It doesn't bother me because I usually wait a few years before fully moving to the next game. When Sims 3 was in the spotlight I was still playing Sims 2. I feel like right now Sims 4 is (finally) getting to a point where it feels full so whenever Sims 4 comes out I'll probably stick with Sims 4 for a few years until Sims 5 has more content.
I would say a little. I get VERY overwhelmed when a new base game is released, but once I get the hang of it, I start wanting more & not wanting any of my sims to go without things like seasons, pets, etc.
That being said, though, I don’t think that EVERYTHING should be included in the base game. I just get impatient, haha.
I have mixed feelings about starting over. It all depends on whether or not the new game feels like an improvement.
Sims 1 to sims 2 felt like a huge improvement. Sims 2 added new features like aging and a 3D camera. It also took things from sims 1 expansions and made them base game. I am talking about being able to visit community lots and choosing your sims pj's. I remember they were not available with only the sims 1 base game. When I opened sims 2 for the first time and saw I could take my sims to other lots, I left sims 1 behind easily.
Sims 2 to 3 also felt like a step forward. The team added new features like the color wheel and moodlets but also added things from sims 2 expansion into the base game like gardening and cars. Sims 3 was never my favourite but I could see a positive evolution in the game.
Sims 3 to 4 hurt. For me personally it was more of a sims 2 to sims 4 so the lot based structure didn't bother me. But sims 4 striped so many essential features from previous (base)games. No toddlers, ghosts, family trees... Even sims 1 base game elements like swimming and pools were gone. Some of the features that remained were devolved. Babies were reduced to cribs like in the sims 1. The color wheel was gone and replaced with a swatch system that was inferior to the swatches in sims 2 where we could choose bedframes and bedding separately.
The base game as it launched in 2014 just wasn't finished. It has come a long way. The addition of toddlers was a turning point for me. That's when Sims 4 finally had tackled the essentials. The game as it is now, feels like it actually has what a life sim needs (for the most part) .
So if the next version will feel similar to switching from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 3 I am all for it. If it is another Sims 4 with only the bare minimum, then I will stick to a previous version.
It'll never affect me because I'll be playing the Sims 2 and 3 well into the new games life span until it seems like its aged well enough!
I'd be bothered if I suddenly lost the ability to play TS2 and 3 upon 5's release then had to make the jump to the new game, but that won't happen. Hopefully.
I think I will enjoy starting over. I stayed away from 4 at launch for the reasons many did, when I eventually picked it up I think it was during a sale and I bought some packs. When I returned to the game this time after forgetting any specifics of the gameplay the first time around I picked up more packs in bundles. I have found having all these choices of what to do at once overwhelming.
The idea of starting from the beginning without the temptation of extra packs is appealing. I don't want Rene's base game to repeat the mistakes of 4 for the overall community, but as I'm finding it harder to find games I can play and enjoy, I'm less interested in "sending a message" to publishers lke EA about their practices, and would rather get some entertainment where I can find it. So it could come out with two life stages, adult and dead, and if I like the art style there will be a 90% chance I'll pick up the next game at launch.
First time was okay, but 2nd time, I was frusrated, Sim (me) die cos of turning into Vampire in the sun light, had to do things again and lot my pet cat cos my Sim die. (The Sims 4)
I'm a British Geek who love Bella Goth, Behr sisters, Liberty Lee, Summer Holidays, Pleasant sisters and other Sims wafius/girlfriends. And like his Sims cats.
It depends on what's included. The Sims 2 basegame offered more at the start than The Sims 1 did -- it offered community lots, for instance, and it had SO MUCH MORE than the original game that I didn't feel it was diminished in the least. The Sims 3 was again, considerably more interesting and advanced in ways -- the collectibles, the living world, the more interactive careers, and again it had stuff we had to wait for expansions for in the past, like basic gardening. However, The Sims 2 had upped the ante: having experienced something as basic as weather in TS2, its absence from TS3 was notable, and I never moved on from TS2, playing TS3 only for a change of pace every now and again. The Sims 4 came out of the gate with almost nothing, though -- missing stuff that was in The Sims 2's base game, and frankly it was insulting to be asked to pay for the same expansion for the third time in a row. (University, Weather, etc). TS4's big novelty was the great CAS and then emotions, and that was the reason I gave it a shot when it was steeply discounted. EA is going to have to up its game and offer not only a complete-feeling base game (not missing basic stuff like toddlers), but something that makes it superior not just to TS4 but to Life By You. There has to be something Compellingly Different. Frankly, I think Paradox is going to have the same problem with Cities Skylines 2: CS is such an expansive game that I don't know how they can one-up it enough to make people move away from their game with mods and such.
Like a lot of others have alluded to, it's more an issue since Sims 4.
Going from 1, Bustin' Out, etc. up to Sims 3, it didn't bother me. All the games offered something new and fun. Sims 4 was a huge disappointment for several years. It has made me wary of starting over again. I'm still really cautious with each pack I buy and tend to wait for sales. That was never the case with other games, I always snatched everything up ASAP. But Sims 4 has made me really, really wary.
Comments
That being said, though, I don’t think that EVERYTHING should be included in the base game. I just get impatient, haha.
Sims 1 to sims 2 felt like a huge improvement. Sims 2 added new features like aging and a 3D camera. It also took things from sims 1 expansions and made them base game. I am talking about being able to visit community lots and choosing your sims pj's. I remember they were not available with only the sims 1 base game. When I opened sims 2 for the first time and saw I could take my sims to other lots, I left sims 1 behind easily.
Sims 2 to 3 also felt like a step forward. The team added new features like the color wheel and moodlets but also added things from sims 2 expansion into the base game like gardening and cars. Sims 3 was never my favourite but I could see a positive evolution in the game.
Sims 3 to 4 hurt. For me personally it was more of a sims 2 to sims 4 so the lot based structure didn't bother me. But sims 4 striped so many essential features from previous (base)games. No toddlers, ghosts, family trees... Even sims 1 base game elements like swimming and pools were gone. Some of the features that remained were devolved. Babies were reduced to cribs like in the sims 1. The color wheel was gone and replaced with a swatch system that was inferior to the swatches in sims 2 where we could choose bedframes and bedding separately.
The base game as it launched in 2014 just wasn't finished. It has come a long way. The addition of toddlers was a turning point for me. That's when Sims 4 finally had tackled the essentials. The game as it is now, feels like it actually has what a life sim needs (for the most part) .
So if the next version will feel similar to switching from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 3 I am all for it. If it is another Sims 4 with only the bare minimum, then I will stick to a previous version.
I'd be bothered if I suddenly lost the ability to play TS2 and 3 upon 5's release then had to make the jump to the new game, but that won't happen. Hopefully.
The idea of starting from the beginning without the temptation of extra packs is appealing. I don't want Rene's base game to repeat the mistakes of 4 for the overall community, but as I'm finding it harder to find games I can play and enjoy, I'm less interested in "sending a message" to publishers lke EA about their practices, and would rather get some entertainment where I can find it. So it could come out with two life stages, adult and dead, and if I like the art style there will be a 90% chance I'll pick up the next game at launch.
Going from 1, Bustin' Out, etc. up to Sims 3, it didn't bother me. All the games offered something new and fun. Sims 4 was a huge disappointment for several years. It has made me wary of starting over again. I'm still really cautious with each pack I buy and tend to wait for sales. That was never the case with other games, I always snatched everything up ASAP. But Sims 4 has made me really, really wary.