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The Sims 4 My First Pet Stuff - A Stuff Pack filled with Fur

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  • OddzballOddzball Posts: 141 Member
    ebuchala wrote: »
    You state that they removed stuff from the EP so they could sell it separately. Where did you get your information for this? I believe one of the gurus very specifically stated they didn't and don't do that. So, unless you have some kind of inside information, you cannot know this.

    I keep saying this too, but some people have their minds dead set that the gurus are just straight up lying. Cant change their opinion on it frankly, so best to just move on.
  • ebuchalaebuchala Posts: 4,945 Member
    @KBsimmer79 I get your point. But let’s say you don’t want cats and dogs for whatever reason. That person is still paying for cats and dogs content with this pack. They are paying for stuff they can’t use. That seems a bit wasteful. As a reviewer said he counted 58 objects and I think it’s 22 that are unavailable if you don’t have cats and dogs. He doesn’t recommend you buy it without cats and dogs and nor do EA.

    The attitude if you don’t want it don’t buy it is dismissive and not the answer. The fact that precious iterations had stores is different. They had additional content to an already full game with expansions. You could also pick what you wanted from a set and not get the whole thing and in my case with 3, watch ads and get free points. I have 8gb of store content with free points.

    But the main thing is actually, just because the sims 2 & 3 did it, doesn’t make it okay this iteration. And it’s not the exact same anyhow. You can play the sims 2 and 3 with no store content. I challenge anyone to play the sims 4with only expansions and no stuff and game packs for years as I have with the sims 2&3 before I got store stuff. I doubt they would last long.

    I agree that just because something was handled a certain way in earlier games it should be done the same now. Why bother with a new game then? I think it would be difficult to figure out a solution for this, though, unless you go back to the store format and selling items individually which, to me, made things way more expensive.

    A company is going to use what it can to appeal to people and get them to buy. It makes sense for them to put items that work with other packs to try and garner those customers for this pack, as well. I honestly expected that was what they would be doing with SPs at some point--making additional items for other packs.

    I think the biggest flaw in this pack is that it's too small to do that sort of thing and, because it follows on the heels of C&D and capitalizes on it, people feel like they're being cheated. Top that off with some people feeling like C&D was too small and it's a recipe for a lot of frustration from people. They possibly should've included more items because, ideally, people who buy this without buying C&D should still feel like they're getting their money's worth.
    Origin ID: ebuchala
    I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
  • OddzballOddzball Posts: 141 Member
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Xoxk9 wrote: »
    .
    These recolors are definitely patch worthy :D:'( Some of the CAS stuff is just recolors of old meshes. I'm sad. Should have just been patched in

    Someone (A Maxis employee) still put in time and effort to make those textures and designs. So should he not get paid for it? Im sure he did it on the clock, and billed the hours.

    I'm sure that person still gets paid. The sales revenue does not go directly to creators and developers.

    I mean the company getting paid, not specifically the guy. Look, I work for a team. Yes I get paid a salary, no matter sales, but at the end of the day, I have to account for my time. I cant spend a buncha time making free stuff to give to the customer. Thats just a ridiculous assumption. You dont just get to go to work and give out stuff for free. Could EA do it? SURE! They DO in fact! We get little freebies all the time if you look at some of the items in patches etc. We got the whole of toddlers for free even.

    But at the end of the day, I think its pretty plum to downtalk someones work as essentially something that should be given away for free.

    Oh, I didn't mean to downplay the work at all. I'm merely criticizing somebody else's (somebody who is much higher up) decision that this is what that person should work on as part of a separate SP. I'm not demanding anything for free but I feel like I already paid for this SP by purchasing Cats & Dogs full price.

    And in terms of recolors - they do take less work so why should customers be charged the same price for them?

    (I hope we still have our nice moment of agreement going! :) )

    I think we all can agree that the particular content choices themselves havent always been great for Sims 4. But then again, it was that way for Sims 3 and 2, where you oculdnt always please everyone, because everyone has their own "favorite" thing. (Seasons, Pets, etc etc)
  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    ZakkiyahZ wrote: »
    I saw Vixella make a video about it, it doesn't have a lot of content in it items wise but the clothes and hairs it comes with are super cute. I also like the fact that there is an exotic animal you can get, but I don't see the point of releasing the animal unless you just want it for the moodlet you get. You can't get the animal back and all it does is release it to the wild, so I don't see the point of that. It seems like a kid game pack tbh, with all the kid like stuff you get with the pack

    Sims 3 started that with releasing the small pets -

    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.

    In dreams - I LIVE!
    In REALITY, I simply exist.....

  • MidnightAuraMidnightAura Posts: 5,809 Member
    ebuchala wrote: »
    @KBsimmer79 I get your point. But let’s say you don’t want cats and dogs for whatever reason. That person is still paying for cats and dogs content with this pack. They are paying for stuff they can’t use. That seems a bit wasteful. As a reviewer said he counted 58 objects and I think it’s 22 that are unavailable if you don’t have cats and dogs. He doesn’t recommend you buy it without cats and dogs and nor do EA.

    The attitude if you don’t want it don’t buy it is dismissive and not the answer. The fact that precious iterations had stores is different. They had additional content to an already full game with expansions. You could also pick what you wanted from a set and not get the whole thing and in my case with 3, watch ads and get free points. I have 8gb of store content with free points.

    But the main thing is actually, just because the sims 2 & 3 did it, doesn’t make it okay this iteration. And it’s not the exact same anyhow. You can play the sims 2 and 3 with no store content. I challenge anyone to play the sims 4with only expansions and no stuff and game packs for years as I have with the sims 2&3 before I got store stuff. I doubt they would last long.

    I agree that just because something was handled a certain way in earlier games it should be done the same now. Why bother with a new game then? I think it would be difficult to figure out a solution for this, though, unless you go back to the store format and selling items individually which, to me, made things way more expensive.

    A company is going to use what it can to appeal to people and get them to buy. It makes sense for them to put items that work with other packs to try and garner those customers for this pack, as well. I honestly expected that was what they would be doing with SPs at some point--making additional items for other packs.

    I think the biggest flaw in this pack is that it's too small to do that sort of thing and, because it follows on the heels of C&D and capitalizes on it, people feel like they're being cheated. Top that off with some people feeling like C&D was too small and it's a recipe for a lot of frustration from people. They possibly should've included more items because, ideally, people who buy this without buying C&D should still feel like they're getting their money's worth.

    I agree. I’m not saying this should have been free. It either should have come in a game pack or part of cats and dogs. Lots of people feel that way. I strongly dislike this idea of dlc for dlc. But lots of game changers have said similar so maybe, maybe it will be noticed.
  • MidnightAuraMidnightAura Posts: 5,809 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ZakkiyahZ wrote: »
    I saw Vixella make a video about it, it doesn't have a lot of content in it items wise but the clothes and hairs it comes with are super cute. I also like the fact that there is an exotic animal you can get, but I don't see the point of releasing the animal unless you just want it for the moodlet you get. You can't get the animal back and all it does is release it to the wild, so I don't see the point of that. It seems like a kid game pack tbh, with all the kid like stuff you get with the pack

    Sims 3 started that with releasing the small pets -

    No it didn’t. It was in the sims 2. Noticed it earlier and I was surprised as I didn’t remember it being there.
  • sundaysimmersundaysimmer Posts: 201 Member
    Oddzball wrote: »
    ebuchala wrote: »
    You state that they removed stuff from the EP so they could sell it separately. Where did you get your information for this? I believe one of the gurus very specifically stated they didn't and don't do that. So, unless you have some kind of inside information, you cannot know this.

    I keep saying this too, but some people have their minds dead set that the gurus are just straight up lying. Cant change their opinion on it frankly, so best to just move on.

    No, it's not a fact. Judging from the similarities between the items, though, it seems like a set that was split up.

    Whether or not this was done in order to create a separate SP using items that were meant to be in Cats & Dogs is of course speculation. It's certainly possible that these items were designed to fit items from the EP and always meant as part of an add-on SP.

    I believe it's the former simply because the team/s would have known that people would suspect them of splitting up a pack if everything looked so similar. So why risk it and not just create items in a different style?

    But of course everybody can just draw their own conclusions.
    Favourite TS1 packs: Superstar, Makin' Magic. Favourite TS2 packs: University, Open for Business, Seasons, Apartment Life. Favourite TS3 packs: Generations, Seasons, University Life. Favourite TS4 packs: Get Together, Cats & Dogs, Seasons, Island Living, Discover University.
  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    edited March 2018
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ZakkiyahZ wrote: »
    I saw Vixella make a video about it, it doesn't have a lot of content in it items wise but the clothes and hairs it comes with are super cute. I also like the fact that there is an exotic animal you can get, but I don't see the point of releasing the animal unless you just want it for the moodlet you get. You can't get the animal back and all it does is release it to the wild, so I don't see the point of that. It seems like a kid game pack tbh, with all the kid like stuff you get with the pack

    Sims 3 started that with releasing the small pets -

    No it didn’t. It was in the sims 2. Noticed it earlier and I was surprised as I didn’t remember it being there.

    Well I never had small pets in Sims 2 outside of a parrot once - and don't recall it being an option. You get that option in Sims 3 everytime you approach the cages. In Sims 2 I was more interested in trying to befriend the werewolf dog with the shiny eyes - and was not much interested in small pets.

    In fact I did not even buy Pets in Sims 2 until Apt. Life came out and I needed pets to get a Familiar - Spectral Cat for my witch. So my interests in Sims 2 pets were totally supernatural outside of the Parrot I purchased for the Pirate guy in Bella Cove.

    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.

    In dreams - I LIVE!
    In REALITY, I simply exist.....

  • MidnightAuraMidnightAura Posts: 5,809 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ZakkiyahZ wrote: »
    I saw Vixella make a video about it, it doesn't have a lot of content in it items wise but the clothes and hairs it comes with are super cute. I also like the fact that there is an exotic animal you can get, but I don't see the point of releasing the animal unless you just want it for the moodlet you get. You can't get the animal back and all it does is release it to the wild, so I don't see the point of that. It seems like a kid game pack tbh, with all the kid like stuff you get with the pack

    Sims 3 started that with releasing the small pets -

    No it didn’t. It was in the sims 2. Noticed it earlier and I was surprised as I didn’t remember it being there.

    Well I never had small pets in Sims 2 outside of a parrot once - and don't recall it being an option. You get that option in Sims 3 everytime you approach the cages.

    It is in both. :)
  • sundaysimmersundaysimmer Posts: 201 Member
    Oddzball wrote: »
    ebuchala wrote: »
    You state that they removed stuff from the EP so they could sell it separately. Where did you get your information for this? I believe one of the gurus very specifically stated they didn't and don't do that. So, unless you have some kind of inside information, you cannot know this.

    I keep saying this too, but some people have their minds dead set that the gurus are just straight up lying. Cant change their opinion on it frankly, so best to just move on.

    No, it's not a fact. Judging from the similarities between the items, though, it seems like a set that was split up.

    Whether or not this was done in order to create a separate SP using items that were meant to be in Cats & Dogs is of course speculation. It's certainly possible that these items were designed to fit items from the EP and always meant as part of an add-on SP.

    I believe it's the former simply because the team/s would have known that people would suspect them of splitting up a pack if everything looked so similar. So why risk it and not just create items in a different style?

    But of course everybody can just draw their own conclusions.

    Adding to that: As much as I enjoy Cats & Dogs for what it is (LOVE the world), it feels incomplete. The items from the SP that so obviously complete (as in match) a set from the EP draw attention to that.
    Favourite TS1 packs: Superstar, Makin' Magic. Favourite TS2 packs: University, Open for Business, Seasons, Apartment Life. Favourite TS3 packs: Generations, Seasons, University Life. Favourite TS4 packs: Get Together, Cats & Dogs, Seasons, Island Living, Discover University.
  • ebuchalaebuchala Posts: 4,945 Member
    edited March 2018
    Edited since the other comment had been addressed and I was just too slow, as usual. :)
    Oh, I didn't mean to downplay the work at all. I'm merely criticizing somebody else's (somebody who is much higher up) decision that this is what that person should work on as part of a separate SP. I'm not demanding anything for free but I feel like I already paid for this SP by purchasing Cats & Dogs full price.

    And in terms of recolors - they do take less work so why should customers be charged the same price for them?

    (I hope we still have our nice moment of agreement going! :) )

    I don't actually think we do pay the same, in a manner of speaking. As I recall, they can divvy items, animations and gameplay up however they like as long as they don't go over budget. So, they might be able to give us 10 recolored items for every 2 new objects or 1 gameplay item (just pulling numbers out of by backside). Not sure how things got divvied up in this pack, though, to end up with so few items.
    Origin ID: ebuchala
    I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
  • OddzballOddzball Posts: 141 Member

    Oh course it matches. Its a companion set. They intentionally made matching pieces. They explicitly said they were adding to C&D. They also explicitly said they did not, under any circumstance "strip" items from C&D to sell as a SP. They just choose to ADD TOO C&D with some companion items. The little computer desk reuses the same asset and style. Which literally thousands of video games do, in expansions, all the time.
  • sundaysimmersundaysimmer Posts: 201 Member
    ebuchala wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Xoxk9 wrote: »
    .
    These recolors are definitely patch worthy :D:'( Some of the CAS stuff is just recolors of old meshes. I'm sad. Should have just been patched in

    Someone (A Maxis employee) still put in time and effort to make those textures and designs. So should he not get paid for it? Im sure he did it on the clock, and billed the hours.

    I'm sure that person still gets paid. The sales revenue does not go directly to creators and developers.

    Regardless of where the money goes, the charge for the work still goes towards the product budget, which is limited. Though, as small as this pack is, it seems like the gameplay item would have to have a lot of attention to it to make up for the low number of items we seem to be getting in this pack.

    I doubt that the entire sales revenue goes to the production budget. That way, EA wouldn't make any profit at all.

    I don't know how big their margins are but I'm going to assume they're big enough to keep investors happy.
    Favourite TS1 packs: Superstar, Makin' Magic. Favourite TS2 packs: University, Open for Business, Seasons, Apartment Life. Favourite TS3 packs: Generations, Seasons, University Life. Favourite TS4 packs: Get Together, Cats & Dogs, Seasons, Island Living, Discover University.
  • LiELFLiELF Posts: 6,439 Member
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    I bought a few packs where I did not want some things in them but wanted the rest. Particularly sps that in Sims 4, unlike sims 2 and 3 contain premium objects - yet at half the price of Sims 3 stuff packs. Like I did not want the premium content from Laundry day but I liked rest of the content - so I bought it. One pack I bought just for a hot tub, another the Ice Cream Maker, and another I bought just for the butler. For 10 dollars it served the purpose I wanted the packs for.

    Even the ep Get Together I bought because I like the pack but actually detest it's main feature of CLUBS. They remind me too much of controllers and Hive Mind attitudes - so I never use them - not ever. I paid full price of 40 dollars just for that one, and I am not unhappy with any of my purchases. My game is the way I want it as much as Sims 4 can be anyway.

    It is nothing wrong with people just wanting some features from a pack - look how many spent 20 dollars on the GP Vampires and did not even want the main concept of the pack - The Vampires - they wanted Build/buy items.

    So what is the difference here? Not a thing.

    Actually, what you're describing is the opposite of what many are upset about. You're talking about buying packs that you would agree are complete but that you personally don't use to their full extent. That's not the issue.

    It's not the fact that not everybody might be able to use the whole pack (although that's problematic), it's the fact that this pack obviously consists of what many thought was lacking in Cats & Dogs.

    And all the more reason Graham and his sp team exist. As that is what he does - is make content simmers want that they did not put in eps - like things in all his sps - with occasionally things a lot of simmers have said were missing or they'd like to have. The ep team is not about to give their hard work and credit to the SP team. If you think that - you don't know designers and artists very well. Also keep in mind Graham also mentioned all the teams have access to third party artists etc - so it makes sense style and even coloring would be the same if the same people were contracted for the pet sp that did the pet ep.

    Who is arguing that the SP team shouldn't exist? SPs enable us to customize our games by picking and choosing what we like and what we will use. So far, I've enjoyed almost all SPs a lot. The problem with this SP isn't the content or lack thereof but rather the bigger problem it points to, namely EPs that are lacking in some regard.

    HEY! SOmething we agree on. Frankly the EP team for Sims 4? THey have been doing a terrible job IMO. Ive been dissappointed with pretty much all of the EPs. Every single one of them. If anything the GP and SP teams have been doing great in comparison. How is it that Jungle adventures and Vampire, which were $20 GPs, feel more complete and have more value (IMO) than a $40 EP.

    Yes! I agree completely! The GP team has been producing outstanding content; and the SP team has been contributing great stuff to the game, especially considering how limited SPs are.

    This is precisely the reason I am so upset about this SP. It just feels like it should have been part of Cats & Dogs in order to make it complete. Like you said - why do two GPs (or four SPs for that matter) feel more complete than one EP for the same price? Something's not right.

    So jump on the ep team for lacking - don't jump on the guy (and his team) trying to pick up the slack.

    THIS! You know what it is? Its not the SP, its the fact that frankly, everyone knows C&D itself was a letdown. Even with all the cool stuff it does have, its not a great EP. (Same could be said for City living frankly). This has nothing to do with Graham, or the SP team, and everything to do with whomever(WHo is it anyway) is in charge of the EP team dropping the ball IMO.

    But see, that's what many of us have been saying. Several of us have voiced that there were areas of Cats and Dogs that fell short, and because of this, we felt that some of the things in this stuff pack should have been patched in. Even if the same team was not "in charge" of the content, the lead production people do cross over and I'm sure that they all use the same outsource developers. Plus, all of the money is still going back to the same place. EA.

    I personally believe that when it was realized that Cats and Dogs was selling big, EA sent the word down to stretch out for max profit, any pet related content currently in development, and produce whatever they could to put into a small pack. I believe that they saw a huge opportunity to cash in major money on a continuing pets theme. I'm sure they have some EA reps who work regularly with the Maxis team and tell them how they want the product distributed for maximum results. I also think that the reason we didn't get a lot of pet objects in Cats and Dogs was probably because they were approaching the deadline for release and ran out of time to complete everything they wanted to put in. Maybe the people they outsource to didn't get some of their things back in time. It's also possible that a variety of small pets have been in development with the idea of building a larger pack for them, like a Game Pack, but EA stepped in and decided that they would make a lot more money if the entire pets theme was dragged out in smaller increments, by creating a "new" Stuff Pack series that continues to build on what Cats and Dogs was lacking, while adding a new pet type in to entice simmers to purchase it. But however it happened, it doesn't feel right to me, and I have always supported Stuff Packs before. This one just seems different, it feels awkward and rushed. Plus, it was not included in the teaser and I think that's because they weren't even sure what they could put together before the end of the fiscal year, which is the end of this month. On that note, I think that EA intended to squeeze in one last fast-selling pack before they closed the year out, to boost their numbers and make their investors happy. And I suspect that's why it came out so unexpectedly.

    Anyway, it doesn't seem like they are going to change anything. They are probably going to go ahead as per normal release day, see what the sales look like, and discuss it afterwards only if there is actually a significant dent in the sales numbers. But if it never gets addressed somehow, I feel that they will be losing a whole lot of customer faith in the series, right down to their own "Game Changers", and that would mean some very rocky times ahead, and that would be unfortunate.
    #Team Occult
  • Katlyn2525Katlyn2525 Posts: 4,201 Member
    edited March 2018
    There are a lot of things wrong with this pack. It would have been much better if the EP for Cats and Dogs was fleshed out with these kinds of items, even if it meant a delay. I think SP's should remain independent of EP's and GP's and stand on their own. The pack just kind of leaves you with a unsettling moodlet. It is not that it is not cute. It is. But that is only one layer of the onion. I hope in hindsight, EA learns from this.

    Will I buy. Probably yes. But not tomorrow. I will wait for the 50% off sale, which I think will be soon. I have Cats and Dogs, but it is the principle of the thing. Technically it is only 1/2 a pack.
  • MidnightAuraMidnightAura Posts: 5,809 Member
    Oddzball wrote: »

    Oh course it matches. Its a companion set. They intentionally made matching pieces. They explicitly said they were adding to C&D. They also explicitly said they did not, under any circumstance "strip" items from C&D to sell as a SP. They just choose to ADD TOO C&D with some companion items. The little computer desk reuses the same asset and style. Which literally thousands of video games do, in expansions, all the time.

    Agree to disagree. When a game changer spots it then something is not right. They are normally very positive and many struggled to give this a good review/recommendation.
  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    ebuchala wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Xoxk9 wrote: »
    .
    These recolors are definitely patch worthy :D:'( Some of the CAS stuff is just recolors of old meshes. I'm sad. Should have just been patched in

    Someone (A Maxis employee) still put in time and effort to make those textures and designs. So should he not get paid for it? Im sure he did it on the clock, and billed the hours.

    I'm sure that person still gets paid. The sales revenue does not go directly to creators and developers.

    Regardless of where the money goes, the charge for the work still goes towards the product budget, which is limited. Though, as small as this pack is, it seems like the gameplay item would have to have a lot of attention to it to make up for the low number of items we seem to be getting in this pack.

    Well if the ep is so lacking - there's the sp taking up the slack.... is all I can say.

    Next time maybe they won't come in and take up the slack then we'll just be lacking stuff. Wouldn't blame the sp team at all after this is they steered totally away from the other packs.

    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.

    In dreams - I LIVE!
    In REALITY, I simply exist.....

  • bluzkat65bluzkat65 Posts: 483 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    I do hope those putting up a fit over the small pets pack were none of the people wanting small pets and complaining about not getting them.

    We all knew from day one - the devs made it clear - that Sims 4 would not be Sims 1,2, or 3 - so even though they never once said anything differently people still keep comparing to Sims 1, 2, and 3. It is simply people refuse to listen at what the Maxis people tell you - so when things are very different in how they make the packs - there is always an uproar of voices shouting money grab or Sims 1 - or 2 - or 3 wasn't like this.

    I say - well the devs told you in September of 2014 Sims 4 would not be like those games - they were going back to the roots and basically redoing the game - we could at most think of Sims 4 as a parallel universe but not part of the Sims 1, 2, and 3 trilogy directions.

    They cannot help it that after almost 4 years people still choose to compare or get upset when the game again follows a new direction. No matter how much any of us liked the old direction - they made it clear - remember all that talk about "Their Vision and the new direction they visualized for the sims. How they wanted the game so the players had more options by giving them more packs choices.

    I see them still following their vision - and they are giving player choices - so yes I can fully see them separating the animals in packs just like they are separating supernaturals. It's their vision and all the fussing in the world is not going to change that.

    If you want small pets - well you have the option to have them - other wise you don't get small pets.

    I just think people in general don not like or accept change - regardless of how many times the devs tell us "THINGS Change" or bring up their vision.

    I don't know - I still love the Sims so yeah - I also like different pets to for some families. Like real life dogs and cats are not allowable every where humans live - so I carry that in my game. Pets for apt dwellers is a good choice and for heaven sakes it's only 10 dollars....

    It doesn't matter that its only 10 dollars. Its the principle. Also not a good thing to say to a community where the target fan base is teenagers.

    Forget about sims 1-3 for a second. Lets pretend they don't exist.

    Now lets go back to the scenario we are in now with content that could easily have made it into the cat and dog expansion didn't. Instead the cries of "can we have small pets please?" before release are ignored. (Also happened)

    Now you discover that small pets are happening, but you find out its not a lot of small pets its one rodent re skinned, furniture very similar to the expansion, clothes for pets (many which are already in the game but just made for pets) and the company want an extra 10 bucks off you.
    I remember you saying a few months ago (as did I) that you suspected small pets would be added later. Is this the form in which you had in mind? Stuff pack per creature type, four months after the event? Because I'll be honest while the bar is low with EA, I think they have dug a trench this time.
    I would have accepted small pets (not just rodents!) in a game pack. I don't accept hamsters and re used cruel pet costumes. That is a cash grab. But they know their audience and they expect to get away with it.

    I love the Sims that doesn't mean I cheer wildly every time they do something and I just accept it. Loving the game doesn't mean opening my wallet blindly. Loving the game means wanting the best for it and for it to be given the love and support it deserves, not turned into a cash cow.

    Before toddlers came out and you didn't like the game that much, would you have applauded this move? I'm genuinely curious.

    I would not have noticed seeing I stopped buying and went back to Sims 3. When I got a notice about toddlers - I came back and true to my word I bought up ALL the packs I had not gotten that very day we got the toddlers. I was also happy when packs came out for the toddlers. In fact I would love to have more toddler packs - clothes, hairs, furniture. So yes -since I did get toddlers which was my happy place - I appreciate more packs - especially when they are just 10 dollars.

    I also know each kind of pack has an animation budget the devs cannot exceed - and they could not have added any more animation to the EP even had they wanted to. Like they said - they had a choice of more pets or the Vet Career. Well people have been begging for a having a vet and being a vet since Sims 2 so they chose the Vet Career. More pets were not possible - period once that was decided.

    A vet career could not be in a stuff pack - as Graham has said he could not even have a pet shop or a laundromat or anything like those in a stuff pack but he could provide these few pets, so he did. I am glad he made the choice.

    But to get to your point - I would not have had any opinion on pets at all had they not delivered toddlers as I was technically done, so I probably wouldn't have known period. I am a family player and that is just the way it is. My sims kids need a Hedgehog and Gerbil.

    Thank you! You hit it right out of the ball park for me. Love your posts!
  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    edited March 2018
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ebuchala wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Xoxk9 wrote: »
    .
    These recolors are definitely patch worthy :D:'( Some of the CAS stuff is just recolors of old meshes. I'm sad. Should have just been patched in

    Someone (A Maxis employee) still put in time and effort to make those textures and designs. So should he not get paid for it? Im sure he did it on the clock, and billed the hours.

    I'm sure that person still gets paid. The sales revenue does not go directly to creators and developers.

    Regardless of where the money goes, the charge for the work still goes towards the product budget, which is limited. Though, as small as this pack is, it seems like the gameplay item would have to have a lot of attention to it to make up for the low number of items we seem to be getting in this pack.

    Well if the ep is so lacking - there's the sp taking up the slack.... is all I can say.

    Next time maybe they won't come in and take up the slack then we'll just be lacking stuff. Wouldn't blame the sp team at all after this is they steered totally away from the other packs.

    Or maybe next time they'll just make a complete EP. Wouldn't that be great?

    But the complaining is about the sp - so don't count on it. Graham is the one who converses and pays attention to the players and who puts his heart and soul into his packs. He's the one probably getting the grief. It's not right.

    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.

    In dreams - I LIVE!
    In REALITY, I simply exist.....

  • sundaysimmersundaysimmer Posts: 201 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ebuchala wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Xoxk9 wrote: »
    .
    These recolors are definitely patch worthy :D:'( Some of the CAS stuff is just recolors of old meshes. I'm sad. Should have just been patched in

    Someone (A Maxis employee) still put in time and effort to make those textures and designs. So should he not get paid for it? Im sure he did it on the clock, and billed the hours.

    I'm sure that person still gets paid. The sales revenue does not go directly to creators and developers.

    Regardless of where the money goes, the charge for the work still goes towards the product budget, which is limited. Though, as small as this pack is, it seems like the gameplay item would have to have a lot of attention to it to make up for the low number of items we seem to be getting in this pack.

    Well if the ep is so lacking - there's the sp taking up the slack.... is all I can say.

    Next time maybe they won't come in and take up the slack then we'll just be lacking stuff. Wouldn't blame the sp team at all after this is they steered totally away from the other packs.

    Or maybe next time they'll just make a complete EP. Wouldn't that be great?

    But the complaining is about the sp - so don't count on it. Graham is the one who converses and pays attention to the players and who puts his heart and soul into his packs.

    That's not true. The criticism targets a much bigger problem that is merely highlighted by the SP.

    I like Graham and the team but I believe they got caught in the middle of a decision that was out of their hands. They tried to make the best of this pack as they always do but it's showing that something's off. And this something is what people are upset about.
    Favourite TS1 packs: Superstar, Makin' Magic. Favourite TS2 packs: University, Open for Business, Seasons, Apartment Life. Favourite TS3 packs: Generations, Seasons, University Life. Favourite TS4 packs: Get Together, Cats & Dogs, Seasons, Island Living, Discover University.
  • KaeChan2089KaeChan2089 Posts: 4,944 Member
    Seems like to me, no matter how much we complain, riot, dislike...they aren't gonna to respond or do a darn thing...I honestly think they could care less if you dislike it, because they are gonna get your money...I hate being rude, but it honestly feels like it. And if you don't praise and compliment it they could care less..
  • ebuchalaebuchala Posts: 4,945 Member
    ebuchala wrote: »
    Oddzball wrote: »
    Xoxk9 wrote: »
    .
    These recolors are definitely patch worthy :D:'( Some of the CAS stuff is just recolors of old meshes. I'm sad. Should have just been patched in

    Someone (A Maxis employee) still put in time and effort to make those textures and designs. So should he not get paid for it? Im sure he did it on the clock, and billed the hours.

    I'm sure that person still gets paid. The sales revenue does not go directly to creators and developers.

    Regardless of where the money goes, the charge for the work still goes towards the product budget, which is limited. Though, as small as this pack is, it seems like the gameplay item would have to have a lot of attention to it to make up for the low number of items we seem to be getting in this pack.

    I doubt that the entire sales revenue goes to the production budget. That way, EA wouldn't make any profit at all.

    I don't know how big their margins are but I'm going to assume they're big enough to keep investors happy.

    Sorry, I wasn't clear on that--the employee who tallies how much time they spent on the recolor is going to post that cost to the pack being made. In other words, the charge for that work is still being calculated as part of the product budget which means it still counts toward the max budget for the product. I wasn't referring to how much we pay or how much they make on the pack, which is going to be considerably more, in total, than the labor cost that goes into producing it.
    Origin ID: ebuchala
    I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
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