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EA silence on family play and family play fans

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  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    This is so cute, I just had to share. Now this is how you work out.
    https://www.facebook.com/BestInstaandVineVideos/videos/1846142518760217/?fref=nf
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • SennieSennie Posts: 2,708 Member
    Hi everyone!

    Sorry for not posting for so long, a lot has happened in the past month and unfortunately we've had a lot of problems to deal with health wise. Unfortunately yesterday we were in a car crash! Another car sped through a red light and hit our car, nobody was hurt but as you can see our car took a lot of damage:

    2_zpsymtklghh.png

    Thankfully no one was hurt, for which I am very glad about. I spoke to the insurance people today and we'll get the car back sometime this week, but right now my mind is focused on more important matters.

    I'm not back, I just wanted to give you all an update on what's happening. I hope you are all well and that life is treating you good :)
    Oh and I hope you're enjoying your new job @Scobre :)

    We have some dark and rough months ahead of us, but hopefully everything will be ok.

    Stay safe everyone.

    Much love,

    Matthew.
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    edited May 2016
    Sennie wrote: »
    Hi everyone!

    Sorry for not posting for so long, a lot has happened in the past month and unfortunately we've had a lot of problems to deal with health wise. Unfortunately yesterday we were in a car crash! Another car sped through a red light and hit our car, nobody was hurt but as you can see our car took a lot of damage:

    2_zpsymtklghh.png

    Thankfully no one was hurt, for which I am very glad about. I spoke to the insurance people today and we'll get the car back sometime this week, but right now my mind is focused on more important matters.

    I'm not back, I just wanted to give you all an update on what's happening. I hope you are all well and that life is treating you good :)
    Oh and I hope you're enjoying your new job @Scobre :)

    We have some dark and rough months ahead of us, but hopefully everything will be ok.

    Stay safe everyone.

    Much love,

    Matthew.
    Oh it just ended last Friday. So I'm looking for work again. My sleep schedule is still making me wake up at 5am. XD So it is a bit off. I met with my job developer today. I'm so glad that you and your family are ok. I was worried about you with the car crash.
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    Aww @Sennie sending you all my love. As long as you are alright, the car will be sorted :)

    Will be thinking of you x
  • bekkasanbekkasan Posts: 10,171 Member
    @sennie Glad to see you pop in and sorry things are still off for you. Glad no one was hurt. Take care and pop in when you can. :::hugs:::
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    edited May 2016
    Newest MC Command Center update is out. One of the things it is supposed to prevent are any remaining cases of incest with the romantic relationships, so yay! There is also a notification for which gender a Sim delivers. There are some more options for adoption and option for more kisses. So enjoy: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=551680
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • Sim_LucentSim_Lucent Posts: 689 Member
    edited May 2016
    I hope everyone is okay, sennie! I know you're saying no one was hurt, but sometimes those things take a few days before they start to show.. :(

    EDIT: And omg.. wth. Seriously.. a mod has to fix the plum incest bug because the dev team hasn't decided it was important at all? I wonder if it works.. Worth getting it for that alone. :(

    Maybe a modder will actually give us a decent family tree feature.
    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    So apparently we are back to the explanation that culling is a 'feature' working as intended. It really doesn't inspire a lot of hope in me for this game improving much if that's the case. I guess it's a step closer to me hoping TS5 can function better for how I value sims and families in my games.
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    So apparently we are back to the explanation that culling is a 'feature' working as intended. It really doesn't inspire a lot of hope in me for this game improving much if that's the case. I guess it's a step closer to me hoping TS5 can function better for how I value sims and families in my games.
    You need mods to get rid of the culling. My guess is that Maxis can't do much to improve it because Maxis probably has promised EA to keep the game playable on low-end computers which quickly could get problems otherwise. (EA doesn't want its support to get a lot of problems from young teens in despair who's game just stopped working on their cheap computers because their game's population became too big.)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0 New Member
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  • MikiMiki Posts: 1,692 Member
    @sparkfairy1

    Hello again, I came right from @Cinebar 's thread, I hope she's not upset at the wandering of the topic, but actually this whole thing of "EA Silence" does relate to the issue she is raising.


    Yes I'd like to follow up a bit more on how your thread has gone 1200+ pages and no one in authority at EA has come in to do some straight talk. Give a real answer.

    Even if it's the wrong answer, at least it will demonstrate Customer Service commitment to listening to the fans and addressing the concerns they raise.

    It's not like I expect them to come out and say "No, no tots, that's too much work and we're too cheap to return and rewrite the base." But if they will not add them, at least they should say so and give some of the reasoning behind it.

    But all this deserves a frank and honest answer, and that interview you copied me on is, as they like to say in the country my grandparents came from (Japan) "Give them all soup, no fish."

    However, let me know if it's stuff that's already in here somewhere-- I don't want you to have to the trouble of repeating tro me things I should have already seen.
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    Miki wrote: »
    @sparkfairy1

    Hello again, I came right from @Cinebar 's thread, I hope she's not upset at the wandering of the topic, but actually this whole thing of "EA Silence" does relate to the issue she is raising.


    Yes I'd like to follow up a bit more on how your thread has gone 1200+ pages and no one in authority at EA has come in to do some straight talk. Give a real answer.

    Even if it's the wrong answer, at least it will demonstrate Customer Service commitment to listening to the fans and addressing the concerns they raise.

    It's not like I expect them to come out and say "No, no tots, that's too much work and we're too cheap to return and rewrite the base." But if they will not add them, at least they should say so and give some of the reasoning behind it.

    But all this deserves a frank and honest answer, and that interview you copied me on is, as they like to say in the country my grandparents came from (Japan) "Give them all soup, no fish."

    However, let me know if it's stuff that's already in here somewhere-- I don't want you to have to the trouble of repeating tro me things I should have already seen.

    Sadly no. There has been no official recognition or attempt to deal with at least the issues around a poor customer experience for some of their customers here. I am not sure where you last caught up but here is a very brief catch up of what has happened so far.
    They have told us 'we are listening' but have also been told this thread is too difficult to keep up with because it is busy. I offered to keep track for them but wasn't taken up on the offer. However I did create this thread which was stickied in general-be careful though because they were very clear in saying it doesn't mean anything to the possibilities of seeing toddlers in TS4. http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/880216/ideas-at-a-glance-for-toddlers#latest

    Earlier in the thread they asked if they could use questionnaires I had crafted to try to give some common themes to the issues. I said yes and spent a lot of time collating and making sure I had permission to share with the studio. I sent them to the studio's email address but we really heard no more of it.

    Then there was an article I was interviewed for at Kotaku 11 months post release that has some comments from Rachel Franklin but none really to indicate any change to what we heard in the pre release blogs.
    http://kotaku.com/11-months-later-the-sims-4-players-still-want-answers-1705320586

    I wrote a companion piece to answer the interview I linked you over there where I tried to put across the concerns I had learnt of through my experience as a customer in September 2015.
    http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/27/the-10-biggest-problems-with-the-sims-4-readers-feature-5409308/

    And the interview with Peter Moore is here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-07-01-eas-moore
    Q: "Where's everything in Sims 4?"

    Peter Moore: "I got all this stuff," and they forget, "well it's taken me years, to accumulate this." Then you ship Sims 4 - now we just did the expansion pack and everything's starting to feel good about Sims 4 now - but it takes a long time to do that and we always totally underestimate that when we ship a Sims game. You forget what most people now are living with.

    Q: Vampires, dogs ...

    Peter Moore: Everything! They're on their fifth relationship! The Sims players...They're a hard-core bunch, a very hard-core bunch.

    Toddlers and swimming pools! Think of that and all the furore that was.

    Now some of these issues are now out of date and whatever but I have consistently tried to make sure that those customers who have frequented this thread are being listened to and, most importantly, taken notice of. So far I have no idea if we are and I honestly don't know if we ever will. I have tried my best to make sure that individuals have had a voice and been heard but I have no idea if they want to hear it or if they have. Its just another mystery surrounding TS4.

    That is what I find is so sad. For many, me included, just having an acknowledgement of the issues and some sort of an attempt to heal the damage caused to trust would have given me more faith in the situation. The silence has made the initial disappointing situation much worse for me as a customer.
  • BlueBlack007BlueBlack007 Posts: 4,480 Member
    Miki wrote: »
    @sparkfairy1

    Hello again, I came right from @Cinebar 's thread, I hope she's not upset at the wandering of the topic, but actually this whole thing of "EA Silence" does relate to the issue she is raising.


    Yes I'd like to follow up a bit more on how your thread has gone 1200+ pages and no one in authority at EA has come in to do some straight talk. Give a real answer.

    Even if it's the wrong answer, at least it will demonstrate Customer Service commitment to listening to the fans and addressing the concerns they raise.

    It's not like I expect them to come out and say "No, no tots, that's too much work and we're too cheap to return and rewrite the base." But if they will not add them, at least they should say so and give some of the reasoning behind it.

    But all this deserves a frank and honest answer, and that interview you copied me on is, as they like to say in the country my grandparents came from (Japan) "Give them all soup, no fish."

    However, let me know if it's stuff that's already in here somewhere-- I don't want you to have to the trouble of repeating tro me things I should have already seen.

    Sadly no. There has been no official recognition or attempt to deal with at least the issues around a poor customer experience for some of their customers here. I am not sure where you last caught up but here is a very brief catch up of what has happened so far.
    They have told us 'we are listening' but have also been told this thread is too difficult to keep up with because it is busy. I offered to keep track for them but wasn't taken up on the offer. However I did create this thread which was stickied in general-be careful though because they were very clear in saying it doesn't mean anything to the possibilities of seeing toddlers in TS4. http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/880216/ideas-at-a-glance-for-toddlers#latest

    Earlier in the thread they asked if they could use questionnaires I had crafted to try to give some common themes to the issues. I said yes and spent a lot of time collating and making sure I had permission to share with the studio. I sent them to the studio's email address but we really heard no more of it.

    Then there was an article I was interviewed for at Kotaku 11 months post release that has some comments from Rachel Franklin but none really to indicate any change to what we heard in the pre release blogs.
    http://kotaku.com/11-months-later-the-sims-4-players-still-want-answers-1705320586

    I wrote a companion piece to answer the interview I linked you over there where I tried to put across the concerns I had learnt of through my experience as a customer in September 2015.
    http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/27/the-10-biggest-problems-with-the-sims-4-readers-feature-5409308/

    And the interview with Peter Moore is here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-07-01-eas-moore
    Q: "Where's everything in Sims 4?"

    Peter Moore: "I got all this stuff," and they forget, "well it's taken me years, to accumulate this." Then you ship Sims 4 - now we just did the expansion pack and everything's starting to feel good about Sims 4 now - but it takes a long time to do that and we always totally underestimate that when we ship a Sims game. You forget what most people now are living with.

    Q: Vampires, dogs ...

    Peter Moore: Everything! They're on their fifth relationship! The Sims players...They're a hard-core bunch, a very hard-core bunch.

    Toddlers and swimming pools! Think of that and all the furore that was.

    Now some of these issues are now out of date and whatever but I have consistently tried to make sure that those customers who have frequented this thread are being listened to and, most importantly, taken notice of. So far I have no idea if we are and I honestly don't know if we ever will. I have tried my best to make sure that individuals have had a voice and been heard but I have no idea if they want to hear it or if they have. Its just another mystery surrounding TS4.

    That is what I find is so sad. For many, me included, just having an acknowledgement of the issues and some sort of an attempt to heal the damage caused to trust would have given me more faith in the situation. The silence has made the initial disappointing situation much worse for me as a customer.

    Exactly, I agree.
  • Stdlr9Stdlr9 Posts: 2,744 Member
    Erpe wrote: »
    So apparently we are back to the explanation that culling is a 'feature' working as intended. It really doesn't inspire a lot of hope in me for this game improving much if that's the case. I guess it's a step closer to me hoping TS5 can function better for how I value sims and families in my games.
    You need mods to get rid of the culling. My guess is that Maxis can't do much to improve it because Maxis probably has promised EA to keep the game playable on low-end computers which quickly could get problems otherwise. (EA doesn't want its support to get a lot of problems from young teens in despair who's game just stopped working on their cheap computers because their game's population became too big.)

    Over on the "TS4 won't be at EA Play" thread I specifically asked the Guru whether culling -- both of Sims and of relationships -- was going to be fixed and she responded that it is working as designed. The culling was intentional and is working as designed.

    I have no words. (Oh, who am I kidding - you all KNOW I have words for it. And they ain't pretty.)
  • BlueBlack007BlueBlack007 Posts: 4,480 Member
    Stdlr9 wrote: »
    Erpe wrote: »
    So apparently we are back to the explanation that culling is a 'feature' working as intended. It really doesn't inspire a lot of hope in me for this game improving much if that's the case. I guess it's a step closer to me hoping TS5 can function better for how I value sims and families in my games.
    You need mods to get rid of the culling. My guess is that Maxis can't do much to improve it because Maxis probably has promised EA to keep the game playable on low-end computers which quickly could get problems otherwise. (EA doesn't want its support to get a lot of problems from young teens in despair who's game just stopped working on their cheap computers because their game's population became too big.)

    Over on the "TS4 won't be at EA Play" thread I specifically asked the Guru whether culling -- both of Sims and of relationships -- was going to be fixed and she responded that it is working as designed. The culling was intentional and is working as designed.

    I have no words. (Oh, who am I kidding - you all KNOW I have words for it. And they ain't pretty.)

    So True, :)
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    Stdlr9 wrote: »
    Erpe wrote: »
    So apparently we are back to the explanation that culling is a 'feature' working as intended. It really doesn't inspire a lot of hope in me for this game improving much if that's the case. I guess it's a step closer to me hoping TS5 can function better for how I value sims and families in my games.
    You need mods to get rid of the culling. My guess is that Maxis can't do much to improve it because Maxis probably has promised EA to keep the game playable on low-end computers which quickly could get problems otherwise. (EA doesn't want its support to get a lot of problems from young teens in despair who's game just stopped working on their cheap computers because their game's population became too big.)

    Over on the "TS4 won't be at EA Play" thread I specifically asked the Guru whether culling -- both of Sims and of relationships -- was going to be fixed and she responded that it is working as designed. The culling was intentional and is working as designed.

    I have no words. (Oh, who am I kidding - you all KNOW I have words for it. And they ain't pretty.)
    Yes I know. But the only possible reason that I can imagine is that EA wanted to target the Sims 4 mainly at very young teens who often have low-end computers and EA therefore needed to keep the minimum requirements very low. If this is the case then the culling must have been made to prevent the games on such low-end computers from freezing and going down if the population was allowed to increase and therefore give problems for EA's support. I can't see any other reason why Maxis should have made it and then even have refused to remove it again.
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    edited May 2016
    I can't stand culling. It is my least favorite feature ever to hit the series. Honestly so many of my families and saves would be ruined if I didn't have the MC Command Center mod to prevent it. It just bothers me the Sims 4 is another iteration in which I need mods to play.
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • IchigoUsagiIchigoUsagi Posts: 822 Member
    @Erpe

    Age does not equal wealth. An elementary schooler may be given a top-of-the-line computer by their parents because the parents are able to afford it, just as an adult with a full-time job may not be able to afford a computer at all. I'd say that the sims 4 still has a whole host of problems that give me despair! :D
  • Anemone7Anemone7 Posts: 3,950 Member
    If we had just a way to check or uncheck a box in the options menu to decide for ourselves if culling is working as intended... But that is just to easy to be a good idea, isn't it, EA?
  • IchigoUsagiIchigoUsagi Posts: 822 Member
    Anemone7 wrote: »
    If we had just a way to check or uncheck a box in the options menu to decide for ourselves if culling is working as intended... But that is just to easy to be a good idea, isn't it, EA?

    Yeah, I imagine EA's reaction to stuff like this is 'Choices?! The sims has never been about choices! How can we expect payers to tic a box or age sims out of a life stage they don't like?'
  • To7mTo7m Posts: 5,467 Member
    Miki wrote: »
    @sparkfairy1

    Hello again, I came right from @Cinebar 's thread, I hope she's not upset at the wandering of the topic, but actually this whole thing of "EA Silence" does relate to the issue she is raising.


    Yes I'd like to follow up a bit more on how your thread has gone 1200+ pages and no one in authority at EA has come in to do some straight talk. Give a real answer.

    Even if it's the wrong answer, at least it will demonstrate Customer Service commitment to listening to the fans and addressing the concerns they raise.

    It's not like I expect them to come out and say "No, no tots, that's too much work and we're too cheap to return and rewrite the base." But if they will not add them, at least they should say so and give some of the reasoning behind it.

    But all this deserves a frank and honest answer, and that interview you copied me on is, as they like to say in the country my grandparents came from (Japan) "Give them all soup, no fish."

    However, let me know if it's stuff that's already in here somewhere-- I don't want you to have to the trouble of repeating tro me things I should have already seen.

    Sadly no. There has been no official recognition or attempt to deal with at least the issues around a poor customer experience for some of their customers here. I am not sure where you last caught up but here is a very brief catch up of what has happened so far.
    They have told us 'we are listening' but have also been told this thread is too difficult to keep up with because it is busy. I offered to keep track for them but wasn't taken up on the offer. However I did create this thread which was stickied in general-be careful though because they were very clear in saying it doesn't mean anything to the possibilities of seeing toddlers in TS4. http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/880216/ideas-at-a-glance-for-toddlers#latest

    Earlier in the thread they asked if they could use questionnaires I had crafted to try to give some common themes to the issues. I said yes and spent a lot of time collating and making sure I had permission to share with the studio. I sent them to the studio's email address but we really heard no more of it.

    Then there was an article I was interviewed for at Kotaku 11 months post release that has some comments from Rachel Franklin but none really to indicate any change to what we heard in the pre release blogs.
    http://kotaku.com/11-months-later-the-sims-4-players-still-want-answers-1705320586

    I wrote a companion piece to answer the interview I linked you over there where I tried to put across the concerns I had learnt of through my experience as a customer in September 2015.
    http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/27/the-10-biggest-problems-with-the-sims-4-readers-feature-5409308/

    And the interview with Peter Moore is here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-07-01-eas-moore
    Q: "Where's everything in Sims 4?"

    Peter Moore: "I got all this stuff," and they forget, "well it's taken me years, to accumulate this." Then you ship Sims 4 - now we just did the expansion pack and everything's starting to feel good about Sims 4 now - but it takes a long time to do that and we always totally underestimate that when we ship a Sims game. You forget what most people now are living with.

    Q: Vampires, dogs ...

    Peter Moore: Everything! They're on their fifth relationship! The Sims players...They're a hard-core bunch, a very hard-core bunch.

    Toddlers and swimming pools! Think of that and all the furore that was.

    Now some of these issues are now out of date and whatever but I have consistently tried to make sure that those customers who have frequented this thread are being listened to and, most importantly, taken notice of. So far I have no idea if we are and I honestly don't know if we ever will. I have tried my best to make sure that individuals have had a voice and been heard but I have no idea if they want to hear it or if they have. Its just another mystery surrounding TS4.

    That is what I find is so sad. For many, me included, just having an acknowledgement of the issues and some sort of an attempt to heal the damage caused to trust would have given me more faith in the situation. The silence has made the initial disappointing situation much worse for me as a customer.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Look. Look at this @SimGuruDrake!

    Please! Can you get somebody, anybody in here to just talk to us and give us some REAL answers.

    Please.

    --T
  • sparkfairy1sparkfairy1 Posts: 11,453 Member
    Haha @To7m I'm glad you identify and think I wrote well enough to get across what the issues are from my point of view as a customer.
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    @Erpe

    Age does not equal wealth. An elementary schooler may be given a top-of-the-line computer by their parents because the parents are able to afford it, just as an adult with a full-time job may not be able to afford a computer at all. I'd say that the sims 4 still has a whole host of problems that give me despair! :D
    You are right. But average parents usually won't buy the most expensive gaming computer for their young teen while they are much more likely to buy it for their own hobby if it is gaming. Also they will have less understanding for their teen's wish about having an expensive gaming computer if they aren't interested in gaming themselves. So an average young teen will still have much more problems about getting a good gaming computer for a Sims game than an average adult gamer usually will ;)
  • MikiMiki Posts: 1,692 Member
    edited May 2016
    @sparkfairy1 Thank You for updating me on that.

    I apologize for not replying sooner. I didn't receive a notification and it is only now, before bed, that I decided to have a look in here.

    I understand all the frustration now. I mean I did before but this codifies just about everything on this thread that you and the others who are regular contributors. The list is longer than my arm but really? They couldn't keep up with the thread? It's only asking for one thing, really.. at the core just some honest answers. And a not-too-nebulous clue can be had from the title.

    If I were the one who monitors these boards for the higher-ups I'd surely want to tell them, well, "There is a thread about our communication, or lack of it. I think we should answer them." Of course as I already said, I'd be job hunting after saying that to The Suits.

    Well, short of being a fly on the Boardroom wall, I can't think of any sensible reason why they didn't come up with answers by page 10 maybe?

    I read the Rachel Franklin interview when it came out and that was as close as I see to a real answer, I believe she actually said they won't put Tots in. But no real reason short of a professional version of "Just Cuz."

    To be sure, I'm not into toddlers personally but I made it clear in other posts, other places that I firmly believe they should be put in, if at all possible, for the many who really want them and the family-feel that comes with a full house of kids at varying stages running around the house.

    And if it really can't be done, at least be professionals and have the (proverbial) spheres to just come in here, take questions and give answers. Not double talk, just answers .. even if it's along the lines of "No concrete time line is in place for a Sims 5, but we will be returning the things most missed in "4" and engineering them into "5"

    I do not want it to look like I am dissing the management and the gurus, the latter too low on the totem pole to determine policy, but they're making it pretty tough for me to not sound off on a silence policy that just isn't right.

    Not that anything I just wrote is news to anyone on this board, in fact I may have to edit tomorrow and get rid of redundancy.. just wanting to add my name to the list of players/forum members who just want simple transparency. It's not going to endanger their market share or anything.
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    edited May 2016
    @Miki We are just happy to have you apart of this thread. Honestly with all this waiting, we've become like a little bonded community with this thread. While all the fighting is going on elsewhere, this thread has become a safe oasis for us to visit and post in. For me, all the life stages are important and I feel like they went back to the Sims 1 life stages. I don't like it. I was hoping the Sims 1 would be the last game I had to deal with object babies. *Sighs*
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
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