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  • DarkslayerDarkslayer Posts: 9,074 Member
    Mstybl95 wrote: »
    Neia wrote: »
    @Mstybl95
    We've always been able to go outside too (with loading screen) and we've always been able to recolor items (with Bodyshop/CC), so in a sense TS3 could be seen as "not an upgrade" too, it depends on what you personally like. Open world certainly wasn't "worth the upgrade" for me. You've been lucky the first three iterations suited you but don't assume that was the case for everybody. I personally didn't see TS3 as an upgrade at all. It wasn't for me, I put it pack on my shelve, stopped buying Sims game, and renew with The Sims with TS4 because this one was an upgrade to me.


    Just for information, there's 2 FX guys and 24 animators credited in the base game. The engineering team has more than 80 persons credited. I personally want to have nice FX in my neighborhoods, and nice FX the day we'll have seasons for example, so I'm glad they hired those two people.

    As far as I know, EA never said Sims money was financing Titanfall. If you're thinking about this article (http://simsvip.com/2014/01/29/ea-trades-off-the-sims-4-for-titanfall/), it says "the profitability of Titanfall is similar to The Sims", "And thus, the trade-off in profitability is equal, and we’ve found that it was a good time to shift one for the other". It's a discussion about scheduling releases.

    Please don't put words in my mouth. I never it said it was an upgrade for everyone. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Enough people thought it was an upgrade that it outsold TS2 and was an instant success. Personally, I did not like TS3 until about the time of Seasons, but the open world and no loading screens kept me sticking with it. Now I've been able to go back and play TS2 because the ugly graphics and loading screens of TS4 helped me get used to it again. And now I'm having way more fun than I have had in the last 6 years. And how awful the gameplay is in TS4 also made me appreciate the merits of TS3, which I used to complain about.

    And as far as whose working on the game...what I said came from a guru himself. Of course they needed engineers to design the engine. But they did not retain them. Then understaffed them, then removed them altogether. Because they wanted the engine designed so that making changes to it wouldn't require an expensive engineer to do. This is why they really can't fix some of the issues of the game. They don't have anyone on staff who knows what they're doing putzing around in the engine when they make changes. And a guru himself said they had fx designers twidling their thumbs with nothing to do. So we got all these cool fx that have no substance and we can't interact with. I would have preferred they spent that money on someone who actually put effort into the gameplay.

    And as for Titanfall... A guru also said that they had to cancel all the events they had planned for TS4 leading up to release (got rid of the whole yibsims idea) because they had lost funding. Basically, EA knew they designed a dud and stopped investing in it.

    Then why are EA releasing content for TS4 every month? TS4 is probably the most controversial Sims title released at the moment but it must be selling and making them money otherwise they wouldn't be wasting development time on additional content.
  • PiperbirdPiperbird Posts: 4,161 Member
    Darkslayer wrote: »
    Mstybl95 wrote: »
    Neia wrote: »
    @Mstybl95
    We've always been able to go outside too (with loading screen) and we've always been able to recolor items (with Bodyshop/CC), so in a sense TS3 could be seen as "not an upgrade" too, it depends on what you personally like. Open world certainly wasn't "worth the upgrade" for me. You've been lucky the first three iterations suited you but don't assume that was the case for everybody. I personally didn't see TS3 as an upgrade at all. It wasn't for me, I put it pack on my shelve, stopped buying Sims game, and renew with The Sims with TS4 because this one was an upgrade to me.


    Just for information, there's 2 FX guys and 24 animators credited in the base game. The engineering team has more than 80 persons credited. I personally want to have nice FX in my neighborhoods, and nice FX the day we'll have seasons for example, so I'm glad they hired those two people.

    As far as I know, EA never said Sims money was financing Titanfall. If you're thinking about this article (http://simsvip.com/2014/01/29/ea-trades-off-the-sims-4-for-titanfall/), it says "the profitability of Titanfall is similar to The Sims", "And thus, the trade-off in profitability is equal, and we’ve found that it was a good time to shift one for the other". It's a discussion about scheduling releases.

    Please don't put words in my mouth. I never it said it was an upgrade for everyone. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Enough people thought it was an upgrade that it outsold TS2 and was an instant success. Personally, I did not like TS3 until about the time of Seasons, but the open world and no loading screens kept me sticking with it. Now I've been able to go back and play TS2 because the ugly graphics and loading screens of TS4 helped me get used to it again. And now I'm having way more fun than I have had in the last 6 years. And how awful the gameplay is in TS4 also made me appreciate the merits of TS3, which I used to complain about.

    And as far as whose working on the game...what I said came from a guru himself. Of course they needed engineers to design the engine. But they did not retain them. Then understaffed them, then removed them altogether. Because they wanted the engine designed so that making changes to it wouldn't require an expensive engineer to do. This is why they really can't fix some of the issues of the game. They don't have anyone on staff who knows what they're doing putzing around in the engine when they make changes. And a guru himself said they had fx designers twidling their thumbs with nothing to do. So we got all these cool fx that have no substance and we can't interact with. I would have preferred they spent that money on someone who actually put effort into the gameplay.

    And as for Titanfall... A guru also said that they had to cancel all the events they had planned for TS4 leading up to release (got rid of the whole yibsims idea) because they had lost funding. Basically, EA knew they designed a dud and stopped investing in it.

    Then why are EA releasing content for TS4 every month? TS4 is probably the most controversial Sims title released at the moment but it must be selling and making them money otherwise they wouldn't be wasting development time on additional content.

    Because there are still people that say 'I'm so mad at this game, but I'll prolly buy whatever they put out, anyway, lulz.'
    Visit me in the gallery! CC-free builds under origin name Piperbird!
    06-01-15_5-18nbspPM_zps8s8jcirw.png
  • DarkslayerDarkslayer Posts: 9,074 Member
    edited February 2016
    Piperbird wrote: »
    Darkslayer wrote: »
    Mstybl95 wrote: »
    Neia wrote: »
    @Mstybl95
    We've always been able to go outside too (with loading screen) and we've always been able to recolor items (with Bodyshop/CC), so in a sense TS3 could be seen as "not an upgrade" too, it depends on what you personally like. Open world certainly wasn't "worth the upgrade" for me. You've been lucky the first three iterations suited you but don't assume that was the case for everybody. I personally didn't see TS3 as an upgrade at all. It wasn't for me, I put it pack on my shelve, stopped buying Sims game, and renew with The Sims with TS4 because this one was an upgrade to me.


    Just for information, there's 2 FX guys and 24 animators credited in the base game. The engineering team has more than 80 persons credited. I personally want to have nice FX in my neighborhoods, and nice FX the day we'll have seasons for example, so I'm glad they hired those two people.

    As far as I know, EA never said Sims money was financing Titanfall. If you're thinking about this article (http://simsvip.com/2014/01/29/ea-trades-off-the-sims-4-for-titanfall/), it says "the profitability of Titanfall is similar to The Sims", "And thus, the trade-off in profitability is equal, and we’ve found that it was a good time to shift one for the other". It's a discussion about scheduling releases.

    Please don't put words in my mouth. I never it said it was an upgrade for everyone. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Enough people thought it was an upgrade that it outsold TS2 and was an instant success. Personally, I did not like TS3 until about the time of Seasons, but the open world and no loading screens kept me sticking with it. Now I've been able to go back and play TS2 because the ugly graphics and loading screens of TS4 helped me get used to it again. And now I'm having way more fun than I have had in the last 6 years. And how awful the gameplay is in TS4 also made me appreciate the merits of TS3, which I used to complain about.

    And as far as whose working on the game...what I said came from a guru himself. Of course they needed engineers to design the engine. But they did not retain them. Then understaffed them, then removed them altogether. Because they wanted the engine designed so that making changes to it wouldn't require an expensive engineer to do. This is why they really can't fix some of the issues of the game. They don't have anyone on staff who knows what they're doing putzing around in the engine when they make changes. And a guru himself said they had fx designers twidling their thumbs with nothing to do. So we got all these cool fx that have no substance and we can't interact with. I would have preferred they spent that money on someone who actually put effort into the gameplay.

    And as for Titanfall... A guru also said that they had to cancel all the events they had planned for TS4 leading up to release (got rid of the whole yibsims idea) because they had lost funding. Basically, EA knew they designed a dud and stopped investing in it.

    Then why are EA releasing content for TS4 every month? TS4 is probably the most controversial Sims title released at the moment but it must be selling and making them money otherwise they wouldn't be wasting development time on additional content.

    Because there are still people that say 'I'm so mad at this game, but I'll prolly buy whatever they put out, anyway, lulz.'

    Or there are people who actually enjoy the game for one reason or another and look forward to the content releases because they are enjoying the game. Even if you don't like the game is that really so difficult to believe that you have to automatically rule it out? Or is it more that you don't want to believe this game is doing OK / well because you dislike it so much?

    I'm sure there are some people who purchase content for collector purposes rather than because they enjoy the game (and why is that even a problem? Some people collect stamps, other people collect video games) and there are probably other people who fell into the same trap I did years ago who think buying XYZ will suddenly make the game fun - but isn't it a little absurd to think there are that many people out there who can prop this game up on their own?
  • PiperbirdPiperbird Posts: 4,161 Member
    The point is, they don't HAVE to put out quality work. Or even toddlers, or anything else we are hoping for. No matter what they put out, people buy it, then rush to the forums to complain about how they are bored of it already, it didn't really add anything to the game, and when is EA going to add the thing they wanted? I see it here, on the forums after every release. The day something comes out there will be another 'when do you think they will announce the next thing' thread. It's not me. It's what I have been reading here from other Simmers for a year and a half.
    Visit me in the gallery! CC-free builds under origin name Piperbird!
    06-01-15_5-18nbspPM_zps8s8jcirw.png
  • Mstybl95Mstybl95 Posts: 5,883 Member
    Darkslayer wrote: »
    Mstybl95 wrote: »
    Neia wrote: »
    @Mstybl95
    We've always been able to go outside too (with loading screen) and we've always been able to recolor items (with Bodyshop/CC), so in a sense TS3 could be seen as "not an upgrade" too, it depends on what you personally like. Open world certainly wasn't "worth the upgrade" for me. You've been lucky the first three iterations suited you but don't assume that was the case for everybody. I personally didn't see TS3 as an upgrade at all. It wasn't for me, I put it pack on my shelve, stopped buying Sims game, and renew with The Sims with TS4 because this one was an upgrade to me.


    Just for information, there's 2 FX guys and 24 animators credited in the base game. The engineering team has more than 80 persons credited. I personally want to have nice FX in my neighborhoods, and nice FX the day we'll have seasons for example, so I'm glad they hired those two people.

    As far as I know, EA never said Sims money was financing Titanfall. If you're thinking about this article (http://simsvip.com/2014/01/29/ea-trades-off-the-sims-4-for-titanfall/), it says "the profitability of Titanfall is similar to The Sims", "And thus, the trade-off in profitability is equal, and we’ve found that it was a good time to shift one for the other". It's a discussion about scheduling releases.

    Please don't put words in my mouth. I never it said it was an upgrade for everyone. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Enough people thought it was an upgrade that it outsold TS2 and was an instant success. Personally, I did not like TS3 until about the time of Seasons, but the open world and no loading screens kept me sticking with it. Now I've been able to go back and play TS2 because the ugly graphics and loading screens of TS4 helped me get used to it again. And now I'm having way more fun than I have had in the last 6 years. And how awful the gameplay is in TS4 also made me appreciate the merits of TS3, which I used to complain about.

    And as far as whose working on the game...what I said came from a guru himself. Of course they needed engineers to design the engine. But they did not retain them. Then understaffed them, then removed them altogether. Because they wanted the engine designed so that making changes to it wouldn't require an expensive engineer to do. This is why they really can't fix some of the issues of the game. They don't have anyone on staff who knows what they're doing putzing around in the engine when they make changes. And a guru himself said they had fx designers twidling their thumbs with nothing to do. So we got all these cool fx that have no substance and we can't interact with. I would have preferred they spent that money on someone who actually put effort into the gameplay.

    And as for Titanfall... A guru also said that they had to cancel all the events they had planned for TS4 leading up to release (got rid of the whole yibsims idea) because they had lost funding. Basically, EA knew they designed a dud and stopped investing in it.

    Then why are EA releasing content for TS4 every month? TS4 is probably the most controversial Sims title released at the moment but it must be selling and making them money otherwise they wouldn't be wasting development time on additional content.

    Dud in terms of profitability. They knew this game was not going to perform as well as TS3. They knew it because they changed direction mid way and it was not anywhere near providing the same gameplay as TS3. I still believe it performed better than expected but nowhere near what TS3 was bringing in.

    And when they talk about the sims...it's mostly to say it's performing well because it's the sims. They don't know why people buy it and they can continue to cut costs and make their profit margin higher because people will just buy it.
  • aaronjc123aaronjc123 Posts: 1,117 Member
    If they just reintroduced open world or at least had open neighbourhoods - so I could visit the next house along without an annoying loading screen - I could forgive everything else. My Sim, for example, might be at their neighbour's house, and can walk by their own house with no problem - they can literally stand outside the door - but when I click 'Go Home' there's a loading screen. Madness!
  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited February 2016
    Piperbird wrote: »
    The point is, they don't HAVE to put out quality work. Or even toddlers, or anything else we are hoping for. No matter what they put out, people buy it, then rush to the forums to complain about how they are bored of it already, it didn't really add anything to the game, and when is EA going to add the thing they wanted? I see it here, on the forums after every release. The day something comes out there will be another 'when do you think they will announce the next thing' thread. It's not me. It's what I have been reading here from other Simmers for a year and a half.
    Exactly and to me it appears to me stringing the customer along, give a little and when the customer get bored give them a little more like candy and you see it on this forum. Eventually the stringing along will die out and when that happens it will be the climax of an moment right before the end of an movie. IMHO there is no telling how this game is really doing unless hard data is presented and not just someone buying it.

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  • drake_mccartydrake_mccarty Posts: 6,114 Member
    edited February 2016
    Darkslayer wrote: »
    Mstybl95 wrote: »
    Neia wrote: »
    @Mstybl95
    We've always been able to go outside too (with loading screen) and we've always been able to recolor items (with Bodyshop/CC), so in a sense TS3 could be seen as "not an upgrade" too, it depends on what you personally like. Open world certainly wasn't "worth the upgrade" for me. You've been lucky the first three iterations suited you but don't assume that was the case for everybody. I personally didn't see TS3 as an upgrade at all. It wasn't for me, I put it pack on my shelve, stopped buying Sims game, and renew with The Sims with TS4 because this one was an upgrade to me.


    Just for information, there's 2 FX guys and 24 animators credited in the base game. The engineering team has more than 80 persons credited. I personally want to have nice FX in my neighborhoods, and nice FX the day we'll have seasons for example, so I'm glad they hired those two people.

    As far as I know, EA never said Sims money was financing Titanfall. If you're thinking about this article (http://simsvip.com/2014/01/29/ea-trades-off-the-sims-4-for-titanfall/), it says "the profitability of Titanfall is similar to The Sims", "And thus, the trade-off in profitability is equal, and we’ve found that it was a good time to shift one for the other". It's a discussion about scheduling releases.

    Please don't put words in my mouth. I never it said it was an upgrade for everyone. However, the numbers speak for themselves. Enough people thought it was an upgrade that it outsold TS2 and was an instant success. Personally, I did not like TS3 until about the time of Seasons, but the open world and no loading screens kept me sticking with it. Now I've been able to go back and play TS2 because the ugly graphics and loading screens of TS4 helped me get used to it again. And now I'm having way more fun than I have had in the last 6 years. And how awful the gameplay is in TS4 also made me appreciate the merits of TS3, which I used to complain about.

    And as far as whose working on the game...what I said came from a guru himself. Of course they needed engineers to design the engine. But they did not retain them. Then understaffed them, then removed them altogether. Because they wanted the engine designed so that making changes to it wouldn't require an expensive engineer to do. This is why they really can't fix some of the issues of the game. They don't have anyone on staff who knows what they're doing putzing around in the engine when they make changes. And a guru himself said they had fx designers twidling their thumbs with nothing to do. So we got all these cool fx that have no substance and we can't interact with. I would have preferred they spent that money on someone who actually put effort into the gameplay.

    And as for Titanfall... A guru also said that they had to cancel all the events they had planned for TS4 leading up to release (got rid of the whole yibsims idea) because they had lost funding. Basically, EA knew they designed a dud and stopped investing in it.

    Then why are EA releasing content for TS4 every month? TS4 is probably the most controversial Sims title released at the moment but it must be selling and making them money otherwise they wouldn't be wasting development time on additional content.

    I mean look at the bulk of their content, it's $10 stuff packs. Relatively low level investment compared to GP's and EP's. The return on those packs alone would drive a profit, but that doesn't necessarily say much for the profitability of the game. Just because your game is profitable, doesn't mean it's a financial success by any means. From an outsiders standpoint their emphasis seems to be focused on the low level investment, versus larger packs. We've seen increasing development time between packs, and both EP's ended up getting delays. IMO their profit is not being driven by the larger packs which doesn't bode well for the future. Not saying I foresee The Sims brand going anywhere, but theres definitely going to be some disappointment when the larger packs continue to not deliver major content.
  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    edited February 2016
    sunman502 wrote: »
    I think that it would be a terrible mistake for EA to try to make a mobile or tablet version of The Sims. For the simple fact that neither have the high resolution capability that's needed to run the game. If you don't believe me, just take a look at some of the images of Sims Freeplay and you'll see what I mean. Sims Freeplay looks like it was done by a bunch first graders, graphics wise.

    I have news for you then as EA has already got a Sims and a Sims 3 app for both Iphone as well as android. You can buy at both the Apple store and the I tunes apps store. Check them out for your self. They are even recreating all the eps from Sims 3. They look cartoony to me - like facebook games. They also have Sim City 13 called Sim City build it - which after they started making that - they immediately stopped all production on the Sim City game with no warning or anything to the players who had bought Sim City. It was a slap in the face to many who had already been slapped in the face with Sims City itself - but they hung in there and figured it would get better once they got the offline play - and to some I guess it did - so they were looking forward to more packs and instead they got total silence - sort of like we are getting. I have 3 family members who had bought the game and I know how much they were complaining. The next thing they heard out of Maxis Emeryville studios were they were closing permanently - and oh, if you like Sims City try our new Sims City Build It. Yep that is how they learned their game was done.

    The kicker - and the most shocking was it was then I learned that Sims City - even with all the outrage of fans still sold 2 million games - 2 milllion people were just left in the dark and tossed out to pasture - no warning - nothing. Sims 4 players should be forewarned - especially if they like the game as Sims City sold more than Sims 4.

    But believe me don't think for a minute Maxis will not suddenly drop the whole ball and eagerly add Sims 4 to their mobil rooster. I swear they are already growing a Sims Dynasty there - the reason you mainly hear of Sims Free Play is because it is the only one of them that's free. They are charging fro the rest. I believe my neice said she paid 6.99 for an ep for her Sims 3 Itunes game at Christmas.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vZfNI-nRsc




    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-sims-3/id317904170?mt=8

    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-sims-3-world-adventures/id345445479?mt=8



    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.game.simcitymobile_row&hl=en
    Post edited by Writin_Reg on

    "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.....

  • GoldmoldarGoldmoldar Posts: 11,966 Member
    edited February 2016
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    sunman502 wrote: »
    I think that it would be a terrible mistake for EA to try to make a mobile or tablet version of The Sims. For the simple fact that neither have the high resolution capability that's needed to run the game. If you don't believe me, just take a look at some of the images of Sims Freeplay and you'll see what I mean. Sims Freeplay looks like it was done by a bunch first graders, graphics wise.

    I have news for you then as EA has already got a Sims and a Sims 3 app for both Iphone as well as android. You can buy at both the Apple store and the I tunes apps store. Check them out for your self. They are even recreating all the eps from Sims 3. They look cartoony to me - like facebook games. They also have Sim City 13 called Sim City build it - which after they started making that - they immediately stopped all production on the Sim City game with no warning or anything to the players who had bought Sim City. It was a slap in the face to many who had already been slapped in the face with Sims City itself - but they hung in there and figured it would get better once they got the offline play - and to some I guess it did - so they were looking forward to more packs and instead they got total silence - sort of like we are getting. I have 3 family members who had bought the game and I know how much they were complaining. The next thing they heard out of Maxis Emeryville studios were they were closing permanently - and oh, if you like Sims City try our new Sims City Build It. Yep that is how they learned their game was done.

    The kicker - and the most shocking was it was then I learned that Sims City - even with all the outrage of fans still sold 2 million games - 2 milllion people were just left in the dark and tossed out to pasture - no warning - nothing. Sims 4 players should be forewarned - especially if they like the game as Sims City sold more than Sims 4.

    But believe me don't think for a minute Maxis will not suddenly drop the whole ball and eagerly add Sims 4 to their mobil rooster. I swear they are already growing a Sims Dynasty there - the reason you mainly hear of Sims Free Play is because it is the only one of them that's free. They are charging fro the rest. I believe my neice said she paid 6.99 for an ep for her Sims 3 Itunes game at Christmas.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vZfNI-nRsc




    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-sims-3/id317904170?mt=8
    I agree with you and one thing they did with SimCity that they did not do with Sims 4 is hyped up SimCity so well that part of that 2 million brought it Stock, Lock, and Barrel(including me). Back at that time there was no 48 hour guarantee and things was so bad with SimCity a member posted a video breaking up his game and then burning it. I brought the game myself and in the beginning it was fun but the bugs started setting in and then the realization from what I read from I think her name was Lucy Bradshaw about SimCity working was starting to sink in and one day I saw a post from Maxis saying the game is in the hands of the modders, I cracked up.

    Post edited by Goldmoldar on
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  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    Goldmoldar

    Yep, that is pretty much the same thing I heard from the three family members who bought it. One said he called EA and tried to get his money back and return the game and they threatened to ban his entire account. He went rather ballistic seeing he also has all the Sims, PGA Golf, Harry Potter games, Battlefield, among others in his account. So technically they were going to shut off all his access to all his games if he persisted with trying to get a refund. I told him to call the attorney General in his state and see what they advised. He has since gone off to college across country - so never heard where he got with all that. I know the two girls that also had it apparently never tried to get their money back - they just gave up on it and when Paradox came out with their version they both bought that and seem to love it.

    "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.....

  • drake_mccartydrake_mccarty Posts: 6,114 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Goldmoldar

    Yep, that is pretty much the same thing I heard from the three family members who bought it. One said he called EA and tried to get his money back and return the game and they threatened to ban his entire account. He went rather ballistic seeing he also has all the Sims, PGA Golf, Harry Potter games, Battlefield, among others in his account. So technically they were going to shut off all his access to all his games if he persisted with trying to get a refund. I told him to call the attorney General in his state and see what they advised. He has since gone off to college across country - so never heard where he got with all that. I know the two girls that also had it apparently never tried to get their money back - they just gave up on it and when Paradox came out with their version they both bought that and seem to love it.

    Really not much someone can do now a days regarding refunds on physical video games. I know that even years ago WalMart would not issue me a refund on The Sims 2 AL. It's much easier to rip contents from a disk to a hard drive versus skimming through digital files stored inside the origin client. It's all anti-piracy measures that have been passed.

    In all reality, games bought on the App Store (or Google Play) are the subject of Apple to issue a refund not the publisher. I know apple has added some security for their app purchases by allowing a user a certain period of time to request a refund. Kinda goes a long the same lines as digital PC games, but EA won't issue a refund for any product bought through a third party.
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Goldmoldar

    Yep, that is pretty much the same thing I heard from the three family members who bought it. One said he called EA and tried to get his money back and return the game and they threatened to ban his entire account. He went rather ballistic seeing he also has all the Sims, PGA Golf, Harry Potter games, Battlefield, among others in his account. So technically they were going to shut off all his access to all his games if he persisted with trying to get a refund. I told him to call the attorney General in his state and see what they advised. He has since gone off to college across country - so never heard where he got with all that. I know the two girls that also had it apparently never tried to get their money back - they just gave up on it and when Paradox came out with their version they both bought that and seem to love it.

    Really not much someone can do now a days regarding refunds on physical video games. I know that even years ago WalMart would not issue me a refund on The Sims 2 AL. It's much easier to rip contents from a disk to a hard drive versus skimming through digital files stored inside the origin client. It's all anti-piracy measures that have been passed.

    In all reality, games bought on the App Store (or Google Play) are the subject of Apple to issue a refund not the publisher. I know apple has added some security for their app purchases by allowing a user a certain period of time to request a refund. Kinda goes a long the same lines as digital PC games, but EA won't issue a refund for any product bought through a third party.

    In the UK they've started legislating so that there is something customers can do about digital product issues such as games. It seems a lot of consumers have been pushing for it after examples like the SC2013 release. So, at least in the UK market, they'll have to look at fitting in with those new rules.
  • drake_mccartydrake_mccarty Posts: 6,114 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Goldmoldar

    Yep, that is pretty much the same thing I heard from the three family members who bought it. One said he called EA and tried to get his money back and return the game and they threatened to ban his entire account. He went rather ballistic seeing he also has all the Sims, PGA Golf, Harry Potter games, Battlefield, among others in his account. So technically they were going to shut off all his access to all his games if he persisted with trying to get a refund. I told him to call the attorney General in his state and see what they advised. He has since gone off to college across country - so never heard where he got with all that. I know the two girls that also had it apparently never tried to get their money back - they just gave up on it and when Paradox came out with their version they both bought that and seem to love it.

    Really not much someone can do now a days regarding refunds on physical video games. I know that even years ago WalMart would not issue me a refund on The Sims 2 AL. It's much easier to rip contents from a disk to a hard drive versus skimming through digital files stored inside the origin client. It's all anti-piracy measures that have been passed.

    In all reality, games bought on the App Store (or Google Play) are the subject of Apple to issue a refund not the publisher. I know apple has added some security for their app purchases by allowing a user a certain period of time to request a refund. Kinda goes a long the same lines as digital PC games, but EA won't issue a refund for any product bought through a third party.

    In the UK they've started legislating so that there is something customers can do about digital product issues such as games. It seems a lot of consumers have been pushing for it after examples like the SC2013 release. So, at least in the UK market, they'll have to look at fitting in with those new rules.

    We will definitely see more legislation in the US regarding digital software purchase/returns. I think companies like EA are focused more on piracy prevention measures versus customer service. They didn't hesitate for a moment about forcing DLC on SimCity (which was the sole reason it was an online game, same for Sims 4 without a doubt) and after that kind of blew up they had to take some form of action to make them look less greedy.

    One major thing none of the major game publishers understand is that piracy is unavoidable. It doesn't make it right, but it certainly will never be something they can eliminate completely. Their tactics currently in place are less than favorable, they've made reselling of games next to impossible with the way they are tied to an origin account. I do hope though that they move forward and improve their customer service policies to allow less strict limitations on refunds. 24 hours is far from enough time to truly test a game on an average persons schedule, and with the increasing standard price of AAA games they definitely are taking advantage of their customers.
  • sunman502sunman502 Posts: 18,325 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Goldmoldar

    Yep, that is pretty much the same thing I heard from the three family members who bought it. One said he called EA and tried to get his money back and return the game and they threatened to ban his entire account. He went rather ballistic seeing he also has all the Sims, PGA Golf, Harry Potter games, Battlefield, among others in his account. So technically they were going to shut off all his access to all his games if he persisted with trying to get a refund. I told him to call the attorney General in his state and see what they advised. He has since gone off to college across country - so never heard where he got with all that. I know the two girls that also had it apparently never tried to get their money back - they just gave up on it and when Paradox came out with their version they both bought that and seem to love it.

    Really not much someone can do now a days regarding refunds on physical video games. I know that even years ago WalMart would not issue me a refund on The Sims 2 AL. It's much easier to rip contents from a disk to a hard drive versus skimming through digital files stored inside the origin client. It's all anti-piracy measures that have been passed.

    In all reality, games bought on the App Store (or Google Play) are the subject of Apple to issue a refund not the publisher. I know apple has added some security for their app purchases by allowing a user a certain period of time to request a refund. Kinda goes a long the same lines as digital PC games, but EA won't issue a refund for any product bought through a third party.

    In the UK they've started legislating so that there is something customers can do about digital product issues such as games. It seems a lot of consumers have been pushing for it after examples like the SC2013 release. So, at least in the UK market, they'll have to look at fitting in with those new rules.

    We will definitely see more legislation in the US regarding digital software purchase/returns. I think companies like EA are focused more on piracy prevention measures versus customer service. They didn't hesitate for a moment about forcing DLC on SimCity (which was the sole reason it was an online game, same for Sims 4 without a doubt) and after that kind of blew up they had to take some form of action to make them look less greedy.

    One major thing none of the major game publishers understand is that piracy is unavoidable. It doesn't make it right, but it certainly will never be something they can eliminate completely. Their tactics currently in place are less than favorable, they've made reselling of games next to impossible with the way they are tied to an origin account. I do hope though that they move forward and improve their customer service policies to allow less strict limitations on refunds. 24 hours is far from enough time to truly test a game on an average persons schedule, and with the increasing standard price of AAA games they definitely are taking advantage of their customers.
    No, they are well aware that piracy is unavoidable. Why do you think that EA spends millions each year on product certification codes for all of their games? And make us jump through all those hoops just so that we can certify and register all of our EA products that we have on the pc platform.

  • DarkslayerDarkslayer Posts: 9,074 Member
    edited February 2016
    Piperbird wrote: »
    The point is, they don't HAVE to put out quality work. Or even toddlers, or anything else we are hoping for. No matter what they put out, people buy it, then rush to the forums to complain about how they are bored of it already, it didn't really add anything to the game, and when is EA going to add the thing they wanted? I see it here, on the forums after every release. The day something comes out there will be another 'when do you think they will announce the next thing' thread. It's not me. It's what I have been reading here from other Simmers for a year and a half.

    And I saw it on the forums for the older games. It's the internet, people buy things and then complain about them afterwards - heck I was one of the people who complained about TS3 a lot because I was that person who really disliked the game but kept buying content because I thought it'd flip a magic switch and suddenly make the game fun. Looking back on it TS3 was never "bad", it just wasn't for me for various reasons. TS4 being the "black sheep" of the franchise doesn't negate the fact the same thing happened for the other games too. You're acting as though nobody ever has anything positive to say about the game.

    On top of that not everybody wants the same thing; some people want toddlers back (and I hope all of you who do get them, it is something I agree should not have been removed from the game on principal) and other people want the open world back but me? I really don't care about either of those things and right now it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if they never came back. I am beginning to miss the colour wheel because of EA's tendency to create matching items that have colour schemes that are ever so slightly "off" from one another, but someone else probably doesn't care about that either.

    I can understand why people who are disappointed in the game are frustrated, I'm not exactly EA's number one fan here and there are things they do that I personally disagree with but that doesn't change the fact that the game hasn't failed and again, I find it difficult to believe the sole reason for that could be attributed to "zombie" consumers.
  • Mstybl95Mstybl95 Posts: 5,883 Member
    Yet when any of the bigwigs at EA talk about the sims, they seem almost dumbfoundedly clueless about why people buy this game. I think I was reading an interview once and I was like --Dang, even small businesses utilize some form of business intelligence. Perhaps if they stopped surveying only teeny boppers and asked the other demographics questions, they might learn a thing or two.
  • sunman502sunman502 Posts: 18,325 Member
    edited March 2016
    Mstybl95 wrote: »
    Yet when any of the bigwigs at EA talk about the sims, they seem almost dumbfoundedly clueless about why people buy this game. I think I was reading an interview once and I was like --Dang, even small businesses utilize some form of business intelligence. Perhaps if they stopped surveying only teeny boppers and asked the other demographics questions, they might learn a thing or two.
    The left hand never knows what the right hand is doing over there anyways.

  • GabbyGirlJGabbyGirlJ Posts: 6,858 Member
    Jarsie9 wrote: »
    One of the producers proudly announced that they didn't even need to consult a psychologist when they made the Sims 4; they relied heavily on their so-called emotions (which we were told the previous iterations never had) and the adolescent humor. But one of the reasons I believe that the Sims 2 was so successful is because the game was built around psychological parameters; that is, the want/fear system. That's what made the game play, having your Sim react to something they feared or something they wanted. That's what made the Sim seem "alive"... and made them feel more unique and individual.

    I remain convinced that IF they intended to put toddlers in, they could have easily done it within the first six months of launch, but not only did they refuse to take the fans seriously, their whole attitude was one of contempt. I still remember that employee who made that poem where he referred to the "haters", meaning the fans who dislike this game, and how quickly they had to backpedal when they got the intense backlash from the fans. I just think that EA has nothing but contempt for the fans of this particular iteration. We're okay for fleecing money out of, but at the same time, we're suckers who are willing to take whatever scraps they're willing to give us, as long as it has a "The Sims" label on it.

    I'm beginning to think that they're prepared to dump this franchise and make a mobile/tablet version of it similar to FreePlay, only without the time limitations and sell it to us via the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store.

    I actually would not be surprised if they had toddlers ready to roll out within three months, but saw the boycott group on here and trashed the code just to spite people.

    And that would be totally ridiculous. They are adults. Anyone acting out that way would be cutting their nose of despite their face. Why should customers be emotionally blackmailed that way by a big corporation and happy to invest in them?! If that's their motivation then I'd happily never invest again until they grew up.

    That's not that ridiculous. The pony level in Diablo 3 was included simply out of pure spite. The developers were intentionally being spiteful to people who complained during development about the game being too bright.

    Bethesda, with their Elder Scrolls series, has a long history of using a Khajiit NPC to make spiteful comments about complaints players had.

    I thought I saw a rumor somewhere that the entirety of Final Fantasy 9 was one big middle finger to the complaints and requests people had after Final Fantasy 8.

    Nintendo bought rights to a movie and refused to let it be produced out of pure spite.

    Spite and the video game industry are frequent bedfellows.

    In the case of things like the pony level, though, it's an Easter egg but it's still actual content. It's not like they chucked something that they could put a price tag on. They added something to the game that fans in the know would pick up on. Same with M'aiq's commentary from the Elder Scrolls series. It's just little asides that let fans know that, yes, they heard the complaints. I would be surprised if a company trashed content that they could use to make money just to spite people.

    Having something ready to go then refusing to add it to teach customers a lesson doesn't seem like a good business strategy. :confused:
    IHJCfa6.jpg
  • marcel21marcel21 Posts: 12,341 Member
    sunman502 wrote: »
    I think that it would be a terrible mistake for EA to try to make a mobile or tablet version of The Sims. For the simple fact that neither have the high resolution capability that's needed to run the game. If you don't believe me, just take a look at some of the images of Sims Freeplay and you'll see what I mean. Sims Freeplay looks like it was done by a bunch first graders, graphics wise.

    I think free play looks pretty great for a mobile game and the detail to some of those lots like <3


    The two beach ones

    The camping group and the ski resort

    I think the lots look pretty good and all the content


    The sims faces ain't the best but the rest are pretty good.

    If anybody new to it go check somebody Eses town who competed these lots!

    Origin ID MichaelUKingdon


  • TanyaRubiroseTanyaRubirose Posts: 11,033 Member
    GabbyGirlJ wrote: »
    Jarsie9 wrote: »
    One of the producers proudly announced that they didn't even need to consult a psychologist when they made the Sims 4; they relied heavily on their so-called emotions (which we were told the previous iterations never had) and the adolescent humor. But one of the reasons I believe that the Sims 2 was so successful is because the game was built around psychological parameters; that is, the want/fear system. That's what made the game play, having your Sim react to something they feared or something they wanted. That's what made the Sim seem "alive"... and made them feel more unique and individual.

    I remain convinced that IF they intended to put toddlers in, they could have easily done it within the first six months of launch, but not only did they refuse to take the fans seriously, their whole attitude was one of contempt. I still remember that employee who made that poem where he referred to the "haters", meaning the fans who dislike this game, and how quickly they had to backpedal when they got the intense backlash from the fans. I just think that EA has nothing but contempt for the fans of this particular iteration. We're okay for fleecing money out of, but at the same time, we're suckers who are willing to take whatever scraps they're willing to give us, as long as it has a "The Sims" label on it.

    I'm beginning to think that they're prepared to dump this franchise and make a mobile/tablet version of it similar to FreePlay, only without the time limitations and sell it to us via the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store.

    I actually would not be surprised if they had toddlers ready to roll out within three months, but saw the boycott group on here and trashed the code just to spite people.

    And that would be totally ridiculous. They are adults. Anyone acting out that way would be cutting their nose of despite their face. Why should customers be emotionally blackmailed that way by a big corporation and happy to invest in them?! If that's their motivation then I'd happily never invest again until they grew up.

    That's not that ridiculous. The pony level in Diablo 3 was included simply out of pure spite. The developers were intentionally being spiteful to people who complained during development about the game being too bright.

    Bethesda, with their Elder Scrolls series, has a long history of using a Khajiit NPC to make spiteful comments about complaints players had.

    I thought I saw a rumor somewhere that the entirety of Final Fantasy 9 was one big middle finger to the complaints and requests people had after Final Fantasy 8.

    Nintendo bought rights to a movie and refused to let it be produced out of pure spite.

    Spite and the video game industry are frequent bedfellows.

    In the case of things like the pony level, though, it's an Easter egg but it's still actual content. It's not like they chucked something that they could put a price tag on. They added something to the game that fans in the know would pick up on. Same with M'aiq's commentary from the Elder Scrolls series. It's just little asides that let fans know that, yes, they heard the complaints. I would be surprised if a company trashed content that they could use to make money just to spite people.

    Having something ready to go then refusing to add it to teach customers a lesson doesn't seem like a good business strategy. :confused:

    Neither is spending millions to buy up studios and immediately shutting them down. Businesses don't always use good business strategy.
  • GabbyGirlJGabbyGirlJ Posts: 6,858 Member
    GabbyGirlJ wrote: »
    Jarsie9 wrote: »
    One of the producers proudly announced that they didn't even need to consult a psychologist when they made the Sims 4; they relied heavily on their so-called emotions (which we were told the previous iterations never had) and the adolescent humor. But one of the reasons I believe that the Sims 2 was so successful is because the game was built around psychological parameters; that is, the want/fear system. That's what made the game play, having your Sim react to something they feared or something they wanted. That's what made the Sim seem "alive"... and made them feel more unique and individual.

    I remain convinced that IF they intended to put toddlers in, they could have easily done it within the first six months of launch, but not only did they refuse to take the fans seriously, their whole attitude was one of contempt. I still remember that employee who made that poem where he referred to the "haters", meaning the fans who dislike this game, and how quickly they had to backpedal when they got the intense backlash from the fans. I just think that EA has nothing but contempt for the fans of this particular iteration. We're okay for fleecing money out of, but at the same time, we're suckers who are willing to take whatever scraps they're willing to give us, as long as it has a "The Sims" label on it.

    I'm beginning to think that they're prepared to dump this franchise and make a mobile/tablet version of it similar to FreePlay, only without the time limitations and sell it to us via the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store.

    I actually would not be surprised if they had toddlers ready to roll out within three months, but saw the boycott group on here and trashed the code just to spite people.

    And that would be totally ridiculous. They are adults. Anyone acting out that way would be cutting their nose of despite their face. Why should customers be emotionally blackmailed that way by a big corporation and happy to invest in them?! If that's their motivation then I'd happily never invest again until they grew up.

    That's not that ridiculous. The pony level in Diablo 3 was included simply out of pure spite. The developers were intentionally being spiteful to people who complained during development about the game being too bright.

    Bethesda, with their Elder Scrolls series, has a long history of using a Khajiit NPC to make spiteful comments about complaints players had.

    I thought I saw a rumor somewhere that the entirety of Final Fantasy 9 was one big middle finger to the complaints and requests people had after Final Fantasy 8.

    Nintendo bought rights to a movie and refused to let it be produced out of pure spite.

    Spite and the video game industry are frequent bedfellows.

    In the case of things like the pony level, though, it's an Easter egg but it's still actual content. It's not like they chucked something that they could put a price tag on. They added something to the game that fans in the know would pick up on. Same with M'aiq's commentary from the Elder Scrolls series. It's just little asides that let fans know that, yes, they heard the complaints. I would be surprised if a company trashed content that they could use to make money just to spite people.

    Having something ready to go then refusing to add it to teach customers a lesson doesn't seem like a good business strategy. :confused:

    Neither is spending millions to buy up studios and immediately shutting them down. Businesses don't always use good business strategy.

    True. I would still be surprised if they're holding off on toddlers because of complaints. But, if they did it's not like we'd ever find out, I suppose.

    IHJCfa6.jpg
  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,617 Member
    edited March 2016
    GabbyGirlJ wrote: »
    Jarsie9 wrote: »
    One of the producers proudly announced that they didn't even need to consult a psychologist when they made the Sims 4; they relied heavily on their so-called emotions (which we were told the previous iterations never had) and the adolescent humor. But one of the reasons I believe that the Sims 2 was so successful is because the game was built around psychological parameters; that is, the want/fear system. That's what made the game play, having your Sim react to something they feared or something they wanted. That's what made the Sim seem "alive"... and made them feel more unique and individual.

    I remain convinced that IF they intended to put toddlers in, they could have easily done it within the first six months of launch, but not only did they refuse to take the fans seriously, their whole attitude was one of contempt. I still remember that employee who made that poem where he referred to the "haters", meaning the fans who dislike this game, and how quickly they had to backpedal when they got the intense backlash from the fans. I just think that EA has nothing but contempt for the fans of this particular iteration. We're okay for fleecing money out of, but at the same time, we're suckers who are willing to take whatever scraps they're willing to give us, as long as it has a "The Sims" label on it.

    I'm beginning to think that they're prepared to dump this franchise and make a mobile/tablet version of it similar to FreePlay, only without the time limitations and sell it to us via the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store.

    I actually would not be surprised if they had toddlers ready to roll out within three months, but saw the boycott group on here and trashed the code just to spite people.

    And that would be totally ridiculous. They are adults. Anyone acting out that way would be cutting their nose of despite their face. Why should customers be emotionally blackmailed that way by a big corporation and happy to invest in them?! If that's their motivation then I'd happily never invest again until they grew up.

    That's not that ridiculous. The pony level in Diablo 3 was included simply out of pure spite. The developers were intentionally being spiteful to people who complained during development about the game being too bright.

    Bethesda, with their Elder Scrolls series, has a long history of using a Khajiit NPC to make spiteful comments about complaints players had.

    I thought I saw a rumor somewhere that the entirety of Final Fantasy 9 was one big middle finger to the complaints and requests people had after Final Fantasy 8.

    Nintendo bought rights to a movie and refused to let it be produced out of pure spite.

    Spite and the video game industry are frequent bedfellows.

    In the case of things like the pony level, though, it's an Easter egg but it's still actual content. It's not like they chucked something that they could put a price tag on. They added something to the game that fans in the know would pick up on. Same with M'aiq's commentary from the Elder Scrolls series. It's just little asides that let fans know that, yes, they heard the complaints. I would be surprised if a company trashed content that they could use to make money just to spite people.

    Having something ready to go then refusing to add it to teach customers a lesson doesn't seem like a good business strategy. :confused:

    Neither is spending millions to buy up studios and immediately shutting them down. Businesses don't always use good business strategy.

    Not specifically talking gaming here, but sometimes when a company buys another company they're after the intellectual property and/or the talent. Both can be merged into the larger company, and that can be good business strategy. Any smaller company that lets itself be bought by a larger company knows that one possible outcome is losing your original corporate identity and some staff: it's a risk that the smaller companies take because the chance of benefit is good. That larger company can inject capital into your projects that you didn't have as a smaller company, so your product can grow where it couldn't before.

    (edited to add an "as")
    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.
  • Jarsie9Jarsie9 Posts: 12,714 Member
    And bear in mind that Maxis was originally a small company that was bought out by EA. If EA hadn't bought Maxis and taken a chance on Will Wright's "dollhouse game", we wouldn't be having this discussion today.
    EA Marketing Department Motto:
    "We Don't Care If You LIKE The Game, Just As Long As You BUY The Game!"
    B)
    I Disapprove (Naturally)
    I Took The Pledge!
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    GabbyGirlJ wrote: »
    Jarsie9 wrote: »
    One of the producers proudly announced that they didn't even need to consult a psychologist when they made the Sims 4; they relied heavily on their so-called emotions (which we were told the previous iterations never had) and the adolescent humor. But one of the reasons I believe that the Sims 2 was so successful is because the game was built around psychological parameters; that is, the want/fear system. That's what made the game play, having your Sim react to something they feared or something they wanted. That's what made the Sim seem "alive"... and made them feel more unique and individual.

    I remain convinced that IF they intended to put toddlers in, they could have easily done it within the first six months of launch, but not only did they refuse to take the fans seriously, their whole attitude was one of contempt. I still remember that employee who made that poem where he referred to the "haters", meaning the fans who dislike this game, and how quickly they had to backpedal when they got the intense backlash from the fans. I just think that EA has nothing but contempt for the fans of this particular iteration. We're okay for fleecing money out of, but at the same time, we're suckers who are willing to take whatever scraps they're willing to give us, as long as it has a "The Sims" label on it.

    I'm beginning to think that they're prepared to dump this franchise and make a mobile/tablet version of it similar to FreePlay, only without the time limitations and sell it to us via the Google Play Store, or the Apple Store.

    I actually would not be surprised if they had toddlers ready to roll out within three months, but saw the boycott group on here and trashed the code just to spite people.

    And that would be totally ridiculous. They are adults. Anyone acting out that way would be cutting their nose of despite their face. Why should customers be emotionally blackmailed that way by a big corporation and happy to invest in them?! If that's their motivation then I'd happily never invest again until they grew up.

    That's not that ridiculous. The pony level in Diablo 3 was included simply out of pure spite. The developers were intentionally being spiteful to people who complained during development about the game being too bright.

    Bethesda, with their Elder Scrolls series, has a long history of using a Khajiit NPC to make spiteful comments about complaints players had.

    I thought I saw a rumor somewhere that the entirety of Final Fantasy 9 was one big middle finger to the complaints and requests people had after Final Fantasy 8.

    Nintendo bought rights to a movie and refused to let it be produced out of pure spite.

    Spite and the video game industry are frequent bedfellows.

    In the case of things like the pony level, though, it's an Easter egg but it's still actual content. It's not like they chucked something that they could put a price tag on. They added something to the game that fans in the know would pick up on. Same with M'aiq's commentary from the Elder Scrolls series. It's just little asides that let fans know that, yes, they heard the complaints. I would be surprised if a company trashed content that they could use to make money just to spite people.

    Having something ready to go then refusing to add it to teach customers a lesson doesn't seem like a good business strategy. :confused:

    Neither is spending millions to buy up studios and immediately shutting them down. Businesses don't always use good business strategy.

    Not specifically talking gaming here, but sometimes when a company buys another company they're after the intellectual property and/or the talent. Both can be merged into the larger company, and that can be good business strategy. Any smaller company that lets itself be bought by a larger company knows that one possible outcome is losing your original corporate identity and some staff: it's a risk that the smaller companies take because the chance of benefit is good. That larger company can inject capital into your projects that you didn't have as a smaller company, so your product can grow where it couldn't before.

    (edited to add an "as")

    Agreed and let's not forget some of the motivation for those big companies is to eliminate effective competition too. If you have that company under your belt too you can benefit from the talent, IP and a better market for your products.
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