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mcorral
Posts: 512 Member
So, I needed to say something after the release of this new pack because I need to think about the path this game it is taking.
The Sims 4 is quite different from others series. This game is a turning point in so many ways. It is true that every evolution of the game had something different from the previous ones, but this one is like a completetly new game: the cartoonish style, very little customization, restrictions everywhere, no story progression, many community lots missing (police, graveyard, etc.), no cars... there are so many things left behind. Now we have a pack that... it is not The Sims style at all.
Since I can recall, fans have been stating massively and clearly that The Sims SHOULD NOT EVER BE AN ONLINE GAME. What does EA about this? They tried to release The Sims 4 with the online feature against the opinion of most of the the community. Soon someone very clever in EA realised that this was a wrong choice and they tried to go back and change the game in a rush to remove the online feature. It was too late and the game was released with so many restrictions and missing features that the community was so disappointed. This was the first and main wrong choice.
The Sims 3 World Adventures was heavly critizied by fans because it was goal-driven game. Again fans have been stating massively that this game SHOULD BE A SANDBOX GAME and not a goal-driven or adventure game.
What does EA about this? They release:
- Repetitive and goal driven careers.
- Jungle Adventures pack which is very similar to the critizied World Adventures.
- Stranger Ville pack with a one-play and very linear story that only appeals the first time you play it.
Again a wrong choice (in my opinion).
At this poing I have to stop and think about this franchise. Why are they doing this? Really, WHY? Let's think about it.
Maybe the fan base is changing and the new players have a very different opinion and play-style that we, the older players have. Maybe the game should change and offer new and fresh things and we should change with it.
Truth is that every release will make some people angry and some others very exciting to get it. This is innevitable because the fan base is very huge and each of us have different play-styles. But this is too much. They are doing just the opposite many people want (or at least that is what I feel about it).
Probably this last pack would sell very well. The fan base is always very supportive, like myself, beacuse we DO love The Sims. In my case this game is lacking so many things that I bought almost every pack, stuff pack and expansion in order to fill the emptyness of the game. That does not mean that I like the game. I know that buying this packs I am saying to EA: ey, I buy it because I like it. They would think that if the game sells really good it means that people want more of this. I know I'm guilty because I'm sending the wrong message.
This last pack... it was nice to play the story once... but now... what does it have, appart from the story, that would change my game? A new scenery, a new career and very few new objects but nothing more. This pack would not impact my game very much at all. The new world is not very customizable and the number of lots is again very low, so probably I would not use it much.
In my opinion this new pack would be fine if the game had all basic things people is asking for. It is always good to have fresh new things. But having so many things missing in the game I think this is not the time to release something like this.
I see in forums that people is asking for supernatural, beaches and swimming in the ocean, university, farming... but EA thinks it is better to spend money, time and resources in something like... this pack.
Is the fan base changing and EA is trying to make a different game for the new players? Are they trying to innovate at any cost? Are the sales that high just because we are all buying things just trying to make the game acceptable?
I'm sorry but I'm getting tired. You're losing me. I really don't know how much longer I can support you EA, because you are letting me down. I just wanted you to know. This game is jut boring since the begining. Everything is just so limited, restricted, linear and only-once-play that I am so bored.
For those of you who are tempted to say that I should not state what people wants or does not want, It is my opinion and the way I feel and what I think people wants. I read many reviews and forums and the impression I get from all of them (MY impression) is that most of the new players like the game but the older ones, like myself, are mainly disappointed with this evolution of the game.
Maybe we should accept the game as it is. Maybe the game should change... or maybe it is dying... what do you think?
The Sims 4 is quite different from others series. This game is a turning point in so many ways. It is true that every evolution of the game had something different from the previous ones, but this one is like a completetly new game: the cartoonish style, very little customization, restrictions everywhere, no story progression, many community lots missing (police, graveyard, etc.), no cars... there are so many things left behind. Now we have a pack that... it is not The Sims style at all.
Since I can recall, fans have been stating massively and clearly that The Sims SHOULD NOT EVER BE AN ONLINE GAME. What does EA about this? They tried to release The Sims 4 with the online feature against the opinion of most of the the community. Soon someone very clever in EA realised that this was a wrong choice and they tried to go back and change the game in a rush to remove the online feature. It was too late and the game was released with so many restrictions and missing features that the community was so disappointed. This was the first and main wrong choice.
The Sims 3 World Adventures was heavly critizied by fans because it was goal-driven game. Again fans have been stating massively that this game SHOULD BE A SANDBOX GAME and not a goal-driven or adventure game.
What does EA about this? They release:
- Repetitive and goal driven careers.
- Jungle Adventures pack which is very similar to the critizied World Adventures.
- Stranger Ville pack with a one-play and very linear story that only appeals the first time you play it.
Again a wrong choice (in my opinion).
At this poing I have to stop and think about this franchise. Why are they doing this? Really, WHY? Let's think about it.
Maybe the fan base is changing and the new players have a very different opinion and play-style that we, the older players have. Maybe the game should change and offer new and fresh things and we should change with it.
Truth is that every release will make some people angry and some others very exciting to get it. This is innevitable because the fan base is very huge and each of us have different play-styles. But this is too much. They are doing just the opposite many people want (or at least that is what I feel about it).
Probably this last pack would sell very well. The fan base is always very supportive, like myself, beacuse we DO love The Sims. In my case this game is lacking so many things that I bought almost every pack, stuff pack and expansion in order to fill the emptyness of the game. That does not mean that I like the game. I know that buying this packs I am saying to EA: ey, I buy it because I like it. They would think that if the game sells really good it means that people want more of this. I know I'm guilty because I'm sending the wrong message.
This last pack... it was nice to play the story once... but now... what does it have, appart from the story, that would change my game? A new scenery, a new career and very few new objects but nothing more. This pack would not impact my game very much at all. The new world is not very customizable and the number of lots is again very low, so probably I would not use it much.
In my opinion this new pack would be fine if the game had all basic things people is asking for. It is always good to have fresh new things. But having so many things missing in the game I think this is not the time to release something like this.
I see in forums that people is asking for supernatural, beaches and swimming in the ocean, university, farming... but EA thinks it is better to spend money, time and resources in something like... this pack.
Is the fan base changing and EA is trying to make a different game for the new players? Are they trying to innovate at any cost? Are the sales that high just because we are all buying things just trying to make the game acceptable?
I'm sorry but I'm getting tired. You're losing me. I really don't know how much longer I can support you EA, because you are letting me down. I just wanted you to know. This game is jut boring since the begining. Everything is just so limited, restricted, linear and only-once-play that I am so bored.
For those of you who are tempted to say that I should not state what people wants or does not want, It is my opinion and the way I feel and what I think people wants. I read many reviews and forums and the impression I get from all of them (MY impression) is that most of the new players like the game but the older ones, like myself, are mainly disappointed with this evolution of the game.
Maybe we should accept the game as it is. Maybe the game should change... or maybe it is dying... what do you think?
36
Comments
And here lies the problem. Let me tell you one thing: most of us live in a market economy. Market economies are determined by the relation between supply and demand. Suppliers depend on US for growth (demand-side economics). We, consumers, have the power. If we want something to change, there's one way to it and it is by speaking with our wallets. It shouldn't even be controversial to say this.
Now, the gaming industry is a little bit of an outsider when it comes these basic economic rules. They like to push certain models and practices, whether there's a demand for those models or not. If something worked really well for one company, it isn't unusual other companies will try the same thing. It's all about revenue and growth, constant growth. That's what shareholders expect.
And don't get it wrong, developers may care about players (aka consumers), by publishers don't. It's important to separate the two. Publishers tend to push too hard on certain practices, sometimes against the desires of developers, and the result is a huge backlash. It happened at the end of 2017 when a famous action shooter was released with a very aggressive monetization scheme (pay-to-win lootboxes, locking key characters behind a pay wall or endless grinding) and there was a massive backlash because consumers said "enough is enough."
I predict that as technology advances and physical copies die for good, a publisher won't be needed. They're becoming more and more obsolete as time goes by, and most developers are realizing publishers don't really help them at all. Crowfunding, early access, and other new ways to get money before releasing a game truly helps developers be more independent. This shift won't really help The Sims, since developers are a subsidiary of the publisher but it will help the gaming industry in general. If we know something about this industry is that every big change creates a domino effect. After the aforementioned controversy relating pay-to-win lootboxes, you haven't seen many of those in recent games, have you? Like I said: WE have the power. Being blindly loyal, it's never a good thing.
It was a big mistake for them to cut out so much that we were used to having - there is no way this game should ever have been released without basics like swimming pools and toddlers. And, since then, they seem to have been cutting down on quality and giving us more and more restricted gameplay. No CAW, no Cast, no ability to visit next door without a loading screen, no editing of non-Lot areas, no accessing career Lots in the main world, no ability to play one sim at home while also playing a sim at the gym, no vehicles/bikes, no proper open-for-business, the list could go on...
Yes, there are things that they have improved upon since previous games (such as CAS, the ability to pick up and move houses or rooms when building) but an awful lot of stuff in the game seems to have gone in a direction that is cheap and unfinished.
I do know from spending time in other places that many new simmers want totally different things to I do. Many people who joined the series at TS4 really like the linear aspect of it - checklists as an example, they don’t miss things like open world and CASt and they appreciate the graphics of the sims 4 to go back to playing the sims 2. They are happy with the sims 4 and appreciate it runs well on their pc or console. Ive noticed many of them are crying out for multiplayer. I used to moderate a forum and while I don’t any more discussions about multiplayer come up about once a week/fortnight.
None of which by they way is an insult to anyone in that category, and I do realise not everyone feels that way. My point is my experience is there is a section of the community that wants things that I would consider quite untraditional for a sims series, I’m not saying they are wrong for wanting that of course, it’s a matter of opinion.
I think that many are happy to embrace this seemingly new direction, many will enjoy it, many will not. I think the worst thing we can do is buy the pack if you don’t want a linear story in a sand box game because if you do you are telling the powers that be you aren’t okay with that and we will probably get more of that in the future.
If everyone had to accept the sims 4 is a very different beast. It’s never going to be my go to sims game and I do feel at this stage very irrelevant to the community. I don’t feel packs are being made with older players in mind and by older I mean anyone that has played a sims game from previous iterations. I believe the target is new younger players which wouldn’t be a bad thing on its own but it’s like the rest of us don’t matter. And if it’s not them it’s being made for share holders not people who buy and play the game.
We're too expensive to be catered to, @MidnightAura . We've been spoiled by the challenge and wackiness of TS1, the AI and attention to detail of TS2 and the depth and freedom of The Sims 3. It's much easier to cater to a new audience that doesn't have the same expectations we do.
And I do belive shareholders play a role here. They are the ones who want unlimited growth with as little investment as possible. The gaming industry changed a lot when games became a massive mainstream industry bigger than Hollywood. The philosophy nowadays is to keep costs as low as possible. Fire developers if necessary, make them work 70 hours a week (they don't have unions), cut the budget in half, USE our inhouse engine (even if it doesn't make sense for this game) so we won't have to pay a fee. It's all about keeping costs as minimal as possible and have as much revenue as possible. The art of making video games is gone.
People are allowed to express their feelings about the game even if someone else has already done so in a similar fashion. That’s what these forums are all about.
I know it's just always the same 10 people that respond with sometimes even copy/pasted responses from other, already closed, threads. But whatever, carry on expressing everyone.
Well, the other similar thread was closed for no apparent reason, so maybe people still want to discuss the pros and cons of the new pack.
I can understand why people do that, as most don’t go back to read closed threads (or at least I don’t) and they want to participate in an ongoing discussion with points they’ve already put together. I’ve been lurking on the forums for a while now so I’ve seen a lot of the “same” people participating in different discussions. It seems to keep the ball rolling so I guess I don’t particularly see a problem with that (in my opinion).
This is where our opnions on the pack might change. If you break down the game pack there’s a lot you can do. Let’s pretend this game pack did not come with a storyline. What exactly do we have?
Military career: New work from home career
New cas
New world: decent size and very detailed
Spy? Bug station:
You can use this outside of the story and bug other sims then blackmail them for cash.
Laptops: super useful
Other objects (no new gameplay)
New paranoid trait
New weird plants to plant
We also have the prosessed buff: the buff I haven’t played around with it too much but you can use it outside of strangerville and story. I turned my whole house of sims into possessed sims.
All of these items I’ve listed work outside the story gameplay there might even be more.
When ea was marketing this pack they did so as a story pack. So a lot of people only see the storyline. You pay $20 for a 1 time story but that is incorrect the story is more of a gameplay item. The people who buy the pack are buying it because they see the other items and opportunities. Not because they want to support the developers. Who would pay $20 for 1 3 hour story? There might be some but a majority of the people see that story as a bonus not as the pack as a whole.
Everyone thinks ea is testing these types of packs to see how well they do but in reality the sims have always had its stories behind them they were just never marketed as such. This story is a lot more upfront. If you’ve played sims 1-4 you see the stories in the game. I think ea is trying to find the best marketing strategy to sell there games.
If you don’t like weird plant things,laptops the new world,the military career or spying on your neighbors then this pack isn’t for you. But there is some people who want this stuff added into there game and that is why they buy it.
No that's alright. I know it sounds like it but I don't mean to actively offend anyone. It's just the same exact rollercoaster of exaggerated emotions and obsessive negativity every time something's released. The same doom and gloom "you are all destroying the franchise!!"-hypocrisy, the same blame game,... and yes I should probably just do myself and everyone else the favor and stay away from these forums but somehow I keep thinking that maybe one day, the way of discussing our discontentments on here might change and that some people would learn to let others enjoy things without constantly and openly blaming them for it or acting as if it was somehow up to them to dictate the "true" meaning of the franchise.
None of this was directed directly at you, though, or was even meant to make you feel bad or out of place for sharing your feelings. I just let mine take over too at times
They also need to do an EP on Theme and waterparks.
I'm glad you are enjoying this... game. I can't say the same. Just let me say I don't like it because it does not bother me that you enjoy it, but it seems it bothers you that I don't.
Thanks that sounded... genuine.
Okay, so, I know I'm wasting my time here but, no. I don't mind you enjoying the game. What I do mind are those kinds of responses.
I love games, I really do. I've spent the better part of the last 20 years playing games from a varying amount of genres. I don't really need some discontent simmer telling me that what I'm enjoying is "not a game" or that I'm just buying whatever EA throws at me out of some delusional loyalty, or stockholm syndrome. Because I don't. I buy it because I genuinely enjoy TS4. Which may be shocking, but it is a game to me. Not a GoW-like game, not a platformer, and no, not even TS3. But a game nonetheless. And when I don't enjoy playing something? I put it aside and forget about it. I don't go around spreading as much negativity about it as I possibly can for four whole years. No, if I'm that discontent, I will find something else to do and fill my day with things I actually enjoy. And that is why I'm now going to leave this discussion
Overall I think that The Sims 4 has improved in direction and gameplay since a certain lead departed Maxis. Once Vampires and Toddlers made their appearance in the game it has felt like things are improving. This kind of content will hopefully be like the Katy Parry content of Sims 3, a one shot. If so that's fine. It'll be fine in my opinion as long as the expansions continue to add things for the sims to do in the long term.
This Gamepack would probably have been far more interesting to me if part of the mystery included or lead to a new full life state.
Yeah I get the point you are making. Overall they have made some progress though it’s been very very slow.
I hope this was a one shot deal or that at the very least something similar is not being planned for awhile. I did enjoy the story for what it was, but it was predictable, easy to get through and offers no real replay value. If they’d added something like you said, a new state? Maybe you can turn into a mini plant and infect other sims that way? Might of given it a bit of a reason to replay it later on.
I think the major issue, at least how I see it, is that this type of GP theme is great if we had some of the other elements people have been desperately begging for in the game. As it is, this is what they released and now we have to wait possibly months upon months to see what else is in store. I’m hopeful they release something the community really wants, but I’m a bit apprehensive and can’t help but think they might release something other than what’s been asked for.
Trying to police what other people say on an open forum is an endless rabbit hole, and complaining that you don’t like the way someone shares their opinion is fruitless. If anything it adds to the negativity you claim to not like. Another way to apply the reasoning “if you don’t like it don’t buy it” is if you don’t like opinions (or in this case topics/feedback) that you consider negative, don’t read them. As you said, “Put it aside and forget about it.” People will love and hate the game all the same.
Now I don’t think it’s right to say that someone who enjoys the game is delusional or has Stockholm Syndrome, but coming into a discussion that has an OP talking about their disappointment with the game and saying that you’re tired of the “copy paste”, that you “get it” (with a smiley emoji that reads passive aggressive), and talking about how you “fill your day with things you actually enjoy” sounds condescending. It reads like a teacher waving her finger at a student in disapproval and attempting to silence their concerns. And that isn’t right either. Imagine someone doing that in a “positive” play thread.
Another note, people who you may consider “negative” play the game and have things about it that they don’t like. I play the Sims 2, 3, and 4, and I have harsh words for all of them when it comes to things I’m not a fan of. That may come across as “spreading negativity” to some, but I still like the games and play them far too much. I wouldn’t go on forums to “spread negativity” for four years for a game I’m not invested in, and I don’t believe there are too many people here that would do that either. We all want the game to be great, but right now it isn’t for some people. They are allowed to express that. Positive feedback is great, but at the end of the day the devs also need “negative” feedback so they can improve. And trying to dissuade people from giving “negative” feedback may hurt the game in the future.
Respect.
I see you are a new member but some people have been doing just that (bolded) for the past 4 years so it is understandable that others might get a bit tired of it.
So...I'm in the middle of playing Strangerville and I'm bored already. Since my sim constantly has to go places to find stuff/clues, I have to wait while it loads since there's no open world. I hate it. Once something changes, I do get a thrill and I like it, but it takes so long in between. Ugh. But I must say, I do love the backdrop. I'll be playing in this world for my stories. WIthout stories and building, I'd be checked out of this game a long time ago.
I see you are a new member but some people have been doing just that [b](bolded)[/b] for the past 4 years so it is understandable that others might get a bit tired of it.
@Simburian
I’m new to posting but I’ve lurked for quite a few years now, so I’m not saying I’ve never seen it, but in my experience at least, there hasn’t been that many (I’m talking probably less than ten). If those comments aren’t the type of discussion you’re looking for, or you find them repetitive or tiring, skip the post. You can still read the rest of the thread and participate. As long as no one’s breaking the rules people can say what they feel, whether we like it or not.
Personally, I find it tiring when I have criticism for something in the game and others tell me I should be grateful that Maxis
made the product at all. It happens all the time on Twitter and in YouTube comment sections. Is it tiring? Yes. Very. But they have as much of a right to express themselves as I do, so I just skip over those comments/replies or avoid those places altogether if it affects me enough. Again, this is just me though.
I agree, same posts over and over. Many do like the pack. I hope everyone gets what they wish for as future packs come out. I for one, hope to see a few more packs like StrangerVille.
If one has been playing the Sims since the beginning, they know it has always been a grindy game if one chooses to complete goals.
One has to grind any :
skill
job
relationship
on and on and on.
The key is keeping an open mind. One of the mods at AHQ mentioned that University would be redundant and I have to agree. It took me two days to figure out how to do a University with a Greek system without mods, and about four hours to design a glitch-free mod that works almost exactly like the TS2 UNI pack after that.
Doing so, I found a lot of hidden gems in the neighborhood story, like the Villareal family's struggle with mood swings and psychiatric issues, and the complicated interrelationships between various characters in various neighborhoods. I found out particularly good students can get a trophy for being the class valedictorian. I see potential for incorporating some of the Strangerville features into other story-lines.
I have a strong hunch about the direction the Strangerville story will take, but I'm not going to let that spoil my fun in solving it.
I am a "new player," for the most part. I played a little of some older sim game when I was a kid (I don't even remember which one) but SIms 4 is the first I've really gotten into. I like having goals to a certain extent, like with careers and aspirations (always wanting more careers and aspirations...), and I enjoyed JA for the atmosphere and danger of it, tho I certainly don't bring every household there. But I also felt on the fence about this new pack, which I'm still not sure I'll buy.
I like the theme (I'm a scifi nerd, and I already love the aliens from GTW), but what I'd really want from it would be more than just one additional career and aspiration (again, always wanting more of those), a good chunk of more plots to build on, more than a specific storyline. If we had those things AND a storyline, I wouldn't mind, but like has been pointed out, adding things that feel like "extras" when the "basics" feel incomplete in frustrating. I, too, want story progression, and better schools, and functional family trees, and a dozen other things that would make my day to day game more complete, far more than the linear storyline I could get from a dozen other games. I know there are CAS and build items, and a few more plots, but there's not enough of those to make the pack feel worth it just for them, and I'm not that excited about the storyline. Yes, maybe one day I'll have the whim to make a Dana Scully sim and play through it, but it's very much something for a specific game, a specific play through, and not particularly something I need.
And that's fine--I don't have to buy it. I actually don't get bored that much with the sims, cause I just use my own brain to tell the story I want in my head, so I don't need to buy any of the packs (and I honestly wish they'd spend their time just patching and integrating what's already there, but that's never gonna happen). But I do hope that the next pack is more comprehensive and integral to gameplay, with a good chunk of CAS and build items and a sizable new world and multiple new careers and aspirations and maybe a new skills and traits and some new events and...then maybe a storyline, if they can manage it.
Cause like...telling a story is literally the one thing I can also do myself and don't really need EA to do for me.
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