I would love a road map if it includes more than just the type of pack. I liked how in the sims 2 we got a leaflet in each CD box with the title of the next pack. It is nice to have something to look forward to and not just wild speculation.
I really think both players and developers benefit from more communication. If the general theme of a pack is known sooner. The developers get feedback sooner and if necessary they can do a few tweaks while a pack is still in development. Or they can explain certain design choices so players get more insight into the development process. And we as the players don't go crazy with expectations. I think this would be the best way to make sure the developers stay in touch with what the simmers want.
That's exactly how I feel! I even tweeted a response saying the same thing a few days ago, about being more transparent and how in TS2 we got the little advertisement for the next upcoming pack.
After this next pack, it will be time for the "second half of 2020" roadmap, which ought to be just as vague, and just as specific, as the one we got at the beginning of the year, which told us, just for example, that the Game Pack this year would be something we hadn't seen before - which it was.
No, they don't need to leak.
We got a beautiful look in the window at pack development for Nifty Knitting, explaining various stages and who does what sort of work from concept to release. People were kind of rude about it. If you want to know why we don't have more transparency from the studio, go take a good long look in the the mirror.
I picked other, because I've only tried to follow the roadmap for one other game, APB.
I would really like if they gave us one, but on the other hand, my experience with a roadmap for a game (from an entirely different company so it doesnt reflect on EA/Maxis) Has been disappointment.
If they put a roadmap and followed it, it would be great, but on the other hand, that gets peoples expectations up.
No because of the heavy speculation that almost never meets the expectations (see Happy Haunts)
If they tell us we'll be getting a GP in 6 months people are going to start speculating already and it's probably going to be disappointing. I look at all those threads from before Star Wars watching what the people though the game pack will be and it's honestly disheartening.
Yes. I would like that (Give Ideas how you think they can be more open)
I really love surprises from people and sources I trust
So I would like it if EA/Maxis/gurus/devs/whoever would just spit it out. I don't need every detail, but I want to know important ones like theme, general gameplay, etc.
Yes I do, I asked if they could be more transparent on twitter about what they were currently working on. I explained how in other games when we bought a game disc there was an advertisement in it for the next upcoming pack it was really nice to have something to look forward to. I said we don't need actual dates, just info.
So yes, I would like more information upfront on what is coming in the future instead of stringing people along and getting the entire community in an uproar when it's NOT what people had been speculating it would be.
Telling people from the beginning that "The current packs/updates we're planning on releasing some time this year are: yada yada yada yada". There does not need to be any date set in stone, if set backs happen, they're not tied to a certain release date. If something major DID happen and something would need to be pushed back further than they thought, then just explain what is going on.
I know an actual release date on packs isn't possible but I would like an estimated time of release and possibly a theme. For example, start the year with a road map similar to what they did in April but also tell us the theme of the pack. Something like "2021, here are the pack types that are set to release, and here are the themes. The estimated release dates are xyz, which are subject to change." I think making it clear what the theme is and at least the month in which we could expect the packs would help a lot. If anything it would kind of calm wild speculation...and even fake leaks. The same could be done for patches as well.
Yep, atleast tell us about the theme so we can set the expectations clear rather than "It is something that you will love" and then end up disappointed when it is not a fan requested feature.
Yes. I would like that (Give Ideas how you think they can be more open)
I don't need to be surprised by Sims 4 anymore... Most have been bad surprises IMO. What I do want is to know what's coming and that way I can temper my disappointment. I honestly believe Star Wars is taking so much of a hit because Simmers were expecting other things and/or repairs to the game. To follow it up with something that doesn't even fit in the game just made people madder than they would have been if it were a generic aliens pack.
Yes. I would like that (Give Ideas how you think they can be more open)
I would prefer a trailer a month in advanced. Not a fan of teasers either. I know it is an accounting thing, but honestly accounting is done in a quarterly basis to be delivered to the higher ups, so a month is more than enough time. I think they should focus on quality over quantity too. They also need to give more notice for playtesters and game changers too to you know actually test the packs before release to the public. This 24-48 hour thing is a marketing joke.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
I think they mostly need to fix when they give hints and what type of hints if they wanna keep at it
cause simply saying " we are making ep!" gives nothing to speculate on so people go wild in all directions like "IS IT GENERATIONS?CARS?BABIES?HOTELS?"
and then get disappointed when its something completely unrelated
personally i would like to know pack themes early like start of year tho cause that would just help me manage my expectations and determine how much money is gonna fly @ sims that year without constantly holding back fund for "what if they release dragons or romance pack and i need to get it asap"
like idk just pack name would help already
ofc i get disappointed when i expect Torch and its machines
also for updates they honestly should just not hype them up cause no matter how cool update it is if you already expect whole game fixed its gonna seem small so its better to not say a word and surprise people with cool things out of nowhere
(well aside from skintones update thing they obviously should talk about cause people are upset over being given vague answers)
I think they can't deliver the type of gameplay many require. So a detailed roadmap could just make the community more angry.
This is what I think. And simmers will have high expectations regardless. Everyone by now knows the story of how this was a scrapped online game and the engine is not capable of much.
That's why I really do believe the team try their best to deliver according to what they are working with.
And that they do run into a lot of difficulties.
It was just a bad foundation and bad choices made from the beginning.
Teasers or not I don't care either way. I would like more transparency and communication like with the knitting pack but I also like the surprises.
I don't think the community in general will be too happy with ts4 either way.
The surprise isn’t that important to me, I was around in the TS1-TS2 days where we were told in advance. I just think that TS4 often disappoints even when it’s a popular theme, and more time for speculation leads to bigger disappointment.
Yes. I would like that (Give Ideas how you think they can be more open)
I'd like to know what to plan for. I think there will be parts of the community who will be unsatisfied because they are just like that.
I think also that we may be at a stage in which we are splitting into different groups of players, so when content is for one group, the others are unhappy. That might be better if they knew what to expect. The game developers might also need to worry about piracy or copy-catting if they give too much lead time, but I think letting us know what to plan for is helpful.
We may be at a point during which it might make sense to have a paradigm shift for how some content is made. It may be more like community voting or having more pre-ordering for certain projects or content. I'd like that.
I will add that I don't feel especially united with the rest of the community on a lot of ideas. I want a farming pack but otherwise, I'm more neutral and I don't think I share the same tastes with the median community voter.
I was ok with Nifty Knitting but there was a lot about it that was not exactly my style. There's a lot of prospective content that would please lobbies of other players that wouldn't really make a difference to me.
Yes. I would like that (Give Ideas how you think they can be more open)
I would like them to be more clear and open about what is coming for the game. I remember back in the Sims 2 days we knew way ahead of time what was coming to the game and what to expect.
Yes. I would like that (Give Ideas how you think they can be more open)
Absolutely. I mean, even other AAA games with planned DLC expansions give roadmaps of their content to let players know what's coming in the next pack/season. Besides, giving vague info like "We have an Expansion Pack, a Stuff Pack, and a Game Pack coming," does nothing but set people up for huge let-downs when the theme is finally announced mere weeks before it's released and it's not what people actually wanted or were hoping for. Let people down early, get the disappointment and backlash over with, and give yourself more time to hype up the people who are already happy and prove to the ones who are not that you do have something in there for them after all (or quickly add something for them to smooth things over).
Besides, no matter when you announce your upcoming content, people will still be asking, "So...where's my X?" if there's content they want but you haven't delivered on yet...Especially if it's content that probably should have been made by now (better skin tones, unnatural hair colors for Children and Toddlers, werewolves, getting the Babies out of the crib so people can stop caterwauling about it already [if I'm annoyed with it, the whole dev team must need to down a bottle of aspirin every time they see the word "baby" by now]...). Holding back info on upcoming content until the last minute only makes things worse.
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WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
That's exactly how I feel! I even tweeted a response saying the same thing a few days ago, about being more transparent and how in TS2 we got the little advertisement for the next upcoming pack.
No, they don't need to leak.
We got a beautiful look in the window at pack development for Nifty Knitting, explaining various stages and who does what sort of work from concept to release. People were kind of rude about it. If you want to know why we don't have more transparency from the studio, go take a good long look in the the mirror.
I would really like if they gave us one, but on the other hand, my experience with a roadmap for a game (from an entirely different company so it doesnt reflect on EA/Maxis) Has been disappointment.
If they put a roadmap and followed it, it would be great, but on the other hand, that gets peoples expectations up.
If they tell us we'll be getting a GP in 6 months people are going to start speculating already and it's probably going to be disappointing. I look at all those threads from before Star Wars watching what the people though the game pack will be and it's honestly disheartening.
So I would like it if EA/Maxis/gurus/devs/whoever would just spit it out. I don't need every detail, but I want to know important ones like theme, general gameplay, etc.
Sadly for me the Only Suprise that I enjoy is the unexpected toddlers update
Yep, atleast tell us about the theme so we can set the expectations clear rather than "It is something that you will love" and then end up disappointed when it is not a fan requested feature.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/924539/features-that-needs-depth-and-ways-to-improve
cause simply saying " we are making ep!" gives nothing to speculate on so people go wild in all directions like "IS IT GENERATIONS?CARS?BABIES?HOTELS?"
and then get disappointed when its something completely unrelated
personally i would like to know pack themes early like start of year tho cause that would just help me manage my expectations and determine how much money is gonna fly @ sims that year without constantly holding back fund for "what if they release dragons or romance pack and i need to get it asap"
like idk just pack name would help already
ofc i get disappointed when i expect Torch and its machines
also for updates they honestly should just not hype them up cause no matter how cool update it is if you already expect whole game fixed its gonna seem small so its better to not say a word and surprise people with cool things out of nowhere
(well aside from skintones update thing they obviously should talk about cause people are upset over being given vague answers)
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This is what I think. And simmers will have high expectations regardless. Everyone by now knows the story of how this was a scrapped online game and the engine is not capable of much.
That's why I really do believe the team try their best to deliver according to what they are working with.
And that they do run into a lot of difficulties.
It was just a bad foundation and bad choices made from the beginning.
Teasers or not I don't care either way. I would like more transparency and communication like with the knitting pack but I also like the surprises.
I don't think the community in general will be too happy with ts4 either way.
I think also that we may be at a stage in which we are splitting into different groups of players, so when content is for one group, the others are unhappy. That might be better if they knew what to expect. The game developers might also need to worry about piracy or copy-catting if they give too much lead time, but I think letting us know what to plan for is helpful.
We may be at a point during which it might make sense to have a paradigm shift for how some content is made. It may be more like community voting or having more pre-ordering for certain projects or content. I'd like that.
I will add that I don't feel especially united with the rest of the community on a lot of ideas. I want a farming pack but otherwise, I'm more neutral and I don't think I share the same tastes with the median community voter.
I was ok with Nifty Knitting but there was a lot about it that was not exactly my style. There's a lot of prospective content that would please lobbies of other players that wouldn't really make a difference to me.
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Besides, no matter when you announce your upcoming content, people will still be asking, "So...where's my X?" if there's content they want but you haven't delivered on yet...Especially if it's content that probably should have been made by now (better skin tones, unnatural hair colors for Children and Toddlers, werewolves, getting the Babies out of the crib so people can stop caterwauling about it already [if I'm annoyed with it, the whole dev team must need to down a bottle of aspirin every time they see the word "baby" by now]...). Holding back info on upcoming content until the last minute only makes things worse.