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Why The Sims 5 won't be an online game! (The Sims Olympus)
SimmerGeorge
Posts: 2,724 Member
Hey guys,
With the rumors circulating around The Sims 5 being developed there are a lot of people guessing the game will require an online connection at all times and will focus more on online features than other sims games.
The reason why that probably won't happen is The Sims Olympus. It's crazy how well they hid this game from the public, even I didn't know about it since recently and I'm a huge Sims fan.
What I am talking about is a game that was supposed to be The Sims 4 and was being developed by EA for a very long time before the decided to ditch the online concept and redo the core of the game from scratch. The game was called "The Sims Olympus" (probably just a project name) and was going to feature a huge amount of online gameplay and community interactions.
Why did they change it then?: The game concept was probably changed around the year 2013 when SimCity released and was panned by players and critics alike for requiring a 24/7 Internet connection. SimCity didn't sell nearly as much as expected and the game killed the franchise (since there hasn't been a SimCity game since). In order to save The Sims franchise from a similar fate they ditched the concept and developed an "offline game" that became The Sims 4 we know today.
I do not believe The Sims 5 won't feature any new online features at all, since the inclusion of "The Gallery" in the Sims 4 was a success I believe the Sims team is going to bring more online features to the table to make The Sims 5 as "connected" and interactive as ever. However I think these features will be optional and they will not hold the team back from creating a fully-rounded Single-player experience.
This is what "The Sims Olympus" looked like:
General Concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsx-pgwMYew
Gameplay Concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2IPZDJ-pt0
Promotional Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7Ws2L5G_Q
What do you think the Sims team is up to?
With the rumors circulating around The Sims 5 being developed there are a lot of people guessing the game will require an online connection at all times and will focus more on online features than other sims games.
The reason why that probably won't happen is The Sims Olympus. It's crazy how well they hid this game from the public, even I didn't know about it since recently and I'm a huge Sims fan.
What I am talking about is a game that was supposed to be The Sims 4 and was being developed by EA for a very long time before the decided to ditch the online concept and redo the core of the game from scratch. The game was called "The Sims Olympus" (probably just a project name) and was going to feature a huge amount of online gameplay and community interactions.
Why did they change it then?: The game concept was probably changed around the year 2013 when SimCity released and was panned by players and critics alike for requiring a 24/7 Internet connection. SimCity didn't sell nearly as much as expected and the game killed the franchise (since there hasn't been a SimCity game since). In order to save The Sims franchise from a similar fate they ditched the concept and developed an "offline game" that became The Sims 4 we know today.
I do not believe The Sims 5 won't feature any new online features at all, since the inclusion of "The Gallery" in the Sims 4 was a success I believe the Sims team is going to bring more online features to the table to make The Sims 5 as "connected" and interactive as ever. However I think these features will be optional and they will not hold the team back from creating a fully-rounded Single-player experience.
This is what "The Sims Olympus" looked like:
General Concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsx-pgwMYewGameplay Concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2IPZDJ-pt0Promotional Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7Ws2L5G_QWhat do you think the Sims team is up to?
Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
4
Comments
Edit: I‘d like to add that the gallery probably isn‘t as big of success for EA as you‘d think. They can‘t monetize the creations that the simmers upload for free but they still have ongoing costs (maintenance, servers, etc.). Its only benefit for EA is probably that it stops *some* people from pirating the game as they couldn‘t access the gallery then. I‘m sure they would prefer Second Life‘s approach and may even work towards it.
Wouldn't that mean that releasing an MMO-style Sims game like Olympus would make them lose money? It would be an one-time purchase with runing costs on severs etc. I'm pretty sure they thought of that and found a way to make it all work out, or they wouldn't have released SimCity or planned to release Olympus.
Well, mobile games are now filled to the brim with microtransactions and draconian %rates to get what you want, yet the most famous ones still bring a profit that's absurd when compared to the cost that it takes to produce them vs actual full fledged games. Second Life also pretty much requires you to spend real money to get anything beyond the ultra basic despite being "free" to play, yet is still running to the day.
At least with packs we know exactly what we are getting, now imagine having to play a slot machine with real money for a mere chance to get that object you want lol (0.5% rate for the "best" ones).
The reason so many of these game companies want to shoehorn this "games as a service" mentality into every game they can is because of how much money it can bring with the smallest effort possible - unfortunately there are many casual players and especially children who are willing to spend a ridiculous amount of real cash on virtual slot machines just to get that shiny new thing. Going free to play always online with a mobile version allows them to get the biggest install base possible, especially when the graphics aren't a priority given how powerful tablets and such are becoming, nor are in depth features that would take better tech to run like Open World.
Oh don't get me wrong I love the pack system and will have that anyday over microtransactions but 🐸🐸🐸🐸 they really are trying to make the most amount of money with the least amount of effort possible. There's so much wrong with that but it's a very popular business plan amongst EA. Though check out games like Red Dead Redemption, huge amount of effort for such a full game and normal price.
You have to keep in mind that the chances that EA let us download CC from third-party sites and add them to our game would be very slim in an online, multi player game. They don‘t even allow us to upload Sims with the name Anushka to the gallery because it contains the word „🐸🐸🐸🐸“ so it‘s unlikely that they would let us go online with CC. They would sell clothes, hair, furniture through in-game purchases and make money that way.
Well there was an one-time purchase with SimCity so... Also I think packs are their way of replacing microtransactions especially since we have so many types now. Also what I meant is we wouldn't have to pay subscription to the game
Sure, there will be a one-time, $60 price to be able to download the game and get its basic functionality, but they'll take a Fortnight/Fallout 76/Overwatch-inspired approach to the continued monetization of the game. There will be a ton of microtransactions, limited edition cash shop items, loot boxes, and they'll probably roll out some sort of season pass/subscription for special perks or automatic access to new DLC content on launch. It would be horrible, just from a consumer perspective...and then, there will be the community aspect.
We'd get a ton of griefers and trolls causing trouble and botters spamming messages about going to their site to buy in-game currency with real money. Awkward multi-player missions would be implemented to encourage (read: force) players to interact with each other and bring in that MMORPG scenario where you either have to be really outgoing and extroverted to enjoy the full experience, awkwardly search for a party (even though you'd really rather fight and explore as a lone adventurer), try to drag your IRL friends into the game, or sit certain content out because you have no IRL friends interested in the game and find it awkward to walk up and talk to total strangers in the real world, let alone the virtual one. A good chunk of the more introverted players would likely be turned off by this new gameplay model and not even bother with TS5; they'd attract a ton of extroverted people who would further make the game uncomfortable for the remaining introverts; and the griefers, trolls, and snob whales (big spenders who hold the fact that they possess all of the latest/best cash shop stuff over others as a status symbol and look down on and mistreat people who never or only occasionally use the cash shop) will drive away even more long-time fans. Ultimately, TS5, as an online game, would become a toxic sludge of griefers, trolls, botters, snob whales, and 10-year-old kids who swear they're 35 but have never heard of Avril Lavigne and all want to friend you just because they saw you and their friends list is empty.
In short, a fully online main entry would ruin the franchise. A few online features, like the gallery and a story blog community, wouldn't do any damage, though. But mulitplayer...nope. That will get very bad very fast, because EA will be more interested in making money and forcing everyone to be an extrovert than maintaining a harmonious and welcoming community for players.
The Sims Olympus sounds like a greek tragedy with all the gods fighting for power. So glad they eventually abandoned it. It's the first time I see those clips and it appears like it had the same type of gameplay like The sims Online, not much innovation, just the same concept with better graphics. Sims Online was rated M, I would imagine Sims Olympus would have been rated M as well, had they continued development. It appears that EA isn't bothered that they would have lost a lot of fanbase due to the higher rating, they probably expected to recoup the loss in basegame sales through micro transactions, lots of them.
1. We don‘t know what was really planned for SimCity because it flopped that fast. It’s possible that in-game purchases (similar to TS3 Online Store) were planned originally but scrapped last second because they didn’t want to drive away the last few players.
2. I was talking about 2020, not 2010. The target group of Sims 5 are preteens to early teens now. They grew up with subscriptions, in-app purchases and micro transactions. It’s normal to them. Why shouldn‘t The Sims 5 take advantage of that? It‘s a goldmine. EA made a billion dollars from microtransactions in a single quarter in 2019 (= three months) and I bet they‘re itching for more.
3. There can both be paid packs and in-game purchases (see GTA V, FIFA, Need For Speed).
The Sims was a success because of the sandbox style, it suits different game play styles, so it appeals to many people. Once they change that they alienate players and diminish their fanbase which shows in decreased sales. They could take it online and add micro-transactions because of potential billions, but realistically speaking they are only diminishing their fanbase. They must be having great faith in the purchasing power of their new target fanbase if they think they will spend billions.
Lol I guess the mods were joking around during development.
I mean… It‘s EA. They destroyed SimCity out of greed, they‘re ruining FIFA and NFS that people have been playing and loving for over two decades out of greed. They fired developers because they refused to add pay-to-win elements to games. EA removed some predatory elements (pay-to-win, loot boxes) from Star Wars: Battlefront II from when there was a huge pushback from the community and they sold less copies than expected. Unfortunately, I don‘t think that the Sims community will push back as hard as other games communities. Simmers call other simmers „toxic“ and „ungrateful“ for demanding simple things like toddlers, cars, bunk beds or for being mad about getting so little content for a $40 pack, especially in comparison to packs in TS2 and TS3. I‘m 99.9% sure that The Sims 5 will be full of microtransactions and the sims community will continue to throw their money at EA. Just look at The Sims Mobile.
https://www.windowscentral.com/ea-reportedly-fired-plants-vs-zombies-creator-his-refusal-make-sequel-pay-win?amp
https://gamingcentral.in/ea-fired-developer-refused-add-pay-win-elements-game/