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Ideal release schedule
MomsBusy
Posts: 74 Member
What do you think is the ideal release schedule for content?
I know fixes are important, but for the sake of conversation let's stay on topic. What do you think?
My opinion
Q1
Stuff Pack
Game Pack
2 kits (I don't mind them)
Q2
Stuff Pack
EP
Q3
Game Pack
2 kits
Q4
EP
Stuff pack
I know fixes are important, but for the sake of conversation let's stay on topic. What do you think?
My opinion
Q1
Stuff Pack
Game Pack
2 kits (I don't mind them)
Q2
Stuff Pack
EP
Q3
Game Pack
2 kits
Q4
EP
Stuff pack
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Comments
Maybe they could release one more pack as a goodbye pack, but I most definitely do not want a whole schedule of stuff.
There is stuff that I'd still like to see added but I'm afraid you are right. I'd rather have them stopp than leaving behind an unplayable mess of broken code after they are done with squeezing more money out of this game. And we're already almost there.
Really, at this point, EA's main goal should be to make as many mods obsolete as possible, by fixing the underlying error.
Tales From The Myst
The Blue Moon Jukebox
This!
Every version. Good luck.
Unrealistic and overly ambitious. The already deplorable quality would only get worse.
Retail- my sims can own and run retail shops but they can't shop in them
Photography- sometimes I have to reset my sims for Photography to work
Landlord- events are totally random
That's it...
I use no mods, never have, never needed them. I was having some freezing issues but I upgraded my memory and the issues went away.
I'm certainly not trying to be insensitive to those of you who's games are not working, it's just a little hard for me to relate. I hope if your game isn't working that whatever is causing issues gets fixed. Since my game works and playing it has done wonders for my mental health I hope for more content.
Really. Adding more to the current engine is like asking a Toyota to pull a fully loaded fifty-foot boxcar.
I certainly haven’t been seeing the level of brokenness many people seem to have, and my game is far from unplayable. I do put some of that down to my particular play style, though. There are a lot of things that I never actually use. However, it does seem that packs released in the last year and a half are releasing with more game breaking bugs, which seems to indicate an aging game architecture. I want more content too, and, like you, the game has been important to my mental health, and has been a part of my recovery during the last few years. I’m in no hurry to move to another game, and I hope they can sort things out with TS4 to make the current game more enjoyable to most players and still release more content. It might mean slowing down on release schedules some, though.
Tales From The Myst
The Blue Moon Jukebox
So true. There is so much added to the game that it becomes unstable and even the patch for a stuff pack can cause serious issues. There are still a few things I would like to see added but we are reaching the limits of what this game can handle at a fast pace. I hope EA knows when to quit so we can still play the game once they finished releasing DLC.
I'd rather have less DLC so the DLC can improve in quality. I'd like to be able to get an EP or GP or SP without being afraid if it will break the game.
I wish I could have bought For Rent. I was excited for it. But it corrupted people’s saves and it’s still not completely fixed. I wish I could update and get rid of this darn holiday bug, but I’m still seeing too many bug reports from the patch for comfort. (I intend to mod out the shopping cart whenever I do finally update.)
I would love it if they took the next 6 months to do nothing but fix bugs. Especially the deep-rooted ones that have been around for years, like certain autonomy and gardening issues. I’d love it if they prioritized any pack-specific bugs that have been around since the pack was released, like Dine Out (which I own) and MWS (which I don’t).
They’re a company and the reason they exist is to make money. I get it. Since that’s the case, best-case scenario, I’d take the bug fixes and one EP, one GP, one SP and two kits (which I wouldn’t buy, but YMMV) a year.
But I don’t expect the best-case scenario. Somehow, they’ll manage keep finding new people who don’t know about this stuff to keep buying this broken product. All they have to do is keep churning it out as fast as they can… and they will.
1-2 Expansion Packs a year
1-2 Game Packs a year (1 if we get 2 EPs in a year, 2 if we only get 1 EP)
1 Stuff Pack
0 or -1 Kits.
And at least 1 substantial, game-play based improvement to the base game.
I'd say that we could go for less paid content and more bug fixes, but I've given up on that at this point. I just want more gameplay and less kits.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
I think drastically slowing down the packs but increasing the price and increasing the amount of items per pack. So 2 EPs a year, 1 GP a year, 1-2 stuff packs, and the things that go into kits go away and the concept becomes the Sims 4 "store" as needed. Although the Sims 4 store will be new, Simmers could either buying the whole "kit" or individual items.
For me, as player of the Sims franchise since the Sims 2, we used to get 2 EPs and 2 stuff packs a year from 2006 until the release of the Sims 3. The Sims 2 store didn't exist until Summer 2008. That was a great pace. I enjoyed that and the packs were so fun!
Romance, Hotel’s, Casino’s and Arcade’s EP
Car’s EP. And some car kits
Infant and toddler Stuff pack with strollers
Toddler pack w/ push toys, rocking horse, little tikes car
New stuff for Toddlers & infants & children throughout all packs
Infant CAS kit
Toddler CAS kit
Medieval EP
Bands Gamepack
Malls Gamepack
More stuff packs with hobbies, like pottery, basket weaving, etc.
I would like to see worlds in the EP’s and Game Packs
I’m always looking for new worlds and new types of lots.
But, I would like them thoroughly tested. I don’t want to have to wait two plus months to play an EP I bought like I did with For Rent because of game breaking bugs.
But in reality - sadly - all I want are Bugfixes right now and better Pack quality.
The current bug situation is not funny anymore. I get it, all they want is to make money from this game. And in theory I want to give them my money, because I like spending money for things that I enjoy.
But currently I am not enjoying the game. No, I hardly played in months. I don't dare to play because of the gamebreaking bugs from For Rent, which are STILL around.
And if I am too scared to play, why should I patch and buy new content?
So, really, this behaviour of EA is self-defeating. They want more money, but instead they repell their costumers by poor quality control.
So to me it doesn't matter anymore how much content the Sims 4 will get this year or next year. If I can't even play the game because of gamebreaking bugs I have no reason to buy new packs with even more gamebreaking bugs.
And after that they seriously need to release more fantasy themed packs instead of boring every day real life stuff yet again.
At least for me to buy something. I want to see a full expansion with a fantasy theme for once in this game to truly spice things up. It should not be relegated to limited gamepacks.
Same here. I'll be willing to re-install Sims 4 as long as that shopping cart button disappears and NEVER,EVER comes back.
My Into The Future Stories Expansion Pack when!!!
In the original Sims era, there were two EPs a year and that was that. Patches were strictly for bug fixes. When you got the latest EP, you knew you would have to wait roughly half a year for any new content.
In the Sims 2 era, they stuck to the biennial release schedule for game play content, but they introduced stuff packs as a bit of cosmetic content to tide people over. They usually released two SPs year, halfway between EPs. When a new EP came out, you knew you would have to wait three more months for any new content and six more months for any new game play. Players were fine with this. Most players of that era used the Sims 2 as a creative tool and took their time exploring all the storytelling possibilities that came with each new EP.
I can't tell you about the community reaction to Sims 3 era, because I never really got into Sims 3. Online it says that it started out with a similar content release schedule to Sim 2, then, after a couple years, they started adding a third stuff pack per year, then they switched to two SPs and three EPs per year. It still wasn't as intense a release schedule as the Sims 4.
Now, in the Sims 4 era, we have simmers who complain if the content is buggy, but we have other simmers who complain just as much if they have to go an entire quarter without new game play. Sometimes the same player does both. They loudly demand a constant stream of crunch culture mediocrity, while players in the earlier eras would wait patiently for awesome game play. The situation will never get better because the player base doesn't really want it to.
-Yes, person I barely know, you have my blessing to hang out with Johnny Zest.
-No person with the mean, hot-headed and self-absorbed traits, I don't think you should get married.
It's clear to see in expansions that use a theme that has been used in a previous game.
For sims 2-3 it is about even but some choices have been hit and miss. (I don't think even 5% of Sims players cared for the Katy Perry pack.)
There was notably more content in those expansions than in Sims 4 expansions.
A single Sims 3 expansion might add roughly as much content as Sims 4 does with 2 expansions and a game pack combined.
And a lot of highly requested things still are not in Sims 4.
I don't think Sims 2 and 3 had that issue regarding highly requested things.
Heck, Sims 4 on release was extremely bare bones.