Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
Sim Guru Kate about quaterly teasers and what that could mean.
Armilus616
Posts: 683 Member
SimGuruKate wrote:Hello Simmers!
With July now here we know many of you have been anticipating the next quarterly teaser video. Getting straight to the point, I’m here to let you know that we will no longer be releasing quarterly teasers. As much as we enjoyed sharing a sneak peek into the future, there’s a good reason why they don’t make sense moving forward.
Since the beginning of The Sims 4, we’ve been forthright in saying that pack releases won’t fall into predictable patterns, and to expect for things to change as we try new approaches to creating fun experiences. As you may be guessing, we’re mixing things up. Starting with the recent surprise announcement and release of The Sims 4 Seasons, we’re shifting our approach regarding the types of packs we create, and when they’ll be released. This change means that there will be quarters where we don’t release new paid content, so quarterly teasers won’t be the right format for sharing information.
That said, we’re also reaffirming that a bright future lies ahead for The Sims 4. The full Sims 4 Development Team is working hard on multiple packs that are in various stages of development. We also remain committed to improving the game via updates and more free content, which will continue to release on a frequent cadence. Ultimately this is a signal that we’ve heard your feedback, and we’re tweaking our plans to deliver the content you’ve been asking for.
Thank You!
SimGuruKate
Kate tries to paint that as good news, useing words like "Bright Future" and "Content you've been asking for."
They fired a lot of staff from the Studio this year, there are rumors about Seasons being the last pack, the SimGurus are trying to make sure that there is more content coming for at least three years because of that. They will release fewer packs per year, having a smaller team, making the packs more expensive in some countries... Let's get real here. The Budget of TS4 was limited from the very beginning. Now EA is pulling resources from the Game.
I would like to believe, that taking more time with the packs, not releasing any for several months, gives the Team an opportunity to put more good things into each pack, give it more polish and more feautures, but in the end, this is still EA. And EA never, I repeat NEVER chooses to let go of a slice of the revenue in favor of quality control, polish and bugfixing. To them, as little as possible and as much as nessessery is the way to go, when it comes to that.
As long as I am not proven wrong, I will not expect the packs to be bigger or better than they are right now, just because they are released less frequently.
Saying that if I don't like the Game, I shouldn't play it is a valid argument. But I do like it and I do play it and I do enjoy it. That is why I am afraid that it is going down. I don't want it to go down.
This doesn't sound to me like news to be excited about. It sounds like the Gurus are desperetly trying to tell us everything is fine while the Franchise is doing its last heartbeats while the company keeps stabbing it harder and harder. And it makes me sad...
Edited for content. - EA_Cian
Post edited by EA_Cian on
15
Comments
The same pattern always. Remember the post EA Mage made a while ago at the start of the previous quarter about not having a teaser.
''But we're working on great stuff'' -'Soon'.
Notice how at the end we are basically getting the ''Just wait'' treatment again? Soon in EA's book means months.
Personally I don't see how getting rid of the teasers is improving player satisfaction. In general people loved the little teaser trailers. People were able to speculate based on a teaser about what was coming, and we had a general time frame of release. We simply KNEW something was coming.
Now we are basically back to zero. We just sit and wait.. probably for months on end. She mentioned there will be quarters without any ''paid'' content at all, so we're basically back to waiting game as the months pass by.
It's so vague all the time. I wonder if the quality will improve as of now. (to be honest, I doubt it, it's just going back to day 1).
After a rather dry spell of SPs and GPs, an expansion pack was released 4 months ahead of what we all thought the schedule was, and its being regarded as the best of the iteration.
It seems very apparent to me that all they're saying here is that this will be the approach moving forward. Less SPs, Less GPs, and more expansions.
Agreed but with less stuffpacks that means more droughts. I hope we atleast get one more stuffpack this quarter and it's a Summer Pool Themed SP. I don't know how much longer I can wait for more pool items.
Glad we already have Seasons though and don't have to wait till the Holiday Season to get it.
I wonder who is on SPs now. Now I'm really concerned that we may not get anymore sps this year and worst yet a Pool Stuffpack.
This is what concerns me. Sounds like droughts are going to increase.
I know people dislike all the stuff packs but they added a lot of smaller game play and objects for increased variety without having to wait around ages for expansions/ game packs. At least it was SOMETHING.
I feel this is a huge step backwards, especially moving away from communication. I'm pretty mad right now.
I hope my Sims and lots aren't too terrible!
I agree. I think, from everything I've seen Grant say on Twitter, that they've decided to change the way they do things as a result of feedback. In my opinion, the expansions up until Seasons have always felt like less than they used to be. Game Packs were awesome and Stuff Packs were hit or miss. But a very common complaint among Simmers has been that Stuff Packs felt like content that belonged in EPs. And why were we getting so many of them when EPs were only coming once a year? A lot of people wanted to see the two teams combined to make better EPs. It's highly possible that this is exactly what they're doing.
Remember the last Stuff Pack and the controversy it caused? Even the Influencers were speaking out against it. Half of it was pet content that actually required a newly released EP to use, and some of the rest were matching parts of a set we got in Cats and Dogs. That whole debacle left a very bad taste, and I think it left a lot of people feeling that the Stuff packs were just a way of making us pay extra money for content that belonged in EPs. EA couldn't just leave us in bad faith when they had years more of DLC planned. So for this fiscal year, they decided to change things.
I think they're going to focus more on the larger packs now. They might still release an occasional Stuff pack, but I doubt it will be frequent, judging by SimGuruKate's statement. This could mean that there's a lot of big stuff coming. SimGuruGrant even tweeted once that "we seriously have no idea...ALL THE THINGS". And from the themes in the polls and some of his questions to Simmers, it definitely looks like they've been paying attention to years worth of requests. I think this is going to be a very good thing.
Also, I really don't get where people got this information that "a lot of the staff got fired". From any actual proof that I saw, it was only two people who left, and they weren't necessarily fired, and at least one of them was definitely replaced. You have even quoted the replacement yourself in the OP. There are over two hundred people working on Sims 4 PC alone, so I hardly think that's an issue. Any rumors spread by players is just that: rumors. People really love to gossip and spin a tale of opinions, even on fan sites. I honestly wouldn't worry about it. Wait and see what the Gurus have to tell us. Transparency and communication also seems to be part of the new regime, and that's also a very good thing.
Or, free content will increase.
Is it really a "drought" if it's got free content in it?
Are you on Twitter? You should join and follow the SimGurus. Communication is way way up, and Kate says it's going to stay that way. Communication is about a lot more than telling us way in advance what paid content is coming out in the next three months. And that's the only thing going away.
Now, saying that, I’m disappointed with the lack of quarterly teasers as I believe it is a step backwards in terms of communication. And there WILL be content droughts. Yes, she’s more or less said there will be free content, but that would have to be pretty huge for me to care that much about it. Like, don’t get me wrong, if they release a bunch of free stairs, I’ll certainly be happy about it, but that’s not going to fill up my satisfaction for the game. They’ll be great to have, but I really just want more things for my sims to do. Focusing on releasing more game packs and/or expansion packs is nice, I guess, but the reality is that they will take longer to produce and release bigger packs than SPs, so there will definitely be content droughts, and that just stinks. It totally kills my excitement for the game when we go a long time with no paid content releases.
But then I really don’t mind there being quarters with no paid content. Why is that a bad thing? Is it boredom?
Because I have to be honest here, I would rather have more quality packs than something that has just been made to be a stop gap for the quarter.
But then I play lots of other games. Droughts can be common especially in the summer. Content will arrive when it arrives.
Good Point about Stuffpacks.
Sometimes change is good, guys. Sometimes it doesn't mean the end of the world, it just means exactly what it is....change. Something different. Change doesn't automatically indicate bad things to come.
I think the fact she said there may be quarters with no PAID content is a clear indication that in those quarters we're likely to see more frequent FREE content. To me that's far from a bad thing. And while it may mean we're waiting longer periods of time between pack releases, if it means that everything going forward will be AT LEAST at the level of quality with Seasons (and even Vampires/Spa Day - those are two awesome GPs IMO) then to me it's worth the wait. And if they keep some interesting, highly requested/anticipated free content coming in between then I think it's worth the wait.
Let's not jump ship just yet....give them a chance to show what they've got up their sleeves.
I still think Seasons was still a bit too rushed. Do they even beta-test these things with the amount of bugs it brought to the game, to which their fixes only bring in more bugs to fix? I'll be fine waiting longer for pack releases, but it better be fine-tuned if it took that long to develop it. A longer wait for a pack that has the same amount of game-breaking bugs as C&D did is no excuse.
I also could care less for stuff packs and would rather see less fluff and more substance to them that is meaningful to me. a pack for hamsters is not what I would ever shell out money for, but a pack for expanded summer/pool options or expanded teens probably would.
I think they're going to be releasing more free content than usual. Maybe some stuff they would have put in a stuff pack, they patch in instead. I don't know how this would make them more money so I'm kind of skeptical. But that's kind of what I'm guessing especially with Kate emphasizing that there won't be paid content for months.
So I'm excited to see what they're working on and what changes they made.
So long as one of those free content patches involves expanded stairs options (like spirals!) and firemen/burglars then I'm game for it.
I do agree - I think if this does ultimately result in longer wait times between packs and less stuff/fluff packs and more expansions/game packs, that yes they better be pretty fine tuned/put together before release. However, it should also be noted that not every player experiences the same (or any) bugs at release. I think it's nearly impossible to release a pack that won't have a single glitch in it. I didn't have any of the bugs people reported with C&D, but Seasons I had several. As I said, I do agree with you to an extent but ultimately I don't think bugs alone are a fair measure of whether or not they truly tested the game. To date, as far as I can recall, Seasons is the only pack I've had any significant bugs with. So, for me, bugs are not really a strong indicator of a game not being worth the wait. What I WILL say is that I was particularly disappointed with the lack of content in some areas in C&D - THAT, to me, is much more of disappointment than some bugs. I still can't get over how many useless wall decals were loaded into that pack.
I still think Seasons was still a bit too rushed. Do they even beta-test these things with the amount of bugs it brought to the game, to which their fixes only bring in more bugs to fix? I'll be fine waiting longer for pack releases, but it better be fine-tuned if it took that long to develop it. A longer wait for a pack that has the same amount of game-breaking bugs as C&D did is no excuse.
I also could care less for stuff packs and would rather see less fluff and more substance to them that is meaningful to me. a pack for hamsters is not what I would ever shell out money for, but a pack for expanded summer/pool options or expanded teens probably would.[/quote]
I'm sorry but we really have no idea how long it took for them to create and put Seasons out. I'm figuring at least 2 years from start to finish and again, I'm sorry but if 2 years isn't long enough to put out good content? Maybe they should look into why that is. I have no idea, I just don't like having to wait longer for stuff...and I don't believe they'll be any less buggy.
i agree!