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Why do they keep making the content I paid money for available for free??

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  • SPARKY1922SPARKY1922 Posts: 5,965 Member
    BlueR0se wrote: »
    Sindocat wrote: »
    You had them first, and have enjoyed them longer. There's your perk. It's not like they took them away. Relax.

    I did not pay for the content in these packs as a "early access" content. I bought this because this is extra content that I bought to use a consumer.

    This isn't like the Sims 2/Sims 4 freebie promos where after many years later the game got a temporary free download event to bring in new folks to the community. This is a transfer of a content that was DLC to the basegame for free.

    You can dismiss it because of how few the items are or because of your own personal reasons, but don't state it like that the money I used in my purchase was for the "perk" of having the content first. Cause I surely as heck didn't pay for it for THAT reason.

    I completely agree with what you are saying and until the 4 series I would have agreed but with 4 there has been so many changes that these days it appears you are basically paying for early play/access when a pack comes out until it is released a short time later at a reduced rate if a player is prepared to wait so as players we make our choices often knowing what is actually going on...do we buy on release or wait a while
  • DianesimsDianesims Posts: 2,867 Member
    Well I was more upset when they made the basegame temporarily free because why should I pay for it then ?!

    But here from what I’m reading it’s only new swatches that are free. Though I’d rather they created new stuff.
  • nerdfashionnerdfashion Posts: 5,947 Member
    Because it's easier to recycle than creating actual new content. "Years of new content coming" yet they can't add new CAS items without recycling stuff 🤣

    Hey, at least there's some original stuff. For example, my new favorite hairstyle.
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  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    And Imo this is probably part of their supposed 20 content drops, if one cas item is counted as one.
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  • PegasysPegasys Posts: 1,135 Member
    Do you get upset when a movie you paid $12 to see in the theatres is available at Redbox for less than $2 a couple of months later? Many many many things depreciate in value simply because time has passed. That's just the way things work. When you pay for DLC you're not only paying for the content but the ability to play it immediately.

    Origin used to give away free games all the time. I got a bunch of games when they were doing that. A week after the Notre Dame fire, Ubisoft gave away Assassin's Creed Unity (which has a detailed replica of the Notre Dame) for free. People weren't upset with that, in fact they thought it was a very generous gesture.

    But here we are just talking about literally a few CAS items.
  • ironknight35ironknight35 Posts: 3,751 Member
    SPARKY1922 wrote: »
    Sindocat wrote: »
    You had them first, and have enjoyed them longer. There's your perk. It's not like they took them away. Relax.

    so agree wholeheartedly :)

    Me too! Can't believe people are so upset because of a few items added to the BG. :|
    He/Him
  • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,472 Member
    edited July 2019
    Sindocat wrote: »
    You had them first, and have enjoyed them longer. There's your perk. It's not like they took them away. Relax.

    That's a terrible perk. You can only say that if all the people who got the items now have been waiting and yearning to get the specific items since release, but they were patient enough to wait. That might not be the case.
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  • ListentoToppDoggListentoToppDogg Posts: 2,103 Member
    Because they're lazy and they'd rather take content that already exists and was purchased by people than put any actual effort into making something actually new. It's ridiculous that they're constantly re-using things that a lot of us specifically bought packs for and giving them away for free for no literal reason. It's not fair at all, but we all know they're going to keep doing it. But hey, it's nice to see their true colors. Only more reason for me to not spend my hard earned money paying for packs. Why bother when they can just give it away for free a few months or a year later.
  • Amapola76Amapola76 Posts: 1,904 Member
    AnnLee87 wrote: »
    Everything is like that ... I paid $1000 for something 5 years ago and over the weekend I went to a garage sale. They had a box of stuff "take me I'm free" and right next to it was the same item that cost me $1000 with a free sign hanging on it. It's just life!

    This is a good reason to not get worked up about it. But it doesn't change the fact that, quite rationally and logically, we have been given a compelling disincentive to buy future packs (well, mostly stuff packs). I'm not the least bit mad or bothered by this decision. But it _is_ something I will be keeping in mind as a factor when I consider where to spend my entertainment dollars in the future. That's also life, and hopefully EA thought that through.
  • BlueR0seBlueR0se Posts: 1,587 Member
    Pegasys wrote: »
    Do you get upset when a movie you paid $12 to see in the theatres is available at Redbox for less than $2 a couple of months later? Many many many things depreciate in value simply because time has passed. That's just the way things work. When you pay for DLC you're not only paying for the content but the ability to play it immediately.

    um...where has it been written down that paid-for-pack-exclusive DLC content will be released for free permanently in the future? Cause I sure as heck missed that one.

    With the movie scenario; you pay to see the film in the theater. It is mainly the big-screen luxury experience you're paying for, but also to see the movie. Yeah, it'll be released later and at a cheaper price. But it's not the same experience. More than likely, your home tv is not the size of a giant theater film screen. For your analogy, the Sims 4 and the pack sales is probably more fitting, which isn't what the issue is.

    I don't know how to connect the situation to the metaphor or anything similar. But really, the issue is that EA/Maxis/whoever charges these dlc-paid-only-exclusive content packs, these packs are individually assessed for the amount and type of each kind of content they have so they can fit the proper pricing label ("stuff pack" "expansion pack" "game pack"). They are then advertise the pack and its items (small and big), sell it, and then months later take bits of that content that was sold and release it for free content (no dlc, still a paid product cause basegame). And what's more they're advertising it as new things when it's not.

    It's a bait and switch sort of deal and an awful business practice. This is not the first time this has happened. Folks have mentioned it throughout the thread but I've seen references to the photography skill from Get Together, some toddler content from Toddler stuff (I think a boy hair), and some stray clothes from other packs.

    Is it one of EA/Maxis' worse business practices/things they've done? No. But it's still pretty awful and I'm pretty darn frustrated, especially given the buggy state of the game currently + the history of the game. I feel bad for those who have Island Living in particular and are dealing with the particular issues that it's still going through.
  • LivinityLivinity Posts: 455 Member
    Well I think it's the only way to make integration between packs viable for them. Photography, like you said, has been used in other packs in a way that wouldn't work if owning GTW was a requirement. That would've upsetted people even more. Sure they could just don't release any kind of feature that relies on other packs, but some of them are really nice. And let's be honest, even if they came up with something original everytime it would still be reused animations all around so potato potato?
  • SharoniaSharonia Posts: 4,853 Member
    I own all the packs and I'm not bothered by this at all. I've enjoyed the items for as long as I've had them in my game and I don't mind if others get enjoyment from them as well without buying the packs first.
  • LiELFLiELF Posts: 6,439 Member
    It makes me wonder though, if adding swatches (or anything else for that matter) to an existing pack that has already released, might have some kind of issue. Especially if they just added the exact same object with different swatches, but as a separate piece from the original. Or maybe there are legalities connected that don't allow them to change any content that has already been sold as a DLC. It could very well be something like that which gets in the way of them just adding stuff that they want to give us into a pack.

    In that case, it would mean patching those things in free to the base game, or giving us nothing. I'd definitely rather not have nothing.
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  • CementCement Posts: 3,505 Member
    I thought my eyes were just being bad again because I can barely see the pack icons now, but this is a big yikes from me too--Especially since it's my money that went to getting the packs. It doesn't matter if I get a pack half off or full price or even at a garage sale, money is money and seeing it slapped on the base game that's now like $6 when I got an EP that was $40 with that item still feels bogus. What's wrong with getting actual new content anyway? When they held that one Valentine's Day event, we got new BG hairs and underwear that weren't recolors. I don't see why they couldn't do something like that for their revamp instead of making me feel like I don't know how to handle money aaa

    I remember the whole photography skill being patched in base game, too :/ That made me eyeroll since it was literally one of the things GTW had to offer, and everyone knows GTW was a trainwreck with Magnolia Promenade and the glitches that still exist to this day
    Even though I'm the minority who adore GTW and play the careers like an addict but I digress, I'm mad they don't care about that EP enough to fix their glitches
  • icmnfrshicmnfrsh Posts: 18,789 Member
    QueenMercy wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I thought in the live stream that they said they had some new base game recolors as well as some pack CAS recolors if you own those packs. I'm not sure though, so I'd be interested to see if the pack specific items still have the pack icons on them.

    They removed the pack icons, but apparently you only get the new recolours but not the original swatches if you don’t have the packs. Obviously this doesn’t apply to the hair from dine out, though.

    Basically the original swatches are now the DLC? That seems like a weird approach. "Hey, do you see this base game beanie? If you buy GTW you'll get more colors for it." :D

    OMG what if EA starts charging us for DLC that contains swatches to base game items??? :anguished:
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  • CementCement Posts: 3,505 Member
    icmnfrsh wrote: »
    QueenMercy wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I thought in the live stream that they said they had some new base game recolors as well as some pack CAS recolors if you own those packs. I'm not sure though, so I'd be interested to see if the pack specific items still have the pack icons on them.

    They removed the pack icons, but apparently you only get the new recolours but not the original swatches if you don’t have the packs. Obviously this doesn’t apply to the hair from dine out, though.

    Basically the original swatches are now the DLC? That seems like a weird approach. "Hey, do you see this base game beanie? If you buy GTW you'll get more colors for it." :D

    OMG what if EA starts charging us for DLC that contains swatches to base game items??? :anguished:

    Hmm, I doubt it... They'll just have the new swatch as a separate item, like what they did with Seasons :^)
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  • ironknight35ironknight35 Posts: 3,751 Member
    edited July 2019
    BlueR0se wrote: »
    Pegasys wrote: »
    Do you get upset when a movie you paid $12 to see in the theatres is available at Redbox for less than $2 a couple of months later? Many many many things depreciate in value simply because time has passed. That's just the way things work. When you pay for DLC you're not only paying for the content but the ability to play it immediately.

    um...where has it been written down that paid-for-pack-exclusive DLC content will be released for free permanently in the future? Cause I sure as heck missed that one.

    They can do whatever they want. I've played different games that did things similar to this (gave things away for free after I payed for it). I could understand why people are upset if they gave away A LOT of items for free, but they didn't... It's not a big deal at all.

    Edited to make it a bit easier to read, haha.
    Post edited by ironknight35 on
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  • silentcyborgsilentcyborg Posts: 210 Member
    Cement wrote: »
    icmnfrsh wrote: »
    QueenMercy wrote: »
    LiELF wrote: »
    I thought in the live stream that they said they had some new base game recolors as well as some pack CAS recolors if you own those packs. I'm not sure though, so I'd be interested to see if the pack specific items still have the pack icons on them.

    They removed the pack icons, but apparently you only get the new recolours but not the original swatches if you don’t have the packs. Obviously this doesn’t apply to the hair from dine out, though.

    Basically the original swatches are now the DLC? That seems like a weird approach. "Hey, do you see this base game beanie? If you buy GTW you'll get more colors for it." :D

    OMG what if EA starts charging us for DLC that contains swatches to base game items??? :anguished:

    Hmm, I doubt it... They'll just have the new swatch as a separate item, like what they did with Seasons :^)
    338c20ded790e0ebed608b90fe6ad725.png081f7781d47b25dbe9c2d07b66b79eb2.png7d6dd736a49db7824ed310cf7e6a30cf.pngd8a4a6f8918e00206f10bd52361933d6.png

    Woah. Yuck. Never noticed that (noticed all the mfps recolours though), but have spent ages wondering why the valentines day stuff had no swatches. I'm really not a fan of these 'recolours' in packs. I don't think I'm that picky, as I'd be fine if they just changed the mesh a little (added a belt, removed the sleeves, whatever) but I feel a bit cheated as a consumer.

    I'm especially disappointed with the way this 'new content' rebrand has worked as well, because it feels like it's punishing players for being loyal. Like many others, I have all the packs that had items 're-coloured' (thankfully, rarely paid full price), and think this is unfair to players like me, and unfair to players who will buy the packs in the future, because they're getting less content. There's a lot of base-game items that could have been re-coloured, such as the underwear options (please, sims team), shorts and more, if they really didn't have time to create new clothing.

    If the idea behind the re-brand is to attract base-game players to buy more packs, or get new players to buy more packs, wouldn't it have been a better move to create new and exciting content (and fix bugs in the existing packs!!) to get them invested first, instead of offering pack item meshes for free? There's less incentive to buy then, doubly so as modders can just release re-colours.
  • paradiseplanetparadiseplanet Posts: 4,421 Member
    Tbh what they're doing is simply something any modder does and has already thousands of times; recolors for clothes already in the game. This is just that but "official" and they just want to make the game feel "fresh and new" by duping their latest influx of new players that it's brand new clothing. I can get better recolors and swatches from modders for free.
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  • drake_mccartydrake_mccarty Posts: 6,114 Member
    Is anyone surprised that they’re blatantly recycling content we paid for? I’m not. This one one of my biggest complaints with CL, and they have been emboldened since then and they do it A LOT. Creativity is not their strong suit anymore so they recolor existing assets and gush over them like they weren’t ripped from a DLC players had to buy.

    It’s cheap and tacky, but nobody should be surprised about this. Maxis is a very anti-consumer studio when you look past the mouth service. Look at how they’ve handled this “rebrand”, certainly not what I would call pro-consumer behavior. Those who bought the game are being put in the backseat because the studio ONLY cares about people who have yet to acquire this game.
  • paradiseplanetparadiseplanet Posts: 4,421 Member
    @Cement I like to think that GTW is their redheaded stepchild of TS4 xD
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  • CementCement Posts: 3,505 Member
    @Cement I like to think that GTW is their redheaded stepchild of TS4 xD

    :sob:It really is, @paradiseplanet
    Alien face glitch has been there for years now and they've done nothing to fix it, and workarounds should only be temporary, not a permanent excuse sdjkgh
    TS4 Aliens are officially the TS3 Werewolf equivalent of neglect :'(

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  • Paigeisin5Paigeisin5 Posts: 2,139 Member
    edited July 2019
    This comes as no surprise to me. After seeing everything that was given away in the June 18th update for the base game, along with all the free items for the base game EA has been including in various other updates, I came to the conclusion it's a waste of my money to purchase new DLC in the future. The only bug fixes they released today was for the toddler issue and I already have a mod to fix that. And the crashes happening when saving the game, which I do not have an issue with. I am not surprised this is happening because it has actually been going on for quite a while. I have been closely watching this from the beginning, so why are people just now reacting to it? At first, I thought this was being done for the Simmers who will be losing support for their older systems. I thought then that didn't sound like the EA I know but I was willing to give them credit for showing some compassion. Yeah, I should have known better, right?

    We may have paid for the packs in theory, but we don't really own the packs or the content in those packs. We are paying for the privilige to only play those packs. Once EA and Origin began handling the purchasing of everything related to the franchise, we lost our right to say DLC belongs to us. In the past we purchased physical copies. A cd that contained all the updates needed to play the new content were included on that cd. Now we are purchasing digital copies and EA is free to make any changes they want to make to the content, at any time. And that allows EA to share content we paid to use, with everyone else for free. EA legally owns every bit of Sims4 content installed on our personal devices. We paid for the right to play DLC, but we actually do not 'own' any of it. We might be offended by this fact but we allowed it to happen. We allowed it to happen when we took advantage of purchasing DLC from the Sims3 Store. EA's experiment worked out quite nicely for them so they took it to the next level when they released Sims4 as DLC and stopped producing actual physical copies of the game and packs. Their reason for doing this was explained as being the next step forward that would allow them to add new content and fix problems more quickly and efficiently. As someone using no less than eight mods just to be able to play a restaurant that actually works properly, I disagree with the reason why Sims4 was released as DLC.

    I will not install this patch. I am tired of being forced to install content I do not want when all I need is for the bugs and glitches to be fixed in a timely manner. Or 'sometime in the future'. Or 'soon'. Those two catchphrases have become meaningless to me because I have been hearing them far too often. While nothing is being done to fix the game. We should not be forced to install content we do not want. I cannot say that enough at this point in the life of Sims4. If an update to the base game is essential to Sims4's future content, release it without adding any unneccessary content to it, such as free assets. If there is a bug-fixing patch we have been waiting for, it does not need unwanted content attached to it. My choice to add content that is relevant to how I prefer to play my game has been taken away. There isn't a way to delete this content once it is installed, and if Sims4 has another three to four years left in its run, my game file will be a bloated, unmanageable mess filled with clothing, hair, make up and furniture I probably will never use. If EA cannot find a way to offer us a choice in what we download, we should, at the very least, be given a way to delete these things from our games without depending on a mod in order to do it. Empty assurances they are 'working on' the glitches and bugs, lack of control over what is being added to my game files, 'new' content that is little more than different swatches being added to older meshes, and this overwhelming feeling EA is not listening to us or caring about our concerns, these are all very concerning to me. It speaks quite loudly and eloquently about the fact EA does not care what we want or how shoddy the game has become. As long as we continue to purchase DLC, and blindly download every patch and update, EA does not need to put forth any effort to change the way they do business. If sales dip, they'll do another base game giveaway, knowing these new Simmers will buy a couple of packs because they got the game for free. I am replaceable. I am woefully aware of that fact. Twenty years of being a faithful fan of the franchise, and I am no longer a valued member of the fanbase that helped this game grow and become a success. My only value to EA is how much I am willing to spend. And I am unwilling to spend one more penny until EA gets its act together and fixes what is wrong with the game, and shows the fanbase the respect it deserves.















    Post edited by Paigeisin5 on
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