@Writin_Reg well said! If a huge company like EA find it too hard and expensive to make games with all the resources and access to the best and brightest staff that comes with their position in the market then they are in serious trouble.
But look at their other games-they aren't doing this elsewhere!
I mean if they can hand on heart say this is the best they are capable of for the sims I feel sorry for them. Fact is we've seen some of the same staff doing much better things when they were new to the job! Something is preventing them from greatness. Don't care what it is. Just want it fixed. And I do not want to hear any more excuses. If all you have are excuses EA I think it's time you offered refunds to those of us who bought under promises you've been incapable of fulfilling.
I think EA are treating the sims game like a Z grade title. I just dont understand why?
Are they doing this with The Sims 4 because they know the game is not getting any better so they just dont want to spend on it anymore?
The half baked stuff they keep releasing every month, the ignorance to what players demand!
I just don't know what to say. I think before the players EA itself has given up on The Sims 4. So when they did that why should we players have any hope that this game will get any better?
Right now it is just the matter of releasing small packs every month and making fast money of them.
Hypothetically it may well be that their cost benefit analysis shows them that it's not worth salvaging things for those they haven't catered to. We've seen the devs talk about how limiting the engine is and sometimes it is more expensive to try to fix something than it is to start from scratch. I suspect that they may be having issues given the explanation they gave for babies stuck to a bassinet.
They may have expected better returns in profits for the game and the issues may have meant they don't have as much access to further funds to fix the issues.
If that's the case I wish they would just come out and say it and stop stringing people along.
Yes I think the game has been given a potato budget!
Whatever difficulty the developers are saying they have is mainly because of the budget. It is a big shame since this is an A grade title. or better to say was an A grade title
Do yo really think that EA should have hired an even bigger team of highly educated professionals?
It is not me who says "No this is expensive"
It is the gurus!
A bear animation was called very expensive
A beard of a certain style expensive
A certain way of sitting on the lounge is very expensive
We are in 2015 and these expensive excuses are getting too old. Game budget has been definitely very much below all the previous sims games.
Heavy animation cut from the game due to this excuse!
I think it is a big shame when developers keep giving us the expensive excuse for animation when we see normal people can do wonders with animation.
I am sure bear animation would not be as complex as this dancing animation that a normal person did to a Sims 4 model. And yea even the hair animates! Something that we had in TS2 and the developers decided to ditch it in TS3 and TS4. This franchise has been going backwards heavily
Okay if my Sim could dance like that and have motion in their hair (Props to the person that made the video it is stunning)..I might rethink my views on game 4. To make money you need to spend money ..The creator of this 1 single video brought life to game 4 Sim... There are other games that bring life to their pixel people... This video .. It made me drop my jaw how smooth and real the game 4 could of been.. Even in its cartoon state that little video make the Sim feel real and interesting and I wanted more...
That movement including hair was just stunning..I am not sure if anyone will get what I mean.. that is okay..because I can't describe what that simple video did for me and my feelings on it compared to the slap stick silly toons that are in Sims 4..
I guess the creator made me feel the emotions of the sim dancing...but it goes deeper but that will do for the simpler version...
LOL. A fan does THIS, while Maxis releases videos of 'bros' fist-bumping. What a shame.
@Writin_Reg well said! If a huge company like EA find it too hard and expensive to make games with all the resources and access to the best and brightest staff that comes with their position in the market then they are in serious trouble.
But look at their other games-they aren't doing this elsewhere!
I mean if they can hand on heart say this is the best they are capable of for the sims I feel sorry for them. Fact is we've seen some of the same staff doing much better things when they were new to the job! Something is preventing them from greatness. Don't care what it is. Just want it fixed. And I do not want to hear any more excuses. If all you have are excuses EA I think it's time you offered refunds to those of us who bought under promises you've been incapable of fulfilling.
I think EA are treating the sims game like a Z grade title. I just dont understand why?
Are they doing this with The Sims 4 because they know the game is not getting any better so they just dont want to spend on it anymore?
The half baked stuff they keep releasing every month, the ignorance to what players demand!
I just don't know what to say. I think before the players EA itself has given up on The Sims 4. So when they did that why should we players have any hope that this game will get any better?
Right now it is just the matter of releasing small packs every month and making fast money of them.
Hypothetically it may well be that their cost benefit analysis shows them that it's not worth salvaging things for those they haven't catered to. We've seen the devs talk about how limiting the engine is and sometimes it is more expensive to try to fix something than it is to start from scratch. I suspect that they may be having issues given the explanation they gave for babies stuck to a bassinet.
They may have expected better returns in profits for the game and the issues may have meant they don't have as much access to further funds to fix the issues.
If that's the case I wish they would just come out and say it and stop stringing people along.
Yes I think the game has been given a potato budget!
Whatever difficulty the developers are saying they have is mainly because of the budget. It is a big shame since this is an A grade title. or better to say was an A grade title
Do yo really think that EA should have hired an even bigger team of highly educated professionals?
It is not me who says "No this is expensive"
It is the gurus!
A bear animation was called very expensive
A beard of a certain style expensive
A certain way of sitting on the lounge is very expensive
We are in 2015 and these expensive excuses are getting too old. Game budget has been definitely very much below all the previous sims games.
Heavy animation cut from the game due to this excuse!
I think it is a big shame when developers keep giving us the expensive excuse for animation when we see normal people can do wonders with animation.
I am sure bear animation would not be as complex as this dancing animation that a normal person did to a Sims 4 model. And yea even the hair animates! Something that we had in TS2 and the developers decided to ditch it in TS3 and TS4. This franchise has been going backwards heavily
Okay if my Sim could dance like that and have motion in their hair (Props to the person that made the video it is stunning)..I might rethink my views on game 4. To make money you need to spend money ..The creator of this 1 single video brought life to game 4 Sim... There are other games that bring life to their pixel people... This video .. It made me drop my jaw how smooth and real the game 4 could of been.. Even in its cartoon state that little video make the Sim feel real and interesting and I wanted more...
That movement including hair was just stunning..I am not sure if anyone will get what I mean.. that is okay..because I can't describe what that simple video did for me and my feelings on it compared to the slap stick silly toons that are in Sims 4..
I guess the creator made me feel the emotions of the sim dancing...but it goes deeper but that will do for the simpler version...
Technically, this was rendered in MikuMikuDance (MMD). It isn't exactly a person animating this. MMD uses the bullet physics engine (this is why I have been championing for a physics engine!) and you can use Microsoft Kinect for motion capture. I have also seen people use dance videos to create the animations, you can type in TS3 and TS4 MMD and find a ton of videos of sims dancing. Still awesome, though.
@Mstybl95 I'm glad you mentioned the dead stare... not good!
That is the part that would require animating since it's expensive to motion track eyes. But in the sims, it has always been done by having other sims look at objects or track sims walking nearby. On top of the animations. That's why when a sim walks past another, their heads turn in that direction. They did it in TS2 and they do it in TS4. I don't think they did it as much in TS3.
@Mstybl95 I'm glad you mentioned the dead stare... not good!
That is the part that would require animating since it's expensive to motion track eyes. But in the sims, it has always been done by having other sims look at objects or track sims walking nearby. On top of the animations. That's why when a sim walks past another, their heads turn in that direction. They did it in TS2 and they do it in TS4. I don't think they did it as much in TS3.
They do it in 3 but I think it's more subtle so you don't notice as much.
@Writin_Reg well said! If a huge company like EA find it too hard and expensive to make games with all the resources and access to the best and brightest staff that comes with their position in the market then they are in serious trouble.
But look at their other games-they aren't doing this elsewhere!
I mean if they can hand on heart say this is the best they are capable of for the sims I feel sorry for them. Fact is we've seen some of the same staff doing much better things when they were new to the job! Something is preventing them from greatness. Don't care what it is. Just want it fixed. And I do not want to hear any more excuses. If all you have are excuses EA I think it's time you offered refunds to those of us who bought under promises you've been incapable of fulfilling.
I think EA are treating the sims game like a Z grade title. I just dont understand why?
Are they doing this with The Sims 4 because they know the game is not getting any better so they just dont want to spend on it anymore?
The half baked stuff they keep releasing every month, the ignorance to what players demand!
I just don't know what to say. I think before the players EA itself has given up on The Sims 4. So when they did that why should we players have any hope that this game will get any better?
Right now it is just the matter of releasing small packs every month and making fast money of them.
Hypothetically it may well be that their cost benefit analysis shows them that it's not worth salvaging things for those they haven't catered to. We've seen the devs talk about how limiting the engine is and sometimes it is more expensive to try to fix something than it is to start from scratch. I suspect that they may be having issues given the explanation they gave for babies stuck to a bassinet.
They may have expected better returns in profits for the game and the issues may have meant they don't have as much access to further funds to fix the issues.
If that's the case I wish they would just come out and say it and stop stringing people along.
Yes I think the game has been given a potato budget!
Whatever difficulty the developers are saying they have is mainly because of the budget. It is a big shame since this is an A grade title. or better to say was an A grade title
Do yo really think that EA should have hired an even bigger team of highly educated professionals?
It is not me who says "No this is expensive"
It is the gurus!
A bear animation was called very expensive
A beard of a certain style expensive
A certain way of sitting on the lounge is very expensive
We are in 2015 and these expensive excuses are getting too old. Game budget has been definitely very much below all the previous sims games.
Heavy animation cut from the game due to this excuse!
I think it is a big shame when developers keep giving us the expensive excuse for animation when we see normal people can do wonders with animation.
I am sure bear animation would not be as complex as this dancing animation that a normal person did to a Sims 4 model. And yea even the hair animates! Something that we had in TS2 and the developers decided to ditch it in TS3 and TS4. This franchise has been going backwards heavily
Okay if my Sim could dance like that and have motion in their hair (Props to the person that made the video it is stunning)..I might rethink my views on game 4. To make money you need to spend money ..The creator of this 1 single video brought life to game 4 Sim... There are other games that bring life to their pixel people... This video .. It made me drop my jaw how smooth and real the game 4 could of been.. Even in its cartoon state that little video make the Sim feel real and interesting and I wanted more...
That movement including hair was just stunning..I am not sure if anyone will get what I mean.. that is okay..because I can't describe what that simple video did for me and my feelings on it compared to the slap stick silly toons that are in Sims 4..
I guess the creator made me feel the emotions of the sim dancing...but it goes deeper but that will do for the simpler version...
Technically, this was rendered in MikuMikuDance (MMD). It isn't exactly a person animating this. MMD uses the bullet physics engine (this is why I have been championing for a physics engine!) and you can use Microsoft Kinect for motion capture. I have also seen people use dance videos to create the animations, you can type in TS3 and TS4 MMD and find a ton of videos of sims dancing. Still awesome, though.
I guess what I am saying if all that is the matter with that video is a dead stare (saw his frozen video for Sims 4 too).. I could take that over the slap stick looney tunes characters that are in the game.. It made feel..It was beautiful..and that sim seemed more a Sim of the future ( stare could be worked on but the ending was just stunning)..
There are games out that pixel characters have this feel to them is what I am saying..The dead stare I can overlook, infact my favorite game the character has a dead stare (reminds me to ask the devs if they will fix this sometime before the game is released)..
It is hard for me to explain exactly..words sometimes escape me when it is like this video. As an artist and a gamer this one video made me feel love for a Sim from Sim 4.. that the game within itself can't..
Bleh.. hard to explain.. I do occasionally fire up Sims 4 (I paid over 80 bucks for it) and I hit CC and create characters and sometimes build homes and lots..(amazing how much free stuff out there that makes some great characters and nice homes)... but that is it. I can't play Sims 4 no more than 10 minutes and I am done and back to creating more characters, homes, and lots.. Thank the heavens for CC.. I do not feel the game.. I see it as a joke with its little to do list and the shallow feel of the gameplay, that my characters, homes, and lots are never played..
The video made me want more of that in gameplay.. It made me want to know that dancing Sim.. (big fan of WoW like videos).. And I must admit my creativity hit and I could imagine a game of Sims with that flow of the video but expanded in motion and interest further than that dance..
I do not feel Sims 4 no more than an expensive character creator, home builder, and lot creator...so hard to explain exactly I am sorry..lost for words how that video made Sims 4 as a game seem even more lacking and too far in the silly department..no charm.. no real humor.. no soul..
The video had much soul even with the dead stare..
<.< As I was watching IMUV now has babies... which gave me a laugh..
@Writin_Reg well said! If a huge company like EA find it too hard and expensive to make games with all the resources and access to the best and brightest staff that comes with their position in the market then they are in serious trouble.
But look at their other games-they aren't doing this elsewhere!
I mean if they can hand on heart say this is the best they are capable of for the sims I feel sorry for them. Fact is we've seen some of the same staff doing much better things when they were new to the job! Something is preventing them from greatness. Don't care what it is. Just want it fixed. And I do not want to hear any more excuses. If all you have are excuses EA I think it's time you offered refunds to those of us who bought under promises you've been incapable of fulfilling.
I think EA are treating the sims game like a Z grade title. I just dont understand why?
Are they doing this with The Sims 4 because they know the game is not getting any better so they just dont want to spend on it anymore?
The half baked stuff they keep releasing every month, the ignorance to what players demand!
I just don't know what to say. I think before the players EA itself has given up on The Sims 4. So when they did that why should we players have any hope that this game will get any better?
Right now it is just the matter of releasing small packs every month and making fast money of them.
Hypothetically it may well be that their cost benefit analysis shows them that it's not worth salvaging things for those they haven't catered to. We've seen the devs talk about how limiting the engine is and sometimes it is more expensive to try to fix something than it is to start from scratch. I suspect that they may be having issues given the explanation they gave for babies stuck to a bassinet.
They may have expected better returns in profits for the game and the issues may have meant they don't have as much access to further funds to fix the issues.
If that's the case I wish they would just come out and say it and stop stringing people along.
Yes I think the game has been given a potato budget!
Whatever difficulty the developers are saying they have is mainly because of the budget. It is a big shame since this is an A grade title. or better to say was an A grade title
Do yo really think that EA should have hired an even bigger team of highly educated professionals?
It is not me who says "No this is expensive"
It is the gurus!
A bear animation was called very expensive
A beard of a certain style expensive
A certain way of sitting on the lounge is very expensive
We are in 2015 and these expensive excuses are getting too old. Game budget has been definitely very much below all the previous sims games.
Heavy animation cut from the game due to this excuse!
I think it is a big shame when developers keep giving us the expensive excuse for animation when we see normal people can do wonders with animation.
I am sure bear animation would not be as complex as this dancing animation that a normal person did to a Sims 4 model. And yea even the hair animates! Something that we had in TS2 and the developers decided to ditch it in TS3 and TS4. This franchise has been going backwards heavily
Okay if my Sim could dance like that and have motion in their hair (Props to the person that made the video it is stunning)..I might rethink my views on game 4. To make money you need to spend money ..The creator of this 1 single video brought life to game 4 Sim... There are other games that bring life to their pixel people... This video .. It made me drop my jaw how smooth and real the game 4 could of been.. Even in its cartoon state that little video make the Sim feel real and interesting and I wanted more...
That movement including hair was just stunning..I am not sure if anyone will get what I mean.. that is okay..because I can't describe what that simple video did for me and my feelings on it compared to the slap stick silly toons that are in Sims 4..
I guess the creator made me feel the emotions of the sim dancing...but it goes deeper but that will do for the simpler version...
Technically, this was rendered in MikuMikuDance (MMD). It isn't exactly a person animating this. MMD uses the bullet physics engine (this is why I have been championing for a physics engine!) and you can use Microsoft Kinect for motion capture. I have also seen people use dance videos to create the animations, you can type in TS3 and TS4 MMD and find a ton of videos of sims dancing. Still awesome, though.
So you're saying that you don't even need to have animation skills to do this? What's wrong with Maxis? Can you imagine an add-on like this for Sims, in which you can create your own dances? This alone would probably sell $50.00 expansions. But no, Maxis focuses on the cheap, hoping low-cost inputs enable profits.
Ouch - sorry, responded before reminder. Erpe has brought a lot of good ideas to the table, and I was responding based on that, no malice meant. There is a lot of sense about business ideas and how the gaming market is changing.
No offense taken
What I wrote about "a few hundred" was an evaluation of the number of unsatisfied TS4 customers in this forum. You are probably right that there are a little more than that if your calculation also include people who don't visit the forum.
But this still isn't anything compared with the following statements from EA's CFO Blake Jorgenson who seems to explain differences of at least a hundred million dollars between two quarters with sales numbers from TS4:
"Guidance for our second quarter is for non-GAAP net revenue to be $1.075 billion, 12% lower than last year’s $1.22 billion. In this Q2, we are launching Madden NFL, FIFA, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, NHL and NBA Live. While last year’s Q2 saw the launches of our major sports titles, it also included The Sims 4. In addition, FX presents a year-on-year impact of around $100 million to Q2 revenues. Non–GAAP gross margin is forecasted to be 63.0%. Again, the main difference between this quarter and the year-ago quarter is the launch of The Sims 4."
So TS4 seems to have sold so well that it's release last year meant that EA's net revenue last year for July to September is expected to drop 12% from $1.22 billion to $1.075 billion for the same months this year. The difference between those numbers are actually $145 million.
I know that we still don't have exact numbers. But my point is that the revenue from TS4 still seems to be so high that purchases from people in this forum don't matter very much. (I doubt that that the people in this forum totally even have bought TS4 basegames for just one million dollars.) So EA still has no big problem about ignoring our writings here. Therefore I don't agree with people who seem to think that they can obtain anything with threats about not buying more Sims games until they get free toddlers and more - and I understand why the gurus just ignore us as long as people still think that such "threats" have any chance of working.
It is my belief that the folks saying they will not purchase are not making threats they are stating that they are that unhappy about the issue. Where I live, if the consumer doesn't like something, they do not purchase it. If they had liked it at one time, but changes turned them away, they state that will no longer purchase the product. IF a consumer care teams take the idea If consumers say negative things about my product; I will ignore them, then the consumer care team is missing a great opportunity for consumer feedback that could result in thier company developing a better product.
Yes the consumer care team listen the first time a consumer say negative things and maybe even the second time the same consumer says the same thing. But if the same consumers visit the same store and say the same negative things for months then the store will have stopped listening a long time ago and probably have banned those consumers from the store instead. That is my point: If you have told the store what you don't like a couple of times then you don't achieve good things by going on and on repeating it forever.
That's also why there is hardly any simulation. That data requires a lot of processing power which isn't available on low end machines.
The processing requirements for a "sims level" simulation isn't all that much. Computers today are capable of much more than TS4 even begins to touch. TS2 simulation aspect was so far beyond what the TS4 has that its not even comparable, and it managed to do it on much older and severely less capable hardware. Adding TS2 level sim intelligence and interactions to TS4 wouldn't even be a blip on today's hardware.
It simply takes dedication from the developers to do it. I'm sure for them it would be more work, but hardware isn't even remotely the limiting factor in this case.
I agree with you on the capability of computers today and it is a shame that TS4 was not designed to take advantage of that power. Going back to loading screens is not a step forward, even if it is to make it easier for those using less powerful machines because IMHO it is the higher end computers that is paying the price. Why put out a program if you are not going to tweak it and then put out a less powerful program that relies on features from yesteryear and it supposed to be the best thing since mac and cheese. The game is boring and adding just content or items and no major features will not make it any better at least for me. There is a whole lot missing from Sims 4 and I have no zest or burning urge to play it like I did with previous versions.
Post edited by Goldmoldar on
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Ouch - sorry, responded before reminder. Erpe has brought a lot of good ideas to the table, and I was responding based on that, no malice meant. There is a lot of sense about business ideas and how the gaming market is changing.
No offense taken
What I wrote about "a few hundred" was an evaluation of the number of unsatisfied TS4 customers in this forum. You are probably right that there are a little more than that if your calculation also include people who don't visit the forum.
But this still isn't anything compared with the following statements from EA's CFO Blake Jorgenson who seems to explain differences of at least a hundred million dollars between two quarters with sales numbers from TS4:
"Guidance for our second quarter is for non-GAAP net revenue to be $1.075 billion, 12% lower than last year’s $1.22 billion. In this Q2, we are launching Madden NFL, FIFA, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, NHL and NBA Live. While last year’s Q2 saw the launches of our major sports titles, it also included The Sims 4. In addition, FX presents a year-on-year impact of around $100 million to Q2 revenues. Non–GAAP gross margin is forecasted to be 63.0%. Again, the main difference between this quarter and the year-ago quarter is the launch of The Sims 4."
So TS4 seems to have sold so well that it's release last year meant that EA's net revenue last year for July to September is expected to drop 12% from $1.22 billion to $1.075 billion for the same months this year. The difference between those numbers are actually $145 million.
I know that we still don't have exact numbers. But my point is that the revenue from TS4 still seems to be so high that purchases from people in this forum don't matter very much. (I doubt that that the people in this forum totally even have bought TS4 basegames for just one million dollars.) So EA still has no big problem about ignoring our writings here. Therefore I don't agree with people who seem to think that they can obtain anything with threats about not buying more Sims games until they get free toddlers and more - and I understand why the gurus just ignore us as long as people still think that such "threats" have any chance of working.
I understand your argument, but I think you are operating under a false assumption - that forum users are the only people who were disappointed with the game.
It is convenient to argue that everyone outside of the forums is happy, since it is not something you can measure. However, the chances of that being true are slim. The disappointment with TS4 is not exclusive to the forums - you can see it on almost every feedback channel available. So as much as you may wish it was true, I don't think we're dealing with just a "few hundred" unhappy players.
While you used EA's financial report in an attempt to enhance your view, I think it did the opposite. The business model for the Sims has always been based around add-ons, whether it was Expansions, DLC, or whatever. The real potential of the franchise has never been the base game. Therefore, I think a reduced earnings forecast for this quarter would suggest that the sales for TS4 EP's and GP's have been weak. If that's true, it means that players are not sticking with the game, or don't like it enough to spend more money to enhance it.
With the Sims, EA made their money off the hardcore players who would spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars over the lifecycle of the game (a market who's views, I believe, are well represented in places like the forums). So I disagree that EA only cares about the casual pre-teen market. I think what really happened is that they underestimated how upset the hardcore fanbase would get. I think they expected it to blow over, and it hasn't.
That wasn't what I wrote because I never said that only people in the forum are unhappy about the changes from TS3 to TS4. What I wrote was instead that mainly some of the veteran simmers are unhappy. I don't believe that 12 to 14 years old teens who got TS4 as their very first Sims game are unhappy at all. Instead they are probably just as happy as everybody was 10 to 15 years ago when they got TS1 (neither of the two game has toddlers).
We can't observe the behavior of such 12 to 14 years old teens in this forum because I have never really seen them in the English forums for any Sims game. But they were actually the majority in the Danish Sims 2 forum where there were maybe at least 200 of them. The reasons they liked the Danish Sims 2 forum so much were:
1. They loved making diaries about their games which were one of the special features in our forum at the time.
2. They loved our off topic forum where they discussed their schools, their boyfriends and played a lot of forum games.
The behavior of those young teens (mainly girls) was characterized by the following:
1. They were extremely active in the off topic area of the forum all the time.
2. They were also active in the TS2 areas. But almost only in the first couple of weeks after the release of a new EP.
3. They didn't have any patience at all and cheated as much in TS2 as they could.
4. They loved to discuss each other's diaries about the game.
When we switched over to the new TS3 forum they all disappeared. The reasons obviously were:
1. We didn't have an off topic forum anymore.
2. Diaries were no longer possible in the same way.
3. Many of them had problems about registering the game because they were too young to have credit cards.
4. There were many technical issues with our TS3 forum.
But I still think that this age group plays the game too. We just can't observe them anymore because they discuss their games in other forums (probably general forums dominated by their own age group).
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
Ouch - sorry, responded before reminder. Erpe has brought a lot of good ideas to the table, and I was responding based on that, no malice meant. There is a lot of sense about business ideas and how the gaming market is changing.
No offense taken
What I wrote about "a few hundred" was an evaluation of the number of unsatisfied TS4 customers in this forum. You are probably right that there are a little more than that if your calculation also include people who don't visit the forum.
But this still isn't anything compared with the following statements from EA's CFO Blake Jorgenson who seems to explain differences of at least a hundred million dollars between two quarters with sales numbers from TS4:
"Guidance for our second quarter is for non-GAAP net revenue to be $1.075 billion, 12% lower than last year’s $1.22 billion. In this Q2, we are launching Madden NFL, FIFA, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, NHL and NBA Live. While last year’s Q2 saw the launches of our major sports titles, it also included The Sims 4. In addition, FX presents a year-on-year impact of around $100 million to Q2 revenues. Non–GAAP gross margin is forecasted to be 63.0%. Again, the main difference between this quarter and the year-ago quarter is the launch of The Sims 4."
So TS4 seems to have sold so well that it's release last year meant that EA's net revenue last year for July to September is expected to drop 12% from $1.22 billion to $1.075 billion for the same months this year. The difference between those numbers are actually $145 million.
I know that we still don't have exact numbers. But my point is that the revenue from TS4 still seems to be so high that purchases from people in this forum don't matter very much. (I doubt that that the people in this forum totally even have bought TS4 basegames for just one million dollars.) So EA still has no big problem about ignoring our writings here. Therefore I don't agree with people who seem to think that they can obtain anything with threats about not buying more Sims games until they get free toddlers and more - and I understand why the gurus just ignore us as long as people still think that such "threats" have any chance of working.
It is my belief that the folks saying they will not purchase are not making threats they are stating that they are that unhappy about the issue. Where I live, if the consumer doesn't like something, they do not purchase it. If they had liked it at one time, but changes turned them away, they state that will no longer purchase the product. IF a consumer care teams take the idea If consumers say negative things about my product; I will ignore them, then the consumer care team is missing a great opportunity for consumer feedback that could result in thier company developing a better product.
Yes the consumer care team listen the first time a consumer say negative things and maybe even the second time the same consumer says the same thing. But if the same consumers visit the same store and say the same negative things for months then the store will have stopped listening a long time ago and probably have banned those consumers from the store instead. That is my point: If you have told the store what you don't like a couple of times then you don't achieve good things by going on and on repeating it forever.
My opinion: If the same customer care team is seeing the same negative speak for months, someone is not doing their job.
Yes the consumer care team listen the first time a consumer say negative things and maybe even the second time the same consumer says the same thing. But if the same consumers visit the same store and say the same negative things for months then the store will have stopped listening a long time ago and probably have banned those consumers from the store instead. That is my point: If you have told the store what you don't like a couple of times then you don't achieve good things by going on and on repeating it forever.
My opinion: If the same customer care team is seeing the same negative speak for months, someone is not doing their job.
I have seen such practices close doors. Only the wise listen with their ears and not their egos.
Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
Here is this years version and EA is one of the companies in charge of all the data in here - if you look into it lists all the companies doing the research. I thought you were a stock holder - why are you not get a yearly version of this in memo in your email. I do.
But here is the public link and the age this year is 35 found on page 3 I believe. ESA owns the E3. ESA members are listed on page 14 and 15. EA is on top of page 15. But it changes from year to year - according to what the states are through the entire year previous - so this version is basted on all the info they garnered from Jan - Dec. of 2014.
I do not post anything I don't have documentation about or links to, but sometimes I cannot post every link because some times they are not appropiate or allowed on the forum. This is. I have posted it before and do not know why it was not seen. EA is one of the people that is a member and also post the stats in here in their own EA News.
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
Here is this years version and EA is one of the companies in charge of all the data in here - if you look into it lists all the companies doing the research. I thought you were a stock holder - why are you not get a yearly version of this in memo in your email. I do.
But here is the public link and the age this year is 35 found on page 3 I believe.
I do not post anything I don't have documentation about.
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
Here is this years version and EA is one of the companies in charge of all the data in here - if you look into it lists all the companies doing the research. I thought you were a stock holder - why are you not get a yearly version of this in memo in your email. I do.
But here is the public link and the age this year is 35 found on page 3 I believe.
I do not post anything I don't have documentation about.
I love you. That was the document I was talking about *slobbery smooch*!
Don't tell me that's too far! You loved it!
I just don't save everything I see. *blushes*
If I have posted it just ask. LOL. Even if I can't post things here I could pm them you know - silly. But this one comes out every year. They stay on top of it and if you look at the pages on 14 and 15 - you can see the top gaming people involved.
Here is another link you might like - every thing you want to know about entertainment software can be found here - as this is actually where that yearly pamphlet comes for - but things like new laws, or anything else - going on - can eventually - often first even - be found on this site: the Entertainment Software Association:
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
Here is this years version and EA is one of the companies in charge of all the data in here - if you look into it lists all the companies doing the research. I thought you were a stock holder - why are you not get a yearly version of this in memo in your email. I do.
But here is the public link and the age this year is 35 found on page 3 I believe.
I do not post anything I don't have documentation about.
I love you. That was the document I was talking about *slobbery smooch*!
Don't tell me that's too far! You loved it!
I just don't save everything I see. *blushes*
If I have posted it just ask. LOL. Even if I can't post things here I could pm them you know - silly. But this one comes out every year. They stay on top of it and if you look at the pages on 14 and 15 - you can see the top gaming people involved.
Noted. Sadly, I don't visit this forum in the right frame of mind these days—it depresses me too much to be honest. But I will surely PM you if needed. I forgot how happy some of those names made me feel the last time I saw it.
*deep sigh* <— I do that to alleviate tension because it works. I highly recommend it.
Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
General statistics about this differ from game to game. It is also obvious that you won't find many 12 to 14 year olds playing 16+ or 18+ games (rated M or A instead in North America).
There are also differences depending on the way you count because you won't get the same result in the following cases:
1. You count the ages of all who register a game.
2. You count the age every time a simmer log on to the game server.
The 12 to 14 year olds that I mentioned mainly played their games in the first 2 weeks after every new release. This means that the most of the time they (almost) didn't play at all. But they usually still visited the forum to discuss other topics and to read each other's diaries.
Adult simmers behave differently. They probably have more patience and don't cheat as much and they probably also play the game more and more constant. But from EA's viewpoint this doesn't matter if they don't buy more Sims games anyway.
I really wish I could find that statistical document released by EA about most gamers being between the ages of 30-40.
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
Scobre - My husband accuses me of being a walking encyclopedia - as at least 80 percent of every thing I have in my head so it takes me mere seconds to find the links. I seem to store keywords in my head or something. LOL. Add to that a photographic memory - but do not be envious - my memory does not discriminate - it stores everything - even things I'd rather forget. LOL/ Tons of useless info. All I have to do is read something once and it is locked in.
"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.....
Comments
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
LOL. A fan does THIS, while Maxis releases videos of 'bros' fist-bumping. What a shame.
Technically, this was rendered in MikuMikuDance (MMD). It isn't exactly a person animating this. MMD uses the bullet physics engine (this is why I have been championing for a physics engine!) and you can use Microsoft Kinect for motion capture. I have also seen people use dance videos to create the animations, you can type in TS3 and TS4 MMD and find a ton of videos of sims dancing. Still awesome, though.
“Instead of putting players in the role of Luke Skywalker, or Frodo Baggins, I'd rather put them in the role of George Lucas.”Will Wright.
That is the part that would require animating since it's expensive to motion track eyes. But in the sims, it has always been done by having other sims look at objects or track sims walking nearby. On top of the animations. That's why when a sim walks past another, their heads turn in that direction. They did it in TS2 and they do it in TS4. I don't think they did it as much in TS3.
They do it in 3 but I think it's more subtle so you don't notice as much.
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
I guess what I am saying if all that is the matter with that video is a dead stare (saw his frozen video for Sims 4 too).. I could take that over the slap stick looney tunes characters that are in the game.. It made feel..It was beautiful..and that sim seemed more a Sim of the future ( stare could be worked on but the ending was just stunning)..
There are games out that pixel characters have this feel to them is what I am saying..The dead stare I can overlook, infact my favorite game the character has a dead stare (reminds me to ask the devs if they will fix this sometime before the game is released)..
It is hard for me to explain exactly..words sometimes escape me when it is like this video. As an artist and a gamer this one video made me feel love for a Sim from Sim 4.. that the game within itself can't..
Bleh.. hard to explain.. I do occasionally fire up Sims 4 (I paid over 80 bucks for it) and I hit CC and create characters and sometimes build homes and lots..(amazing how much free stuff out there that makes some great characters and nice homes)... but that is it. I can't play Sims 4 no more than 10 minutes and I am done and back to creating more characters, homes, and lots.. Thank the heavens for CC.. I do not feel the game.. I see it as a joke with its little to do list and the shallow feel of the gameplay, that my characters, homes, and lots are never played..
The video made me want more of that in gameplay.. It made me want to know that dancing Sim.. (big fan of WoW like videos).. And I must admit my creativity hit and I could imagine a game of Sims with that flow of the video but expanded in motion and interest further than that dance..
I do not feel Sims 4 no more than an expensive character creator, home builder, and lot creator...so hard to explain exactly I am sorry..lost for words how that video made Sims 4 as a game seem even more lacking and too far in the silly department..no charm.. no real humor.. no soul..
The video had much soul even with the dead stare..
<.< As I was watching IMUV now has babies... which gave me a laugh..
So you're saying that you don't even need to have animation skills to do this? What's wrong with Maxis? Can you imagine an add-on like this for Sims, in which you can create your own dances? This alone would probably sell $50.00 expansions. But no, Maxis focuses on the cheap, hoping low-cost inputs enable profits.
We can't observe the behavior of such 12 to 14 years old teens in this forum because I have never really seen them in the English forums for any Sims game. But they were actually the majority in the Danish Sims 2 forum where there were maybe at least 200 of them. The reasons they liked the Danish Sims 2 forum so much were:
1. They loved making diaries about their games which were one of the special features in our forum at the time.
2. They loved our off topic forum where they discussed their schools, their boyfriends and played a lot of forum games.
The behavior of those young teens (mainly girls) was characterized by the following:
1. They were extremely active in the off topic area of the forum all the time.
2. They were also active in the TS2 areas. But almost only in the first couple of weeks after the release of a new EP.
3. They didn't have any patience at all and cheated as much in TS2 as they could.
4. They loved to discuss each other's diaries about the game.
When we switched over to the new TS3 forum they all disappeared. The reasons obviously were:
1. We didn't have an off topic forum anymore.
2. Diaries were no longer possible in the same way.
3. Many of them had problems about registering the game because they were too young to have credit cards.
4. There were many technical issues with our TS3 forum.
But I still think that this age group plays the game too. We just can't observe them anymore because they discuss their games in other forums (probably general forums dominated by their own age group).
The world is much greater than the distance beyond the tip of my nose. Strangely not quoted by anyone who professes to know about things they don't know anything about.
My opinion: If the same customer care team is seeing the same negative speak for months, someone is not doing their job.
I have seen such practices close doors. Only the wise listen with their ears and not their egos.
Here is this years version and EA is one of the companies in charge of all the data in here - if you look into it lists all the companies doing the research. I thought you were a stock holder - why are you not get a yearly version of this in memo in your email. I do.
But here is the public link and the age this year is 35 found on page 3 I believe. ESA owns the E3. ESA members are listed on page 14 and 15. EA is on top of page 15. But it changes from year to year - according to what the states are through the entire year previous - so this version is basted on all the info they garnered from Jan - Dec. of 2014.
I do not post anything I don't have documentation about or links to, but sometimes I cannot post every link because some times they are not appropiate or allowed on the forum. This is. I have posted it before and do not know why it was not seen. EA is one of the people that is a member and also post the stats in here in their own EA News.
http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf
"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.....
I love you. That was the document I was talking about *slobbery smooch*!
Don't tell me that's too far! You loved it!
I just don't save everything I see. *blushes*
If I have posted it just ask. LOL. Even if I can't post things here I could pm them you know - silly. But this one comes out every year. They stay on top of it and if you look at the pages on 14 and 15 - you can see the top gaming people involved.
Here is another link you might like - every thing you want to know about entertainment software can be found here - as this is actually where that yearly pamphlet comes for - but things like new laws, or anything else - going on - can eventually - often first even - be found on this site: the Entertainment Software Association:
http://www.theesa.com/
"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.....
Noted. Sadly, I don't visit this forum in the right frame of mind these days—it depresses me too much to be honest. But I will surely PM you if needed. I forgot how happy some of those names made me feel the last time I saw it.
*deep sigh* <— I do that to alleviate tension because it works. I highly recommend it.
There are also differences depending on the way you count because you won't get the same result in the following cases:
1. You count the ages of all who register a game.
2. You count the age every time a simmer log on to the game server.
The 12 to 14 year olds that I mentioned mainly played their games in the first 2 weeks after every new release. This means that the most of the time they (almost) didn't play at all. But they usually still visited the forum to discuss other topics and to read each other's diaries.
Adult simmers behave differently. They probably have more patience and don't cheat as much and they probably also play the game more and more constant. But from EA's viewpoint this doesn't matter if they don't buy more Sims games anyway.
"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.....
Or was it this that mentioned the average gamer is 35? http://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ESA-Essential-Facts-2015.pdf
I guess Writin_Reg found it too. Oops.
"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.....