could enjoy this game for what it is, even if they told me, officially, no toddlers. Until they do this, I'll always just see what this game could've been.
--T
They won't because it's EA's policy not to talk about future content. Full stop. There is no such thing as a right for consumers to get information about a company's future plans regarding new products or releases. Every company has a right to manage their affairs, including PR and marketing, as they please. However if you don't like a certain comany's policies, you have every right to stop purchasing their products.
I do agree they do not have to inform it's customers of future plans but it is not without cost in certain situations being they do rely on those same customers funds and if they can't sell that product they lose business and there goes the funding for the next project. EA/Maxis is one of the companies that is secretive about how they do business and I do business with a lot of other companies and they are very happy to put out future plans for it's games. Look at Star Wars they are very open about it, but Sims Series not so much and not as much hype as it was with Sims 2 or 3.
Omen by HP Intel®️ Core™️ i9- 12900K W/ RGB Liquid Cooler 32GB Nvidia RTX 3080 10Gb ASUS Ultra-Wide 34" Curved Monitor. Omen By HP Intel® Core™ i7-12800HX 32 GB Nvidia 3070 Ti 8 GB 17.3 Screen
Hopping in here because it seems like there is a lot of misleading information being presented that I want to squash:
Please link to a source whenever you make any kind of statement. Do not simply state something as being factual without any information to back it up.
The Sims 4 is doing just fine. As many of you have noted from our financial report that The Sims 4 player base grew by nearly two-thirds in the fiscal year <<this is fact, not opinion (and before it gets asked: no I will not be providing any additional information that was not shared in our financial reports.)
Additionally: I am seeing this far too often here and I want to make it clear. Your personal opinions are not fact and should never be stated as such. Do not make statements about what you *think* is going on within studio and try to pass it off as being factual information. Do not make statements of what you *think* myself and the other SimGurus feel about the community or the game --you are not us. The SimGurus are people not a product and should be respected as individuals --this means that slamming the developers and making personal attacks towards them is not and will never be okay. The Sims 4 is a product and you are welcome to provide your opinions on said product whether it is negative or positive. The forums are a place for you to provide feedback / ideas, share your creations, and talk / debate with one another about The Sims 4 and the franchise as a whole --not a place for you to attack / slander / defame the people who work on it.
I'm happy to answer the questions that I can. I'm also changing the title of this thread as it is extremely misleading.
OK, here are some questions. Why are actual sales numbers shared for some EA games but not for TS4?
Is culling (Sims, relationships) going to be fixed?
This falls into future content territory which I can't comment on.
You know, nothing personal against you, I'm sure you're just lovely, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you saying that you're happy to answer our questions and then just don't. What CAN you answer? You'd (general sense) have to be some new level of ignorant to not know what most of our questions are! At this point, I honestly don't care about culling. Toddlers!? Toddlers, toddlers, toddlers!? Where are they? And please, point me to somebody that CAN answer this question. "No comment" is getting old.
--T
ETA: Tidy up. Typos...
NDAs are NDAs and I'm assuming that's the reason there are often topics that just cannot be discussed here. If it's anything like the company I work for then there are some pretty serious penalties involved for anyone who breaks an NDA. Getting frustrated just isn't going to get around the fact that they're just not allowed to talk about it, no one is going to sacrifice their job and reputation in the industry to make a few people on an internet forum be happy / quiet for a few minutes.
It does seem a bit counterproductive to mention questions and then be unable to answer said questions; but in fairness it's kind of predictable at this point that people are going to ask about things we already know they can't reply to.
You're telling me this like I care when I really just don't. If she can't answer me, then as I asked, put me in touch with somebody who can. I want to know about a product that I potentially would I like to invest (more) in. If they're not even going to tell me if a CRUCIAL part of this product is missing, then why should I give them my money? But because they've said diddly-squat I don't even know if I might regret giving up on the game altogether or if it will be worth it in the long run. I honestly don't care about anything else at this point. Are they even going to ATTEMPT to add toddlers? That's all I want to know. No release dates. No promises. Just a yes or no. Then I can move on with my life (dramatic, I know, but this is what it does to me)
--T
Have you tried calling EA on the phone and ask for the supervisor or the man in charge? maybe then they will talk to ya, who knows.
I believe that you are close because it seems like:
1. Only EA's board members are allowed to talk about future content in EA's games.
2. EA's board members don't read this forum. They probably only read sales reports and other reports from EA's market department.
3. EA's board members regard the Sims games as easy games targeted at young teens. So they don't care about this forum which is dominated by adult simmers.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Amen.
Also, follow their twitters. They tend to only reply to the happy cheer, and promoting the Yibsims in the community. That's whay they are doing. They are, indeed closing their eyes for all the critical comments, all the negativity. They are just pretending it doesn't exist.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
It was not implied; it was stated outright by SimGuruGrant: "The Sims 4 will have all of the same life stages as previous games, Baby, Toddler, Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder. There are no new life stages coming at this time."
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
It was not implied; it was stated outright by SimGuruGrant: "The Sims 4 will have all of the same life stages as previous games, Baby, Toddler, Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder. There are no new life stages coming at this time."
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
It was not implied; it was stated outright by SimGuruGrant: "The Sims 4 will have all of the same life stages as previous games, Baby, Toddler, Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder. There are no new life stages coming at this time."
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
Two blog posts released before the game launched. Within them very deceptive wording was used, and it was used intentionally to plant ideas into players heads whether Maxis intended to pursue them or not.
SimguruRyan said toddlers wouldn't be in the game "at launch" which is 100% true, but it's no mistake those exact words were said. They were chosen because they suggest that while they aren't there now, they're coming. On MTS Graham told players to read Ryan's words carefully, which once again only adds to the attention "at launch" received.
So while this whole situation isn't black and white, it's got a pretty significant gray area. On one hand they did say "toddlers won't be in the game when it comes out" but they hinted they would be back in. Well in the 2 years (almost) since we saw these blog posts there has been no updates or news regarding toddlers, which begs the question when? This is an issue that caused a major tidal wave for TS4 pre-launch and that's something I think everybody at Maxis is neglecting to remember. Their continued silence tells me they can't follow through on their word ($trong foundation? Lol) and they will hide behind their policies to avoid another petition damaging what's left of their rep.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
It was not implied; it was stated outright by SimGuruGrant: "The Sims 4 will have all of the same life stages as previous games, Baby, Toddler, Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder. There are no new life stages coming at this time."
Now wait for Jack to come in and say that the interview was written by memory and not real quotes.
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@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
Two blog posts released before the game launched. Within them very deceptive wording was used, and it was used intentionally to plant ideas into players heads whether Maxis intended to pursue them or not.
SimguruRyan said toddlers wouldn't be in the game "at launch" which is 100% true, but it's no mistake those exact words were said. They were chosen because they suggest that while they aren't there now, they're coming. On MTS Graham told players to read Ryan's words carefully, which once again only adds to the attention "at launch" received.
So while this whole situation isn't black and white, it's got a pretty significant gray area. On one hand they did say "toddlers won't be in the game when it comes out" but they hinted they would be back in. Well in the 2 years (almost) since we saw these blog posts there has been no updates or news regarding toddlers, which begs the question when? This is an issue that caused a major tidal wave for TS4 pre-launch and that's something I think everybody at Maxis is neglecting to remember. Their continued silence tells me they can't follow through on their word ($trong foundation? Lol) and they will hide behind their policies to avoid another petition damaging what's left of their rep.
Yeah and also something like that they were building a very strong foundation able to fulfil all of our wishes. Lol.
Marketing blabla.
That's what Ryan said. But yeah he is gone, so I guess ''things change''.
Update:
And while we recognize that some of you will be disappointed that pools and toddlers won’t be available when The Sims 4 Base Game launches in September, you should know that we’re building an incredibly strong foundation that is capable of fulfilling every one of your desires in the years to come. The future of The Sims 4 is bright!
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Amen.
Also, follow their twitters. They tend to only reply to the happy cheer, and promoting the Yibsims in the community. That's whay they are doing. They are, indeed closing their eyes for all the critical comments, all the negativity. They are just pretending it doesn't exist.
It's pretty sad (and laughable).
But what is sad is this 'negativity' thing. Feedback even if its from disappointed is not 'negativity' and it comes from love for the series. It disappoints me to think that may be missed in this situation.
@drake_mccarty yes I agree. Do you know what? I trusted Maxis more after SC2013 because I was sure they would have learnt some hard fought lessons and make sure not to get into a situation such as that again. I think its sad that there is an impression that they don't want loyal customers-if that is true then it is really truly sad for Maxis because we have a lot of love for them and their body of work and it is exactly why we have supported them despite the issues. You can't replace that sort of loyalty and love. That is why I don't want to believe that.
@rudy8292 What better way to distance yourself from the promises you made than to get rid of the one who made the promise.
We haven't heard anything about a "strong foundation" since the day the game released (because they've proven it's not). That right there tells me their marketing strategy involved a lot of twisted info.
@sparkfairy1 Maxis doesn't seem to care about customer loyalty anymore. They only care about money, and those who have been loyal expect more for their dollar. Whereas those who are just now starting to play the game are going to be more likely to accept a lower quality product for a much higher price. It's sad that this is the vision for Sims 4, but there's nothing we can do except hold off on buying and hope some one else comes out with a better product. It happened with Cities Skylines and it will happen with The Sims.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
The link that @SimGuruDrake provided earlier is one of the ones I've seen.
"The fact is, we owe you a clearer explanation for why pools and toddlers will not be in The Sims 4 at launch"
Saying something will not be available at launch implies that it will be available later. Particularly so when pools are also mentioned and were added later.
I do have to say that I agree with the posts saying that this blog isn't the transparency that is also implied.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
Two blog posts released before the game launched. Within them very deceptive wording was used, and it was used intentionally to plant ideas into players heads whether Maxis intended to pursue them or not.
SimguruRyan said toddlers wouldn't be in the game "at launch" which is 100% true, but it's no mistake those exact words were said. They were chosen because they suggest that while they aren't there now, they're coming. On MTS Graham told players to read Ryan's words carefully, which once again only adds to the attention "at launch" received.
So while this whole situation isn't black and white, it's got a pretty significant gray area. On one hand they did say "toddlers won't be in the game when it comes out" but they hinted they would be back in. Well in the 2 years (almost) since we saw these blog posts there has been no updates or news regarding toddlers, which begs the question when? This is an issue that caused a major tidal wave for TS4 pre-launch and that's something I think everybody at Maxis is neglecting to remember. Their continued silence tells me they can't follow through on their word ($trong foundation? Lol) and they will hide behind their policies to avoid another petition damaging what's left of their rep.
Yeah and also something like that they were building a very strong foundation able to fulfil all of our wishes. Lol.
Marketing blabla.
That's what Ryan said. But yeah he is gone, so I guess ''things change''.
Update:
And while we recognize that some of you will be disappointed that pools and toddlers won’t be available when The Sims 4 Base Game launches in September, you should know that we’re building an incredibly strong foundation that is capable of fulfilling every one of your desires in the years to come. The future of The Sims 4 is bright!
@rudy8292 What better way to distance yourself from the promises you made than to get rid of the one who made the promise.
We haven't heard anything about a "strong foundation" since the day the game released (because they've proven it's not). That right there tells me their marketing strategy involved a lot of twisted info.
No, if the foundation was so ''strong'' why do we have to bother with all the plum going on in the game. Like the culling, the relationship culling, the loadingscreens between literally every-single-lot. It's still annoying me to death when I want to go to a neighbours house I have to go through a loadingscreen, while the hood is simply loaded already. I mean, the interior of the houses are fully loaded, but we aren't able to go inside without a loadingscreen?
I don't get it. It simply breaks the game for me. It feels like playing in a box (your lot). In the Sims 3 I went out a lot with my Sims, but with TS4 I feel so restricted. I don't feel like going through 10 loadingscreens every time when I want to send my Sims out to do something.
Yeah the foundation is so strong, it is unbelievable.
@drake_mccarty I disagree with that too. If it were very very transparent then we wouldn't have the damage to the trust that has occurred for many of us post release. I was more than happy to give the studio the benefit of the doubt-proven by my pre-order of the base despite the issues but I based my expectations on those blogs. They read *to me* as an acknowledgement that the base was unfinished, that the team understood that and appreciated our custom and that it would be a priority to communicate and get that base done. They even cemented that impression by patching ghosts, careers and pools so quickly-and many of us took that as a bright future to judge from that they understood and even more bought based on that.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
Two blog posts released before the game launched. Within them very deceptive wording was used, and it was used intentionally to plant ideas into players heads whether Maxis intended to pursue them or not.
SimguruRyan said toddlers wouldn't be in the game "at launch" which is 100% true, but it's no mistake those exact words were said. They were chosen because they suggest that while they aren't there now, they're coming. On MTS Graham told players to read Ryan's words carefully, which once again only adds to the attention "at launch" received.
So while this whole situation isn't black and white, it's got a pretty significant gray area. On one hand they did say "toddlers won't be in the game when it comes out" but they hinted they would be back in. Well in the 2 years (almost) since we saw these blog posts there has been no updates or news regarding toddlers, which begs the question when? This is an issue that caused a major tidal wave for TS4 pre-launch and that's something I think everybody at Maxis is neglecting to remember. Their continued silence tells me they can't follow through on their word ($trong foundation? Lol) and they will hide behind their policies to avoid another petition damaging what's left of their rep.
And while we recognize that some of you will be disappointed that pools and toddlers won’t be available when The Sims 4 Base Game launches in September, you should know that we’re building an incredibly strong foundation that is capable of fulfilling every one of your desires in the years to come. The future of The Sims 4 is bright!
We’re less than 60 days out from the launch of The Sims™ 4, and I have so much I want to talk about. But let me start with a bit more about the decision we made not to include pools and toddlers in The Sims 4, as we’ve seen some of you have concerns about this.
The fact is, we owe you a clearer explanation for why pools and toddlers will not be in The Sims 4 at launch
What with the conversation @drake_mccarty referenced many people took that caveat *at launch* to mean something-especially when they implemented pools and ghosts shortly after release. They then went deathly silent on toddlers.
Should've just said," Toddlers are not going to be part of this series."-"Story progression will not be fully present In this series."-"Culling will not be fully functional In this series."
Cause those 'not at launch' words will deepen In someones head, and actually a lot of people. If there's a problem with addressing It how It Is, then fix It and If you can't, just go with your word. The studio makes their own decisions, say what they want whenever on content, and can speak on anything. They're just being cautious about It because they definitely know what might happen If one of them were to say the wrong thing. I just don't get It.
Comments
They won't because it's EA's policy not to talk about future content. Full stop. There is no such thing as a right for consumers to get information about a company's future plans regarding new products or releases. Every company has a right to manage their affairs, including PR and marketing, as they please. However if you don't like a certain comany's policies, you have every right to stop purchasing their products.
Agreed. Yes it does. Basically if you are already happy you are more likely to get communication. If you want to know whats going on in regards to the base then you won't get anywhere.
@Slawfish no it really wasn't discussed 'thoroughly'. It was a comment within a conversation in regards to similar issues but by no means was it an official acknowledgement of the issues and an explanation of exactly what is going on-they could offer a blog like the pre release one to address the situation but as of yet we haven't seen anything close to that level of communication in regards to issues like this despite the promises of better communication post release in those pre release blogs.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I totally agree 100%.
1. Only EA's board members are allowed to talk about future content in EA's games.
2. EA's board members don't read this forum. They probably only read sales reports and other reports from EA's market department.
3. EA's board members regard the Sims games as easy games targeted at young teens. So they don't care about this forum which is dominated by adult simmers.
Instead we got even less communication, disappointing statements about the customer base in interviews and no idea if the base will *ever* be finished to the level expected from the *at launch* caveat in their statements.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I do agree they do not have to inform it's customers of future plans but it is not without cost in certain situations being they do rely on those same customers funds and if they can't sell that product they lose business and there goes the funding for the next project. EA/Maxis is one of the companies that is secretive about how they do business and I do business with a lot of other companies and they are very happy to put out future plans for it's games. Look at Star Wars they are very open about it, but Sims Series not so much and not as much hype as it was with Sims 2 or 3.
Yup Probably,
I truly thought after SimCity crashed and burned at the hands of Maxis & Lucy Bradshaw they would clean their act up. Now I see that their angle is simply just to alienate unsatisfied players into leaving the franchise.
When the community manager comes around shouting that they picked up 2/3 of the people actively playing their game in the last year, it tells me A. This game was a sales disaster originally and B. They are focused on these new players (who are probably children or young teens).
Everyday I lose interest about TS4. We are literally almost 2 years from when the "no toddlers at launch" announcement was made, and where are they? That is the problem, and apparently Maxis has installed blinders on all of their employees to keep them from acknowledging there is a problem. If I wanted to buy potential, I'd get play dough so I can make it into what I want. With The Sims 4 we were supposed to get a sequel to a life simulator, instead we got a redux of an online MMO that was trashed during development.
Again I totally Agree with this 100%.
Ok, can someone direct me to something that implied toddlers were coming sometime? I just keep seeing this thrown around but haven't seen an actual link.
Amen.
Also, follow their twitters. They tend to only reply to the happy cheer, and promoting the Yibsims in the community. That's whay they are doing. They are, indeed closing their eyes for all the critical comments, all the negativity. They are just pretending it doesn't exist.
It's pretty sad (and laughable).
It was not implied; it was stated outright by SimGuruGrant: "The Sims 4 will have all of the same life stages as previous games, Baby, Toddler, Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder. There are no new life stages coming at this time."
Source: SimsVIP http://simsvip.com/2014/01/16/thesims4-simified-interviews-simgurugrant/
Now wait for Jack to come in and say that the interview was written by memory and not real quotes. ;-)
Yup it was said, so I agree with this 100%
Two blog posts released before the game launched. Within them very deceptive wording was used, and it was used intentionally to plant ideas into players heads whether Maxis intended to pursue them or not.
SimguruRyan said toddlers wouldn't be in the game "at launch" which is 100% true, but it's no mistake those exact words were said. They were chosen because they suggest that while they aren't there now, they're coming. On MTS Graham told players to read Ryan's words carefully, which once again only adds to the attention "at launch" received.
So while this whole situation isn't black and white, it's got a pretty significant gray area. On one hand they did say "toddlers won't be in the game when it comes out" but they hinted they would be back in. Well in the 2 years (almost) since we saw these blog posts there has been no updates or news regarding toddlers, which begs the question when? This is an issue that caused a major tidal wave for TS4 pre-launch and that's something I think everybody at Maxis is neglecting to remember. Their continued silence tells me they can't follow through on their word ($trong foundation? Lol) and they will hide behind their policies to avoid another petition damaging what's left of their rep.
Yeah and also something like that they were building a very strong foundation able to fulfil all of our wishes. Lol.
Marketing blabla.
That's what Ryan said. But yeah he is gone, so I guess ''things change''.
Update:
https://www.thesims.com/news/neighborhoods-weird-moments-and-more
But what is sad is this 'negativity' thing. Feedback even if its from disappointed is not 'negativity' and it comes from love for the series. It disappoints me to think that may be missed in this situation.
@drake_mccarty yes I agree. Do you know what? I trusted Maxis more after SC2013 because I was sure they would have learnt some hard fought lessons and make sure not to get into a situation such as that again. I think its sad that there is an impression that they don't want loyal customers-if that is true then it is really truly sad for Maxis because we have a lot of love for them and their body of work and it is exactly why we have supported them despite the issues. You can't replace that sort of loyalty and love. That is why I don't want to believe that.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
We haven't heard anything about a "strong foundation" since the day the game released (because they've proven it's not). That right there tells me their marketing strategy involved a lot of twisted info.
@sparkfairy1 Maxis doesn't seem to care about customer loyalty anymore. They only care about money, and those who have been loyal expect more for their dollar. Whereas those who are just now starting to play the game are going to be more likely to accept a lower quality product for a much higher price. It's sad that this is the vision for Sims 4, but there's nothing we can do except hold off on buying and hope some one else comes out with a better product. It happened with Cities Skylines and it will happen with The Sims.
The link that @SimGuruDrake provided earlier is one of the ones I've seen.
https://www.thesims.com/en_GB/news/whats-out-and-whats-in
"The fact is, we owe you a clearer explanation for why pools and toddlers will not be in The Sims 4 at launch"
Saying something will not be available at launch implies that it will be available later. Particularly so when pools are also mentioned and were added later.
I do have to say that I agree with the posts saying that this blog isn't the transparency that is also implied.
Yup so far in My mind that flat out lied about it, so until they do add Toddler's in it is nothing but a lie , just to get people to buy it.
No, if the foundation was so ''strong'' why do we have to bother with all the plum going on in the game. Like the culling, the relationship culling, the loadingscreens between literally every-single-lot. It's still annoying me to death when I want to go to a neighbours house I have to go through a loadingscreen, while the hood is simply loaded already. I mean, the interior of the houses are fully loaded, but we aren't able to go inside without a loadingscreen?
I don't get it. It simply breaks the game for me. It feels like playing in a box (your lot). In the Sims 3 I went out a lot with my Sims, but with TS4 I feel so restricted. I don't feel like going through 10 loadingscreens every time when I want to send my Sims out to do something.
Yeah the foundation is so strong, it is unbelievable.
@MocaJava from Sim Guru Ryan https://www.thesims.com/en_GB/news/neighborhoods-weird-moments-and-more
Then there was the Rachel Franklin one.
https://www.thesims.com/en_GB/news/whats-out-and-whats-in
What with the conversation @drake_mccarty referenced many people took that caveat *at launch* to mean something-especially when they implemented pools and ghosts shortly after release. They then went deathly silent on toddlers.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Cause those 'not at launch' words will deepen In someones head, and actually a lot of people. If there's a problem with addressing It how It Is, then fix It and If you can't, just go with your word. The studio makes their own decisions, say what they want whenever on content, and can speak on anything. They're just being cautious about It because they definitely know what might happen If one of them were to say the wrong thing. I just don't get It.