Look on the bright side. We got 350 new swatches for base game doors.
Which I for one am very happy about, especially the additional swatches for gender neutral doors and the gender neutral bathroom door for Spa Day. I've been enjoying remodeling my venues with the new bathroom doors.
It's possible that they had some issues with some of the interactions and the lounge chairs, and rather than leave out lounge chairs altogether they went with what they had so they can continue to work on them, and patch in additional interactions later on. They're not sitting around in their cubicles wondering, "Hmmm, what can we leave out and make the community even more frustrated?"
I always love how people are like "im so happy" which is fine. But what about the thousands of others who arent. Do only the happy people matter? What about adding choices?
"Let Our Hearts And Hands Be Streched Out In Compassion Toward Others."
Look on the bright side. We got 350 new swatches for base game doors.
Which I for one am very happy about, especially the additional swatches for gender neutral doors and the gender neutral bathroom door for Spa Day. I've been enjoying remodeling my venues with the new bathroom doors.
It's possible that they had some issues with some of the interactions and the lounge chairs, and rather than leave out lounge chairs altogether they went with what they had so they can continue to work on them, and patch in additional interactions later on. They're not sitting around in their cubicles wondering, "Hmmm, what can we leave out and make the community even more frustrated?"
No. Just, no. When I am at work, I don't get to just "go with what I have" and work on it later. I can either put out finished quality work the first time around, or I get fired. Plain and simple, no ifs, ands, or buts.
It is incredible how much you can feel disappointed when you're expecting nothing. It is even more incredible to see just how little people are willing to accept from a multi-billion dollar video game developer. Yes, trade-offs will always exist in development, but come on. This is ridiculous. There are plenty of things that are wrong with this game, and a lot of it has to do with some of the people in this community just settling for less. Or at the very least, some people here settle for less until the feature they want gets added in a watered-down fashion.
Sometimes, it seems as if EA really is producing a game for pre-teens who are impressed by all manner of sparkly things. I wish that there were less flash and more substance. I'm not trying to put anyone out of work, exactly. However, I would give my eye teeth if EA would hire another animator instead of more visual FX. Just sayin'.
Take Island Living, for example. As beautiful as it is, the EP is, once again, mainly full of visual effects. I would have preferred a hula dance, romantic couple dancing, or proper lounging to what amounts to sparkles and flames, shooting out of an 'aqua zip's' backside, or flower petals that magically emanate from a boat sail. Although those things are pretty, they also add nothing to the gameplay.
With each new pack, I expect new systems and animations that enhance and expand on gameplay. Also, they should be usable in all worlds, at any time. More and more, EA seems to be veering away from the concept.
I don't know why exactly. But EA is really doing the absolute least with the Sims 4. I mean, seriously. I thought this game was supposed to be a multitask'ers heaven.
They set the bar so......sooooooo....lowwwww. Its crazy because I like this game, I really , really do. Personally. But they sure do make it hard to become excited for , when all they do is cut corners and compromise every little thing.
Just laying there on a lounge without talking at all to anyone is immersion ruining. Complete nonsense.
Yes seriously to everything you said. I literally feel like my sims going through so many emotions from the leak, to the announcement, to the game changers stuff, to the actual finish product. Excited, overjoyed, feeling less happy but everything else is ok right?? (diving, no hotels, lifeguard rabbit hole) and then flat out disappointment with the lounge chairs. It not like the lounge chairs alone is frustrating, it is like it was yet another let down. I don't know maybe if they started talking the sims might have start swapping chairs over and over.
Oh my gosh, now I'm reading that the lifeguard career is a rabbit hole as well?!?? We can't even see our lifeguard sims rescue people??? One of the nice things about this career is you can have your lifeguard sim do other things in between rescues, like get to know the people who come to the beach, work out on gym equipment (if you place gym equipment of course), paint, build sand castles, anything else that you put on that beach! As you leveled up, your reaction time and swimming got faster too. Bummed out that this isn't an active career!
I wish the lounge chair had more functionality, but at least you finally have it. One more thing to cross off the list!
Look on the bright side. We got 350 new swatches for base game doors.
Which I for one am very happy about, especially the additional swatches for gender neutral doors and the gender neutral bathroom door for Spa Day. I've been enjoying remodeling my venues with the new bathroom doors.
It's possible that they had some issues with some of the interactions and the lounge chairs, and rather than leave out lounge chairs altogether they went with what they had so they can continue to work on them, and patch in additional interactions later on. They're not sitting around in their cubicles wondering, "Hmmm, what can we leave out and make the community even more frustrated?"
Please stop with this. The studio has not said anything like that. The only thing they have said is that the loungers do exactly what they are designed to do. No mention of updating them later on, and frankly I find it really bizarre for any player to be making such claims on behalf of the studio. You do not speak for Maxis! People need to start acknowledging poor work, which is all this is. They led players on for years with what these things would require and how costly that would be for them, and then they did not deliver on that at all.
Last note your right they aren’t sitting in their cubicles thinking of how to frustrate players, they are sitting there scrolling twitter, liking tweets, tweeting, and interacting with the game changers.
It is incredible how much you can feel disappointed when you're expecting nothing. It is even more incredible to see just how little people are willing to accept from a multi-billion dollar video game developer. Yes, trade-offs will always exist in development, but come on. This is ridiculous. There are plenty of things that are wrong with this game, and a lot of it has to do with some of the people in this community just settling for less. Or at the very least, some people here settle for less until the feature they want gets added in a watered-down fashion.
Sometimes, it seems as if EA really is producing a game for pre-teens who are impressed by all manner of sparkly things. I wish that there were less flash and more substance. I'm not trying to put anyone out of work, exactly. However, I would give my eye teeth if EA would hire another animator instead of more visual FX. Just sayin'.
Take Island Living, for example. As beautiful as it is, the EP is, once again, mainly full of visual effects. I would have preferred a hula dance, romantic couple dancing, or proper lounging to what amounts to sparkles and flames, shooting out of an 'aqua zip's' backside, or flower petals that magically emanate from a boat sail. Although those things are pretty, they also add nothing to the gameplay.
With each new pack, I expect new systems and animations that enhance and expand on gameplay. Also, they should be usable in all worlds, at any time. More and more, EA seems to be veering away from the concept.
It's a pity.
YES!! This says it all right here. Less flash more substance.
Look on the bright side. We got 350 new swatches for base game doors.
Which I for one am very happy about, especially the additional swatches for gender neutral doors and the gender neutral bathroom door for Spa Day. I've been enjoying remodeling my venues with the new bathroom doors.
It's possible that they had some issues with some of the interactions and the lounge chairs, and rather than leave out lounge chairs altogether they went with what they had so they can continue to work on them, and patch in additional interactions later on. They're not sitting around in their cubicles wondering, "Hmmm, what can we leave out and make the community even more frustrated?"
Please stop with this. The studio has not said anything like that. The only thing they have said is that the loungers do exactly what they are designed to do. No mention of updating them later on, and frankly I find it really bizarre for any player to be making such claims on behalf of the studio. You do not speak for Maxis! People need to start acknowledging poor work, which is all this is. They led players on for years with what these things would require and how costly that would be for them, and then they did not deliver on that at all.
Last note your right they aren’t sitting in their cubicles thinking of how to frustrate players, they are sitting there scrolling twitter, liking tweets, tweeting, and interacting with the game changers.
HA!! YES!! I don't even have to type anymore because you and @Cynna are speaking my mind.
People beg for them and finally get them and you still complain. I say yay my pools have lounge chairs.
I've been on lots of vacations in my life and when i see lounge chairs it is usually parents sitting in them watching their kids - in between playing with them in the pools. They get some sun and relax and just watch - occasionally having an island drink - well much like i see here.
Even more directly this is not a vacation - but an island to live on - and even more often do we just sit and sun in our lounge chairs keeping an active eye on the kiddies - not partying away - but watchful of our offspring like good parents do.
"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.....
People beg for them and finally get them and you still complain. I say yay my pools have lounge chairs.
I've been on lots of vacations in my life and when i see lounge chairs it is usually parents sitting in them watching their kids - in between playing with them in the pools. They get some sun and relax and just watch - occasionally having an island drink - well much like i see here.
Even more directly this is not a vacation - but an island to live on - and even more often do we just sit and sun in our lounge chairs keeping an active eye on the kiddies - not partying away - but watchful of our offspring like good parents do.
How dare people complain about a completely half-hearted attempt at lounge chairs! How dare they expect multitasking in TS4! How dare they want to live out their life where they read and talk on lounge chairs! How dare they want to use the new beach world as vacation world!
Lounge chairs should have been fully functional or not at all. Otherwise it does scream lazy I’m sorry. Multi tasking is one if the games biggest “features”
But never mind eh? it will be updated in two years and people will jump for joy.
Look on the bright side. We got 350 new swatches for base game doors.
Which I for one am very happy about, especially the additional swatches for gender neutral doors and the gender neutral bathroom door for Spa Day. I've been enjoying remodeling my venues with the new bathroom doors.
It's possible that they had some issues with some of the interactions and the lounge chairs, and rather than leave out lounge chairs altogether they went with what they had so they can continue to work on them, and patch in additional interactions later on. They're not sitting around in their cubicles wondering, "Hmmm, what can we leave out and make the community even more frustrated?"
Please stop with this. The studio has not said anything like that. The only thing they have said is that the loungers do exactly what they are designed to do. No mention of updating them later on, and frankly I find it really bizarre for any player to be making such claims on behalf of the studio. You do not speak for Maxis! People need to start acknowledging poor work, which is all this is. They led players on for years with what these things would require and how costly that would be for them, and then they did not deliver on that at all.
Last note your right they aren’t sitting in their cubicles thinking of how to frustrate players, they are sitting there scrolling twitter, liking tweets, tweeting, and interacting with the game changers.
Thank you. I am glad someone said this. Way too much time spent on likes and clicks.
The lounger was the least disappointment, but the announcement hype about the chance of Sim losing their bathings when swimming was the biggest joke. All you get is the info moodlet that your sim lost its bikini or what not, but nothing. Sim hasn‘t lost anything nor has he/she reacted in any kind of way. Just the info and that‘s it. Same as lounger hype - sitting and staring at the concrete - oh yeah right, it was free.
Wait! They don't get naked???
...
Anyway, what should they have removed so they could have done lounge chairs right? ... Bear with me here! They should have postponed ... mermaids. Don't be mad! They should have reserved mermaids for their own game pack with a small underwater world where mermaids could live in actual underwater homes! Mermaids deserve it!!!
Then they could allow non-rabbit-hole diving for regular Sims, who might meet a mermaid down there.
It is incredible how much you can feel disappointed when you're expecting nothing. It is even more incredible to see just how little people are willing to accept from a multi-billion dollar video game developer. Yes, trade-offs will always exist in development, but come on. This is ridiculous. There are plenty of things that are wrong with this game, and a lot of it has to do with some of the people in this community just settling for less. Or at the very least, some people here settle for less until the feature they want gets added in a watered-down fashion.
I agree but it is more about some willing to settle for less so they believe their system will run better even if the features they do not want bring more to the table.
Post edited by Goldmoldar on
AMD 2700X 16 GB AMD Radeon 590 8 GB Rosewill Rise Full Tower SB THX Trustudio LG Ultrawide 34"
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It is incredible how much you can feel disappointed when you're expecting nothing. It is even more incredible to see just how little people are willing to accept from a multi-billion dollar video game developer. Yes, trade-offs will always exist in development, but come on. This is ridiculous. There are plenty of things that are wrong with this game, and a lot of it has to do with some of the people in this community just settling for less. Or at the very least, some people here settle for less until the feature they want gets added in a watered-down fashion.
Sometimes, it seems as if EA really is producing a game for pre-teens who are impressed by all manner of sparkly things. I wish that there were less flash and more substance. I'm not trying to put anyone out of work, exactly. However, I would give my eye teeth if EA would hire another animator instead of more visual FX. Just sayin'.
Take Island Living, for example. As beautiful as it is, the EP is, once again, mainly full of visual effects. I would have preferred a hula dance, romantic couple dancing, or proper lounging to what amounts to sparkles and flames, shooting out of an 'aqua zip's' backside, or flower petals that magically emanate from a boat sail. Although those things are pretty, they also add nothing to the gameplay.
With each new pack, I expect new systems and animations that enhance and expand on gameplay. Also, they should be usable in all worlds, at any time. More and more, EA seems to be veering away from the concept.
It's a pity.
I remember when they said the FX team was creating work for themselves to do because they had nothing else to do and some players got upset because some of us wondered why not make adjustments to have fewer people on the FX team use that money to hire another dev. Some Sims 4 fans talked about how mean it was that we'd want someone's job taken away. It's amazing to me how when EA is making cash grabs with The Sims 4 by piecemealing content or putting out less or downgraded content 'it's a business' is acceptable (only with The Sims 4 though, it wasn't acceptable in the past), but when we talk about allocating resources better in The Sims 4 'it's a business' is forgotten.
And another thing brought up that's been talked about from the start. Why the sacrifices and cuts when The Sims franchise, or even just The Sims 4 alone according to them is in the billion mark? From the very beginning of The Sims 4 stuff just hasn't been adding up and their explanations raise more questions than answers but those of us who question it are complainers and haters. From the beginning there have been so many players defending their choices and making excuses for the devs and EA that I have to do a Google search to see what the actual makers of the game said about their own decisions.
I know there are people who love this game, no one is saying there aren't. If you enjoy it then good, I would hope you do, but I don't understand why it's suddenly okay to turn a blind eye to faults in the game just because you personally got what you wanted, you don't care about certain things, the game works for you, or you love it.
I'm completely with you on the part in bold too. It's actually what I hope for with each new iteration too. They're so focused on appearances and trying to be cool, popular and modern instead of focusing on the actual substance that made the game cool and popular in the first place.
It’s by design simgurunick asked when someone tweeted him about it. They can drink drinks while relaxing but cannot read or talk to others. I wish they could but hopefully it will be added. At least they are in the game now.
Let's look at lounge chairs as an example. If the question is... "Are lounge chairs a compelling enough feature to spend X% of time of a Stuff Pack's overall capacity to implement them?" then the answer we've reached is "No." In this case, the work required to implement lounge chairs would mean that they might be the only new functional object in that pack, if they even fit within scope at all. Numerous players have expressed that something along the lines of new sitting animations doesn't qualify as new gameplay in their minds, which reinforces our decision that a lounge chair probably isn't the right choice to focus a stuff pack around. In a Game Pack or Expansion Pack which has a larger overall bucket of time/development resources to fill, a lounge chair represents a much smaller percentage of that overall capacity, and the argument for their inclusion becomes more compelling.
The lounger was the least disappointment, but the announcement hype about the chance of Sim losing their bathings when swimming was the biggest joke. All you get is the info moodlet that your sim lost its bikini or what not, but nothing. Sim hasn‘t lost anything nor has he/she reacted in any kind of way. Just the info and that‘s it. Same as lounger hype - sitting and staring at the concrete - oh yeah right, it was free.
Wait! They don't get naked???
...
Anyway, what should they have removed so they could have done lounge chairs right? ... Bear with me here! They should have postponed ... mermaids. Don't be mad! They should have reserved mermaids for their own game pack with a small underwater world where mermaids could live in actual underwater homes! Mermaids deserve it!!!
Then they could allow non-rabbit-hole diving for regular Sims, who might meet a mermaid down there.
One of the core tenets of The Sims 4 is support for multitasking across the board, so it isn't acceptable to us to ship objects that you'd expect to work well with multitasking - such as a lounge chair - and limit them to a specific subset of animations or interactions.
Sure The Sims Studio did the right choice because it's a very minor object, there were more important features to do.
But it was a mistake to make us believe it could be more than that.
Finally we could get some lounge chairs in a Stuff Pack from the beginning because it's a basegame content.
Sure The Sims Studio did the right choice because it's a very minor object, there were more important features to do.
But it was a mistake to make us believe it could be more than that.
Finally we could get some lounge chairs in a Stuff Pack from the beginning because it's a basegame content.
But a lot of minor objects with low functionality mount up to a lot of emptiness in this game. TS2 is rich because even minor objects had great detailed animations attached to them. TS3 lost some of it but it had the open world and the greatest amount of creative freedom. TS4 on the other hand has lost so much. The terrible thing is that it doesn't have anything unique or great to make up for the losses.
So please stop downplaying the minor things because they ARE adding up to palpably felt losses in the game.
One of the core tenets of The Sims 4 is support for multitasking across the board, so it isn't acceptable to us to ship objects that you'd expect to work well with multitasking - such as a lounge chair - and limit them to a specific subset of animations or interactions.
Amazing how circumstances seem to change when it’s convenient for them.
I fail to see how The Sims FreePlay is relevant to this discussion.
That game is, as far as I'm aware, developed by a team that is separate from the team that develops The Sims 4. And last time I checked, FreePlay is for phones and tablets which have hardware that is still inferior to the hardware of PCs in spite of recent technological advances. If the PC version of a game is somehow not able to be more advanced and sophisticated than a game built for phones, tablets, and even consoles for that matter, then that is truly appalling.
Just I guess The Sims Studio have no other choice, the revenue is certainly used by EA to cover the money loss of Anthem and the other games...
They did the best they could do with the resources they've got.
I totally blame this on the leadership which changed in 2013. That new leadership took their customers for granted that we're just stupid gamers and will buy anything even if it's poorly done like TS4 and Anthem. The old leadership was ruthless with the game studios they bought and would close them down if they felt it wasn't producing profitable games (I'm still crying over Pandemic *choke* *sob*), but at least they funded games that were of higher quality, sales longevity, and garnered customer loyalty and trust. But the new leadership destroyed all that in only a matter of a few years and are now facing the consequences of it.
I hope they learned to get back to what made The Sims series great. None of the previous iterations took short cuts and were all very well funded by the old leadership, hiring people who had great vision for the life sim game (like scuba diving and all the water activities - that was amazing and to this day I can't thank enough whoever came up with that!). If they make a high quality TS5 that's well funded, is stuffed full of great gameplay and features in every pack like they used to, then I PROMISE them, they will make a TON of money and recuperate their investment in that game many times over!
Comments
I always love how people are like "im so happy" which is fine. But what about the thousands of others who arent. Do only the happy people matter? What about adding choices?
No. Just, no. When I am at work, I don't get to just "go with what I have" and work on it later. I can either put out finished quality work the first time around, or I get fired. Plain and simple, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Sometimes, it seems as if EA really is producing a game for pre-teens who are impressed by all manner of sparkly things. I wish that there were less flash and more substance. I'm not trying to put anyone out of work, exactly. However, I would give my eye teeth if EA would hire another animator instead of more visual FX. Just sayin'.
Take Island Living, for example. As beautiful as it is, the EP is, once again, mainly full of visual effects. I would have preferred a hula dance, romantic couple dancing, or proper lounging to what amounts to sparkles and flames, shooting out of an 'aqua zip's' backside, or flower petals that magically emanate from a boat sail. Although those things are pretty, they also add nothing to the gameplay.
With each new pack, I expect new systems and animations that enhance and expand on gameplay. Also, they should be usable in all worlds, at any time. More and more, EA seems to be veering away from the concept.
It's a pity.
Oh my gosh, now I'm reading that the lifeguard career is a rabbit hole as well?!?? We can't even see our lifeguard sims rescue people??? One of the nice things about this career is you can have your lifeguard sim do other things in between rescues, like get to know the people who come to the beach, work out on gym equipment (if you place gym equipment of course), paint, build sand castles, anything else that you put on that beach! As you leveled up, your reaction time and swimming got faster too. Bummed out that this isn't an active career!
I wish the lounge chair had more functionality, but at least you finally have it. One more thing to cross off the list!
Please stop with this. The studio has not said anything like that. The only thing they have said is that the loungers do exactly what they are designed to do. No mention of updating them later on, and frankly I find it really bizarre for any player to be making such claims on behalf of the studio. You do not speak for Maxis! People need to start acknowledging poor work, which is all this is. They led players on for years with what these things would require and how costly that would be for them, and then they did not deliver on that at all.
Last note your right they aren’t sitting in their cubicles thinking of how to frustrate players, they are sitting there scrolling twitter, liking tweets, tweeting, and interacting with the game changers.
YES!! This says it all right here. Less flash more substance.
HA!! YES!! I don't even have to type anymore because you and @Cynna are speaking my mind.
People beg for them and finally get them and you still complain. I say yay my pools have lounge chairs.
I've been on lots of vacations in my life and when i see lounge chairs it is usually parents sitting in them watching their kids - in between playing with them in the pools. They get some sun and relax and just watch - occasionally having an island drink - well much like i see here.
Even more directly this is not a vacation - but an island to live on - and even more often do we just sit and sun in our lounge chairs keeping an active eye on the kiddies - not partying away - but watchful of our offspring like good parents do.
"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.....
How dare people complain about a completely half-hearted attempt at lounge chairs! How dare they expect multitasking in TS4! How dare they want to live out their life where they read and talk on lounge chairs! How dare they want to use the new beach world as vacation world!
But never mind eh? it will be updated in two years and people will jump for joy.
Thank you. I am glad someone said this. Way too much time spent on likes and clicks.
Wait! They don't get naked???
...
Anyway, what should they have removed so they could have done lounge chairs right? ... Bear with me here! They should have postponed ... mermaids. Don't be mad! They should have reserved mermaids for their own game pack with a small underwater world where mermaids could live in actual underwater homes! Mermaids deserve it!!!
Then they could allow non-rabbit-hole diving for regular Sims, who might meet a mermaid down there.
Win-win-win!!!
My new blog, currently sharing tS3 Twinbrook rotation
Sims Crush: Kyle Shalom
I agree but it is more about some willing to settle for less so they believe their system will run better even if the features they do not want bring more to the table.
Intel 6700K 16 GB ASUS RTX 2070 Strix 8 GB Stryker Full Tower SB Z-Series Samsung Curved 32"
Sims 4 is just average but there is nothing innovative about it and I do not see no breakthough moments as well.
Intel 6700K 16 GB ASUS RTX 2070 Strix 8 GB Stryker Full Tower SB Z-Series Samsung Curved 32"
I remember when they said the FX team was creating work for themselves to do because they had nothing else to do and some players got upset because some of us wondered why not make adjustments to have fewer people on the FX team use that money to hire another dev. Some Sims 4 fans talked about how mean it was that we'd want someone's job taken away. It's amazing to me how when EA is making cash grabs with The Sims 4 by piecemealing content or putting out less or downgraded content 'it's a business' is acceptable (only with The Sims 4 though, it wasn't acceptable in the past), but when we talk about allocating resources better in The Sims 4 'it's a business' is forgotten.
And another thing brought up that's been talked about from the start. Why the sacrifices and cuts when The Sims franchise, or even just The Sims 4 alone according to them is in the billion mark? From the very beginning of The Sims 4 stuff just hasn't been adding up and their explanations raise more questions than answers but those of us who question it are complainers and haters. From the beginning there have been so many players defending their choices and making excuses for the devs and EA that I have to do a Google search to see what the actual makers of the game said about their own decisions.
I know there are people who love this game, no one is saying there aren't. If you enjoy it then good, I would hope you do, but I don't understand why it's suddenly okay to turn a blind eye to faults in the game just because you personally got what you wanted, you don't care about certain things, the game works for you, or you love it.
I'm completely with you on the part in bold too. It's actually what I hope for with each new iteration too. They're so focused on appearances and trying to be cool, popular and modern instead of focusing on the actual substance that made the game cool and popular in the first place.
... in 2016 ...
They do get naked.
But it was a mistake to make us believe it could be more than that.
Finally we could get some lounge chairs in a Stuff Pack from the beginning because it's a basegame content.
But a lot of minor objects with low functionality mount up to a lot of emptiness in this game. TS2 is rich because even minor objects had great detailed animations attached to them. TS3 lost some of it but it had the open world and the greatest amount of creative freedom. TS4 on the other hand has lost so much. The terrible thing is that it doesn't have anything unique or great to make up for the losses.
So please stop downplaying the minor things because they ARE adding up to palpably felt losses in the game.
I agree.
Just I guess The Sims Studio have no other choice, the revenue is certainly used by EA to cover the money loss of Anthem and the other games...
They did the best they could do with the resources they've got.
Amazing how circumstances seem to change when it’s convenient for them.
That game is, as far as I'm aware, developed by a team that is separate from the team that develops The Sims 4. And last time I checked, FreePlay is for phones and tablets which have hardware that is still inferior to the hardware of PCs in spite of recent technological advances. If the PC version of a game is somehow not able to be more advanced and sophisticated than a game built for phones, tablets, and even consoles for that matter, then that is truly appalling.
I totally blame this on the leadership which changed in 2013. That new leadership took their customers for granted that we're just stupid gamers and will buy anything even if it's poorly done like TS4 and Anthem. The old leadership was ruthless with the game studios they bought and would close them down if they felt it wasn't producing profitable games (I'm still crying over Pandemic *choke* *sob*), but at least they funded games that were of higher quality, sales longevity, and garnered customer loyalty and trust. But the new leadership destroyed all that in only a matter of a few years and are now facing the consequences of it.
I hope they learned to get back to what made The Sims series great. None of the previous iterations took short cuts and were all very well funded by the old leadership, hiring people who had great vision for the life sim game (like scuba diving and all the water activities - that was amazing and to this day I can't thank enough whoever came up with that!). If they make a high quality TS5 that's well funded, is stuffed full of great gameplay and features in every pack like they used to, then I PROMISE them, they will make a TON of money and recuperate their investment in that game many times over!