I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
I hear your concerns about the team being disconnected from fan feedback. I am somewhat heartened by @SimGuruDrake and her apparent responsiveness on this thread to many comments. It seems like she's actually following it, sometimes late into the night and on weekends on her off hours. At first, I feared she was trying to keep comments in check, sometimes by censoring and deleting comments she construed as negative. But that seems to have tapered off (perhaps because of our feedback), and she's genuinely engaging in what appears to me to be a more open dialogue here.
If there's any hope of getting our thoughts and feedback through to the development team, she's a big part of that. @SimGuruHydra, her predecessor, played the same role in relaying feedback between the fans and the development team. She was a true supporter of fans and creators. I know that from personally meeting her, seeing her enthusiasm for and love of the fans, and witnessing her advocacy for our concerns and support for our creations. She coordinated Creators Camp at The Sims 4 launch, and she was constantly moving about with questionnaires and feedback forms to gauge all of our first impressions and concerns about the game. She'd bring individual gurus from the team to address many of those concerns with us one-on-one. Before that, she'd highlight Simmers in the community with special features and interviews on the forum. I remember her emailing my fan magazine editor, @TSOAsiaShaMecca, regularly to give us feedback on our issues and relay our publications to the rest of the team. She was our advocate, a truly good and decent person, and my memories of her are fond.
I have never met her successor, @SimGuruDrake, but I know her job interests and responsibilities are probably much the same. If there's any advocate for all of us on that team, it's her. If there's anyone on that team consistently connected to the community and able to relay that feedback and concerns to the team, it's her.
I remember offering @SimGuruHydra and the rest of the team to wash their dishes, do their laundry, clean their homes, whatever they might need, every day for the rest of time, if they could somehow get Create a Style back into the game or some semblance of that wonderful tool. Sadly, she left before she could take me up on my somewhat creepy offer. But my offer still stands with her successor and the rest of the team. I've got my dishwashing gloves and Swiffer ready to be put to use at a moment's notice.
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
Interesting points.
But surely they know that some Simmers want an Open World as opposed to a closed world and Simmers want more life stages than less. These topics have been repeated over and over for the pat two years now.
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
Interesting points.
But surely they know that some Simmers want an Open World as opposed to a closed world and Simmers want more life stages than less. These topics have been repeated over and over for the pat two years now.
Apparently not. There is the notorious interview where Ms Franklin said having a closed world was to get closer to your Sims.
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
Interesting points.
But surely they know that some Simmers want an Open World as opposed to a closed world and Simmers want more life stages than less. These topics have been repeated over and over for the pat two years now.
Apparently not. There is the notorious interview where Ms Franklin said having a closed world was to get closer to your Sims.
Just joining in to wish Rachel the best of luck in her future endeavors. I've been a simmer since 2001, I've seen the series go through many changes both in game and in staff. I've seen a lot of things I love and some things I don't. Personally, I'm excited to see what this means for the future of the game and I hope she finds happiness in whatever comes next.
We essentially have a general roadmap of what type of content we'd like to hit around a certain month / quarter. We have an idea of what the theme of that pack content will be but it's never set in stone until we get to the actual start of the theme selection of the pack (which includes researching and brainstorming of the possible content themes for a pack). I don't have a hand in any of that process outside of asking about what the options are when talking to the producers for that specific pack so I can't really speak to much more than my general understanding. Also yes they do look at ideas / feedback you give here in the forums and other places as well. Graham or someone else might have to come in to do a deeper dive on how theme selection and stuff works though (he is really good at talking about the development process.)
Roaring Heights is a perfect example of this. All the feedback and loud requests for a similar high-rise world style, the design theme and carnival gameplay were combined to give a big send-off to the series and a thank you to long-term players/investors. That release was jam-packed with as many elements the developers could aggregate from various requests and all wrapped up in a particularly cool package.
I think some people may lose sight of the time needed to organise a release from beginning to end, or not have a particularly deep understanding of a development cycle. Maybe a blog piece/retrospective on past content by a seasoned developer would help to give that perspective to some players? It'd be an interesting read and a nice historical one at that.
I know that our EA.com Blog partners love doing dev blogs about The Sims so this might be right up their alley
We essentially have a general roadmap of what type of content we'd like to hit around a certain month / quarter. We have an idea of what the theme of that pack content will be but it's never set in stone until we get to the actual start of the theme selection of the pack (which includes researching and brainstorming of the possible content themes for a pack). I don't have a hand in any of that process outside of asking about what the options are when talking to the producers for that specific pack so I can't really speak to much more than my general understanding. Also yes they do look at ideas / feedback you give here in the forums and other places as well. Graham or someone else might have to come in to do a deeper dive on how theme selection and stuff works though (he is really good at talking about the development process.)
Roaring Heights is a perfect example of this. All the feedback and loud requests for a similar high-rise world style, the design theme and carnival gameplay were combined to give a big send-off to the series and a thank you to long-term players/investors. That release was jam-packed with as many elements the developers could aggregate from various requests and all wrapped up in a particularly cool package.
I think some people may lose sight of the time needed to organise a release from beginning to end, or not have a particularly deep understanding of a development cycle. Maybe a blog piece/retrospective on past content by a seasoned developer would help to give that perspective to some players? It'd be an interesting read and a nice historical one at that.
Then perhaps Mr. Hawk what the Sims 4 needs then is the Sims 3 store team making it to make our game play dreams come true and cram pack the eps with great stuff the simmers "have in their vision" - seeing it was often why we got the worlds and content was most asked for including that world you mentioned. Too bad most of those people are elsewhere now. Is there still hope? Right now I jump between hope and none. As I don't see a promise SO far that Sims 4 will ever measure up to what many players love about the Sims series and stayed so faithful to for 16 long years. Longer than a lot of marriages if you think about it and twice as long as the presidency of the USA can possibly be in office. Long time to be faithful and just have the rug pulled out from under you for being true blue.
Aw well great thoughts any way Mr. Hawk. Glad you can at least see some promise of this game. You made me smile anyway. Bless you for that. Some times living in and remembering the past is not a bad thing at all.
You know it really does astound me, Reg. If there were still people at Maxis then dead set on giving the players what they wanted, it's logical to assume there must be now. So how on earth did we get to this point? Where did our simulation game disappear to?
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
I hear your concerns about the team being disconnected from fan feedback. I am somewhat heartened by @SimGuruDrake and her apparent responsiveness on this thread to many comments. It seems like she's actually following it, sometimes late into the night and on weekends on her off hours. At first, I feared she was trying to keep comments in check, sometimes by censoring and deleting comments she construed as negative. But that seems to have tapered off (perhaps because of our feedback), and she's genuinely engaging in what appears to me to be a more open dialogue here.
If there's any hope of getting our thoughts and feedback through to the development team, she's a big part of that. @SimGuruHydra, her predecessor, played the same role in relaying feedback between the fans and the development team. She was a true supporter of fans and creators. I know that from personally meeting her, seeing her enthusiasm for and love of the fans, and witnessing her advocacy for our concerns and support for our creations. She coordinated Creators Camp at The Sims 4 launch, and she was constantly moving about with questionnaires and feedback forms to gauge all of our first impressions and concerns about the game. She'd bring individual gurus from the team to address many of those concerns with us one-on-one. Before that, she'd highlight Simmers in the community with special features and interviews on the forum. I remember her emailing my fan magazine editor, @TSOAsiaShaMecca, regularly to give us feedback on our issues and relay our publications to the rest of the team. She was our advocate, a truly good and decent person, and my memories of her are fond.
I have never met her successor, @SimGuruDrake, but I know her job interests and responsibilities are probably much the same. If there's any advocate for all of us on that team, it's her. If there's anyone on that team consistently connected to the community and able to relay that feedback and concerns to the team, it's her.
I remember offering @SimGuruHydra and the rest of the team to wash their dishes, do their laundry, clean their homes, whatever they might need, every day for the rest of time, if they could somehow get Create a Style back into the game or some semblance of that wonderful tool. Sadly, she left before she could take me up on my somewhat creepy offer. But my offer still stands with her successor and the rest of the team. I've got my dishwashing gloves and Swiffer ready to be put to use at a moment's notice.
This was a wonderful post to read
I never got to meet Hydra as she left well before my time but she seemed like a really great person and I believe she is still in the Bay Area so maybe one day our patches will cross.
I did want to help clarify that with regards to moderation: I actually try to stay away from moderating outside of giving a general warning when I see things going down a negative path or if what is posted is completely inappropriate. I prefer to handle moderation only when there is a complaint sent to me if someone feels they weren't breaking any rules.
As for your offer I'm sure my S/O would be happy to have someone do the chores around our apartment as he dislikes cleaning lol. It's been a little while since I've talked with the team about CASt but I'll chat with them this week to get more insight into that.
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
I hear your concerns about the team being disconnected from fan feedback. I am somewhat heartened by @SimGuruDrake and her apparent responsiveness on this thread to many comments. It seems like she's actually following it, sometimes late into the night and on weekends on her off hours. At first, I feared she was trying to keep comments in check, sometimes by censoring and deleting comments she construed as negative. But that seems to have tapered off (perhaps because of our feedback), and she's genuinely engaging in what appears to me to be a more open dialogue here.
If there's any hope of getting our thoughts and feedback through to the development team, she's a big part of that. @SimGuruHydra, her predecessor, played the same role in relaying feedback between the fans and the development team. She was a true supporter of fans and creators. I know that from personally meeting her, seeing her enthusiasm for and love of the fans, and witnessing her advocacy for our concerns and support for our creations. She coordinated Creators Camp at The Sims 4 launch, and she was constantly moving about with questionnaires and feedback forms to gauge all of our first impressions and concerns about the game. She'd bring individual gurus from the team to address many of those concerns with us one-on-one. Before that, she'd highlight Simmers in the community with special features and interviews on the forum. I remember her emailing my fan magazine editor, @TSOAsiaShaMecca, regularly to give us feedback on our issues and relay our publications to the rest of the team. She was our advocate, a truly good and decent person, and my memories of her are fond.
I have never met her successor, @SimGuruDrake, but I know her job interests and responsibilities are probably much the same. If there's any advocate for all of us on that team, it's her. If there's anyone on that team consistently connected to the community and able to relay that feedback and concerns to the team, it's her.
I remember offering @SimGuruHydra and the rest of the team to wash their dishes, do their laundry, clean their homes, whatever they might need, every day for the rest of time, if they could somehow get Create a Style back into the game or some semblance of that wonderful tool. Sadly, she left before she could take me up on my somewhat creepy offer. But my offer still stands with her successor and the rest of the team. I've got my dishwashing gloves and Swiffer ready to be put to use at a moment's notice.
This was a wonderful post to read
I never got to meet Hydra as she left well before my time but she seemed like a really great person and I believe she is still in the Bay Area so maybe one day our patches will cross.
I did want to help clarify that with regards to moderation: I actually try to stay away from moderating outside of giving a general warning when I see things going down a negative path or if what is posted is completely inappropriate. I prefer to handle moderation only when there is a complaint sent to me if someone feels they weren't breaking any rules.
As for your offer I'm sure my S/O would be happy to have someone do the chores around our apartment as he dislikes cleaning lol. It's been a little while since I've talked with the team about CASt but I'll chat with them this week to get more insight into that.
This was a very touching post and a lovely read!!! And the whole creepy offer phrase made me laugh!!! The position that @SimGuruDrake has puts in her a very tough spot and from what have seen, she really tries and works hard at her job. She pretty much has job that puts her as one of the main faces of TS4 and with that comes a lot of grief being tossed at her. If anyone has ever had a job the puts you as the face of something, it is very tough and stressful job. Just like other jobs, her job isn't something that just anyone can do and I feel she does a pretty good job at it.
I know I have been really critical of TS 4 and it's publisher for many games, but one thing I have never done is bash the rank and file. I always vent my frustrations at the decision makers. That is where it usually begins.
The Community Manager in gaming is the most difficult and stressful job in the industry. You have to have really thick skin and now days, that is rare. I always respect what they do and I have no tolerance or the patients needed to deal with people like me, so my hats off to them.
@SimGuruDrake Your doing a fine job. Knowing a bit about what limitations are for some CM's and what you all have to go through, I have nothing but respect for you.
I wish Rachel Franklin well as she moves on to other adventures.
For me, I don't think this change will shift what makes the game fundamentally broken for me. The chaotic, but easy to manipulate emotions, linear gameplay-style and limited individuality aren't going to change. I wish that I could have hope for a Sims 5, but I don't know if there's anyone at Maxis who really understands what makes The Sims, The Sims.
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
I hear your concerns about the team being disconnected from fan feedback. I am somewhat heartened by @SimGuruDrake and her apparent responsiveness on this thread to many comments. It seems like she's actually following it, sometimes late into the night and on weekends on her off hours. At first, I feared she was trying to keep comments in check, sometimes by censoring and deleting comments she construed as negative. But that seems to have tapered off (perhaps because of our feedback), and she's genuinely engaging in what appears to me to be a more open dialogue here.
If there's any hope of getting our thoughts and feedback through to the development team, she's a big part of that. @SimGuruHydra, her predecessor, played the same role in relaying feedback between the fans and the development team. She was a true supporter of fans and creators. I know that from personally meeting her, seeing her enthusiasm for and love of the fans, and witnessing her advocacy for our concerns and support for our creations. She coordinated Creators Camp at The Sims 4 launch, and she was constantly moving about with questionnaires and feedback forms to gauge all of our first impressions and concerns about the game. She'd bring individual gurus from the team to address many of those concerns with us one-on-one. Before that, she'd highlight Simmers in the community with special features and interviews on the forum. I remember her emailing my fan magazine editor, @TSOAsiaShaMecca, regularly to give us feedback on our issues and relay our publications to the rest of the team. She was our advocate, a truly good and decent person, and my memories of her are fond.
I have never met her successor, @SimGuruDrake, but I know her job interests and responsibilities are probably much the same. If there's any advocate for all of us on that team, it's her. If there's anyone on that team consistently connected to the community and able to relay that feedback and concerns to the team, it's her.
I remember offering @SimGuruHydra and the rest of the team to wash their dishes, do their laundry, clean their homes, whatever they might need, every day for the rest of time, if they could somehow get Create a Style back into the game or some semblance of that wonderful tool. Sadly, she left before she could take me up on my somewhat creepy offer. But my offer still stands with her successor and the rest of the team. I've got my dishwashing gloves and Swiffer ready to be put to use at a moment's notice.
This was a wonderful post to read
I never got to meet Hydra as she left well before my time but she seemed like a really great person and I believe she is still in the Bay Area so maybe one day our patches will cross.
I did want to help clarify that with regards to moderation: I actually try to stay away from moderating outside of giving a general warning when I see things going down a negative path or if what is posted is completely inappropriate. I prefer to handle moderation only when there is a complaint sent to me if someone feels they weren't breaking any rules
What about the issue I messaged you about? From what I know it never got sorted out drake?
2015: Samantha Ryan leads EA Mobile and Maxis
2016: Samantha Ryan leads EA Mobile, Maxis and BioWare and report to Patrick Söderlund who leads EA Worldwide Studios
2015: Samantha Ryan leads EA Mobile and Maxis
2016: Samantha Ryan leads EA Mobile, Maxis and BioWare and report to Patrick Söderlund who leads EA Worldwide Studios
EA is a set of Russian dolls.
... like every big company
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.
I know I have been really critical of TS 4 and it's publisher for many games, but one thing I have never done is bash the rank and file. I always vent my frustrations at the decision makers. That is where it usually begins.
The Community Manager in gaming is the most difficult and stressful job in the industry. You have to have really thick skin and now days, that is rare. I always respect what they do and I have no tolerance or the patients needed to deal with people like me, so my hats off to them.
@SimGuruDrake Your doing a fine job. Knowing a bit about what limitations are for some CM's and what you all have to go through, I have nothing but respect for you.
So sad for her career. Thank you for all these years of hard work, we really appreciate your "creative spark", "infectious enthusiasm" and the passion that you brought to the studio every day. Will never forget her for trying to defend the weaknesses of the game, like lack of open world, toddlers, etc. You will be remembered, Rachel.
SimGurus are like any other employee when it comes to leaving a place that they had worked at for years. They leave a company under any number of circumstances. With that said, it's hard to say if SimGuruFranklin was forced out or if she had left on her own accord.
Since we are all on the outside. We may never know for certain if what was said about her leaving on her own accord is entirely true or not. What was said about her leaving on her own accord might have been said for PR only, and may not be the entire truth about her parting.
Comments
Fair reply but the feedback is there for them.
One thing about TS4 is that it has been a learning curve. They know what players want and what players don't want.
If TS5 is just going to be 'more of the same' then they should realise that players don't want that again.
I have my doubts if they do know. It seems they have their 'what' in collected data but don't know 'why'. As in the closed Ask thread SGLyndsay knew the voo doo doll wasn't popular but didn't know why. She said people didn't use a lot of recolors but didn't know why. She got answers...some said the vvo doo doll was bad (as in shallow,silly) game play and the recolors were because it's so hard to match things so people tend to use the same pieces over and over.
I hear your concerns about the team being disconnected from fan feedback. I am somewhat heartened by @SimGuruDrake and her apparent responsiveness on this thread to many comments. It seems like she's actually following it, sometimes late into the night and on weekends on her off hours. At first, I feared she was trying to keep comments in check, sometimes by censoring and deleting comments she construed as negative. But that seems to have tapered off (perhaps because of our feedback), and she's genuinely engaging in what appears to me to be a more open dialogue here.
If there's any hope of getting our thoughts and feedback through to the development team, she's a big part of that. @SimGuruHydra, her predecessor, played the same role in relaying feedback between the fans and the development team. She was a true supporter of fans and creators. I know that from personally meeting her, seeing her enthusiasm for and love of the fans, and witnessing her advocacy for our concerns and support for our creations. She coordinated Creators Camp at The Sims 4 launch, and she was constantly moving about with questionnaires and feedback forms to gauge all of our first impressions and concerns about the game. She'd bring individual gurus from the team to address many of those concerns with us one-on-one. Before that, she'd highlight Simmers in the community with special features and interviews on the forum. I remember her emailing my fan magazine editor, @TSOAsiaShaMecca, regularly to give us feedback on our issues and relay our publications to the rest of the team. She was our advocate, a truly good and decent person, and my memories of her are fond.
I have never met her successor, @SimGuruDrake, but I know her job interests and responsibilities are probably much the same. If there's any advocate for all of us on that team, it's her. If there's anyone on that team consistently connected to the community and able to relay that feedback and concerns to the team, it's her.
I remember offering @SimGuruHydra and the rest of the team to wash their dishes, do their laundry, clean their homes, whatever they might need, every day for the rest of time, if they could somehow get Create a Style back into the game or some semblance of that wonderful tool. Sadly, she left before she could take me up on my somewhat creepy offer. But my offer still stands with her successor and the rest of the team. I've got my dishwashing gloves and Swiffer ready to be put to use at a moment's notice.
Interesting points.
But surely they know that some Simmers want an Open World as opposed to a closed world and Simmers want more life stages than less. These topics have been repeated over and over for the pat two years now.
Apparently not. There is the notorious interview where Ms Franklin said having a closed world was to get closer to your Sims.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/14/the-future-of-the-sims-4-interview-it-is-kind-of-like-life-5390869/
RF: It’s been a contentious issue. But my feeling is that with the open world it’s harder to feel as connected with the town and your sims.
Also @Colton147147 posted this http://www.pcinvasion.com/electronic-arts-merges-bioware-mobile-maxis
So I guess we just see what happens!
Oh yes, I remember that now.
A closed work helps me get close to my Sims? In TS3 I use tab and zoom
I know that our EA.com Blog partners love doing dev blogs about The Sims so this might be right up their alley
You know it really does astound me, Reg. If there were still people at Maxis then dead set on giving the players what they wanted, it's logical to assume there must be now. So how on earth did we get to this point? Where did our simulation game disappear to?
This was a wonderful post to read
I never got to meet Hydra as she left well before my time but she seemed like a really great person and I believe she is still in the Bay Area so maybe one day our patches will cross.
I did want to help clarify that with regards to moderation: I actually try to stay away from moderating outside of giving a general warning when I see things going down a negative path or if what is posted is completely inappropriate. I prefer to handle moderation only when there is a complaint sent to me if someone feels they weren't breaking any rules.
As for your offer I'm sure my S/O would be happy to have someone do the chores around our apartment as he dislikes cleaning lol. It's been a little while since I've talked with the team about CASt but I'll chat with them this week to get more insight into that.
"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.....
This was a very touching post and a lovely read!!! And the whole creepy offer phrase made me laugh!!! The position that @SimGuruDrake has puts in her a very tough spot and from what have seen, she really tries and works hard at her job. She pretty much has job that puts her as one of the main faces of TS4 and with that comes a lot of grief being tossed at her. If anyone has ever had a job the puts you as the face of something, it is very tough and stressful job. Just like other jobs, her job isn't something that just anyone can do and I feel she does a pretty good job at it.
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The Community Manager in gaming is the most difficult and stressful job in the industry. You have to have really thick skin and now days, that is rare. I always respect what they do and I have no tolerance or the patients needed to deal with people like me, so my hats off to them.
@SimGuruDrake Your doing a fine job. Knowing a bit about what limitations are for some CM's and what you all have to go through, I have nothing but respect for you.
Hopefully.
And not eveybody ticks off that data option to begin with.
EA's site here should be telling them what everybody wants here. Enstead.
2016: Samantha Ryan leads EA Mobile, Maxis and BioWare and report to Patrick Söderlund who leads EA Worldwide Studios
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Well said
*bowes down*