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Sims 3 vs. Sims 4 Costs
andrevivey92
Posts: 30 Member
I would say that I am somewhat disappointed in Maxis and EA because of the limited content and gameplay that we get with each stuff, game, and expansion packs. In many ways, it seems like the Sims 4 is going through an endless cycle of DLCs in order to squeeze every single penny out of us simmers. I remember the days when you could get an expansion pack with about an equal amount of content as an expansion and 1 or 2 game packs in Sims 4. Consider how TS3 Ambitions introduces a multitude of professions to the scene while TS4 only introduced three professions--four if you count being a retailer. I don't know if expansions nowadays are even worth $39.99.
There many videos and countless forum posts discussing the differences between TS3 and TS4. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages both games. Several articles that I have read point out the obvious advantage of Sims 4 running a lot smoother. TS3 lags a lot and requires a high performing computer to be able to handle the most basic of settings. Though despite it's flaws, the game still is favored more by certain simmers because of feature such as an open world, more content, more variety in content, more worlds, more careers, more skills, more life states, etc. Essentially, the Sims 3 just has more. Though, you'd expect TS3 to have more because it is an earlier game that pretty much has ran its course like TS2. Now new content is being focused on the TS4 and it is possible that one day, the latest rendition of the game of life will have just as much and if not more content than its elder sibling, TS3. However, this may not be the case at the rate that Maxis and EA appear to be going. I already discussed the differences between TS3 Ambitions and TS4 Get to Work. The two EPs exemplifies why it is unlikely that TS4 will ever match TS3 in content. We have come so far in the TS4 era and we are still seeing a similar trend, we are spending more money for less content.
Of course the DLC-Moneygrab theory explains this. Understand that I would not put this all on Maxis. I believe Maxis makes some of the best games and it consists of some of the best people. They are a team that work well together. I would speculate that much of the pricing pressures come from EA. Or maybe it genuinely is the invisible hand of capitalism driving up the prices of the game. Either way the profit motive plays a factor in this unfortunate situation.
So, is there any evidence that simmers are paying more for the Sims 4 for less content than in the Sims 3? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeeeeees. Even longer answer: It is very difficult to compare the two series in the franchise because they do have significant differences (an example of such differences is that TS4 includes GPs while TS3 only has EPs and SPs). However, even in a minimal attempt to calculate the difference between the two games, we can see an $80 difference in the projected pricing for the games. I say projected pricing for two reasons. One, the Sims 4 is still expanding--we are still getting new expansions, game packs, and stuff packs. Because of this it is uncertain what the final tally will be. Another reason is because TS3 has CCs that can be bought for Simpoints online, so the ultimate price that one would have to pay in order to have everything TS3 is....probably very high....like some estimates are over $70,000! For the sake of all the complexities, I will only focus on base games, expansion packs, stuff packs, and game packs. This means that the Sims 4 total price is off by $10 because I will not be including the digital deluxe add-on. Also understand that these prices are based on the original prices of each base game and pack. For instance, TS3 is about $5 to $14 depending on where you buy it, but when it first hit the market it sold for $49.99. So the scenarios presented are assuming that simmers were so excited that they bought the games as soon as they hit the shelves rather than waiting for the price to go down. (I am guilty of doing this myself because of my love for the franchise). Finally, I am going to lump stuff packs and game packs all together. This works out because a GP in TS4 is the same price as a SP in TS3 (19.99).
With all that considered, let's get to the nitty-gritty. The total price of the Sims 4 and all packs (including 5 EPs, 20 SPs&GPs) is $459.75. Yes, you read that right, 20 game packs and stuff packs. The fact that we have so many of those plays into the DLC-Moneygrab theory because each pack is an attempt to appease sim addicts like myself while making us pay every several month for something new. Compare this to the mere 9 TS3 stuff packs and we can see the franchise throwing out more DLCs yielding more money than the previous installation of the game. The unfortunate part about this is that there are more GPs and SPs to come hiking up this price. What hard to swallow about this is that one GP and SP in the Sims 4 is worth a SP in Sims 3. That means that we spent about $30 for a joint GP&SP compared to $19.99 for an SP with much more content. Not only are we paying more for GPs and SPs, but also for EPs. The total price of TS3 (including 11 EPs and 9 SPs) is $669.79. Okay at first glance it appears that we are actually paying more when it comes to TS3, however you must factor in the fact that TS4 has only came out with 4 expansions thus far. Accounting for this I will assume that TS4 will come out with the same number of EPs as TS3, So including an additional 7 EPs that we are likely to have within the next few years the total cost of TS4 (minus any projected number of GPs and SPs to come after Jungle Adventure) is $749.68. This means that there is about an $80 difference in the games! And this difference will only grow as new SPs and GPs are added.
Understand that I love this franchise and am a die hard fan. Though we are all entitled to an opinion and there is nothing wrong with us critiquing the things we love. In fact, how can we improve without others offering genuine, constructive criticism. One of my criticisms for this game is that we are spending way more than the content is actually worth in comparison to TS3 era of the franchise. Something that I don't want to happen is the law of demand biting this franchise in the butt.
What do you think?
There many videos and countless forum posts discussing the differences between TS3 and TS4. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages both games. Several articles that I have read point out the obvious advantage of Sims 4 running a lot smoother. TS3 lags a lot and requires a high performing computer to be able to handle the most basic of settings. Though despite it's flaws, the game still is favored more by certain simmers because of feature such as an open world, more content, more variety in content, more worlds, more careers, more skills, more life states, etc. Essentially, the Sims 3 just has more. Though, you'd expect TS3 to have more because it is an earlier game that pretty much has ran its course like TS2. Now new content is being focused on the TS4 and it is possible that one day, the latest rendition of the game of life will have just as much and if not more content than its elder sibling, TS3. However, this may not be the case at the rate that Maxis and EA appear to be going. I already discussed the differences between TS3 Ambitions and TS4 Get to Work. The two EPs exemplifies why it is unlikely that TS4 will ever match TS3 in content. We have come so far in the TS4 era and we are still seeing a similar trend, we are spending more money for less content.
Of course the DLC-Moneygrab theory explains this. Understand that I would not put this all on Maxis. I believe Maxis makes some of the best games and it consists of some of the best people. They are a team that work well together. I would speculate that much of the pricing pressures come from EA. Or maybe it genuinely is the invisible hand of capitalism driving up the prices of the game. Either way the profit motive plays a factor in this unfortunate situation.
So, is there any evidence that simmers are paying more for the Sims 4 for less content than in the Sims 3? Short answer: yes. Long answer: yeeeeeeeeeeeeees. Even longer answer: It is very difficult to compare the two series in the franchise because they do have significant differences (an example of such differences is that TS4 includes GPs while TS3 only has EPs and SPs). However, even in a minimal attempt to calculate the difference between the two games, we can see an $80 difference in the projected pricing for the games. I say projected pricing for two reasons. One, the Sims 4 is still expanding--we are still getting new expansions, game packs, and stuff packs. Because of this it is uncertain what the final tally will be. Another reason is because TS3 has CCs that can be bought for Simpoints online, so the ultimate price that one would have to pay in order to have everything TS3 is....probably very high....like some estimates are over $70,000! For the sake of all the complexities, I will only focus on base games, expansion packs, stuff packs, and game packs. This means that the Sims 4 total price is off by $10 because I will not be including the digital deluxe add-on. Also understand that these prices are based on the original prices of each base game and pack. For instance, TS3 is about $5 to $14 depending on where you buy it, but when it first hit the market it sold for $49.99. So the scenarios presented are assuming that simmers were so excited that they bought the games as soon as they hit the shelves rather than waiting for the price to go down. (I am guilty of doing this myself because of my love for the franchise). Finally, I am going to lump stuff packs and game packs all together. This works out because a GP in TS4 is the same price as a SP in TS3 (19.99).
With all that considered, let's get to the nitty-gritty. The total price of the Sims 4 and all packs (including 5 EPs, 20 SPs&GPs) is $459.75. Yes, you read that right, 20 game packs and stuff packs. The fact that we have so many of those plays into the DLC-Moneygrab theory because each pack is an attempt to appease sim addicts like myself while making us pay every several month for something new. Compare this to the mere 9 TS3 stuff packs and we can see the franchise throwing out more DLCs yielding more money than the previous installation of the game. The unfortunate part about this is that there are more GPs and SPs to come hiking up this price. What hard to swallow about this is that one GP and SP in the Sims 4 is worth a SP in Sims 3. That means that we spent about $30 for a joint GP&SP compared to $19.99 for an SP with much more content. Not only are we paying more for GPs and SPs, but also for EPs. The total price of TS3 (including 11 EPs and 9 SPs) is $669.79. Okay at first glance it appears that we are actually paying more when it comes to TS3, however you must factor in the fact that TS4 has only came out with 4 expansions thus far. Accounting for this I will assume that TS4 will come out with the same number of EPs as TS3, So including an additional 7 EPs that we are likely to have within the next few years the total cost of TS4 (minus any projected number of GPs and SPs to come after Jungle Adventure) is $749.68. This means that there is about an $80 difference in the games! And this difference will only grow as new SPs and GPs are added.
Understand that I love this franchise and am a die hard fan. Though we are all entitled to an opinion and there is nothing wrong with us critiquing the things we love. In fact, how can we improve without others offering genuine, constructive criticism. One of my criticisms for this game is that we are spending way more than the content is actually worth in comparison to TS3 era of the franchise. Something that I don't want to happen is the law of demand biting this franchise in the butt.
What do you think?
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This discussion has been closed.
Comments
That’s me though, maybe it’s personal.
One thing’s for sure, it isn’t a question of adding everything there is in the Store. That’s like adding everything the baker has on his shelves and say his bread is insanely expensive because if you’d buy it all you’d have to sell your house. Nobody buys everything the baker is selling, nobody has to buy the entire Sims 3 Store. I assure you nobody has.
Nice to see someone agrees. And yes, the $70,000+ for everything in the Sims Store is INSANE. I would be homeless if I really bought everything. I do know I have bought all the expansions...I don't have a single stuff pack from TS3. Yet I have every single TS4 pack ironically. I want to see some improvements though.
Ambitions:
- Architectural Designer - Nothing new to the game, it's just build mode that you get paid for now within certain limitations
- Stylist - Nothing new to the game, it's just CAS that you get paid for now
- Ghost Hunter - Visit lots to banish and capture ghosts
- Investigator - Run around town collecting information to solve a case
- Firefighter - Maintain a fire department while answering emergency calls to save the citizens of the town
Get to Work:
- Detective - Solve the crime of the town, investigate crime scenes, gather witness information, interrogate criminals, save the day
- Doctor - Start as a low tier doctor and work your way up the hospital latter starting by just examining patience to eventually performing surgery
- Scientist - Gather research and supplies to come up with crazy inventions for elixirs and wild machines while also one day discovering life from beyond earth
- Retail - Open and run a business, further enhance your business by earning and spending perk points
Ambitions only really offered three brand new careers, same as Get to Work but with an added retail system. Both added new hobbies and skills and both added a new life state. The only thing I would say Ambitions has over Get to Work is the all new World.
The only time I see people complaining about the lack of content is when a certain feature from a previous themed pack doesn't make an appearance in the Sims 4 rendition of the same theme. I really don't see why people say Sims 4 is lacking, I honestly don't. I'm not saying you're not allowed to I'm just pointing out how I see it.
I will be honest some packs I do find lacking, but the only packs I find lacking are Stuff Packs, Perfect Patio and Luxury Party Stuff specifically, also My First Pet Stuff since a HUGE chunk of that pack is literally reskinned items from either base game or other packs (I'm talking specifically CAS).
(Just a side note, Sims 4 has more skills now than Sims 3 with all of the Expansion Packs installed, and there is still more content coming for Sims 4 so that means more skills as well.)
EDIT: According to my own research spending $20 gets you a lot more now in Sims 4 than it did in Sims 3 and its time, spending $20 on either two stuff packs or one game pack for Sims 4 seems to get you more content than spending $20 on a Sims 3 Stuff Pack or spending $20 in the Sims 3 Store.
According to Carls Sims 3 Guide a pack like Outdoor Living added 46 new Build/Buy Mode items and 18 new CAS items for a total of 64 new items total, with hot tubs being a new gameplay feature if you didn't already have those in the game, while getting a combo of Stuff Packs for the Sims 4, lets say Toddler Stuff and Kids Room Stuff, you get 64 new Build/Buy Mode objects and 61 new CAS items for a total of 125 new items, with five new gameplay objects (or just three if you count the slide, ball pit and toddler jungle as one playground set). These numbers look wrong to me I feel like Sims 3 Stuff Packs added more, so if I'm wrong please correct me.
Another Comparison! Sims 3 Master Suite Stuff added 31 new Build/Buy Mode objects and 34 new CAS items for a total of 65 new items, doesn't seem to add new gameplay. While a combo of Fitness and Bowling Stuff adds 68 new Build/Buy Mode objects and 39 new CAS items for a total of 107 new items, with two new gameplay objects (I'm not counting the headphones and TV workouts as a gameplay feature in this number).
Again the Sims 3 Stuff Pack numbers are based off of Carls Sims 3 Guide so I'm not sure if they're accurate (in fact after seeing these numbers I am in serious doubt, I swear the Sims 3 Stuff Packs added more), the Sims 4 numbers are from the game itself as it shows in the 'Your Collection' Menu what objects are included in which pack.
All this is considering the price of content for each game during its respective time. Sims 3 Expansion Packs are now being sold for $20 on Origin, so obviously you get way more content spending $20 on Sims 3 now than on Sims 4.
I have.
I mean if we're going by prices and such, I spent way less on a sims game with the Sims 2 than the sims 3 or 4 and feels like I got a lot more enjoyment out of that series than anything (not including if I catch a majority of sales). All I'm wanting it not to have another pack that links to an EP. Stuff packs are hardly necessary unless you're just someone that enjoy's what comes in it plus the variety if it's to your taste. If I don't like what I see I just don't buy it.
The game at the moment is decent, but still has things M.I.A that has typically come in a sims base game, which just makes me wonder if things are being handicapped for whatever reason.
The sims 4 is more expensive than the sims 2 &3. I'm not including the store as that was additional content and I personally didn't pay for store content thanks to ads.
But the current dlc model is far more expensive than previously.
I have nearly the entire store, minus a few sets that I just didn't like and couldn't figure out a good reason to purchase even with CASt. No, it did not cost 70k, not sure where that number came from but that is insane. I spent $1,102. I just now went through my billing history for the store so I know exactly what I did spend. Still a crazy amount and wouldn't have been that high if I hadn't gifted others so much. figure the total of what I spent on others would have more than easily covered the rest of the store content for me. The store provided several ways to get content at a reduced price or in many cases even free.
edit because I see the difference now in what you are asking. You are asking if anyone bought the entire store full price. Yes, I am certain some have as I remember some of the big gifters gifting worlds and sets as they were released, at full price. Of course, the more simpoints you purchased, the better deal. So did you mean only people who purchased the least, most inefficient amount of simpoints repeatedly to purchase items and not someone who took advantage of the deal for buying the larger simpoint packs?
**meant to edit but hit reply..
Not just was sims 3 a total unplayable mess, it was a boring mess.
With sims 4, I have fun playing again, whereas with sims 3, I'd buy stuff, try to find something interesting to do, and then if the game didn't crash on me, making me lose everything I managed to do, if I didn't save every thirty minutes or so at the least, i'd just get bored with it.
Sims 4 on the other hand is fun, I find new stuff to do every time I play, I actually like having my sims meet other sims, which was not the case in sims 3.
Are there things that could be improved? Sure. But the game is still ongoing and getting new content. And overall, what we already have, is worth it way more, than what sims 3 gave us.
All I was saying is that you get more for your money spending $20 on Sims 4 than on Sims 3. A Sims 3 Store Set featuring around 25 items costs almost $20 usually including a new premium object or two, while a $10 Sims 4 Stuff Pack offers anywhere from around 50 objects and up with one to three new premium objects. Regardless of the CASt possibilities in Sims 3 you still get more in the Sims 4 for your money when it comes to Stuff Packs vs Stuff Packs/Store Content in 3. Recolours can only get you so far in terms of new content as Sims 4 has already proven with MFPS, and although it’s nice to have CASt in Sims 3, new colours doesn’t count as new content.
I think that the 70,000 is vastly overestimated. The only link I could find with that estimate, the op later states he messed up with the calculations and they think maaaaybe it should be 7,000 (still quite a bit imho if you aren't using deals, cascades, etc). Even other users in same thread say they think it might be lower, but I'm just going off the original posters calculations. And thus a bit of misinformation spreads as fact.
See post here
On top of that what they used to calculate that 70,000 calculation was from a point bundle.... with a world...it is the world that you are paying for and then on top of that get a few bonus simpoints. (they linked the image where they used to calculate the expense)
Tokyosou: Tokyo inspired World
I think I disagree here...because of sims 3's create a pattern and CAst it isn't necessary to have more than one floor tile or wallpaper to offer in a set for build/buy mode, same with Buy mode...so by default sims 4 has to have more, because it is limited, while sims 3 doesn't necessarily need it.
I say this because looking at bowling and it seems, for example a couple of the bowling shirts could be recolors so perhaps count only as 2 instead of counting it as four. In sims 3 it'd be 2 shirts you could recolor in any number of ways. If I am understanding your argument that the ability to recolor in sims 3 to you doesn't count, then things seen as simple recolors in sims 4 shouldn't count, I think.
I guess the way I think about sims 3, is one that a floor, even plain, can be anything. Make it wood, concrete, a pattern, carpet, rock pattern...just about anything. But in sims 4 you get your one plain floor...and some recolors. So in order to cover the bases you need one rock floor, one brick floor, one pattern floor, etc. and therefore it is needed to have four floor objects.
Edit:
It seems for the sims 3 mastersuite, the female tops and bottoms you might've accidentally counted as one (sims carl's guide says basically that they can be mix-matched so if you just counted images you might be short 10) Maybe that's why you feel like it's less than you've remembered?
Tokyosou: Tokyo inspired World
The game being a boring mess is total nonsense. It may have been for you but it isn’t for me and many others, so that ‘argument’ is completely irrelevant for this discussion. All I can say is where you say 3 it’s 4 for me and where you say 4, for me it’s 3.
Sure, when you compare dry stuff. But dry stuff doesn’t make the game. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you can choose from 3 chairs or 30 chairs, it’s what you can do with your sims. Ambitions isn’t my favourite pack (some of the careers are fun, others are not for me), GTW reminds me of the pack and it’s in no way better. I liked the science career for a while, till I caught myself constantly speeding up the animations (because my sim had to do the very same things over and over again). Don’t ask me why but my sim in 3 has been a firefighter longer than my Sims 4 sim was a scientist, but I never speed up. I can’t, I have to look for the fires and trapped sims and take care of it.
For me the comparison WA-JA is the most telling though. Even when I’m genuinely enthousiastic about JA. It’s a beautiful world, I like walking through the jungle (regret there isn’t more to be found there) and the temple is nice. In comparison to WA though? Oh dear... And that wouldn’t be different if JA had 20 different hairstyles and 15 nice skirts and WA just 5. My sim can just wear one anyway.
(Sims 3 was way too expensive by the way, especially that Store, I think you won’t find anyone denying that; it’s just that Sims 4 is just as expensive, in a different, more hidden way)
I have to jump in here. I'd like to remind you that similar topics have been discussed multiple times before and these conversations have never ended well. So, every thread had to be closed eventually.
Subjects surrounding "The Sims 3 vs The Sims 4" are considered baiting as they usually result in heated debates that derail the discussion and that will require moderation. Thus, for the health of the community, we want to prevent such escalations by closing these threads early.
I'm asking you to please be mindful of this and to keep in mind that starting threads on baiting topics is against the forum rules. For the reasons mentioned above, I am closing this thread.
Thank you!