Game changers don’t buy these packs and still gush over them, but insist that people don’t criticize anything whether they buy it or not. Tone deaf. Hope she takes a break from social media, she needs to reflect on just what exactly her position is in this community.
Am I the only person who finds it interesting since the trailer dropped the gurus haven’t made any comments about what is coming in the pack? Usually when trailers drop they answer questions about the pack I haven’t seen this yet with this pack I find it quite interesting how quiet they are being.
Yeah agreed, even GC are surprisingly quiet about it, James Turner aside
I don’t know, Deligracy said she was sick and tired of the sims community tearing down every pack with negativity. DON’T BUY IT IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT.
She has left twitter following the backlash and deleted the tweet.
It can't be fun to be a Game Changer right now.
Oh dear, was the backlash that bad?
I was mostly thinking that it is probably difficult for an EA game changer to be critical about a pack that was most likely requested by EA and not Maxis.
You know what I noticed about the trailer? It may sound random, but all the Sims that are shown are so slim and slender. There's no body variation (no curves and/or no muscular shapes) or anything. It just stood out to me and reminded me of why I love body presets CC so much. This also isn't the case in the Star Wars films or animated series, so it's just... odd.
I had to log in just to say this is the final nail in the coffin for me. I was on an extended break, but I was toying with coming back after a break. This abomination (that almost nobody asked for) is the final straw. I will not be spending anymore money on Sims 4 and will think very carefully about getting sims 5 (if it happens). They’ve been trying to kill off the original Sims 1 players for most of the Sims 4, I held out hope they were getting better, but nope, this about seals it. I’d rather level through BFA (WoW) and that’s saying something. I probably won’t see any replies directly to me because I won’t be checking the forums regularly. Sadly, I think EA aren’t going to listen to what the simmers are telling them (all the things people have been asking for apparently translate into Star Wars!) and the only way they’ll listen is if it hits them in the wallet, I think it’s probably too late in any case now. I know I’m just one person but I refuse to keep playing a franchise I have loved when it’s been more or less destroyed by EA (take note Activision, people will eventually get fed up of your antics).
@SimTrippy it may not make sense to you! but, I see it a differently.
Yeah I get that but people need to retain a sense of realism about what exactly GCs are. And for the most part they are entirely expendable. They are only as valuable as the size of their platforms.
Regardless what people think of Deligracy though she doesn't have to "think about what her place is". She is just as entitled as anyone to an opinion. And more than that: these GCs are people. It troubles me how quickly and easily mob mentality settles in and people forget that - regardless of whom they're targeting.
My first reaction was, and I saw someone else mention this also, why didn't they just expand on the already existing aliens and the Sixam world? I have always loved playing both scientist and aliens, so that would have been an amazing expansion of the gameplay for me. But Star Wars? I'm at a loss for words. SW to me is mostly about battles and fighting. When did we ever do that in the Sims 4 except for brief glimpses during the acting career and for the evil aspiration?
Tbh, most of the things in the trailer are just the same old actions, but wearing SW outfits. I'm sure the starship behaves just like the space rocket. Most of the "aliens" are probably costumes. The story element will be similar to Strangervill with limited replayability. Oh, and let me guess...maybe 5 buildable plots?
I don't have much to say about this pack. I have not watched the trailer though I still get the emails. Sometimes I do watch the trailers to see if any thing at all can spark my interest to bring me back to TS4. And for the last three years that has been a no.
Game Changers weild a lot of power. They are 'hired' by EA to speak for EA to do their best to convince us (influence) to buy a product. They are hired in a sense with perks, free packs, status, featured, promoted, and show cased so they can be the face of EA/Maxis. When they don't follow those little guide lines of being positive, they are sometimes dropped, such as SimsVIP was dropped when they disgreed about something or other with a CM. Or at least that is what others say, I have no idea.
They are free to gush all they want, after all that is the job EA/Maxis has told them to do in order to continue to be invited to events, get their swag and perks and freebies and featured by EA.
Some decided not to bow to that, like LGR, and that's ok, too. But we should all remember what game changers are supposed to be doing and that is influencing you to buy a pack. No matter if you don't like it, it's their chore to convince you, that yes, you do.
Maxis is never worried about the core of this fan base, they said so, It was either Drake and or Kate who said we buy anyway. Do we? I don't.
But what is more telling than any thing is when game changers start to complain about complainers. lol
And make statements like If you don't like it, don't buy it, and they are tired of the negative reactions. Hello, what's wrong, job too hard to convince someone like me to buy anyway? Sorry, about that, but I am an individual who can think for myself. I don't need an influencer for me to rightly decide what is a good pack and or what is a poorly implemented pack and waste of entertainment money and or what is just reused ideas and assets.
But they are right, if I don't like it, I won't buy it anyway....not me, I'm too hard nosed to buy anyway. And proud of it.
That isn't what gets my goat to say if you don't like something don't buy it, because I agree, it's more annoying to see people buy stuff then complain knowing it wasn't all that in the first place.
However, it's another thing to say, a game changer is tired of the negativity, well, then do your 'job' and tell Maxis to get it together and stop being what used to be called a 'yes man' and tell the CM, no this stuff isn't going to be liked by the core, or the current fan base, when you haven't solved the elephant in the room which is poorly done packs and bugs and a poorly done core.
Maxis is ok with some not liking every pack, and they don't or shouldn't expect every one does, but what they refuse to see is many more each day are very tired of the mistakes, the glitches, the bugs, the direction, and most of all the poorly done core. And for some reason, can't even think what that would be unless it's green stuff, they believe linear play is a good idea in SV and possibly in the new star wars pack. odd Must have been because so many bought it anyway. I'm not going to be that little dog (what was his name) that came when a bell was rung, then died because of that earthquake. A Star Wars pack to beef up Disney and EA's new game about Star Wars isn't my idea of The Sims or what it should be. Cross over packs such as that and or zombies in TS3 eating plants/and get a pea shooter so EA could beef up Plants vs Zombies' sales was a bad taste in my mouth then and is in my mouth again with this pack.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
The first thing is the pack itself. A pack that wouldn't help improving the game, a pack that is such a huge plumbing cashgrab, a pack that at least 90% of the community DID NOT ask for.
The second thing is the people who defend it. Every time EA announces a pack that doesn't reach expectations or is generally just a bad idea, there's always people who defend it saying things like "oh, well you don't need to buy it, you know?" or "just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean NOBODY does!" And-- let me just say how tired I am of it. Let's not take away peoples' voices to utter criticism, especially when it's super called for.
But also, those arguments aren't the point. We know that we don't need to buy it and it's pretty obvious that there's gotta be at least someone out there who enjoys the pack. This is, however, still irrelevant to the problem.
The Sims 4 is lacking in engaging, long-term gameplay, but the issue is the core. All these "new and exciting" packs are just putting bandaid over bandaid over a gaping wound that needs stitches. It's not going to help.
"You don't need to buy it, you know." I know. But how long until the next game pack? How long until the next expansion pack? I speak for myself and many others, I believe, when I say that I've been waiting for some core improvements to the game like a "Generations" type pack with content for all ages or an improvement patch which updates the emotions, traits and personalities of the sims. All these uncalled for and, frankly, rather superficial packs like "Star Wars" only halt the progress of things that we really need and want. Things that would improve the game itself on a deep and meaningful level.
All these packs - Star Wars, My First Pet Stuff, Moschino - they would be fine if they came AFTER critically needed packs like a Generations-type pack, Werewolves, Farming, An "improvement" patch, a babies overhaul, a pack for children's activities, more jobs, more traits. These basic necessities that would make the game feel more like an actual life simulator and not a funky, spunky young adult simulator.
How long do we have to wait until EA launches a pack that would improve the core? Packs like Star Wars take resources and time that could've been put into basic improvement.
I can't express how disappointed I am but at the same time... I feel kind of numb. Like, what did we expect? For EA to actually listen to the majority of its fanbase screaming for babies, cars and farming? No. Money talks and that's the only thing they listen to, and as long as people buy these cashgrab packs they're just going to be making more of them.
As many have said, we're literally getting space travel before we get cars. Re-read that sentence and think about it. A supposed "life simulator" has space travel and not cars.
People say that those who are disappointed just need to wait for the next pack, we’ve been waiting for improvements for years. We don’t have so many things we’ve asked for, we just keeping getting random 🐸🐸🐸🐸 that some might like, but the fact so many people have had negative reactions is surely telling. People aren’t just whining for no reason. I’m tired of waiting. The last pack I enjoyed was ROM
Of all the things they could have made, they do Star Wars? They could have teased sims 5 at least, but why Star Wars? This will be the first pack I don’t buy. Congratulations for all the Wars fans I guess...
This one is a hard pass for me. There is absolutely nothing about this pack to redeem it and I will never buy it. Not even maybe. Never. Periodt. I’ve only seen the original three Star Wars, have no interest in expanding my knowledge further of the franchise and have never been interested in a Star Wars game. I can already imagine the walk-by atrocities that will spawn from this pack. It’s already annoying enough to see (among other things) Judith Ward and my played sims walking through Foundry Cove in Willow Creek in their formal attire for no apparent reason (like, seriously, why are you here and why are you dressed like that?). I already have way too many mods to fix the issues that the developers apparently have no interest in fixing and to make up for the lack of features that should exist in the game. Every pack is half done and we have to rely on the amazingly talented modding community to fill in the holes, fix the bugs, and give us the option to turn off unwanted/overdone and annoying features that are ridiculous and nonsensical. Without mods, I would’ve given up on this game within a month after purchasing it.
When I saw the speculation that the new pack was a SW pack and saw the side by side comparison pictures with the leaked pack icon, I was pretty convinced it would be Star Wars simply because EA enjoys giving us the exact opposite of what we’ve vocally asked for. They have no excuse for this behavior.
Community: Free the babies! More activities for our sims!
EA: Strangerville it is!
Community: Give us vacation worlds! Farms! Better skintones and personalities! Fix the bugs!
EA: Did you say Eco Lifestyle and more bugs?
Community: Please give us drivable cars! We’re begging you!
EA: I don’t know about that, but Star Wars sounds awesome, right? 😉
I think a big problem with this pack and other packs, is that worlds collide. The Sims with all their pack has become so fractured. I understand that EA do not want players who don't own a pack should have access to content from it, hence why they can't fix Sixam from GTW. But for the game to properly make sence you should have only base game and one EP or GP installed.
What will happen if I (bought this pack) and sent my most famous Sim to Batuu, would the Stormtrupers fall over themself, faint and beg for her autograph? The scientist from GTW do not have the robotmaker in his career, neither the makermachine from Eco living. The lawyer from university has no connections to the police in GTW and the list goes and for each pack there become more discrepancies. And what I find also annoying with this new pack besides the use of such iconic figures, that I have a hard time seing around my Sims, is the reuse of animations, that is just bad business to resell the same thing that we got in other packs and hope no one will notice
I'm sorry for the huge rant. But I'm absolutely frustrated and can't formulate my ideas shorter in English as a foreigner.
I see several problems with this pack (aside from the fact that it's just a shameless marketing promotion):
Sims is a sandbox game while Star Wars is Heroic SciFi. I do not think these two mix well.
Things won't be satisfying from Star Wars side. Because to live out a Hero fantasy you need to have epic antagonists. Something you can't have in Sims4. What I'm seeing in the trailer are imperial soldiers... dancing and Sith doing evil laughter... That's as far as evil in this game can get. Star Wars is about battles but the most we'll get in Sims will be lightsaber duels. Which I expect will work the same way as ROM duels. Hardly a heroic thing. Next they can't bring functional guns into this game of course. So it'll be only saber combats? What about troopers, smugglers, bounty hunters etc.? They'll have to use lightsabers as well I guess... which is ridiculous. Also as a huge Star Wars fan I must say Jedi are not about cool swords it's the whole teaching and philosophy which of course would be completely diminished to stupid animations and popular "Jedi tricks". "Shallow" is a regular word to describe TS4 gameplay and it'll be inevitably applied to Star Wars part in it as well.
From Sims side it's not even close to sandbox. I love supernaturals in Sims. Aliens being my favorite since TS2 Smith family times. And imo supernaturals always were very subtle. You could play your vampire as classic count Dracula or as modern VTM punk-goth. You could play dark covens or go Harry Potter style with witches and so on... Extending existing aliens with more CAS customization/assets and abilities then putting them in a generic SciFi world setting would be much more sandboxy. Telling Star Wars story using such expansion would be just a question of personal preference. Since we have futuristic sword fights from GetFamous already and tones of Star Wars costumes used mostly for memes. But then players could tell StarTreck stories, Dune stories, any SciFi stories they want as well. Instead we are forced into very recognizable setting which is not expanding options but limiting them. "content that takes players’ imaginations beyond their limits" excuse me, but no it actually takes my imagination in a very specific route. To make things even worse they could at least make it "generic" Star Wars with just some unknown Jedi/Sith but not Kylo Ren and Rey. That's too much.
From gameplay point of view what I gather from blog post and press release it's mission/story driven. So even if I'am to tell "my own story" this story would be dictated to me by the pack. My guess it'll be in the form of new Aspirations (Strangerville 2.0) one for good and one for bad guys. Which makes me afraid it'll be a one time deal. And I dare to predict NPC problems the scale of ROM and EcoLifestyle with NPC appearance and scripted behavior. Imagine all the troopers around Goth house, and Pancakes force-wielding... No, thank you. Willow Creek house remade Star Wars style in the trailer looked so out of place... Which brings the next problem - very limiting assets this time including CAS (a big deal for a lot of people). And once again no gameplay for age groups other than YA. Mainly nothing for kids and toddlers. Well of course my average granny would gladly Sith-choke someone on her weekend.
Also... I hate to say it out loud, but "reused animations and mechanics" pretending to be new. We already have robotics, we already have sword fights, we already have bars and food stalls, duels and card games (which exactly Sabacc is). If I say want to have something for my regular gameplay from this... What could I do?... Have an alien themed restaurant? But I already have it with experimental food and assets from various packs. Have a geek-club role-playing SW, but I already have it with Geekon, existing SW costumes and GetFamous Sword fights, Uni bots as droids and Jedi/Sith powers they use are just mage powers... I can't see anything radically new added with this GP besides "TM" at the logo.
Usually I'm very against public shaming/excuses but this time I think some explanations from EA are in order. They need to acknowledge that the only thing this GP is "the major first" at is how badly it was received. They need to give a loud and clear improvement plan for the game. Or they need to say it out loud that Sims is not a sand-box life simulator anymore. So that nobody would have any expectations about such development. I personally believe the latter is much more possible than some promises of improvement. So I'm personally going back to TS2/3. And won't buy any TS4 packs for now until the further scope of the game will be more clear.
I get the dislike, or the outright hate for this pack.
I thought it was a bad move when I first heard about it.
It is very surprising to me that they would even attempt it considering the backlash from the Star Wars fan base over Disney's approach to continuing the Star Wars saga and the failure of Galaxy's Edge. If feels more like EA doing Disney a favor than making content to improve TS4.
This pack however, will be useful to me, so don't be surprised if you see me showing pictures on launch day.
I have been doing some inventive play for my cosplaying teen sims that started with City Living and Geekcon. It got more material with content from Get Famous-- a huge amount of material actually. And now The Journey to Batuu will bring a fantastic vacation destination for my cosplaying/sci-fi loving sims.
I believe I will attempt the same thing with Strangerville.
I will look at it like an immersive entertainment experience for lovers of The X-files and Stranger things TV shows.
So the repetition of the experience will make more sense as a once, or twice in a lifetime experience for a specific sim who would be into such things.
I’d like to say something about a comment I read in the positive topic (and I don’t want to spoil that one): the comment all the negativism is toxic and entitled. Is it? Is a negative opinion automatically toxic? Is anger and disappointment toxic? And is it entitled? Why? An opinion is an opinion. And if one opinion seems to dominate that can be overwhelming and nasty when you don’t share it. That doesn’t necessarily make it toxic or entitled though.
The problem of course isn’t this pack. I was disappointed when Sims 3’s last pack turned out to be a SF one, but it didn’t anger me. It just wasn’t my cup of tea (fortunately it turned out to be a nice cuppa anyways). The problem is and will always be Sims 4 in general.
These two comments sum up what I've wanted to address because I've seen a few comments on different sites about how people are tired of complaints and the fans of The Sims are so selfish and entitled and that's a little laughable to me.
It's been 6 years. 6 years of most of the same complaints. 6 years of some of the same people calling complainers entitled and selfish telling those same complainers to 'just give it a chance' and 'how do you know you don't like it if you don't (buy it and) try it'. 6 years and money these players can't get back and now they're entitled and selfish for complaining about how for 6 years all they've wanted is these same key things, most of them fixes, yet still haven't gotten them even though they've waited and invested and gave the team chance after chance after chance? I think players have every right to feel fed up and voice that to EA because they don't seem to be listening and that's what part of the problem is.
If they want to see more positivity in the community and are tired of an angry fan- not even fan base, but consumers. These are paying customers who at the very least already own the base game so they're invested. If they're tired of that then encourage EA to listen to and do better by players.
I was wondering what people meant when they said this was the last voted for thing and saw this last night in case anyone else was wondering too.
Now I know based on the date the pack was probably done or near done by then but they claim to know their players well. How did they not know just how much this wasn't wanted?
@Bluelle but on some level you need to know that the core of this game is never going to change? And yes there are a lot of things wrong with it, but these packs are made for the people that like the core. If they haven't fixed it 6 years in, they never will. No pack they can release, not even a Generations pack, will change what TS4 is at this point. So I'm guessing people "defend" it because, fundamentally, that gaping hole you see, simply isn't there for them. They enjoy it.
Me? I think it definitely needs stitches. I just don't think those will come. And what is there I kind of enjoy. The criticism I have with this pack though, and there are a few, are about this pack. Not the base game. Because I've long realized that part won't ever change.
Am I the only person who finds it interesting since the trailer dropped the gurus haven’t made any comments about what is coming in the pack? Usually when trailers drop they answer questions about the pack I haven’t seen this yet with this pack I find it quite interesting how quiet they are being.
I’d like to say something about a comment I read in the positive topic (and I don’t want to spoil that one): the comment all the negativism is toxic and entitled. Is it? Is a negative opinion automatically toxic? Is anger and disappointment toxic? And is it entitled? Why? An opinion is an opinion. And if one opinion seems to dominate that can be overwhelming and nasty when you don’t share it. That doesn’t necessarily make it toxic or entitled though.
The problem of course isn’t this pack. I was disappointed when Sims 3’s last pack turned out to be a SF one, but it didn’t anger me. It just wasn’t my cup of tea (fortunately it turned out to be a nice cuppa anyways). The problem is and will always be Sims 4 in general.
These two comments sum up what I've wanted to address because I've seen a few comments on different sites about how people are tired of complaints and the fans of The Sims are so selfish and entitled and that's a little laughable to me.
It's been 6 years. 6 years of most of the same complaints. 6 years of some of the same people calling complainers entitled and selfish telling those same complainers to 'just give it a chance' and 'how do you know you don't like it if you don't (buy it and) try it'. 6 years and money these players can't get back and now they're entitled and selfish for complaining about how for 6 years all they've wanted is these same key things, most of them fixes, yet still haven't gotten them even though they've waited and invested and gave the team chance after chance after chance? I think players have every right to feel fed up and voice that to EA because they don't seem to be listening and that's what part of the problem is.
If they want to see more positivity in the community and are tired of an angry fan- not even fan base, but consumers. These are paying customers who at the very least already own the base game so they're invested. If they're tired of that then encourage EA to listen to and do better by players.
I was wondering what people meant when they said this was the last voted for thing and saw this last night in case anyone else was wondering too.
Now I know based on the date the pack was probably done or near done by then but they claim to know their players well. How did they not know just how much this wasn't wanted?
They do know. I think they leaked it on purpose to dilute the anger and prepare people for this. People would still be mad but we were expecting Star Wars last night. And even though they managed to surpass my already rock bottom expectations I am no longer surprised.
They know people will be mad, they know people will complain but the bottom line is this will sell. The community buys everything. A former CM said EA KNOW they WILL get your money, be it at launch, down the line or on a sale or In a bundle. She tweeted that around about Moschino stuff.
That’s a pretty arrogant attitude to have but unfortunately it’s true for so many. I have been guilty of this. In the sims 1-3 days I asked for (as gifts as I was a kid) or I bought every single piece of dlc without question, without thought. I did it because I adore those games and those games delivered. With the sims 4 I watch reviews, I read reviews and I wait for more information. I have been guilty of buying some packs when I said I wouldn’t like Island Living but I have regretted it. I don’t have all the packs for sims 4. I refuse to buy this one.
I was talking to a friend who said she is a collector and she said she will buy EVERYTHING the team put out. She doesn’t like Star Wars, she hates it, but she will buy this pack because she needs a complete collection.
(She doesn’t even really like the sims 4 but that’s another issue)
I believe that school of thought is how many in the sims community think.
I mean during the sims 1-3 run I may have bought a Star Wars pack. Maybe. I did buy KP Sweet treats but I actually would argue that’s a better pack than this.😂
Even if it wasn’t Star Wars but space themed I wouldn’t buy this pack. I don’t care for SW or that kind of theme and the sims 4 doesn’t have that magic with me where I will buy everything blindly because the sims 4 lacks the quality and game play, long term game play and bang for your buck the older games have.
I think EA are trying to recoup some of the loss and damage from their previous failed SW games they made that didn’t go so well by passing SW into the Sims, a community that will buy anything.
Well, I was on board with this pack at first...but the more I look at the backlash and been watching videos. I can see why they are angry....
I might not buy this afterall....
The Sims 4 is on its own the controversial one and this pack is just the cherry on top of the cake.
This franchise is not the same it used to be. May not be the final shot but it will make an important impact for sure. Maybe we need something like this to make EA listen for once!
Now It's totally on the hands of the community! The majority needs to boycott the pack and let it flop!
But whatever happens this is already the most divisive pack of the history of The Sims!
6 years of some of the same people calling complainers entitled and selfish telling those same complainers to 'just give it a chance' and 'how do you know you don't like it if you don't (buy it and) try it'
What really gets me is that the same people who say "Don't like it, don't buy it" will turn around when it's released and say "If you didn't buy it, you can't judge it". They really should just be honest about their true feelings: Complainers shouldn't express their opinions.
I have seen that ridiculous "Don't like it, don't buy it" phrase thrown around in this community since at least the days of The Sims 3. It's always been code for "Shut up".
This is a really absurd time to use it, too. Star Wars is such a narrow theme that the complainers aren't likely to find something in it to make them turn around and purchase it. So... We aren't buying it. Simple. We still get to express our opinions. Get over it.
@Bluelle but on some level you need to know that the core of this game is never going to change? And yes there are a lot of things wrong with it, but these packs are made for the people that like the core. If they haven't fixed it 6 years in, they never will. No pack they can release, not even a Generations pack, will change what TS4 is at this point. So I'm guessing people "defend" it because, fundamentally, that gaping hole you see, simply isn't there for them. They enjoy it.
Me? I think it definitely needs stitches. I just don't think those will come. And what is there I kind of enjoy. The criticism I have with this pack though, and there are a few, are about this pack. Not the base game. Because I've long realized that part won't ever change.
For me personally, a Generations type pack would improve the core but not fix it. Basic family play and basic generational play. Teenagers could be changed into actual teenagers. Shorter, sneak out, throw secret parties. Elders could have canes, babies could be carried around, children could have more after school experiences etc etc. These things wouldn't fix the problem with the core but they would improve them, wouldn't they? It would make the sims feel more real and alive.
No things in life are black and white but I do feel like there's sort of two sides to TS4. Those who want more realistic and deep gameplay reminiscent of the one in TS2, and the ones who are fine with a shallow, quick time fun experience.
They could definitely change emotions. A family death should weigh more than "nicely decorated", that is doable. "Fine" could be the default emotion and not "Happy", this is also doable.
Obviously you can't change the actual core-core of a game that's already established. It would basically be a completely new game if they tried it - better just get started on TS5 in that case, but there are improvements to be made. It's not impossible. EA is a multi million dollar company and TS4 definitely has enough funding for this.
Why does the team conduct surveys in order to gauge the interests of the community only to end up creating something completely off the radar? I don't get it. More than ever, it feels as if the devs are making the game that they want to play regardless of what their surveys keep telling them that the community prefers.
This pack is particularly aggravating because it's a game pack. Within the TS4's iteration of The Sims, game packs are usually the ones with the most gameplay to offer and the team blew those resources on such a niche product? A niche, mission-based scenario with a theme that is completely cut off from the rest of The Sims lore can only weaken the franchise further. As it is, TS4 has already struggled to maintain its identity as part of The Sims universe because it's missing so many of the essential features and lore-based links to the rest of the universe. As such, now is not the moment to waste time and extremely limited resources on crossovers.
If the developers were aching for an alien world, they could have expanded on Sixam instead of stepping into a completely different and unrelated universe. Heck, they could have created new lore by creating a competing civilization to the one on Sixam. Perhaps, that new civilization could have been the homeworld of The Mother or even the cow plant!
Or the devs could have expanded upon any one of the hidden worlds that they claim that players hardly utilize. We don't utilize them because other than pretty visuals and collecting, they're useless. The devs could have started by giving them a purpose. They could have introduced those places as places of origin for fairies or werewolves, for example.
But, no. It's Star Wars. Yet again. It's not as if they haven't already been shoving Star Wars paraphernalia down our throats for the last six years. Did we really need an entire pack devoted to only that?
Each new pack, I keep hoping that something will change for TS4. The devs never disappoint, however. They've been pretty consistent in producing half-finished products or products that totally miss the mark. They're backed by a multibillion- dollar company. The franchise itself has created billions in revenue. So why does this keep happening? I wish that someone from EA/Maxis would sit down and have an honest, heart-to-heart discussion with the community about how these decisions are made.
I was disappointed with the knitting and decided not to buy it just like I have no interest in Strangerville. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything without those either. I won’t be buying Star Wars. There’s so so many other things they could do with the game. I’m not a Star Wars fan, never was. Just not my thing I guess. They refuse to listen to what we want.
Comments
I was mostly thinking that it is probably difficult for an EA game changer to be critical about a pack that was most likely requested by EA and not Maxis.
The Straud Family Tree
Yeah I get that but people need to retain a sense of realism about what exactly GCs are. And for the most part they are entirely expendable. They are only as valuable as the size of their platforms.
Regardless what people think of Deligracy though she doesn't have to "think about what her place is". She is just as entitled as anyone to an opinion. And more than that: these GCs are people. It troubles me how quickly and easily mob mentality settles in and people forget that - regardless of whom they're targeting.
Tbh, most of the things in the trailer are just the same old actions, but wearing SW outfits. I'm sure the starship behaves just like the space rocket. Most of the "aliens" are probably costumes. The story element will be similar to Strangervill with limited replayability. Oh, and let me guess...maybe 5 buildable plots?
Game Changers weild a lot of power. They are 'hired' by EA to speak for EA to do their best to convince us (influence) to buy a product. They are hired in a sense with perks, free packs, status, featured, promoted, and show cased so they can be the face of EA/Maxis. When they don't follow those little guide lines of being positive, they are sometimes dropped, such as SimsVIP was dropped when they disgreed about something or other with a CM. Or at least that is what others say, I have no idea.
They are free to gush all they want, after all that is the job EA/Maxis has told them to do in order to continue to be invited to events, get their swag and perks and freebies and featured by EA.
Some decided not to bow to that, like LGR, and that's ok, too. But we should all remember what game changers are supposed to be doing and that is influencing you to buy a pack. No matter if you don't like it, it's their chore to convince you, that yes, you do.
Maxis is never worried about the core of this fan base, they said so, It was either Drake and or Kate who said we buy anyway. Do we? I don't.
But what is more telling than any thing is when game changers start to complain about complainers. lol
And make statements like If you don't like it, don't buy it, and they are tired of the negative reactions. Hello, what's wrong, job too hard to convince someone like me to buy anyway? Sorry, about that, but I am an individual who can think for myself. I don't need an influencer for me to rightly decide what is a good pack and or what is a poorly implemented pack and waste of entertainment money and or what is just reused ideas and assets.
But they are right, if I don't like it, I won't buy it anyway....not me, I'm too hard nosed to buy anyway. And proud of it.
That isn't what gets my goat to say if you don't like something don't buy it, because I agree, it's more annoying to see people buy stuff then complain knowing it wasn't all that in the first place.
However, it's another thing to say, a game changer is tired of the negativity, well, then do your 'job' and tell Maxis to get it together and stop being what used to be called a 'yes man' and tell the CM, no this stuff isn't going to be liked by the core, or the current fan base, when you haven't solved the elephant in the room which is poorly done packs and bugs and a poorly done core.
Maxis is ok with some not liking every pack, and they don't or shouldn't expect every one does, but what they refuse to see is many more each day are very tired of the mistakes, the glitches, the bugs, the direction, and most of all the poorly done core. And for some reason, can't even think what that would be unless it's green stuff, they believe linear play is a good idea in SV and possibly in the new star wars pack. odd Must have been because so many bought it anyway. I'm not going to be that little dog (what was his name) that came when a bell was rung, then died because of that earthquake. A Star Wars pack to beef up Disney and EA's new game about Star Wars isn't my idea of The Sims or what it should be. Cross over packs such as that and or zombies in TS3 eating plants/and get a pea shooter so EA could beef up Plants vs Zombies' sales was a bad taste in my mouth then and is in my mouth again with this pack.
The first thing is the pack itself. A pack that wouldn't help improving the game, a pack that is such a huge plumbing cashgrab, a pack that at least 90% of the community DID NOT ask for.
The second thing is the people who defend it. Every time EA announces a pack that doesn't reach expectations or is generally just a bad idea, there's always people who defend it saying things like "oh, well you don't need to buy it, you know?" or "just because YOU don't like it doesn't mean NOBODY does!" And-- let me just say how tired I am of it. Let's not take away peoples' voices to utter criticism, especially when it's super called for.
But also, those arguments aren't the point. We know that we don't need to buy it and it's pretty obvious that there's gotta be at least someone out there who enjoys the pack. This is, however, still irrelevant to the problem.
The Sims 4 is lacking in engaging, long-term gameplay, but the issue is the core. All these "new and exciting" packs are just putting bandaid over bandaid over a gaping wound that needs stitches. It's not going to help.
"You don't need to buy it, you know." I know. But how long until the next game pack? How long until the next expansion pack? I speak for myself and many others, I believe, when I say that I've been waiting for some core improvements to the game like a "Generations" type pack with content for all ages or an improvement patch which updates the emotions, traits and personalities of the sims. All these uncalled for and, frankly, rather superficial packs like "Star Wars" only halt the progress of things that we really need and want. Things that would improve the game itself on a deep and meaningful level.
All these packs - Star Wars, My First Pet Stuff, Moschino - they would be fine if they came AFTER critically needed packs like a Generations-type pack, Werewolves, Farming, An "improvement" patch, a babies overhaul, a pack for children's activities, more jobs, more traits. These basic necessities that would make the game feel more like an actual life simulator and not a funky, spunky young adult simulator.
How long do we have to wait until EA launches a pack that would improve the core? Packs like Star Wars take resources and time that could've been put into basic improvement.
I can't express how disappointed I am but at the same time... I feel kind of numb. Like, what did we expect? For EA to actually listen to the majority of its fanbase screaming for babies, cars and farming? No. Money talks and that's the only thing they listen to, and as long as people buy these cashgrab packs they're just going to be making more of them.
As many have said, we're literally getting space travel before we get cars. Re-read that sentence and think about it. A supposed "life simulator" has space travel and not cars.
When I saw the speculation that the new pack was a SW pack and saw the side by side comparison pictures with the leaked pack icon, I was pretty convinced it would be Star Wars simply because EA enjoys giving us the exact opposite of what we’ve vocally asked for. They have no excuse for this behavior.
Community: Free the babies! More activities for our sims!
EA: Strangerville it is!
Community: Give us vacation worlds! Farms! Better skintones and personalities! Fix the bugs!
EA: Did you say Eco Lifestyle and more bugs?
Community: Please give us drivable cars! We’re begging you!
EA: I don’t know about that, but Star Wars sounds awesome, right? 😉
What will happen if I (bought this pack) and sent my most famous Sim to Batuu, would the Stormtrupers fall over themself, faint and beg for her autograph? The scientist from GTW do not have the robotmaker in his career, neither the makermachine from Eco living. The lawyer from university has no connections to the police in GTW and the list goes and for each pack there become more discrepancies. And what I find also annoying with this new pack besides the use of such iconic figures, that I have a hard time seing around my Sims, is the reuse of animations, that is just bad business to resell the same thing that we got in other packs and hope no one will notice
I see several problems with this pack (aside from the fact that it's just a shameless marketing promotion):
Sims is a sandbox game while Star Wars is Heroic SciFi. I do not think these two mix well.
Things won't be satisfying from Star Wars side. Because to live out a Hero fantasy you need to have epic antagonists. Something you can't have in Sims4. What I'm seeing in the trailer are imperial soldiers... dancing and Sith doing evil laughter... That's as far as evil in this game can get. Star Wars is about battles but the most we'll get in Sims will be lightsaber duels. Which I expect will work the same way as ROM duels. Hardly a heroic thing. Next they can't bring functional guns into this game of course. So it'll be only saber combats? What about troopers, smugglers, bounty hunters etc.? They'll have to use lightsabers as well I guess... which is ridiculous. Also as a huge Star Wars fan I must say Jedi are not about cool swords it's the whole teaching and philosophy which of course would be completely diminished to stupid animations and popular "Jedi tricks". "Shallow" is a regular word to describe TS4 gameplay and it'll be inevitably applied to Star Wars part in it as well.
From Sims side it's not even close to sandbox. I love supernaturals in Sims. Aliens being my favorite since TS2 Smith family times. And imo supernaturals always were very subtle. You could play your vampire as classic count Dracula or as modern VTM punk-goth. You could play dark covens or go Harry Potter style with witches and so on... Extending existing aliens with more CAS customization/assets and abilities then putting them in a generic SciFi world setting would be much more sandboxy. Telling Star Wars story using such expansion would be just a question of personal preference. Since we have futuristic sword fights from GetFamous already and tones of Star Wars costumes used mostly for memes. But then players could tell StarTreck stories, Dune stories, any SciFi stories they want as well. Instead we are forced into very recognizable setting which is not expanding options but limiting them. "content that takes players’ imaginations beyond their limits" excuse me, but no it actually takes my imagination in a very specific route. To make things even worse they could at least make it "generic" Star Wars with just some unknown Jedi/Sith but not Kylo Ren and Rey. That's too much.
From gameplay point of view what I gather from blog post and press release it's mission/story driven. So even if I'am to tell "my own story" this story would be dictated to me by the pack. My guess it'll be in the form of new Aspirations (Strangerville 2.0) one for good and one for bad guys. Which makes me afraid it'll be a one time deal. And I dare to predict NPC problems the scale of ROM and EcoLifestyle with NPC appearance and scripted behavior. Imagine all the troopers around Goth house, and Pancakes force-wielding... No, thank you. Willow Creek house remade Star Wars style in the trailer looked so out of place... Which brings the next problem - very limiting assets this time including CAS (a big deal for a lot of people). And once again no gameplay for age groups other than YA. Mainly nothing for kids and toddlers. Well of course my average granny would gladly Sith-choke someone on her weekend.
Also... I hate to say it out loud, but "reused animations and mechanics" pretending to be new. We already have robotics, we already have sword fights, we already have bars and food stalls, duels and card games (which exactly Sabacc is). If I say want to have something for my regular gameplay from this... What could I do?... Have an alien themed restaurant? But I already have it with experimental food and assets from various packs. Have a geek-club role-playing SW, but I already have it with Geekon, existing SW costumes and GetFamous Sword fights, Uni bots as droids and Jedi/Sith powers they use are just mage powers... I can't see anything radically new added with this GP besides "TM" at the logo.
Usually I'm very against public shaming/excuses but this time I think some explanations from EA are in order. They need to acknowledge that the only thing this GP is "the major first" at is how badly it was received. They need to give a loud and clear improvement plan for the game. Or they need to say it out loud that Sims is not a sand-box life simulator anymore. So that nobody would have any expectations about such development. I personally believe the latter is much more possible than some promises of improvement. So I'm personally going back to TS2/3. And won't buy any TS4 packs for now until the further scope of the game will be more clear.
I thought it was a bad move when I first heard about it.
It is very surprising to me that they would even attempt it considering the backlash from the Star Wars fan base over Disney's approach to continuing the Star Wars saga and the failure of Galaxy's Edge. If feels more like EA doing Disney a favor than making content to improve TS4.
This pack however, will be useful to me, so don't be surprised if you see me showing pictures on launch day.
I have been doing some inventive play for my cosplaying teen sims that started with City Living and Geekcon. It got more material with content from Get Famous-- a huge amount of material actually. And now The Journey to Batuu will bring a fantastic vacation destination for my cosplaying/sci-fi loving sims.
I believe I will attempt the same thing with Strangerville.
I will look at it like an immersive entertainment experience for lovers of The X-files and Stranger things TV shows.
So the repetition of the experience will make more sense as a once, or twice in a lifetime experience for a specific sim who would be into such things.
These two comments sum up what I've wanted to address because I've seen a few comments on different sites about how people are tired of complaints and the fans of The Sims are so selfish and entitled and that's a little laughable to me.
It's been 6 years. 6 years of most of the same complaints. 6 years of some of the same people calling complainers entitled and selfish telling those same complainers to 'just give it a chance' and 'how do you know you don't like it if you don't (buy it and) try it'. 6 years and money these players can't get back and now they're entitled and selfish for complaining about how for 6 years all they've wanted is these same key things, most of them fixes, yet still haven't gotten them even though they've waited and invested and gave the team chance after chance after chance? I think players have every right to feel fed up and voice that to EA because they don't seem to be listening and that's what part of the problem is.
If they want to see more positivity in the community and are tired of an angry fan- not even fan base, but consumers. These are paying customers who at the very least already own the base game so they're invested. If they're tired of that then encourage EA to listen to and do better by players.
I was wondering what people meant when they said this was the last voted for thing and saw this last night in case anyone else was wondering too.
Now I know based on the date the pack was probably done or near done by then but they claim to know their players well. How did they not know just how much this wasn't wanted?
Me? I think it definitely needs stitches. I just don't think those will come. And what is there I kind of enjoy. The criticism I have with this pack though, and there are a few, are about this pack. Not the base game. Because I've long realized that part won't ever change.
Yeah..I wanna see their response.
They do know. I think they leaked it on purpose to dilute the anger and prepare people for this. People would still be mad but we were expecting Star Wars last night. And even though they managed to surpass my already rock bottom expectations I am no longer surprised.
They know people will be mad, they know people will complain but the bottom line is this will sell. The community buys everything. A former CM said EA KNOW they WILL get your money, be it at launch, down the line or on a sale or In a bundle. She tweeted that around about Moschino stuff.
That’s a pretty arrogant attitude to have but unfortunately it’s true for so many. I have been guilty of this. In the sims 1-3 days I asked for (as gifts as I was a kid) or I bought every single piece of dlc without question, without thought. I did it because I adore those games and those games delivered. With the sims 4 I watch reviews, I read reviews and I wait for more information. I have been guilty of buying some packs when I said I wouldn’t like Island Living but I have regretted it. I don’t have all the packs for sims 4. I refuse to buy this one.
I was talking to a friend who said she is a collector and she said she will buy EVERYTHING the team put out. She doesn’t like Star Wars, she hates it, but she will buy this pack because she needs a complete collection.
(She doesn’t even really like the sims 4 but that’s another issue)
I believe that school of thought is how many in the sims community think.
I mean during the sims 1-3 run I may have bought a Star Wars pack. Maybe. I did buy KP Sweet treats but I actually would argue that’s a better pack than this.😂
Even if it wasn’t Star Wars but space themed I wouldn’t buy this pack. I don’t care for SW or that kind of theme and the sims 4 doesn’t have that magic with me where I will buy everything blindly because the sims 4 lacks the quality and game play, long term game play and bang for your buck the older games have.
I think EA are trying to recoup some of the loss and damage from their previous failed SW games they made that didn’t go so well by passing SW into the Sims, a community that will buy anything.
I might not buy this afterall....
This franchise is not the same it used to be. May not be the final shot but it will make an important impact for sure. Maybe we need something like this to make EA listen for once!
Now It's totally on the hands of the community! The majority needs to boycott the pack and let it flop!
But whatever happens this is already the most divisive pack of the history of The Sims!
What really gets me is that the same people who say "Don't like it, don't buy it" will turn around when it's released and say "If you didn't buy it, you can't judge it". They really should just be honest about their true feelings: Complainers shouldn't express their opinions.
I have seen that ridiculous "Don't like it, don't buy it" phrase thrown around in this community since at least the days of The Sims 3. It's always been code for "Shut up".
This is a really absurd time to use it, too. Star Wars is such a narrow theme that the complainers aren't likely to find something in it to make them turn around and purchase it. So... We aren't buying it. Simple. We still get to express our opinions. Get over it.
For me personally, a Generations type pack would improve the core but not fix it. Basic family play and basic generational play. Teenagers could be changed into actual teenagers. Shorter, sneak out, throw secret parties. Elders could have canes, babies could be carried around, children could have more after school experiences etc etc. These things wouldn't fix the problem with the core but they would improve them, wouldn't they? It would make the sims feel more real and alive.
No things in life are black and white but I do feel like there's sort of two sides to TS4. Those who want more realistic and deep gameplay reminiscent of the one in TS2, and the ones who are fine with a shallow, quick time fun experience.
They could definitely change emotions. A family death should weigh more than "nicely decorated", that is doable. "Fine" could be the default emotion and not "Happy", this is also doable.
Obviously you can't change the actual core-core of a game that's already established. It would basically be a completely new game if they tried it - better just get started on TS5 in that case, but there are improvements to be made. It's not impossible. EA is a multi million dollar company and TS4 definitely has enough funding for this.
This pack is particularly aggravating because it's a game pack. Within the TS4's iteration of The Sims, game packs are usually the ones with the most gameplay to offer and the team blew those resources on such a niche product? A niche, mission-based scenario with a theme that is completely cut off from the rest of The Sims lore can only weaken the franchise further. As it is, TS4 has already struggled to maintain its identity as part of The Sims universe because it's missing so many of the essential features and lore-based links to the rest of the universe. As such, now is not the moment to waste time and extremely limited resources on crossovers.
If the developers were aching for an alien world, they could have expanded on Sixam instead of stepping into a completely different and unrelated universe. Heck, they could have created new lore by creating a competing civilization to the one on Sixam. Perhaps, that new civilization could have been the homeworld of The Mother or even the cow plant!
Or the devs could have expanded upon any one of the hidden worlds that they claim that players hardly utilize. We don't utilize them because other than pretty visuals and collecting, they're useless. The devs could have started by giving them a purpose. They could have introduced those places as places of origin for fairies or werewolves, for example.
But, no. It's Star Wars. Yet again. It's not as if they haven't already been shoving Star Wars paraphernalia down our throats for the last six years. Did we really need an entire pack devoted to only that?
Each new pack, I keep hoping that something will change for TS4. The devs never disappoint, however. They've been pretty consistent in producing half-finished products or products that totally miss the mark. They're backed by a multibillion- dollar company. The franchise itself has created billions in revenue. So why does this keep happening? I wish that someone from EA/Maxis would sit down and have an honest, heart-to-heart discussion with the community about how these decisions are made.