Here is my take on this all. Believe me, I still think Rachel Franklin is to blame for all of this, but there are so many other factors involved.
1. Mobile developers do not have the skills or experience for PC simulation. Plain and simple, these guys just can't do what their predecessors did. They don't know how. Their skills are linear and simple. That's why anything complex in this game is bugged out to the max. They don't know what they're doing and they definitely don't know how to fix it.
2. Toddlers and many other big features take a lot of time. They have already proven that they haven't invested in animators, perhaps tone down the FX team and up the animators. But anyhow, even if they had started working on toddlers, that's a huge effort. I think it was Graham that explained once that pets take long to develop. They start working on the Pets ep right after the base game is released and it would be ready for the fifth EP. Toddlers are pretty much the same because they interact with all the other age groups plus have their own set of objects. So realistically, they would take 2-3 years to develop. Add in the bonus that they don't have the right team working on The Sims right now so it doesn't surprise me that they may not ever happen.
3. EA still wants our money. They just think of us as plums who will blindly buy things. They were expecting it and to some degree, their numbers are still high enough. So instead of thinking of this as a failing game, they just think overall interest is down. In actuality, many of us would have been happy to keep throwing our money at them if they had released an actual successor to The Sims 3.
4.There is very little that they can do to change things unless they hire more experienced talent. Which then lends to their favorite expression: too hard and too expensive. EA isn't giving them the budget and we aren't throwing money at them like we used to. So all of us are stuck between a rock and a hard place. EA has to take a monetary chance and invest in the game properly with a chance of failure. That is something I doubt they would do. So we got what we got and there is very little that will change about it. Hopefully those of us that are left hanging on to a thread of hope can influence some changes. But we don't have the numbers to back it up anymore.
@sparkfairy1, haven't you figured out by now they don't care about loyalty? As long as they draw in more and younger customers they seemingly don't care how many of the old ones they lose.
One question?
who's the parents of these younger customers?
Maybe the old ones?
If I tell my kid's not to Play it, guess what? there not.
This quote wasn't about parents but about older players. Not every older player has kids that play the game. Mine don't for instance. Not because I told them so (I'd never do that anyway, just because I don't happen to like a game..?) but because they are no simmers. And not every older player even has kids. There is no link in the context of Sparkfairy's post between 'the older player' and 'parents'.
@sparkfairy1, haven't you figured out by now they don't care about loyalty? As long as they draw in more and younger customers they seemingly don't care how many of the old ones they lose.
One question?
who's the parents of these younger customers?
Maybe the old ones?
If I tell my kid's not to Play it, guess what? there not.
This quote wasn't about parents but about older players. Not every older player has kids that play the game. Mine don't for instance. Not because I told them so (I'd never do that anyway, just because I don't happen to like a game..?) but because they are no simmers. And not every older player even has kids. There is no link in the context of Sparkfairy's post between 'the older player' and 'parents'.
Here is my take on this all. Believe me, I still think Rachel Franklin is to blame for all of this, but there are so many other factors involved.
1. Mobile developers do not have the skills or experience for PC simulation. Plain and simple, these guys just can't do what their predecessors did. They don't know how. Their skills are linear and simple. That's why anything complex in this game is bugged out to the max. They don't know what they're doing and they definitely don't know how to fix it.
2. Toddlers and many other big features take a lot of time. They have already proven that they haven't invested in animators, perhaps tone down the FX team and up the animators. But anyhow, even if they had started working on toddlers, that's a huge effort. I think it was Graham that explained once that pets take long to develop. They start working on the Pets ep right after the base game is released and it would be ready for the fifth EP. Toddlers are pretty much the same because they interact with all the other age groups plus have their own set of objects. So realistically, they would take 2-3 years to develop. Add in the bonus that they don't have the right team working on The Sims right now so it doesn't surprise me that they may not ever happen.
3. EA still wants our money. They just think of us as plums who will blindly buy things. They were expecting it and to some degree, their numbers are still high enough. So instead of thinking of this as a failing game, they just think overall interest is down. In actuality, many of us would have been happy to keep throwing our money at them if they had released an actual successor to The Sims 3.
4.There is very little that they can do to change things unless they hire more experienced talent. Which then lends to their favorite expression: too hard and too expensive. EA isn't giving them the budget and we aren't throwing money at them like we used to. So all of us are stuck between a rock and a hard place. EA has to take a monetary chance and invest in the game properly with a chance of failure. That is something I doubt they would do. So we got what we got and there is very little that will change about it. Hopefully those of us that are left hanging on to a thread of hope can influence some changes. But we don't have the numbers to back it up anymore.
Amen. It all comes down to lack of talent and lack of vision, and nowadays anyone can be a game developer when they come right out of uni--in the past the position was not as lucrative and so game dev was a job for those who were passionate about it. There is no passion or talent invested TS4 and you can see it all over the game quality.
Granted this interview really turned me off Maxis in general, but I was already tired of what the devs have done to the Sims. Now all we have to look forward to is the new mobile game
I'm really thinking Sims 4 was created very half 🐸🐸🐸🐸.
It's my theory EA had so much on their hands still with Sims 3, they really didn't have the time or space to focus on developing 4 enough. They should have waited till they were completely done with 3, and had time to focus on 4 before they released it.
It's like someone was thinking "oh crap, let's cut the work load on this thing and just throw it together in a simple format like we did for Sims 1, and Sims medieval , and voila! There you go! We can now pretend the game is the greatest thing ever etc..."
And "photorealistic" graphics was something I think many were expecting and hoping for (myself included). It isn't "creepy", to have more realistic sims, it would have been neat, and a way to be even more creative. I'm still not fond of the cartoon graphics, that look like some online/free play, limited Sims game for mobile devices, or something..
And players can make open worlds more "connected" if they want. All I'd have to do in 3 was make a new community lot and everyone would come. And that's a lot better than them living in a world that's just an illusion of a background where they can barely go anywhere in.
And "photorealistic" graphics was something I think many were expecting and hoping for (myself included). It isn't "creepy", to have more realistic sims, it would have been neat, and a way to be even more creative. I'm still not fond of the cartoon graphics, that look like some online/free play, limited Sims game for mobile devices, or something.
Sorry but I have to disagree with that. While I love photo realism in most video games, in this case Photorealistic graphics would be a big turn off for me. I would definitely not want my sims looking like this:
Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and plays differently but for me it would be just creepy. I would not feel comfortable spying these mini people and I would definitely feel bad if I created havoc in their life (no more "accidental" deaths lol). But hey, it a just my opinion.
@QDog I agree. I would simply not be able to play a Sims game where the sims looked like the above characters. I would be devastated if something bad happened to them. I play my game in a deviant fashion, so if the game ever switches to this art style, I'll have to bow out of the series and just stick with the old games.
But that's not photorealism! Those are improved graphics (more realistic than ts4 of course). I actually like the cartoony look but I could live with something more realistic as long as it's not too realistic. I just hope they don't go into photorealism because that would be creepy!
And "photorealistic" graphics was something I think many were expecting and hoping for (myself included). It isn't "creepy", to have more realistic sims, it would have been neat, and a way to be even more creative. I'm still not fond of the cartoon graphics, that look like some online/free play, limited Sims game for mobile devices, or something.
Sorry but I have to disagree with that. While I love photo realism in most video games, in this case Photorealistic graphics would be a big turn off for me. I would definitely not want my sims looking like this:
Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and plays differently but for me it would be just creepy. I would not feel comfortable spying these mini people and I would definitely feel bad if I created havoc in their life (no more "accidental" deaths lol). But hey, it a just my opinion.
The Laaaaaaast of Us
I'm the opposite here I would love to have life simulation with this kind of graphics mince all the silly things from the sims.
I have always said that EA could always make two games, The normal cartoonish teen rated Sims and another mature life simulator with more realistic looking peoples.
Everything I post is an opinion here and I think every post of others is as well.
I'd love them looking like real people but a bit better. Not uncanny valley, not too realistic. I'd love that style @FairyLights1 linked, that would suit The Sims perfectly. Not entirely realistic but a clear art style, a bit cartoony but realistic enough to give them that sense of a real human being. I like to play my sims all the way cartoony in Sims 4 now, but it is an unwelcome necessity for me I have to do that. I prefer this game less cartoony and more realistic. And I see a lot of people approaching Sims 4 in a realistic way, so I don't think I'm the only one.
Personally, the graphics and art style was never the reason I now dislike the game, in fact, I quite like the look of it. Its sad that the gameplay is that flawed that I don't really wanna play it anymore. The babies frustrate me sooooo much and then they turn straight into children, like magic...I guess. It makes no sense anyone could see that. The fact that the worlds always have constant loading screens and that the neighborhoods are tiny really frustrated me. There's just this gaping hole in the game that makes it harder for me to enjoy than the older games. YOU CANT EVEN SWIM IN THE OCEAN. They made that mistake in ts3 for a couple of months than fixed it, but they shouldn't be making mistakes. The game should be 10X better than all the previous versions. It just annoys me really. The game has potential.
Me watching GT at Gamescom.
I'm back!!^-^ Paradox forum name: aMazingSimmer
No toddlers yet, really diapointing. They are losing a lot of people from their lack of ability to listen to players. It's just unnatural for a baby that sits in a crib all day to turn into walking and talking child.
Ah Rachel Franklin, public enemy #1. She hasn't said anything in a while; must be gearing up for another epically fail statement in the new year that will top even this.
GC: So what are your medium and short term priorities for The Sims 4 at the moment? I was trying to check last night, and you still don’t have toddlers?
RF: No.
GC: Is that something that’s going to come later, in maybe the next expansion? Since that is one of the main things fans are still asking for.
RF: You know, our fans ask for a lot of things! [laughs] And here’s the thing, we look at a lot of different factors. We look absolutely at things that are being said in public forums. We also have groups of fans coming in, but we also have telemetry to tell us what people are actually playing with and using.
Oh dear. If they're giving us new content based on what we already do in the game then there's no hope we'll ever get toddlers seeing as any kind of family play is basically non-existent in this game.
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them." Rather skewed logic, IMHO.
GC: So what are your medium and short term priorities for The Sims 4 at the moment? I was trying to check last night, and you still don’t have toddlers?
RF: No.
GC: Is that something that’s going to come later, in maybe the next expansion? Since that is one of the main things fans are still asking for.
RF: You know, our fans ask for a lot of things! [laughs] And here’s the thing, we look at a lot of different factors. We look absolutely at things that are being said in public forums. We also have groups of fans coming in, but we also have telemetry to tell us what people are actually playing with and using.
Oh dear. If they're giving us new content based on what we already do in the game then there's no hope we'll ever get toddlers seeing as any kind of family play is basically non-existent in this game.
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them." Rather skewed logic, IMHO.
Pretty sure they were using telemetry from other games to determine how much toddlers were used.
GC: So what are your medium and short term priorities for The Sims 4 at the moment? I was trying to check last night, and you still don’t have toddlers?
RF: No.
GC: Is that something that’s going to come later, in maybe the next expansion? Since that is one of the main things fans are still asking for.
RF: You know, our fans ask for a lot of things! [laughs] And here’s the thing, we look at a lot of different factors. We look absolutely at things that are being said in public forums. We also have groups of fans coming in, but we also have telemetry to tell us what people are actually playing with and using.
Oh dear. If they're giving us new content based on what we already do in the game then there's no hope we'll ever get toddlers seeing as any kind of family play is basically non-existent in this game.
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them." Rather skewed logic, IMHO.
Pretty sure they were using telemetry from other games to determine how much toddlers were used.
And yet it's also pretty skewed considering how many people used a certain set of mods that turned off their snooping telemetry tracking.
GC: So what are your medium and short term priorities for The Sims 4 at the moment? I was trying to check last night, and you still don’t have toddlers?
RF: No.
GC: Is that something that’s going to come later, in maybe the next expansion? Since that is one of the main things fans are still asking for.
RF: You know, our fans ask for a lot of things! [laughs] And here’s the thing, we look at a lot of different factors. We look absolutely at things that are being said in public forums. We also have groups of fans coming in, but we also have telemetry to tell us what people are actually playing with and using.
Oh dear. If they're giving us new content based on what we already do in the game then there's no hope we'll ever get toddlers seeing as any kind of family play is basically non-existent in this game.
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them." Rather skewed logic, IMHO.
Pretty sure they were using telemetry from other games to determine how much toddlers were used.
And yet it's also pretty skewed considering how many people used a certain set of mods that turned off their snooping telemetry tracking.
I would imagine they know how to take that into account.
EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
GC: So what are your medium and short term priorities for The Sims 4 at the moment? I was trying to check last night, and you still don’t have toddlers?
RF: No.
GC: Is that something that’s going to come later, in maybe the next expansion? Since that is one of the main things fans are still asking for.
RF: You know, our fans ask for a lot of things! [laughs] And here’s the thing, we look at a lot of different factors. We look absolutely at things that are being said in public forums. We also have groups of fans coming in, but we also have telemetry to tell us what people are actually playing with and using.
Oh dear. If they're giving us new content based on what we already do in the game then there's no hope we'll ever get toddlers seeing as any kind of family play is basically non-existent in this game.
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them." Rather skewed logic, IMHO.
Pretty sure they were using telemetry from other games to determine how much toddlers were used.
And yet it's also pretty skewed considering how many people used a certain set of mods that turned off their snooping telemetry tracking.
I would imagine they know how to take that into account.
Apparently not considering how many things they left out that people freaked out about including the toddlers.j
GC: So what are your medium and short term priorities for The Sims 4 at the moment? I was trying to check last night, and you still don’t have toddlers?
RF: No.
GC: Is that something that’s going to come later, in maybe the next expansion? Since that is one of the main things fans are still asking for.
RF: You know, our fans ask for a lot of things! [laughs] And here’s the thing, we look at a lot of different factors. We look absolutely at things that are being said in public forums. We also have groups of fans coming in, but we also have telemetry to tell us what people are actually playing with and using.
Oh dear. If they're giving us new content based on what we already do in the game then there's no hope we'll ever get toddlers seeing as any kind of family play is basically non-existent in this game.
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them." Rather skewed logic, IMHO.
Pretty sure they were using telemetry from other games to determine how much toddlers were used.
And yet it's also pretty skewed considering how many people used a certain set of mods that turned off their snooping telemetry tracking.
I would imagine they know how to take that into account.
Apparently not considering how many things they left out that people freaked out about including the toddlers.j
Interpreting data well does not mean everyone will get what they want. That's not how the real world works.
EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
Why would they want to put toddlers in the game they are just trying to brain wash the young people you don't want kids just have test tube babies. Just go and have fun, what fun, all the Sims do is Socialize they don't even go over and use some of the things that they are suppose to use. When another sim is in the room all they do is talk or take selfies. When they are bored they whip out there iPhone or what ever and play with it very annoying.
Comments
agree with you
No there isn't
https://twitter.com/sparkfairy1
Amen. It all comes down to lack of talent and lack of vision, and nowadays anyone can be a game developer when they come right out of uni--in the past the position was not as lucrative and so game dev was a job for those who were passionate about it. There is no passion or talent invested TS4 and you can see it all over the game quality.
Granted this interview really turned me off Maxis in general, but I was already tired of what the devs have done to the Sims. Now all we have to look forward to is the new mobile game
It's my theory EA had so much on their hands still with Sims 3, they really didn't have the time or space to focus on developing 4 enough. They should have waited till they were completely done with 3, and had time to focus on 4 before they released it.
It's like someone was thinking "oh crap, let's cut the work load on this thing and just throw it together in a simple format like we did for Sims 1, and Sims medieval , and voila! There you go! We can now pretend the game is the greatest thing ever etc..."
And "photorealistic" graphics was something I think many were expecting and hoping for (myself included). It isn't "creepy", to have more realistic sims, it would have been neat, and a way to be even more creative. I'm still not fond of the cartoon graphics, that look like some online/free play, limited Sims game for mobile devices, or something..
And players can make open worlds more "connected" if they want. All I'd have to do in 3 was make a new community lot and everyone would come. And that's a lot better than them living in a world that's just an illusion of a background where they can barely go anywhere in.
Sorry but I have to disagree with that. While I love photo realism in most video games, in this case Photorealistic graphics would be a big turn off for me. I would definitely not want my sims looking like this:
Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and plays differently but for me it would be just creepy. I would not feel comfortable spying these mini people and I would definitely feel bad if I created havoc in their life (no more "accidental" deaths lol). But hey, it a just my opinion.
Something like Final Fantasy looking characters..
Like this (if the link works).
http://latam.ign.com/m/final-fantasy-xiii-2-xbox-360/image/
But that's not photorealism! Those are improved graphics (more realistic than ts4 of course). I actually like the cartoony look but I could live with something more realistic as long as it's not too realistic. I just hope they don't go into photorealism because that would be creepy!
The Laaaaaaast of Us
I'm the opposite here I would love to have life simulation with this kind of graphics mince all the silly things from the sims.
I have always said that EA could always make two games, The normal cartoonish teen rated Sims and another mature life simulator with more realistic looking peoples.
and mods actually do a pretty good job of making the game more mature if you wanna go that way, so you could have it all in one package!
Me watching GT at Gamescom.
I'm back!!^-^
Paradox forum name: aMazingSimmer
But instead of cookies, it should say : dance parties ! :P
WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
I got 50 LOLs from that, RIP LOLs
WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
That was my thought exactly when I read the interview. The developers can say "Well, people are playing the game without toddlers, therefore we don't need them."
Pretty sure they were using telemetry from other games to determine how much toddlers were used.
And yet it's also pretty skewed considering how many people used a certain set of mods that turned off their snooping telemetry tracking.
I would imagine they know how to take that into account.
Apparently not considering how many things they left out that people freaked out about including the toddlers.j
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
Interpreting data well does not mean everyone will get what they want. That's not how the real world works.