@sparkfairy1 You know; I think what attracted me the most in the whole Sims franchise was the fact that the game was something that I could never have thought of myself. Not just the concept of the game, but everything in it and how it works. TS 1,2 & 3 gave me things that went way beyond what I hoped for and dreamed of. Those games gave me more than I wanted. They surprised me. TS4 does not surprise me. Their 'vision' is no longer one of innovation, creativity and wonderment. To me, The Sims truely was a piece of electronic Art, but now it has become just another game.
I couldn't agree more. I would not have devoted literally half my life to playing a normal game. The sims is beyond special and in my opinion they've disrespected us and the game by ruining it's reputation and giving us such a hollow shell I genuinely believe they thought we were so in love with the brand we would blindly accept anything they gave us. Failing to realise the reason why the sims was a success was because it had a concept that was universal and catered to the masses, not the few.
The amount of disconnect EA has shown is staggering. That they could disregard all of the money that was spent on the store, and all of the incredible work done by the modding community is reprehensible and shows what I have said many times before - all they want is the money, any way they can get it. Players be dammed.
I seriously wonder where CEO Andrew Wilson is right now?! He claims a new 'player first' culture and that he won't release games until they are finished. If that's the case how has this situation even been allowed to happen on his watch?!
The silence becomes even worse with every passing day. It's like when you fight with family. They longer it takes to apologise the longer you'll suffer the ill effects!
... Did you research the sims 4 before you bought it?
If so how? If not why?
Yes, tons! Across the internet, mainly on the official forums and simsvip. This is the only time I have been in doubt about whether to buy, and the only time I have actually purchased a game without really 'wanting' to.
...
This is so true. I was so torn between buying and not buying. I knew beforehand I would regret it, but come on! this is The Sims; how can I not buy it? There are moments I really feel duped and betrayed by EA/Maxis even if it was my own stupid choice to give in to emotion rather than common sense.
Me too. I feel really angry at myself for falling for their 'spin'. So much of it doesn't hold water under close scrutiny so you begin to feel that way against your own will. You believed in the team, it's not our fault they let us down
The gurus can tweet as much as they want. I fail to see a mention of the most important feature of this game. Just gonna ignore the big elephant in the room huh? They sure be loving the way the lie.
Something to cheer us up while we wait on EA My niece, who has TS3 because her kind auntie gave it to her, got given 4 and Minecraft for Christmas. Guess which one she prefers ? Now bearing in mind she is a preteen and kept well away from the Forum she came to her own conclusion about 4.
I will add she is a very family orientated child and her style of play therefore tends to be the family unit
Please no lynching parties because I did not give it to her, honest.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@sparkfairy1 You know; I think what attracted me the most in the whole Sims franchise was the fact that the game was something that I could never have thought of myself. Not just the concept of the game, but everything in it and how it works. TS 1,2 & 3 gave me things that went way beyond what I hoped for and dreamed of. Those games gave me more than I wanted. They surprised me. TS4 does not surprise me. Their 'vision' is no longer one of innovation, creativity and wonderment. To me, The Sims truely was a piece of electronic Art, but now it has become just another game.
I couldn't agree more. I would not have devoted literally half my life to playing a normal game. The sims is beyond special and in my opinion they've disrespected us and the game by ruining it's reputation and giving us such a hollow shell I genuinely believe they thought we were so in love with the brand we would blindly accept anything they gave us. Failing to realise the reason why the sims was a success was because it had a concept that was universal and catered to the masses, not the few.
The amount of disconnect EA has shown is staggering. That they could disregard all of the money that was spent on the store, and all of the incredible work done by the modding community is reprehensible and shows what I have said many times before - all they want is the money, any way they can get it. Players be dammed.
I tend to think that TS4 (and SimCity 5) is more the result of incompetence rather than malice or greed. It is my belief that the upper management at EA literally has no idea of what they are doing, so they blindly follow models they learned in business school and industry tends without bothering to think if that model or trend is appropriate for that product. They are flailing in the dark and when they trip over a good idea and it works they pat themselves on the back for their acumen - and when they fail, it is the fault of the customer or the market or whatever.
I get it - sales of PC games are dropping while games that are on-line or for tablets/ phones/ whatever are booming. Naturally EA wants to follow the market. Their error is in not doing any research at all about the state of the industry and just throwing their existing games at the new market willy-nilly. If they had done any research - or even followed the profitability of their own games - they would have seen that The Sims works best as a single-player off-line game.
In 2002, The Sims Online did very poorly because it was basically a glorified chat-room. It eventually turned into a virtual WooHoo Parlor, so it was closed down in 2008.
In 2007 and 2008, The Sims Stories had lackluster sales, mainly because they had a linear story-line and directed game-play. They received mixed reviews and were dropped by EA after only a year of production.
In 2011, we got The Sims Medieval, which also had linear story-lines, game-directed play, mixed reviews and poor sales. One EP was released and then the game was abandoned. This quote from reviewer AJ Glasser of GamePro pretty much says it all: "As let down as I am, though, I'm not ready to get out my pitchfork. Some things in this game kept me coming back for 20 hours. [...] The Sims Medieval is a beautiful game with fun and interesting ideas, but it doesn't live up to my fantasy of the Middle Ages and it doesn't completely satisfy the Sims fan in me."
Also in 2011 we got The Sims Social, a Facebook game. It had 65 million players at one point, but after just two months its ranking began to decline due to lack of content and unfixed glitches (sound familiar anyone?) - many users complained that difficulty achieving goals and repetitive tasks made the game unattractive compared to rivals. It was shut down permanently in June 2013.
Meanwhile The Sims 3 continued to be profitable (based on stock reports from 2011, which were the most recent I could access) because of the regular release of EPs, SPs and DLC (Store content). The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 were also steady profit-makers during their time.
So naturally they take the game with the proven track-record and try to force it into the mold of all the games that failed. I don't think that they did it to spite the players - I think that EA's management is just completely clueless as to how their industry works. But, like most incompetents, they can not admit their incompetence. To admit that they don't know what they are doing would destroy them. How could they justify their continued employment to the Board of Directors?
And, that also explains why there has been no reply from EA to this thread. They can't admit that they made a mistake because that comes too close to admitting their incompetence, their complete inability to understand the PC game market. If they can not admit that they misjudged the market for TS4 then there is no reply that they can make about family play - or anything else that is wrong with TS4. If EA's management wants to maintain their illusion of competence then nothing can be wrong with TS4 - TS4 must be perfect, in fact.
And, *THAT* is what the Gurus mean when they talk about EA's "vision" for TS4.
TS4 is perfect. And if it doesn't sell, well, that is someone else's fault, not EA's.
I'm impressed (and happy) that this thread has gotten so far! This serves as a message to the developers of this game. Congratulations to the creator of the thread!
Thank you @MAFEBISI it's to do with all of you-you've worked hard to keep our message relevant and on topic and together we've been attracting new family players every day it's been a lot of work for me in the background but totally worth it that we are showing exactly how relevant we are
@Bettyboop55 it's a common story I keep hearing. It's why I think they've got outdated or inaccurate ideas of what teens want in life or how intelligent they are. I cannot stand this idea that kids and teens need things 'dumbed down' to appeal to them. No, kids and teens devour knowledge of all levels *if* you make it interesting and deliver it well enough.
@Schweighsr I think sadly you may be right. They keep falling into the same mistakes over and over again. Don't they look at the reasons behind the failures?!
But then no I guess not-if you blame the customer you are absolving yourself of responsibility.
I don't want to believe this-I want them to come out and surprise us all. But the longer it goes on with the terrible PR it erodes my hope for the future.
Here I've been hoping for some announcement that would ease our minds and they put out yet another trailer of a trailer on facebook???? This means they've released *2* separate trailers of trailers just for the outdoor game pack. Are they desperate or delusional?
I think that is what I'm most tired of is being blamed for not liking a product as much. Like it's my fault or something when it isn't. The more I play the Sims 4, the more it feels like it's off the mark of what makes a Sims game great. I just want more freedom and family play in my game and smarter Sims, yet it feels like pulling teeth asking so much for it without a response back. I want the Sims franchise to do well. I've been playing the games over half my lifetime. With each new Sims game, it does need to be different without losing the core aspects of the game. Yes partying and technology and mischief are some aspects of the game, but there is more to the Sims than just those few shallow aspects of the game. So I agree it needs more depth so the game doesn't appeal to just one group of Simmers, but have a much broader audience. I'm glad forums are becoming more discussions now in what Simmers want for the future of the Sims and the existing game.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
Hey now, it wouldn't hurt to put a few hundred more hours into the game! it might lower my IQ enough to make me want to keep playing but would probably burn my retinas out
I think that is what I'm most tired of is being blamed for not liking a product as much. Like it's my fault or something when it isn't. The more I play the Sims 4, the more it feels like it's off the mark of what makes a Sims game great. I just want more freedom and family play in my game and smarter Sims, yet it feels like pulling teeth asking so much for it without a response back. I want the Sims franchise to do well. I've been playing the games over half my lifetime. With each new Sims game, it does need to be different without losing the core aspects of the game. Yes partying and technology and mischief are some aspects of the game, but there is more to the Sims than just those few shallow aspects of the game. So I agree it needs more depth so the game doesn't appeal to just one group of Simmers, but have a much broader audience. I'm glad forums are becoming more discussions now in what Simmers want for the future of the Sims and the existing game.
I know @Scobre its not right and its not fair. Thats why I continue trying to get heard at EA *big cuddles*
Hey Spark Fairy 1 do you think if you moved the interviews into their own separate thread the right eyes might be more likely to see them? They are very easy to read.
They listened and gave us toddlers! Thanks Devs your work is appreciated.
@Schweighsr what you say is entirely plausible and fits with other theories being put forward such as @LPent theory about EA not researching the demographic properly. It annoys intensely that we and our good ideas should be ignored in order for EA's management to save face. The only consolation is the sales figures which will ultimately tell against them.
I feel like a broken record when I say that the company needs one person to take responsibility. That person should have the courage to tell the Board and the CEO. There are ways and means of presenting bad news so that it can seem challenging but achievable. If that person is really gifted they might even persuade the Board to give them the budget they need. If I had any say in the matter that person would come from outside the company. It isn't only the Fora which get tired and jaded and need new blood.
Another side to this is the management board and as @Sparkfairy1 says if the CEO genuinely means customer first then now is the time for action. What could be better than a direct and sincere apology to us the customer and a post project evaluation. And all these questionaires and ideas and suggestions could be fed into that evaluation.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@Jenzup the gurus have told us they are reading this thread so we know the right eyes should be seeing them
Adorable avi
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Tell your sim story
-How you found it?
-why you bought?
-what kept you playing?
My first boyfriend showed it to me and I fell in love asap (with the game). It was the dollhouse style that kept me playing. When I had been playing with my brother as a child, we always dreamt how the perfect game should be like. It was pretty much like the Sims.
What would you say is the essential features for you of your style of family play style?
Unique, different live stages and lots of animations between Sims and between Sims an objects.
Of all the sims games what features from all games do you love the most?
family play
the romantic interactions from Sims 1 and 2.
The special humour of the game (I do NOT mean weirder stories).
Which sims games did you play and did you buy content to collect or did you buy selectively?
I bought all the stuff for the Sims 1. I bought all EPs for Sims 2, but not all of the stuff packs because I could create my own custom content and was more into getting new interactions and special objects. Thus I really like the idea of the new Gameplay Packs.
I didn´t buy much of the Sims 3 because the Sims in that game never appealed to me, especially the toddlers, kids and the super ugly babys (plus the missing baby objects). I also didn´t like how the facial expressions were animated. I did truely love the Pets, though, especially the horses. I also loved the look of the worlds.
Did you research the sims 4 before you bought it?
If so how? If not why?
Yes, on different forums. I did because the Sims 3 didn´t live up to my expectiations and I was not sure whether the Sims 4 would.
How do you feel about the release?
I think they should have waited until the game was really finished.
What was your experience of the game like?
Despite the lack of toddlers, I really like the game. I love the comic style and even though I hear people saying over and over that the sims do have no depth, for me they have.
How has your experience with EA been?
They´ve disappointed me so bad that I almost didn´t buy the game (because of the missing toddlers, the false teens and the object babies). I didn´t regret that I bought it, but I will buy no other content if they do not make up for their mistake and add toddlers back in.
Do you follow sims on twitter and Facebook?
No.
In an ideal world what would the sims 4 provide?
- fleshed out Sims like in the Sims 2 that you really grow to love
- basically the look of the Sims like it is now in the Sims 4, a bit less comic look would be great, though. I think they should base the hairstyles on the custom content available for the previous Sim games and build the Sims´ looks to match that style.
- an open world without loading screens, but still crowded.
- loads of interactions and linear aging.
- the typical Sims humour
- family trees and the memory system from the Sims 2
- an intelligent recolor system for objects
- good genetics
- very important: a good lighting system because a poor one affects every aspect of the game in a negativ way.
- a good attraction system
- realistic furniture with many new interactions
- multitasking
- based on large households, not single player households
- many traits, aspirations, wants, and a huge variety of skills
In a compromise situation what is the least change you expect to the base game going forward if you aren't happy?
Toddlers.
Do you feel the base game is complete? Would you pay to receive 'missing' content such as toddlers/CASt and Open Worlds?
It is not complete, but I think it does have potential. I felt worse of with the Sims 3 base game, to be honest.
Yes.
Are other missing aspects affect your style of play? Which and how?
Better indoor lighting, real teens, fleshed out babys with genetics and lots of gameplay attached to them (and all the other live stages), the same for elders (both livestages were neglected in all previous Sim games), more live stages, more special interactions between the different live stages, more partys, e.g. pyjama party, baby shower, special partys for each live stage (I thhink they´re much fun in the Sims 4 because the Sims do act much more naturally), the ability to remove only the plumbbob and not the headlines as well, family trees, more romantic interactions, fleshed out dates, more recipes, pets, weather.
It would be super cool if you could at least swith between one or two lots some of your Sims actually visit and the home lot with a very short loading screen (meaning they´re loaded in the background at the same time, and if you click on the icon of the sim on another lot the actual screen just fades quickly to be replaced by the other lot and your Sims are still doing what you told them and do keep their moods, motives et al).
If EA decides to provide the budget to implement most of what you want will you be supporting the sims 4? What about if there's a sims 5?
Yes, both.
How has your experience of everything affected your relationship as a customer with EA? Do you feel that they could improve this and how?
It clearly has. They could improve it by listening to what the fans want. By watching the wish threads on the forums and by looking what Simfans post as their favourite pictures because they often show aspects of the game which are good and could even be enhanced.
They absolutely should quit their weirder stories policy though.
Now now EA, don't be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart. - My TS4 mods - Gallery ID: 83bienchen
hey everyone ive been absent from this thread for a while so would someone care to tell me whats with the interviews and such and has there been any news or leaks on anything family related?
hey everyone ive been absent from this thread for a while so would someone care to tell me whats with the interviews and such and has there been any news or leaks on anything family related?
It's a way for us to effectively communicate exactly what we want from EA given that they tell us they are reading. Not yet but I'm pretty sure we'll have to hear something soon given the backlash. Obvious we aren't an obscure group of players isn't it?
So if you fancy having your say please get involved
THANK GOD I HAVE FOUND THIS DISCUSSION!! I thought I was alone with the family play disappointment, it's literally the only reason I play the sims games! I've been playing since sims 1, and it breaks my heart playing sims 4 as I feel I should love it, but for me no toddlers and minimal generations influence in the game, just gives the feeling of going back to the first sims game!! Surely we shouldn't be going back, but forward?? Its the sims 4!!
@sparkfairy1 You know; I think what attracted me the most in the whole Sims franchise was the fact that the game was something that I could never have thought of myself. Not just the concept of the game, but everything in it and how it works. TS 1,2 & 3 gave me things that went way beyond what I hoped for and dreamed of. Those games gave me more than I wanted. They surprised me. TS4 does not surprise me. Their 'vision' is no longer one of innovation, creativity and wonderment. To me, The Sims truely was a piece of electronic Art, but now it has become just another game.
I couldn't agree more. I would not have devoted literally half my life to playing a normal game. The sims is beyond special and in my opinion they've disrespected us and the game by ruining it's reputation and giving us such a hollow shell I genuinely believe they thought we were so in love with the brand we would blindly accept anything they gave us. Failing to realise the reason why the sims was a success was because it had a concept that was universal and catered to the masses, not the few.
The amount of disconnect EA has shown is staggering. That they could disregard all of the money that was spent on the store, and all of the incredible work done by the modding community is reprehensible and shows what I have said many times before - all they want is the money, any way they can get it. Players be dammed.
I tend to think that TS4 (and SimCity 5) is more the result of incompetence rather than malice or greed. It is my belief that the upper management at EA literally has no idea of what they are doing, so they blindly follow models they learned in business school and industry tends without bothering to think if that model or trend is appropriate for that product. They are flailing in the dark and when they trip over a good idea and it works they pat themselves on the back for their acumen - and when they fail, it is the fault of the customer or the market or whatever.
I get it - sales of PC games are dropping while games that are on-line or for tablets/ phones/ whatever are booming. Naturally EA wants to follow the market. Their error is in not doing any research at all about the state of the industry and just throwing their existing games at the new market willy-nilly. If they had done any research - or even followed the profitability of their own games - they would have seen that The Sims works best as a single-player off-line game.
In 2002, The Sims Online did very poorly because it was basically a glorified chat-room. It eventually turned into a virtual WooHoo Parlor, so it was closed down in 2008.
In 2007 and 2008, The Sims Stories had lackluster sales, mainly because they had a linear story-line and directed game-play. They received mixed reviews and were dropped by EA after only a year of production.
In 2011, we got The Sims Medieval, which also had linear story-lines, game-directed play, mixed reviews and poor sales. One EP was released and then the game was abandoned. This quote from reviewer AJ Glasser of GamePro pretty much says it all: "As let down as I am, though, I'm not ready to get out my pitchfork. Some things in this game kept me coming back for 20 hours. [...] The Sims Medieval is a beautiful game with fun and interesting ideas, but it doesn't live up to my fantasy of the Middle Ages and it doesn't completely satisfy the Sims fan in me."
Also in 2011 we got The Sims Social, a Facebook game. It had 65 million players at one point, but after just two months its ranking began to decline due to lack of content and unfixed glitches (sound familiar anyone?) - many users complained that difficulty achieving goals and repetitive tasks made the game unattractive compared to rivals. It was shut down permanently in June 2013.
Meanwhile The Sims 3 continued to be profitable (based on stock reports from 2011, which were the most recent I could access) because of the regular release of EPs, SPs and DLC (Store content). The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 were also steady profit-makers during their time.
So naturally they take the game with the proven track-record and try to force it into the mold of all the games that failed. I don't think that they did it to spite the players - I think that EA's management is just completely clueless as to how their industry works. But, like most incompetents, they can not admit their incompetence. To admit that they don't know what they are doing would destroy them. How could they justify their continued employment to the Board of Directors?
And, that also explains why there has been no reply from EA to this thread. They can't admit that they made a mistake because that comes too close to admitting their incompetence, their complete inability to understand the PC game market. If they can not admit that they misjudged the market for TS4 then there is no reply that they can make about family play - or anything else that is wrong with TS4. If EA's management wants to maintain their illusion of competence then nothing can be wrong with TS4 - TS4 must be perfect, in fact.
And, *THAT* is what the Gurus mean when they talk about EA's "vision" for TS4.
TS4 is perfect. And if it doesn't sell, well, that is someone else's fault, not EA's.
Comments
I seriously wonder where CEO Andrew Wilson is right now?! He claims a new 'player first' culture and that he won't release games until they are finished. If that's the case how has this situation even been allowed to happen on his watch?!
The silence becomes even worse with every passing day. It's like when you fight with family. They longer it takes to apologise the longer you'll suffer the ill effects!
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Me too. I feel really angry at myself for falling for their 'spin'. So much of it doesn't hold water under close scrutiny so you begin to feel that way against your own will. You believed in the team, it's not our fault they let us down
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I will add she is a very family orientated child and her style of play therefore tends to be the family unit
Please no lynching parties because I did not give it to her, honest.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
I tend to think that TS4 (and SimCity 5) is more the result of incompetence rather than malice or greed. It is my belief that the upper management at EA literally has no idea of what they are doing, so they blindly follow models they learned in business school and industry tends without bothering to think if that model or trend is appropriate for that product. They are flailing in the dark and when they trip over a good idea and it works they pat themselves on the back for their acumen - and when they fail, it is the fault of the customer or the market or whatever.
I get it - sales of PC games are dropping while games that are on-line or for tablets/ phones/ whatever are booming. Naturally EA wants to follow the market. Their error is in not doing any research at all about the state of the industry and just throwing their existing games at the new market willy-nilly. If they had done any research - or even followed the profitability of their own games - they would have seen that The Sims works best as a single-player off-line game.
In 2002, The Sims Online did very poorly because it was basically a glorified chat-room. It eventually turned into a virtual WooHoo Parlor, so it was closed down in 2008.
In 2007 and 2008, The Sims Stories had lackluster sales, mainly because they had a linear story-line and directed game-play. They received mixed reviews and were dropped by EA after only a year of production.
In 2011, we got The Sims Medieval, which also had linear story-lines, game-directed play, mixed reviews and poor sales. One EP was released and then the game was abandoned. This quote from reviewer AJ Glasser of GamePro pretty much says it all: "As let down as I am, though, I'm not ready to get out my pitchfork. Some things in this game kept me coming back for 20 hours. [...] The Sims Medieval is a beautiful game with fun and interesting ideas, but it doesn't live up to my fantasy of the Middle Ages and it doesn't completely satisfy the Sims fan in me."
Also in 2011 we got The Sims Social, a Facebook game. It had 65 million players at one point, but after just two months its ranking began to decline due to lack of content and unfixed glitches (sound familiar anyone?) - many users complained that difficulty achieving goals and repetitive tasks made the game unattractive compared to rivals. It was shut down permanently in June 2013.
Meanwhile The Sims 3 continued to be profitable (based on stock reports from 2011, which were the most recent I could access) because of the regular release of EPs, SPs and DLC (Store content). The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 were also steady profit-makers during their time.
So naturally they take the game with the proven track-record and try to force it into the mold of all the games that failed. I don't think that they did it to spite the players - I think that EA's management is just completely clueless as to how their industry works. But, like most incompetents, they can not admit their incompetence. To admit that they don't know what they are doing would destroy them. How could they justify their continued employment to the Board of Directors?
And, that also explains why there has been no reply from EA to this thread. They can't admit that they made a mistake because that comes too close to admitting their incompetence, their complete inability to understand the PC game market. If they can not admit that they misjudged the market for TS4 then there is no reply that they can make about family play - or anything else that is wrong with TS4. If EA's management wants to maintain their illusion of competence then nothing can be wrong with TS4 - TS4 must be perfect, in fact.
And, *THAT* is what the Gurus mean when they talk about EA's "vision" for TS4.
TS4 is perfect. And if it doesn't sell, well, that is someone else's fault, not EA's.
@Bettyboop55 it's a common story I keep hearing. It's why I think they've got outdated or inaccurate ideas of what teens want in life or how intelligent they are. I cannot stand this idea that kids and teens need things 'dumbed down' to appeal to them. No, kids and teens devour knowledge of all levels *if* you make it interesting and deliver it well enough.
@Schweighsr I think sadly you may be right. They keep falling into the same mistakes over and over again. Don't they look at the reasons behind the failures?!
But then no I guess not-if you blame the customer you are absolving yourself of responsibility.
I don't want to believe this-I want them to come out and surprise us all. But the longer it goes on with the terrible PR it erodes my hope for the future.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I know @Scobre its not right and its not fair. Thats why I continue trying to get heard at EA *big cuddles*
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Thank you
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I feel like a broken record when I say that the company needs one person to take responsibility. That person should have the courage to tell the Board and the CEO. There are ways and means of presenting bad news so that it can seem challenging but achievable. If that person is really gifted they might even persuade the Board to give them the budget they need. If I had any say in the matter that person would come from outside the company. It isn't only the Fora which get tired and jaded and need new blood.
Another side to this is the management board and as @Sparkfairy1 says if the CEO genuinely means customer first then now is the time for action. What could be better than a direct and sincere apology to us the customer and a post project evaluation. And all these questionaires and ideas and suggestions could be fed into that evaluation.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Adorable avi
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
-How you found it?
-why you bought?
-what kept you playing?
My first boyfriend showed it to me and I fell in love asap (with the game). It was the dollhouse style that kept me playing. When I had been playing with my brother as a child, we always dreamt how the perfect game should be like. It was pretty much like the Sims.
What would you say is the essential features for you of your style of family play style?
Unique, different live stages and lots of animations between Sims and between Sims an objects.
Of all the sims games what features from all games do you love the most?
family play
the romantic interactions from Sims 1 and 2.
The special humour of the game (I do NOT mean weirder stories).
Which sims games did you play and did you buy content to collect or did you buy selectively?
I bought all the stuff for the Sims 1. I bought all EPs for Sims 2, but not all of the stuff packs because I could create my own custom content and was more into getting new interactions and special objects. Thus I really like the idea of the new Gameplay Packs.
I didn´t buy much of the Sims 3 because the Sims in that game never appealed to me, especially the toddlers, kids and the super ugly babys (plus the missing baby objects). I also didn´t like how the facial expressions were animated. I did truely love the Pets, though, especially the horses. I also loved the look of the worlds.
Did you research the sims 4 before you bought it?
If so how? If not why?
Yes, on different forums. I did because the Sims 3 didn´t live up to my expectiations and I was not sure whether the Sims 4 would.
How do you feel about the release?
I think they should have waited until the game was really finished.
What was your experience of the game like?
Despite the lack of toddlers, I really like the game. I love the comic style and even though I hear people saying over and over that the sims do have no depth, for me they have.
How has your experience with EA been?
They´ve disappointed me so bad that I almost didn´t buy the game (because of the missing toddlers, the false teens and the object babies). I didn´t regret that I bought it, but I will buy no other content if they do not make up for their mistake and add toddlers back in.
Do you follow sims on twitter and Facebook?
No.
In an ideal world what would the sims 4 provide?
- fleshed out Sims like in the Sims 2 that you really grow to love
- basically the look of the Sims like it is now in the Sims 4, a bit less comic look would be great, though. I think they should base the hairstyles on the custom content available for the previous Sim games and build the Sims´ looks to match that style.
- an open world without loading screens, but still crowded.
- loads of interactions and linear aging.
- the typical Sims humour
- family trees and the memory system from the Sims 2
- an intelligent recolor system for objects
- good genetics
- very important: a good lighting system because a poor one affects every aspect of the game in a negativ way.
- a good attraction system
- realistic furniture with many new interactions
- multitasking
- based on large households, not single player households
- many traits, aspirations, wants, and a huge variety of skills
In a compromise situation what is the least change you expect to the base game going forward if you aren't happy?
Toddlers.
Do you feel the base game is complete? Would you pay to receive 'missing' content such as toddlers/CASt and Open Worlds?
It is not complete, but I think it does have potential. I felt worse of with the Sims 3 base game, to be honest.
Yes.
Are other missing aspects affect your style of play? Which and how?
Better indoor lighting, real teens, fleshed out babys with genetics and lots of gameplay attached to them (and all the other live stages), the same for elders (both livestages were neglected in all previous Sim games), more live stages, more special interactions between the different live stages, more partys, e.g. pyjama party, baby shower, special partys for each live stage (I thhink they´re much fun in the Sims 4 because the Sims do act much more naturally), the ability to remove only the plumbbob and not the headlines as well, family trees, more romantic interactions, fleshed out dates, more recipes, pets, weather.
It would be super cool if you could at least swith between one or two lots some of your Sims actually visit and the home lot with a very short loading screen (meaning they´re loaded in the background at the same time, and if you click on the icon of the sim on another lot the actual screen just fades quickly to be replaced by the other lot and your Sims are still doing what you told them and do keep their moods, motives et al).
If EA decides to provide the budget to implement most of what you want will you be supporting the sims 4? What about if there's a sims 5?
Yes, both.
How has your experience of everything affected your relationship as a customer with EA? Do you feel that they could improve this and how?
It clearly has. They could improve it by listening to what the fans want. By watching the wish threads on the forums and by looking what Simfans post as their favourite pictures because they often show aspects of the game which are good and could even be enhanced.
They absolutely should quit their weirder stories policy though.
Great answers @83bienchen
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I want to use a pic too!!!
It's a way for us to effectively communicate exactly what we want from EA given that they tell us they are reading. Not yet but I'm pretty sure we'll have to hear something soon given the backlash. Obvious we aren't an obscure group of players isn't it?
So if you fancy having your say please get involved
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1