I know up front I will get slammed for my opinion. But this is my opinion, based on a bit of research.
I was trying to do a comparison - on the number of items in a "stuff pack" compared to the number of items in a "store set"
I picked the pack with the most items listed. It is The Kitchen and Bath - it was nice, right.. 103 items ok... now go through the items and actually remove all the "duplicates" for recolors - there are only 45 original items in the pack.
If I buy the StoryBook set - 45 items - it's $19.00 - all original items - that I can recolor in game.. wait I just made the possibilities endless to match my decor.
Yes simmers can recolor the old sims 2 things - but there were still only 45 items in that pack.. Did all the colors match from the colors they had available in the set? No - I had to work harder to make my own recolors - or rely on the community to offer those to me.
Personally, I get a lot more value on the money I spend in the store - and can make my items match the decor I want, than I did with Sims 2 stuff packs.
I truly cannot wait to see what they do for the Sims 3 stuff packs. Since they don't need to add recolors - I'm sure it will be original items, and new textures.
There are some stuff packs though that had more value than that example - the Mansion and Garden set was mostly original items. But the variety was limited to plants mostly.. 60 items in that pack.
Basically, what I'm saying is the value is what you make of it. But don't compare apples to oranges in regards to what you got in the Sims 2 packs.
It just another attempt by EA to squeeze more money out of this franchise. They should work on fixing the existing game instead of trying bilk more money out of the people who actually enjoy the game.
It's just my opinion. The store is a good idea because you can buy what you want when you want it. I think the prices should come down a bit, they are trying to do that by having "sales". Even with the discount, the hair, clothes and home items are not up to date. I see all the customized sims looking so great, but I don't want to download from other sites. I guess that is the way to go!
Don't keep the store or lower the prices! Most items have really high prices! I mean come on people, we're spending loads on virtual stuff! There's some nice stuff in the store though like the nursery set or some hair styles. I don't buy from the store often, I only spend the 'free' simpoints.
i don't want to have the wa ep! so maybe i can still have some furnishing from the store, like sims2 store! i didn't even know they had a sim 2 store when i played the sims2 i just found out!! i like the idea of being able to buy ep items withouy having to buy the unwanted ep's.
I said something along the same lines as I'm going to say here on another thread.
Sims 2 sales increased by the amount of custom content people were making to advertise the game. This is free advertising for EA. Right now on all the sites you see a different approach. When people build houses they are hesitant to use store content in the upload and those that do don't get many downloads, of the downloads they do get, how many people do you really think come over here and buy that store stuff? Not a lot I would suspect.
The old system was better where all you had to do was say what SP's you had used and people could go out and buy that SP, another free advert by the way.
The store stuff is way overpriced and the value you get for your money varies on the country or region you live in. I know I would have to pay way more for 1000 points than someone in the states and the Australians have an even worse deal that us in the UK. Its impossible to use paypal to buy points in the UK and there is no way I would use my card. I took the free stuff I got for registering and I haven't bought a single thing since.
As I build and upload lots, these free items are of no use to me, I can't use them in a build as then I would have to ask people to come over here and spend money to be able to make the lot complete. I rely on cc made by creators to furnish my lots and will keep doing so, as well as making my own stuff.
Ultimately what is going to happen here is people will just get sick of it in the long run, they will stop using store or worse still they will stop playing the game. People like me who build will disappear and you will end up with no free advertising.
Can't EA just realise that ripping into us for money at every stop is turning a lot of us away, and in the long term you could be shooting yourself in the foot.
Here's what I think you should do. Get all that store stuff up for free for us, after all it was missing from the base gane anyway with the pitiful amount of content that was in it. Then get back to stuff packs that we can use to give you that free advertising again.
It's your choice,
store = make money fast,
SP's make money + free advertising = a lot more loyal fans will return to the game.
I know people who haven't even bought Sims 3 and are sticking to sims 2 because of the whole store rip off system . The people who buy from the store can obviously afford it, but let's face it a hundred to one of us can't. Do you really want to reduce the game to only those who can actually afford to keep up with these prices long term? Or do you want to keep the big fan base you have now?
Get some business sense and work to keep your customers rather than chasing them off with a majorley bugged game, even buggier patches and extortionate store stuff. Think longterm
In some ways, even though I'm much more likely to buy SP then spend real money at the store, CC sold more SP than did store merchandise. Because you can still download it, the store comes up as something else. Now sometimes a builder designs something for the house that is a must have, and then EA profits off of the modder's talent.
I don't think that EA is being unethical charging so much, but I do think they are being greedy. I also know that I'd spend real money in their store if they'd just lower the price about 40%. I know they'd still make money, because their cost is tied up in the time it took to make the original piece not the cost to make each individual piece. I know they'd sale much more units, because when the price is low a lot people will buy not even keeping track of how much they are spending.
My biggest fear is EA is purposely making CC inconvenient. There's already many bugs associated with CC. CC is harder to remove from s3 than it ever was for s2. You can no longer put CC in it's own folder. Isn't it possible that EA is trying to make CC more frustrating so that people rely more heavily on their store? Isn't it possible they are trying ween us off CC so that the outcry won't be so loud if they decided to ban altogether?
I don't have any problem pre se with store. I feel like business do have the right to charge what they want, but I also feel that consumer has the right and maybe the obligation to make some noise and make sure their needs are not being ignored.
While the store is okay for people who can afford it, I myself can't and would like the option of being able to buy the stuff in an expansion. I like other's have only had stuff that my free points covered.
What about people who might lose their internet connection or their parents don't allow them to download. Do you have to have internet now to enjoy playing computer games? I would have thought that should be a choice.
Well um if you don't like the Store then don't buy from it and that's rude :?
thanks Lufferkinz i am not going to buy the new ep! I thought it was rude but i don't want to agrue with a young teen?? we don't know the age of the people on the forum all the teens i know are rude!
Comments
I was trying to do a comparison - on the number of items in a "stuff pack" compared to the number of items in a "store set"
I picked the pack with the most items listed. It is The Kitchen and Bath - it was nice, right.. 103 items ok... now go through the items and actually remove all the "duplicates" for recolors - there are only 45 original items in the pack.
If I buy the StoryBook set - 45 items - it's $19.00 - all original items - that I can recolor in game.. wait I just made the possibilities endless to match my decor.
Yes simmers can recolor the old sims 2 things - but there were still only 45 items in that pack.. Did all the colors match from the colors they had available in the set? No - I had to work harder to make my own recolors - or rely on the community to offer those to me.
Personally, I get a lot more value on the money I spend in the store - and can make my items match the decor I want, than I did with Sims 2 stuff packs.
I truly cannot wait to see what they do for the Sims 3 stuff packs. Since they don't need to add recolors - I'm sure it will be original items, and new textures.
There are some stuff packs though that had more value than that example - the Mansion and Garden set was mostly original items. But the variety was limited to plants mostly.. 60 items in that pack.
Basically, what I'm saying is the value is what you make of it. But don't compare apples to oranges in regards to what you got in the Sims 2 packs.
Get Off The Forum!
Sims 2 sales increased by the amount of custom content people were making to advertise the game. This is free advertising for EA. Right now on all the sites you see a different approach. When people build houses they are hesitant to use store content in the upload and those that do don't get many downloads, of the downloads they do get, how many people do you really think come over here and buy that store stuff? Not a lot I would suspect.
The old system was better where all you had to do was say what SP's you had used and people could go out and buy that SP, another free advert by the way.
The store stuff is way overpriced and the value you get for your money varies on the country or region you live in. I know I would have to pay way more for 1000 points than someone in the states and the Australians have an even worse deal that us in the UK. Its impossible to use paypal to buy points in the UK and there is no way I would use my card. I took the free stuff I got for registering and I haven't bought a single thing since.
As I build and upload lots, these free items are of no use to me, I can't use them in a build as then I would have to ask people to come over here and spend money to be able to make the lot complete. I rely on cc made by creators to furnish my lots and will keep doing so, as well as making my own stuff.
Ultimately what is going to happen here is people will just get sick of it in the long run, they will stop using store or worse still they will stop playing the game. People like me who build will disappear and you will end up with no free advertising.
Can't EA just realise that ripping into us for money at every stop is turning a lot of us away, and in the long term you could be shooting yourself in the foot.
Here's what I think you should do. Get all that store stuff up for free for us, after all it was missing from the base gane anyway with the pitiful amount of content that was in it. Then get back to stuff packs that we can use to give you that free advertising again.
It's your choice,
store = make money fast,
SP's make money + free advertising = a lot more loyal fans will return to the game.
I know people who haven't even bought Sims 3 and are sticking to sims 2 because of the whole store rip off system . The people who buy from the store can obviously afford it, but let's face it a hundred to one of us can't. Do you really want to reduce the game to only those who can actually afford to keep up with these prices long term? Or do you want to keep the big fan base you have now?
Get some business sense and work to keep your customers rather than chasing them off with a majorley bugged game, even buggier patches and extortionate store stuff. Think longterm
I don't think that EA is being unethical charging so much, but I do think they are being greedy. I also know that I'd spend real money in their store if they'd just lower the price about 40%. I know they'd still make money, because their cost is tied up in the time it took to make the original piece not the cost to make each individual piece. I know they'd sale much more units, because when the price is low a lot people will buy not even keeping track of how much they are spending.
My biggest fear is EA is purposely making CC inconvenient. There's already many bugs associated with CC. CC is harder to remove from s3 than it ever was for s2. You can no longer put CC in it's own folder. Isn't it possible that EA is trying to make CC more frustrating so that people rely more heavily on their store? Isn't it possible they are trying ween us off CC so that the outcry won't be so loud if they decided to ban altogether?
I don't have any problem pre se with store. I feel like business do have the right to charge what they want, but I also feel that consumer has the right and maybe the obligation to make some noise and make sure their needs are not being ignored.
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What about people who might lose their internet connection or their parents don't allow them to download. Do you have to have internet now to enjoy playing computer games? I would have thought that should be a choice.
Well um if you don't like the Store then don't buy from it and that's rude :?