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"Animations are expensive." "We have a tight budget." But hey let's make a TV show.

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KawaiiFairyRainbowsKawaiiFairyRainbows Posts: 92 Member
Look, I am not trying to be a negative nancy. But, the gurus always say they don't have enough funds for animations, certain objects, etc. But, yet we huge TV that costs millions? Yes I KNOW it is a different team, but...why do we spend millions on things like this, giving money to youtubers that already have enough money. I just...I don't understand what they are trying to do?? I mean...someone help me understand.

Also I might have a better look out on it, if the competitors themselves were just fans...that is something different.

And also yet...release a patch....and have very few bug fixes :(.

Comments

  • DoodlyDoofusDoodlyDoofus Posts: 1,177 Member
    EA literally has the money to throw an unlimited budget at the Sims team thanks to Madden and Fifa practically just printing money....Yeah that's how they get all their real profit from, every other game they release in a year is just walking around money. They just don't want to spend more money because they know people will eat up their reused animation packs regardless because Sims 4 has so little content that people are willing to buy unfinished content just to get content at all.
  • DuvelinaDuvelina Posts: 2,619 Member
    edited July 2020
    The marketing team is trying to get new players to buy the game, as they should. That's their purpose and goal. The other team could use a budget like that for the actual game, but that's EA's fault. They should designate more budget and more time to that team then.
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    Yeah i agree with Duvelina. Different teams, different budgets. Im just sad to see this representation of my favourite game... very lame.
  • KawaiiFairyRainbowsKawaiiFairyRainbows Posts: 92 Member
    telmarina wrote: »
    Yeah i agree with Duvelina. Different teams, different budgets. Im just sad to see this representation of my favourite game... very lame.

    It may be different teams, but it seems they keep focusing of projects like this and not the game...Like I've seen SO many tweets from gurus just hamming it up. Yeah cool, some people will enjoy that..but can we get back to working on fixing the game and developing new things?
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    telmarina wrote: »
    Yeah i agree with Duvelina. Different teams, different budgets. Im just sad to see this representation of my favourite game... very lame.

    It may be different teams, but it seems they keep focusing of projects like this and not the game...Like I've seen SO many tweets from gurus just hamming it up. Yeah cool, some people will enjoy that..but can we get back to working on fixing the game and developing new things?

    Yeah it's scary 😬 for the first time in 20 years i feel embarassed...
  • Jordan061102Jordan061102 Posts: 3,918 Member
    edited July 2020
    This Franchise is dead since September 2014 in case you guys didn't notice... Took me last year to realize it.
    Lu4ERme.gif
  • KawaiiFairyRainbowsKawaiiFairyRainbows Posts: 92 Member
    This Franchise is dead since September 2014 in case you guys didn't notice... Took me last year to realize it.

    You are right. It truly is.
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    edited July 2020
    People work on different things. They still have a lot of people that work on the game, but I agree that Maxis should focus on making games and show more what they are working on.
    SimGuruConor's updates was great for example, it really felt like they listened and worked on new things for the game. The Nifty Knitting pack is looking so much better than Eco Lifestyle and that was an Expansion Pack.
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    This Franchise is dead since September 2014 in case you guys didn't notice... Took me last year to realize it.

    I actually like sims 4 very much. Not as much as i loved 3, but very much. I'll keep adding content to it as long as the themes are interesting to me and i'll def keep having fun with it. For me the franchise isn't dead...
  • KawaiiFairyRainbowsKawaiiFairyRainbows Posts: 92 Member
    telmarina wrote: »
    This Franchise is dead since September 2014 in case you guys didn't notice... Took me last year to realize it.

    I actually like sims 4 very much. Not as much as i loved 3, but very much. I'll keep adding content to it as long as the themes are interesting to me and i'll def keep having fun with it. For me the franchise isn't dead...

    Hey, that's honestly good that it isn't for you. I admire that. Sadly for me and many others it is.
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    edited July 2020
    I like the sims4 still a lot as well, and I would not say that the Franchise is dead but I don't really feel like the target demographic in their marketing sometimes.

    I have also played the game since release, so a TV show about a 6 year old game feels to me like a TV show which features news from 6 years ago.
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    telmarina wrote: »
    This Franchise is dead since September 2014 in case you guys didn't notice... Took me last year to realize it.

    I actually like sims 4 very much. Not as much as i loved 3, but very much. I'll keep adding content to it as long as the themes are interesting to me and i'll def keep having fun with it. For me the franchise isn't dead...

    Hey, that's honestly good that it isn't for you. I admire that. Sadly for me and many others it is.

    Of course. I respect all the opinions :)
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited July 2020
    Was this the big news concerning ' major first' statements gurus made recently? Sigh. A prerecorded TV show, where we watch people compete to win some money. Is there a voting by phone American Idol sort of thing? Like give that person a billion likes/thumbsup so they can win some money already predetermined to go to them? Do the participates get scripts like on other reality TV shows where the producers tell them hey, spice it up, do more arguing and or more happy dances etc. to beef up interest in the show?

    Does anyone actually know when you were on the Let's Make Deal Show, you were told to act as crazy as possible jumping up and down and as excited as possible to get the audiences at home more excited.....it was all scripted to a point.... Wow, like I might be more interested in who wins a cooking show next season. But no, not even that is my type of entertainment. Game shows are a huge waste of my intellegence.

    While the average player is sitting in a corner who btw spent $40 waiting on a bug fix patch that never comes. Or has to hold their breath waiting to see what else is broken after installing a new EP/GP or patch. Someone will blame EA for this, Someone will blame Marketing, I'm going to look at the right people...Maxis. Sigh.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.



    Origin ID: Peapod79
  • Placebo7Placebo7 Posts: 107 Member
    You guys are hilarious. The "different team, different budget" line. LOL. Don't make that team. Then it doesn't need a budget. We could use that to make a decent Sims game. This would be the action of a company concerned about providing loyal players a quality project, though.
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited July 2020
    Camkat wrote: »
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.



    We were not discussing how much they paid the game changers to show up nor where it was filmed. We were talking about how much you have to pay TBS channel to get into a deal with you to air a TV program. That's not chicken feed.

    https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/tv-pitching.htm
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    Camkat wrote: »
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.



    We were not discussing how much they paid the game changers to show up nor where it was filmed. We were talking about how much you have to pay TBS channel to get into a deal with you to air a TV program. That's not chicken feed.

    I was speaking to the OP's statements "cost millions" and their opinion "giving money to youtubers that already have enough money"

    EA has tones of money. They can afford this and afford bug fixes. It's not the marketing department's fault if the people working on bug fixes don't have a large enough budget. It's not really related and the OP even stated that they knew it was two different things. Their complaint when you cut into it was that it was game changers picked for the launch of this and not random simmers: "I might have a better look out on it, if the competitors themselves were just fans...that is something different"


    Origin ID: Peapod79
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    Placebo7 wrote: »
    You guys are hilarious. The "different team, different budget" line. LOL. Don't make that team. Then it doesn't need a budget. We could use that to make a decent Sims game. This would be the action of a company concerned about providing loyal players a quality project, though.

    So no marketing team? 😐
    Im all in to having a better marketing team (this one is inventing ridiculous stuff imo) or allocating budgets in a different way. But they need a marketing team...
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    Camkat wrote: »
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.



    On the lighter side who can we blame? I wonder if Maxis divides up the budgets after EA sanctions their budgets. Everyone says it was marketing but who determines how much of budget marketing gets and how much of a budget the bug fixer gets. General Manager of Maxis? or EA headquarters.

    The thing about getting a TV show is once they sign a contract with a channel that channel has most rights to determine what will be on a show, may change a format or even the writing of a show's content, what type of contestants and how it will all fall into place etc. TBS owns the rights of the show now, but they may have left Maxis a lot of creativity freedom, but Disney owns TBS, they bought out Turner Broadcasting a few years ago. I can expect we can all figure it out.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    Camkat wrote: »
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.



    On the lighter side who can we blame? I wonder if Maxis divides up the budgets after EA sanctions their budgets. Everyone says it was marketing but who determines how much of budget marketing gets and how much of a budget the bug fixer gets. General Manager of Maxis? or EA headquarters.

    The thing about getting a TV show is once they sign a contract with a channel that channel has most rights to determine what will be on a show, may change a format or even the writing of a show's content, what type of contestants and how it will all fall into place etc. TBS owns the rights of the show now, but they may have left Maxis a lot of creativity freedom, but Disney owns TBS, they bought out Turner Broadcasting a few years ago. I can expect we can all figure it out.

    I'd be interested to know some of these details too. Just for curiosity. Who really makes the decisions? EA or Maxis? At the end of the day, someone chose to give that money to marketing or whoever instead of development.

    You also bring up an interesting point about the show's content. Apparently average simmers will get a chance through the gallery contests, for now. That could change in the future, and if that's the case, that will change my opinion of the whole thing. Right now, I'm not bothered by this at all, mostly because I don't see how this is different than say Blizzard running a Starcraft tournament with prize money. Guess we just have to wait and see how this goes and which direction it takes.
    Origin ID: Peapod79
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    edited July 2020
    Cinebar wrote: »
    Camkat wrote: »
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.


    On the lighter side who can we blame? I wonder if Maxis divides up the budgets after EA sanctions their budgets. Everyone says it was marketing but who determines how much of budget marketing gets and how much of a budget the bug fixer gets. General Manager of Maxis? or EA headquarters.

    I would expect the budget is decided depending on what EA thinks that Maxis can deliver and have delivered in the past.

    If I had to guess, this TV show is something that they are doing to extend the lifetime of the sims4. The leaders of Maxis probably had a meeting with EA and they discussed what Maxis can do for the next years and this is what they agreed on. Extend the life of the sims4 for at least a couple of years more. And bring social competition and more online interaction to the sims.

    When it comes to bug fixing I have no idea what is going on, it's almost as if the people who are working on bug fixing have other deadlines to worry about and they don't get paid to do bug fixing. Or because they outsourced whoever made the packs so the bug fixing team has to spend so much time just trying to understand how things got built.

    The only positive thing that I have seen recently is that Maxis have hired new people and it's also possible that this gallery competition is the only social competition and online interaction that we will see in the sims. And that will be enough for EA so Maxis can focus on other things.
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited July 2020
    logion wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    Camkat wrote: »
    I highly doubt it cost them millions to make... They likely own the studio they filmed in and they probably didn't pay the game changers any more than their plane tickets, hotels and food. You can also be sure that the TV station this is being aired on and Buzzfeed have contributed to some of the costs of making this as well.

    It's also unfair to say the youtubers have enough money. How do you know what is enough? I mean I'm sure they make a living but how is ANY of that relevant? They worked for their money and EA didn't pay them, their ad revenue for their channel does and probably some fan donations as well. Some might get asked by EA on occasion to make a video and those clearly say when they are sponsored, otherwise, their content is largely reliant on their own fan base and ads, independant of EA. It was because of that work, initially done for free, that eventually led them to become game changers.


    It's like not letting someone play "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" because they already are millionaires. I don't think they base their contestants on the size of their bank accounts and I don't think it's for EA (or us) to judge who should or shouldn't compete based on personal wealth or lack of it.

    This is also just the beginning. Apparently through the gallery contests, fans will be chosen for next season. It does make some sense to use people used to being in front of a camera to try to sell this initial season.


    On the lighter side who can we blame? I wonder if Maxis divides up the budgets after EA sanctions their budgets. Everyone says it was marketing but who determines how much of budget marketing gets and how much of a budget the bug fixer gets. General Manager of Maxis? or EA headquarters.

    I would expect the budget is decided depending on what EA thinks that Maxis can deliver and have delivered in the past.

    If I had to guess, this TV show is something that they are doing to extend the lifetime of the sims4. The leaders of Maxis probably had a meeting with EA and they discussed what Maxis can do for the next years and this is what they agreed on. Extend the life of the sims4 for at least a couple of years more. And bring social competition and more online interaction to the sims.

    When it comes to bug fixing I have no idea what is going on, it's almost as if the people who are working on bug fixing have other deadlines to worry about and they don't get paid to do bug fixing. Or because they outsourced whoever made the packs so the bug fixing team has to spend so much time just trying to understand how things got built.

    The only positive thing that I have seen recently is that Maxis have hired new people and it's also possible that this gallery competition is the only social competition and online interaction that we will see in the sims. Until the sims5 gets announced anyway.

    The saddest thing I read today is where one of the advid Simmers (we all know them as such) who is always positive about content no matter which game and always posts what they want to see in a patch and or a pack for all the games when they are current, true believer, said something like 'this is for the gamechangers' that says a lot. Someone who is always positive almost all the time, saw this as being for the gamechangers so they were hoping for something in their wish list the next time....think about that frame of mind. An extremely dedicated Simmer who rarely has any complaint about anything, not in TS2, or TS3 or TS4, looked at this and said it was for gamechangers. That's really sad and Maxis has again even mananged to disappoint the most advid, dedicated believer they have. Not a 'game changer' but just a player who is always happy about most content no matter what.

    ETA: It's my opinion the only people who will watch this 'show' are those who care about things like status in gaming circles. Most Simmers who play to play and don't care about a 'status' will rarely, if ever watch it. I don't know what Maxis is trying to do, it's not build fun gameplay anymore is it.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • LittleOldPotatoLittleOldPotato Posts: 24 Member
    I know, this was what I thought! I guess I'll have something to watch, and I'll see some of my favourite youtubers functioning in society, with different editing and just on a TV set and everything but I really think they could of used the money for something to do with the game. I also think it's probably what they planned for the 20 year anniversary (so we will get more than a hot tub thing afterall) but I'm not sure.
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    edited July 2020
    I wrote my thoughts on the new show but my thread was moved from the feedback section to the Sims Spark'd section which nobody reads:
    Here's the link:
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/978570/my-problem-with-the-sims-sparkd#latest

    But yeah I agree fully with this, especially because of the VIP-only cast but also because EA is making such huge efforts in the marketing department while completelly ignoring the game development department. It's so ungrateful considering we have supported and continue to support EA and The Sims so much.
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • ajosimajosim Posts: 1 New Member
    I don't think they really know/care what players really want. I think it's a nice idea but i would much rather whatever the budget was for this went towards base game updates, new packs with actual interesting features and perhaps new animations/interactions. We spend ALOT of money on this game and unfortunately, despite it being 6 yrs old, it still feels incomplete. Also, i don't think there is really a demand for a sims TV show as i think people are pretty happy with the content we can get on Youtube from individual creators...
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