I doubt it, too. But TS3 might still be selling the packs another five or so years. I just don't see them retiring that one and ending support for it, (Origin and EA) like they did recently for TS2UC.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
3 months old and half off already, that's VERY telling about the state at which this game is in right about now...
Or that people don't buy packs in those stores as much anymore.
What does it say about GF that I got it for 5€ in May? Just that the retailer was offloading the last remaining copies they had in store.
Well that's not good either! (Although a great deal for you and I definitely would pay that price )
They produce copies based on projected sales. If they have a lot left over, that's either poor business management (which wouldn't shock me either) or people are just tired of their crap and not just buying everything thrown at them anymore. Either way is not good.
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
3 months old and half off already, that's VERY telling about the state at which this game is in right about now...
Or that people don't buy packs in those stores as much anymore.
What does it say about GF that I got it for 5€ in May? Just that the retailer was offloading the last remaining copies they had in store.
Well that's not good either! (Although a great deal for you and I definitely would pay that price )
They produce copies based on projected sales. If they have a lot left over, that's either poor business management (which wouldn't shock me either) or people are just tired of their plum and not just buying everything thrown at them anymore. Either way is not good.
Nah, it's more like people don't buy PC games (well, codes in boxes) in stores anymore when a big amount of them can be bought through places like Origin and Steam and such. The local GameStop barely carries PC titles anymore (they don't even have a shelf for them in the physical store anymore, you need to ask). It's very much not exclusive to TS3.
In the case of GF, it was the last copy in-store (much to my daughter's dismay, since we don't share an account). Since TS4 game packs and stuff packs don't come in physical boxes anymore, people just buy everything off Origin or get the codes online because full physical collections are not possible anymore. In turn, stores try to shift the stock with sales or don't stock what people get elsewhere (the place where I got GF never got IL at all). On the other hand, bundles of the base game + an EP haven't gone down in price more than maybe twice, by the tiniest amount.
For what it's worth, it's on sale now, locally, but so are several Bethesda games and others. In my experience, retail prices are set deliberately so that stores still make money even when they do a sale (this goes for more than just games) and it's a marketing tactic to run frequent sales: get the customer in for something "cheap" and currently popular, they'll buy something else too or come back for more. It's got nothing to do with the quality of the product.
Our stores have plenty of TS3 packs and very few TS4 packs. They may carry the TS4 (EPs only) but have less of them in stock. They seem to buy or carry more TS3 packs and they are still sold where I live. It may be some don't buy cds anymore because Windows 10 made sure to remove (in a patch for Windows 7 from MS) to disable being able to install older game's discs. That is a fact, Windows 10 totally blocks SafeDisk the DRM of older games and makes sure you can't install those discs. It is so everyone will download some app and or download installer like Origin, to put eveyrone on line so they can gather your data to sell to third party contractors. Those are facts, it's not that people don't want discs anymore, it's that people are forced (especially if you installed a particular patch for Windows 7 and the OS of 10) to buy online. MS is in contract with big game companies to force everyone to use apps and utilities that will not allow the install of discs and to buy from online markets. That is one reason people throw up their hands and just buy online. They are being manipulated to do it by Windows 10 removing the ablity to install some older games still on discs.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Yes, it's a general direction of technology to move to streaming and digital (much to my dismay, considering the subscription model is popular with companies and horrible for customers). Hardware is abolishing CD/DVD drives, software companies LOVE that because the subscription model gives them money and "graciously" allows customers use of the software. And no, it has nothing to do with what customers/players want.
People wanting or not wanting games on physical discs is a completely different conversation. For a multitude of games and software, physical copies no longer exist. You only get a code in a box if you buy it in a physical store (I think GTW was the only one that came with a CD aside from base game. Maybe GT too, I'm not sure.). Unlike TS3, with TS4 it's not a difference between a disc and a code, it's a difference between a code in an email or a code on a piece of paper. I would guess this is part of the reason why stores don't stock TS4 EPs anymore, since they're not really physical copies anyway.
As for TS3, I haven't seen a copy of it or any of the EPs in any of the local stores in a very long time (exception: used copies that you can't link to your Origin because the code's already been used). None of them have it available, not even in their online store database.
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
3 months old and half off already, that's VERY telling about the state at which this game is in right about now...
The game is on sale constantly across pc and console. That’s not a good sign either. How often do you see the sims 3 on sale? Rarely if ever on origin.
I play lots of games aside from the sims. The sims 4 is the most frequent on sale of them all.
True TS4 is always on sale somewhere.
Why don't they give away to TS3 playes who had a registered basegame, (anyone who does) the whole TS3 EP and SPs like they did TS2, because TS3 is still a cash cow. Some of the stores in my area still have the EPs at the same prices, lol, they were years ago, and sometimes, if Origin has an EP on sale for TS3 (or cheaper) it will be cheaper in the stores in my area. But some of that stuff cost just as much as it always did. That says to me, the reaosn they don't give it away as a legacy game of old, is because it still makes them a heap of money and funds other games for them.
True, Grant admitted on twitter that sims 3 is still making them money. I think it was in the context of “the game is from 2009 so it’s an achievement” kind of context. Which it is of course. But there are lots of games from around that time that still sell well. In ten years will the sims 4 still be selling well? I highly doubt it.
Sims 3 is still widely played -- if there were a real console port (and I understand why the ports aren't the PC game), it wouldn't surprise me if S3 passed S4 in sales. Steam, which is the least popular platform for the Sims, always has thousands of simmers playing on line. This doesn't include the steam players playing off line, the origin players, and the stubborns (wave) who are not updating past patch 1.67 so we can play without a launcher.
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3; they just know a lot do and their packs still sell decently. There's a reason why the Sims 3 store is still up and running and they're still doing their daily deals and other shenanigans. If the store wasn't making them $$, they would have closed it, or at least stopped doing the ever-changing, daily promos.
It's a good game, and with a good PC and proper fixes, you can avoid the issues that people had in the past with it. Maxis left the game in a deplorable state, there's no arguing that, but that's a problem with the company and their approach to bug fixes, not the core game itself.
Edit: I'd be surprised if people were still playing Sims 4 in 10 years. It doesn't seem to be much more popular than Sims 3 is, and that most likely won't change, and in 10 years most console players will be on the next generation.
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
3 months old and half off already, that's VERY telling about the state at which this game is in right about now...
The game is on sale constantly across pc and console. That’s not a good sign either. How often do you see the sims 3 on sale? Rarely if ever on origin.
I play lots of games aside from the sims. The sims 4 is the most frequent on sale of them all.
True TS4 is always on sale somewhere.
Why don't they give away to TS3 playes who had a registered basegame, (anyone who does) the whole TS3 EP and SPs like they did TS2, because TS3 is still a cash cow. Some of the stores in my area still have the EPs at the same prices, lol, they were years ago, and sometimes, if Origin has an EP on sale for TS3 (or cheaper) it will be cheaper in the stores in my area. But some of that stuff cost just as much as it always did. That says to me, the reaosn they don't give it away as a legacy game of old, is because it still makes them a heap of money and funds other games for them.
True, Grant admitted on twitter that sims 3 is still making them money. I think it was in the context of “the game is from 2009 so it’s an achievement” kind of context. Which it is of course. But there are lots of games from around that time that still sell well. In ten years will the sims 4 still be selling well? I highly doubt it.
Sims 3 is still widely played -- if there were a real console port (and I understand why the ports aren't the PC game), it wouldn't surprise me if S3 passed S4 in sales. Steam, which is the least popular of the way people play the Steam version, always has thousands of simmers playing on line. This doesn't include the steam players playing off line, the origin players, and the stubborns (wave) who are not updating past patch 1.67 so we can play without a launcher.
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3; they just know a lot do and their packs still sell decently. There's a reason why the Sims 3 store is still up and running and they're still doing their daily deals and other shenanigans. If the store wasn't making them $$, they would have closed it, or at least stopped doing the ever-changing, daily promos.
It's a good game, and with a good PC and proper fixes, you can avoid the issues that people had in the past with it. Maxis left the game in a deplorable state, there's no arguing that, but that's a problem with the company and their approach to bug fixes, not the core game itself.
Plus it’s a finished game. No more patches, no more additions that can break things (both features and mods).
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
3 months old and half off already, that's VERY telling about the state at which this game is in right about now...
The game is on sale constantly across pc and console. That’s not a good sign either. How often do you see the sims 3 on sale? Rarely if ever on origin.
I play lots of games aside from the sims. The sims 4 is the most frequent on sale of them all.
True TS4 is always on sale somewhere.
Why don't they give away to TS3 playes who had a registered basegame, (anyone who does) the whole TS3 EP and SPs like they did TS2, because TS3 is still a cash cow. Some of the stores in my area still have the EPs at the same prices, lol, they were years ago, and sometimes, if Origin has an EP on sale for TS3 (or cheaper) it will be cheaper in the stores in my area. But some of that stuff cost just as much as it always did. That says to me, the reaosn they don't give it away as a legacy game of old, is because it still makes them a heap of money and funds other games for them.
True, Grant admitted on twitter that sims 3 is still making them money. I think it was in the context of “the game is from 2009 so it’s an achievement” kind of context. Which it is of course. But there are lots of games from around that time that still sell well. In ten years will the sims 4 still be selling well? I highly doubt it.
Sims 3 is still widely played -- if there were a real console port (and I understand why the ports aren't the PC game), it wouldn't surprise me if S3 passed S4 in sales. Steam, which is the least popular of the way people play the Steam version, always has thousands of simmers playing on line. This doesn't include the steam players playing off line, the origin players, and the stubborns (wave) who are not updating past patch 1.67 so we can play without a launcher.
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3; they just know a lot do and their packs still sell decently. There's a reason why the Sims 3 store is still up and running and they're still doing their daily deals and other shenanigans. If the store wasn't making them $$, they would have closed it, or at least stopped doing the ever-changing, daily promos.
It's a good game, and with a good PC and proper fixes, you can avoid the issues that people had in the past with it. Maxis left the game in a deplorable state, there's no arguing that, but that's a problem with the company and their approach to bug fixes, not the core game itself.
Plus it’s a finished game. No more patches, no more additions that can break things (both features and mods).
That is major. I have Sims 3 in a stable state with a mod list that I like. No crashes, minimal lag. Really, Sims 3 runs better for me than Sims 4.
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
Wish I could have been this smart and saved my money. That pack was a rip off, I didn't wait for reviews at the time because I was so hopeful it would have about the same content level as Island Paradise. I regret buying it so much. This is why I'm not touching RoM with a 10 foot pole.
Yes truly!! I felt so ripped off, I still haven't picked up another pack since LOL Guess I will wait for sales going forward...
Well guys I stopped by the thread because I am definitely one of those simmers who is very bored with the game. I have been on an over a month break and literally had no real desire to come back and play until I saw this mod...LOL
Sacrificial has created a mod called The Sims 4 Life Tragedies. Finally, my sims will have some serious DRAMA with serious consequences!!!! It is suppose to be released to the public on October 14th but I have watched a few videos from xurbanx and some other people I don't really keep up with these you tubers but they are some of the more popular ones for simming. Anyway, the mod looks amazing fatal diseases, kidnapping, car accidents, armed robbery, Burglars that can break into your home, you can call the police or fight the burglars, bullying, you can play as a burglar and break into sims homes and steal and sims can call the police on your sim.
I was truly bored with this game because it was too easy and nothing bad EVER happened. I literally had to constantly create bad situations..well no more with this mod.
I agree @Cinebar. They wouldn’t play the sims makin magic as it would be too hard. But also because it doesn’t look pretty.
I heartily agree with both of you! The thought has occurred more than once that we need2 versions of the game, one for the wimps and one for the veterans that know how to think and create, that want meat and potatoes not pablum.
I don't think I could bear to get any more packs. Sims 4 as a whole bores me to tears. I prefer Sims 3, and will definitely choose to play Sims 3 on any given day. I chose to take a break from the legacy challenge in my current Sims 4 save, as I ran out of story ideas for my Simblr. Sims 3 will always be my favorite out of the entire Sims series.
I stopped purchasing packs, too. TS4: Island Living is half off at certain retailers, and I still can't bring myself to buy it. $20 for a world pack that offers nothing more than visuals is still too much. It could be $5 and I'd still have trouble convincing myself to get it.
3 months old and half off already, that's VERY telling about the state at which this game is in right about now...
The game is on sale constantly across pc and console. That’s not a good sign either. How often do you see the sims 3 on sale? Rarely if ever on origin.
I play lots of games aside from the sims. The sims 4 is the most frequent on sale of them all.
True TS4 is always on sale somewhere.
Why don't they give away to TS3 playes who had a registered basegame, (anyone who does) the whole TS3 EP and SPs like they did TS2, because TS3 is still a cash cow. Some of the stores in my area still have the EPs at the same prices, lol, they were years ago, and sometimes, if Origin has an EP on sale for TS3 (or cheaper) it will be cheaper in the stores in my area. But some of that stuff cost just as much as it always did. That says to me, the reaosn they don't give it away as a legacy game of old, is because it still makes them a heap of money and funds other games for them.
True, Grant admitted on twitter that sims 3 is still making them money. I think it was in the context of “the game is from 2009 so it’s an achievement” kind of context. Which it is of course. But there are lots of games from around that time that still sell well. In ten years will the sims 4 still be selling well? I highly doubt it.
Sims 3 is still widely played -- if there were a real console port (and I understand why the ports aren't the PC game), it wouldn't surprise me if S3 passed S4 in sales. Steam, which is the least popular of the way people play the Steam version, always has thousands of simmers playing on line. This doesn't include the steam players playing off line, the origin players, and the stubborns (wave) who are not updating past patch 1.67 so we can play without a launcher.
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3; they just know a lot do and their packs still sell decently. There's a reason why the Sims 3 store is still up and running and they're still doing their daily deals and other shenanigans. If the store wasn't making them $$, they would have closed it, or at least stopped doing the ever-changing, daily promos.
It's a good game, and with a good PC and proper fixes, you can avoid the issues that people had in the past with it. Maxis left the game in a deplorable state, there's no arguing that, but that's a problem with the company and their approach to bug fixes, not the core game itself.
Plus it’s a finished game. No more patches, no more additions that can break things (both features and mods).
That is major. I have Sims 3 in a stable state with a mod list that I like. No crashes, minimal lag. Really, Sims 3 runs better for me than Sims 4.
I’m the same. My sims 3 runs great, better than my sims 4 with no lag whereas ironically my sims 4 has the odd bout of simulation lag. Irony.
I'm not sure I even want a new game from Maxis and EA. I think we have seen the direction they want to go. Cloud saves, online only, focuses on identity rather than gameplay, mistakes made in every pack or they simply don't test other packs with a new pack and so previous packs get broken and people sit (like I do) waiting on fixes so they can get back to some option in a previous pack. Or just have to avoid an option and play something else in the game waiting on patches to fix a broken part. I'm not sure I would want to play Paralives' game, either, not really interested in having to reinstall Steam and load a dowloader to play yet again another game. I would like to see all these games disgard downloaders like Origin or Steam etc. I do miss the good old days when we just load a game, without having to go through a downloader program to get to it. I don't want to see money spent on all the bells and whistles of 'staying connected' to others and friends etc. Gaming is a private thing to me, it's why I prefer single player games. Annoying messaging, annoying interruptions, having to go through pages of settings to block so much stuff I find unnecessary for me to play a game. And set dressing isn't the best thing about games, though I suppose important but with TS4 it has become almost the only thing a lot of time and money seems to be spent upon. Like in CL, a lot of work must have went into the backdrops of the world (like Spice District) with the 'agents' walking around in the back ground to make it give an impression of a busy urban area, but that's about as far as the gameplay goes. Not much you can do there you can't do anywhere else, buy food and eat.
It seems the worlds as small as they are seem to be the focus like that new lot in ROM, instead of the depth of any sort of new gameplay, just reused potions used as magic tricks to perform. But probably a lot of expense to get that all to look like a floating world.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Totally with you on that. I fondly remember the days when one had to walk into an actual shop somewhere, get the box off the shelf/rack, and install it using the disks in the box. The big titles, and sometimes not so big, had those handy guide books, and we had gaming magazines that weren't afraid to test the daylights out of a game and tell us what they thought of it, including if it was junk. Some of them even included disks of demos to try a game before sinking your hard-earned dough into getting one. Those were the days, when it was more challenging, and a lot more fun!
Totally with you on that. I fondly remember the days when one had to walk into an actual shop somewhere, get the box off the shelf/rack, and install it using the disks in the box. The big titles, and sometimes not so big, had those handy guide books, and we had gaming magazines that weren't afraid to test the daylights out of a game and tell us what they thought of it, including if it was junk. Some of them even included disks of demos to try a game before sinking your hard-earned dough into getting one. Those were the days, when it was more challenging, and a lot more fun!
Yes, something special was lost to gaming culture with the heavy shift to digital distribution and the death of so many major gaming mags. Going to the game store and browsing the shelves for that unexpected gem, the excitement of getting it home and popping it into your machine, reading the manual on the John just for fun (especially when they had a really interesting design to the page layouts and cool artwork...like Pokemon Yellow, for example), reading the strategy guide cover-to-cover...OH!! And when PSM Magazine had professional comic book artists doing their cover art back in the day!! I still have the centerfold poster they printed of the Soul Reaver artwork Joe Madureira did for one of their issues!!
Neither games nor gaming culture have been quite the same since those tangible elements have started disappearing. You pay $60 for a physical game these days, and you're lucky to get a disk in the box, let alone an instruction manual with artwork and appropriate theming that gets you in the mood for the game you're about to play. Prima doesn't publish strategy guides anymore either, last I heard...Change is inevitable, but it's not always good!
Totally with you on that. I fondly remember the days when one had to walk into an actual shop somewhere, get the box off the shelf/rack, and install it using the disks in the box. The big titles, and sometimes not so big, had those handy guide books, and we had gaming magazines that weren't afraid to test the daylights out of a game and tell us what they thought of it, including if it was junk. Some of them even included disks of demos to try a game before sinking your hard-earned dough into getting one. Those were the days, when it was more challenging, and a lot more fun!
Yes, something special was lost to gaming culture with the heavy shift to digital distribution and the death of so many major gaming mags. Going to the game store and browsing the shelves for that unexpected gem, the excitement of getting it home and popping it into your machine, reading the manual on the John just for fun (especially when they had a really interesting design to the page layouts and cool artwork...like Pokemon Yellow, for example), reading the strategy guide cover-to-cover...OH!! And when PSM Magazine had professional comic book artists doing their cover art back in the day!! I still have the centerfold poster they printed of the Soul Reaver artwork Joe Madureira did for one of their issues!!
Neither games nor gaming culture have been quite the same since those tangible elements have started disappearing. You pay $60 for a physical game these days, and you're lucky to get a disk in the box, let alone an instruction manual with artwork and appropriate theming that gets you in the mood for the game you're about to play. Prima doesn't publish strategy guides anymore either, last I heard...Change is inevitable, but it's not always good!
I miss those days! It's crazy to me when I think on it how much games do cost and sure work goes into them, work went into the old games too. Now though because it's all digital so much money is saved on packaging and printing guides. Do they really need to cost so much for something digital?! Servers maybe? Patches to fix bugs? Oh wait... It is what it is though. If people will pay it, they will charge it. I just miss the days when I could have a hard copy of something to look at and collect. It's probably better for the environment that we don't. *sighs* At least I still have my old ones and I actually do still ready them on the john.
Well, i can agree and disagree with you mate, the general idea of the Sims franchise is the same and it will stay the same .. thats what makes this game so good and fun to play...BUT 2 things that you need to think about them...First - i remember myself at the age of 7 really LOVE playing with batman/ spiderman dulls... make them fight and stuff like that, and i don't like it 20 years later, maybe that thing happened to you with sims games.. and that ok and you need to think about going on.. and second - in games like the sims you (you i mean the company EA) really need to invent yourself again after few weeks/months in order to keep your audience entertained.. and ST4 is starting to lose greed in that Niche.. so don't feel that bad :P one small thing i can suggest to you and to follow me on the game/ youtube , iam trying to make really unique builds in the game to keep people enjoy it :) my motto is - if EA doesn't deliver, i will :P (Example - i just build a Cars retail shop in the game) and you can actually feel like you are selling cars, therefore I created a new job in the game with no CC haha so Look for me :D Same logo as here on youtube - RGR Gaming (Green R)
I doubt it, too. But TS3 might still be selling the packs another five or so years. I just don't see them retiring that one and ending support for it, (Origin and EA) like they did recently for TS2UC.
Worse ! They will even update The Sims 3 for Mac in 2020, they keep it alive instead of killing it once for all.
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3.
Maybe you're wrong because Origin is watching you, EA can know how long you play a game and when you do it.
TS3 also gets Telemetry inside.
I doubt it, since I play offline and made the game invisible on Origin (because I don't want any surprise updates) and it says I played exactly 0 hours. Plus they can't see those playing it through Steam I think?
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3.
Maybe you're wrong because Origin is watching you, EA can know how long you play a game and when you do it.
TS3 also gets Telemetry inside.
Provided the computer in question is internet connected. I play sims (including 4) quite fine on a machine that is not. Only 2 people know what I'm doing, and only 1 of us is on the planet.
Totally with you on that. I fondly remember the days when one had to walk into an actual shop somewhere, get the box off the shelf/rack, and install it using the disks in the box. The big titles, and sometimes not so big, had those handy guide books, and we had gaming magazines that weren't afraid to test the daylights out of a game and tell us what they thought of it, including if it was junk. Some of them even included disks of demos to try a game before sinking your hard-earned dough into getting one. Those were the days, when it was more challenging, and a lot more fun!
Yes, something special was lost to gaming culture with the heavy shift to digital distribution and the death of so many major gaming mags. Going to the game store and browsing the shelves for that unexpected gem, the excitement of getting it home and popping it into your machine, reading the manual on the John just for fun (especially when they had a really interesting design to the page layouts and cool artwork...like Pokemon Yellow, for example), reading the strategy guide cover-to-cover...OH!! And when PSM Magazine had professional comic book artists doing their cover art back in the day!! I still have the centerfold poster they printed of the Soul Reaver artwork Joe Madureira did for one of their issues!!
Neither games nor gaming culture have been quite the same since those tangible elements have started disappearing. You pay $60 for a physical game these days, and you're lucky to get a disk in the box, let alone an instruction manual with artwork and appropriate theming that gets you in the mood for the game you're about to play. Prima doesn't publish strategy guides anymore either, last I heard...Change is inevitable, but it's not always good!
Those old days elements are what got me into simming in the first place. While I first heard of it while researching a paper for an economics class, it was the magazines that kept me up to date and filled in the details to the point where I decided to give the game a go. It was one of those shops (Babbage's, I think, that was my usual place) where I got it and kept my eye peeled for more, and those magazines that kept us up to date on what was happening and coming next. There was a tangible feeling of being part of something, of meeting other simmers directly in the shops where one could exchange news and ideas. Even the websites were different, as much ours (if not more) as EA's.
What you said about change is true, sadly all too true.
Comments
Well that's not good either! (Although a great deal for you and I definitely would pay that price
They produce copies based on projected sales. If they have a lot left over, that's either poor business management (which wouldn't shock me either) or people are just tired of their crap and not just buying everything thrown at them anymore. Either way is not good.
Nah, it's more like people don't buy PC games (well, codes in boxes) in stores anymore when a big amount of them can be bought through places like Origin and Steam and such. The local GameStop barely carries PC titles anymore (they don't even have a shelf for them in the physical store anymore, you need to ask). It's very much not exclusive to TS3.
In the case of GF, it was the last copy in-store (much to my daughter's dismay, since we don't share an account). Since TS4 game packs and stuff packs don't come in physical boxes anymore, people just buy everything off Origin or get the codes online because full physical collections are not possible anymore. In turn, stores try to shift the stock with sales or don't stock what people get elsewhere (the place where I got GF never got IL at all). On the other hand, bundles of the base game + an EP haven't gone down in price more than maybe twice, by the tiniest amount.
For what it's worth, it's on sale now, locally, but so are several Bethesda games and others. In my experience, retail prices are set deliberately so that stores still make money even when they do a sale (this goes for more than just games) and it's a marketing tactic to run frequent sales: get the customer in for something "cheap" and currently popular, they'll buy something else too or come back for more. It's got nothing to do with the quality of the product.
People wanting or not wanting games on physical discs is a completely different conversation. For a multitude of games and software, physical copies no longer exist. You only get a code in a box if you buy it in a physical store (I think GTW was the only one that came with a CD aside from base game. Maybe GT too, I'm not sure.). Unlike TS3, with TS4 it's not a difference between a disc and a code, it's a difference between a code in an email or a code on a piece of paper. I would guess this is part of the reason why stores don't stock TS4 EPs anymore, since they're not really physical copies anyway.
As for TS3, I haven't seen a copy of it or any of the EPs in any of the local stores in a very long time (exception: used copies that you can't link to your Origin because the code's already been used). None of them have it available, not even in their online store database.
Sims 3 is still widely played -- if there were a real console port (and I understand why the ports aren't the PC game), it wouldn't surprise me if S3 passed S4 in sales. Steam, which is the least popular platform for the Sims, always has thousands of simmers playing on line. This doesn't include the steam players playing off line, the origin players, and the stubborns (wave) who are not updating past patch 1.67 so we can play without a launcher.
Maxis has no idea how many people still play Sims 3; they just know a lot do and their packs still sell decently. There's a reason why the Sims 3 store is still up and running and they're still doing their daily deals and other shenanigans. If the store wasn't making them $$, they would have closed it, or at least stopped doing the ever-changing, daily promos.
It's a good game, and with a good PC and proper fixes, you can avoid the issues that people had in the past with it. Maxis left the game in a deplorable state, there's no arguing that, but that's a problem with the company and their approach to bug fixes, not the core game itself.
Edit: I'd be surprised if people were still playing Sims 4 in 10 years. It doesn't seem to be much more popular than Sims 3 is, and that most likely won't change, and in 10 years most console players will be on the next generation.
Another edit: I need to learn to proof read.
That is major. I have Sims 3 in a stable state with a mod list that I like. No crashes, minimal lag. Really, Sims 3 runs better for me than Sims 4.
Yes truly!! I felt so ripped off, I still haven't picked up another pack since LOL Guess I will wait for sales going forward...
Sacrificial has created a mod called The Sims 4 Life Tragedies. Finally, my sims will have some serious DRAMA with serious consequences!!!! It is suppose to be released to the public on October 14th but I have watched a few videos from xurbanx and some other people I don't really keep up with these you tubers but they are some of the more popular ones for simming. Anyway, the mod looks amazing fatal diseases, kidnapping, car accidents, armed robbery, Burglars that can break into your home, you can call the police or fight the burglars, bullying, you can play as a burglar and break into sims homes and steal and sims can call the police on your sim.
I was truly bored with this game because it was too easy and nothing bad EVER happened. I literally had to constantly create bad situations..well no more with this mod.
I heartily agree with both of you! The thought has occurred more than once that we need2 versions of the game, one for the wimps and one for the veterans that know how to think and create, that want meat and potatoes not pablum.
I’m the same. My sims 3 runs great, better than my sims 4 with no lag whereas ironically my sims 4 has the odd bout of simulation lag. Irony.
It seems the worlds as small as they are seem to be the focus like that new lot in ROM, instead of the depth of any sort of new gameplay, just reused potions used as magic tricks to perform. But probably a lot of expense to get that all to look like a floating world.
Yes, something special was lost to gaming culture with the heavy shift to digital distribution and the death of so many major gaming mags. Going to the game store and browsing the shelves for that unexpected gem, the excitement of getting it home and popping it into your machine, reading the manual on the John just for fun (especially when they had a really interesting design to the page layouts and cool artwork...like Pokemon Yellow, for example), reading the strategy guide cover-to-cover...OH!! And when PSM Magazine had professional comic book artists doing their cover art back in the day!! I still have the centerfold poster they printed of the Soul Reaver artwork Joe Madureira did for one of their issues!!
Neither games nor gaming culture have been quite the same since those tangible elements have started disappearing. You pay $60 for a physical game these days, and you're lucky to get a disk in the box, let alone an instruction manual with artwork and appropriate theming that gets you in the mood for the game you're about to play. Prima doesn't publish strategy guides anymore either, last I heard...Change is inevitable, but it's not always good!
I miss those days! It's crazy to me when I think on it how much games do cost and sure work goes into them, work went into the old games too. Now though because it's all digital so much money is saved on packaging and printing guides. Do they really need to cost so much for something digital?! Servers maybe? Patches to fix bugs? Oh wait... It is what it is though. If people will pay it, they will charge it. I just miss the days when I could have a hard copy of something to look at and collect. It's probably better for the environment that we don't. *sighs* At least I still have my old ones and I actually do still ready them on the john.
Worse ! They will even update The Sims 3 for Mac in 2020, they keep it alive instead of killing it once for all.
The Sims 4 Ideas Corner
- 👕 [CAS] Male content | 💰 §1 Million Lifestyle | ♂️ Man lifestyle for The Sims | ♻️ Content from The Sims
- 🔨 [Build/Buy Mode] Ideas | 📱 Ideas from The Sims FreePlay | ✈️ Vacation : Gameplay update | 🥦 New meals
The Sims 4 General DiscussionMaybe you're wrong because Origin is watching you, EA can know how long you play a game and when you do it.
TS3 also gets Telemetry inside.
The Sims 4 Ideas Corner
- 👕 [CAS] Male content | 💰 §1 Million Lifestyle | ♂️ Man lifestyle for The Sims | ♻️ Content from The Sims
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The Sims 4 General DiscussionIt doesn't matter because TS3 Telemetry is still tracking the Origin/Steam players.
Only the offline players like you are not counted in the stats.
The Sims 4 Ideas Corner
- 👕 [CAS] Male content | 💰 §1 Million Lifestyle | ♂️ Man lifestyle for The Sims | ♻️ Content from The Sims
- 🔨 [Build/Buy Mode] Ideas | 📱 Ideas from The Sims FreePlay | ✈️ Vacation : Gameplay update | 🥦 New meals
The Sims 4 General DiscussionProvided the computer in question is internet connected. I play sims (including 4) quite fine on a machine that is not. Only 2 people know what I'm doing, and only 1 of us is on the planet.
Those old days elements are what got me into simming in the first place. While I first heard of it while researching a paper for an economics class, it was the magazines that kept me up to date and filled in the details to the point where I decided to give the game a go. It was one of those shops (Babbage's, I think, that was my usual place) where I got it and kept my eye peeled for more, and those magazines that kept us up to date on what was happening and coming next. There was a tangible feeling of being part of something, of meeting other simmers directly in the shops where one could exchange news and ideas. Even the websites were different, as much ours (if not more) as EA's.
What you said about change is true, sadly all too true.
It doesn’t apply to all players. I’m on patch 1.67. My game doesn’t run via origin nor need it. I play offline anyhow via disk.