First, let me thank you again everyone for your continued support. Second, please see DataWizard's post on the first page of this thread for further steps you can take to show EA that you want CAW on the Mac. I'd also like to thank JTGJustin for keeping this thread alive while I was out dealing with life. And now, onto my usual comments; please note that I read every post in this thread, even if I don't respond directly to each one, and I thank everyone whose supporting this effort.
There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that we should be treated this way...we pay for content and expansions just as much as they do, and with everything running under cider, there's no reason why this can't be ported.
I've been on some form of Apple computer since my parents bought their first Apple in 1984 and I strongly feel that if the game has been released on both platforms, CAW should also be released on both. Period. No exceptions, no excuses.
Cinnabarite and Ewlyn, I agree completely with both of you. If EA is going to use Cider (which they have for TS3,) then the "compatibility" excuse goes right out the window; sure CAW is a program and not a true "game," but all computer games are programs, so that shouldn't really be an issue for Cider. Ewlyn raises the key point here though, which is that once EA agreed to support TS3 on PC/Mac, they pretty much agreed to support its add-ons, including tools like CAW, and there shouldn't be any exceptions to said support. I'd be just as annoyed if EA released a Mac-Only EP, and I've defended Windows users who are annoyed that their games still don't have Vsync. This is basic stuff, and I would think a company that just saw its shares on the stock market take a hit again would want to improve their public image and avoid further alienating their consumers.
Alex, it took me a while to read your post but I finally got through it, lol. Honestly, you did raise some very good points (resale value) that I did not think about!
I'm sorry that my posts are so long, but I generally try to cover several ideas in each of them, which is admittedly what causes them to be as lengthy as they often are. Thank you for the compliments though. I admittedly am in the process of upgrading one iMac G3, which I purchased second hand, and I have five other second-hand iMac G3s, sitting in my home as well. The "Tangerine" iMac G3 that I'm currently working on is admittedly a computer that I use primarily for playing games under OS 9, but the fact that I purchased this ten-year-old computer last year, and that they're still selling on eBay says something about the longevity of Macs. (I'm actually giving another one I previously upgraded away on Friday.)
I really do hope that Macs will be the new computer gaming platform of choice, it would make my life a lot easier, but my boyfriend on the other hand may have some complaints, haha.
I actually wish computer games, like web browsers and office software, would start to standardize in such a way that only a few basic system files would need to be "platform native." Cider is a step in the right direction, but something like Cider should only be needed for very basic APIs in the future. Why game developers haven't standardized the way other software developers have is beyond me. I'm not saying that developers shouldn't be able to implement proprietary code as well, I'm just saying that the "core" code for games should be relatively standardized. Even the TV industry has managed to become relatively standardized; why the computer gaming industry can't do the same thing to some degree is beyond me. (Again, implementation of standardized code specific to each game is another story entirely, I'm just talking about standardizing on something as simple as OpenGL or DirectX for graphics, a programming language for the game itself, and directory structures that would make true ports much simpler than they currently are.)
I apologize if this question has already been answered in an earlier post, but I've been wondering: Will worlds created by PC users be downloadable for Mac users? Or, will there be compatibility issues?
JTGJustin is correct; PC-created worlds will work on a Mac, so if you have a PC and are able to create worlds on it but prefer playing TS3 on your Mac, you should be able to do so, even with your new world.
Signed! I've been patiently waiting for a mac version to be released, but the fact that there is no mention what-so-ever of a future Mac release is really starting to concern me.
I really tried to warn people not to get their hopes up or to assume that a Mac version was even in production for this very reason. When I saw *PC-Only with the initial announcement, I knew that it was highly unlikely that EA wasn't going to release a Mac version of CAW--BETA or otherwise, unless Mac users started making some noise about the lack of the tool for the Mac platform. I think all of us who signed this petition are wondering if EA is going to neglect a huge portion of their user base when the final CAW is release.
I was so looking forward to create a world. And then I saw the pc only thing! Grrr...
When I bought the sims 3 for my new mac I *stupidly* assumed that pc and macs would get the same things and equal treatment.
Don't worry, I made the same "stupid assumption" when I saw that A) EA, not Aspyr, would be handling TS3 for the Mac, and the game would be running through Cider, which should eliminate the whole compatibility issue. As I said before, if EA wants to regain consumer trust and avoid further devaluing their stock shares, they need to stop aggravating the people who are paying their salaries in some watered down form.
If someone else is running CAW--BETA through VMWare Fusion without a problem, a post in this thread would be appreciated.
Just installed it and it's working effortlessly, a million times better than on my PC laptop. A lot of PC users are having problems with the loading times of CAW, especially the "Edit in Game" feature. Well, mine takes 10 seconds to load, yep, 10 seconds to go from CAW to Sims 3. I installed Windows XP.
Thank you for the update BluebellFlora; now I'm really wishing I knew where my old WinXP disc went. I tried running CAW--BETA on my archaic Pentium 4, but I kept having the save/crash bug and can't seem to work around it; aside from that, the tool is amazing though.
Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support on this. As with signatures 1-100, I've moved 101-200 to the first page of this thread; the most recent signatures will be in my most recent post as before. I'm hoping that EA is reading this even if they're not responding to it. I could even understand if the Beta was going to be PC-Only, but the lack of any word on Mac compatibility is what has me worried. Thank you all for your continued support.
I dunno how to sign but... EA, this is no joke. I payed $90 for both World Adventures and Sims 3, the same price as any Windows user. See the logic? We paid the same amount, we should get the same tools. EA has many users but this is almost 300 of them, you'd think we count for something. 300 times 50, thats $1500, maybe more, that they wouldn't have without us. A small amount, but it is an amount. We have Macs and if they don't want us to play they shouldn't have made TS3 on Mac. The fact of the matter is, though, that they did make it for Mac.
You know, Macs usually cost a lot more than PCs so you think EA would expect to get more money out of us Mac users and would pay more attention to our needs but alas, this is not the case. Fight the power! Please add my name to the list!
That's 240 signatures everyone; thank you to all who have signed so far. Again, if you want to know what more you can do, see DataWizard's post on page #1 of this thread, as well as some of my other posts with further suggestions to persuade EA to release CAW for the Mac.
At the very least give us a patch that lets us install custom worlds!
You don't need a patch, Toppenzap; you can already install custom worlds created by PC users; this has been confirmed multiple times. Find the folders that contain the *.world files for Sunset Valley and Riverview, download the Worlds you want to play, and put them in that folder. I should note that some worlds have glitches even for PC users. We can still use worlds created by PC users, we just can't create them ourselves.
The fact that this is still going on makes me sick.
The fact that this is going on at all makes me sick, Rane412. The day CAW--Beta was announced for the PC, there should've been an announcement or a second asterisk that read "Mac version coming next year," or "Mac version coming eventually," or even "Mac version coming when the tool is out of Beta." However, EA has made no such announcement, and they haven't even given us a "it'll be ready when it's ready," or a simple "we're working on it" message, and that's what really has me fuming. I'd understand if they didn't want to port the beta; I might not like it, but I'd understand--it's the lack of communication coupled with EA's apathy that's bothering me though. For a company that lowered its quarterly earnings estimate twice, and just had it's stuck plummet $7.77 a share this month, EA doesn't seem to care too much about what its consumers (some of whom are undoubtedly EA stockholders) want. Alienating consumers is the last thing EA should be doing right now. From a business standpoint, EA's actions make no sense, and from a public relations standpoint, EA's actions make no sense.
I dunno how to sign but... EA, this is no joke. I payed $90 for both World Adventures and Sims 3, the same price as any Windows user. See the logic? We paid the same amount, we should get the same tools. EA has many users but this is almost 300 of them, you'd think we count for something. 300 times 50, thats $1500, maybe more, that they wouldn't have without us. A small amount, but it is an amount. We have Macs and if they don't want us to play they shouldn't have made TS3 on Mac. The fact of the matter is, though, that they did make it for Mac.
Frobert12, we're not quite at 300 signatures yet, but you raise a valid point. In fact, let's take this a step further: If we factor in the number of people who won't sign this simply because they don't think it'll work, plus the number of people who haven't seen this petition or don't visit the TS3 forums, but who play TS3 and would love to have a CAW tool on their Macs, and we add them to the 240 signatures that we actually do have, we'd probably be well over 1,000 signatures. $1000*$50=$50,000 theoretical dollars that EA could be without. Furthermore, if the 240 of us who signed this decided not to purchase High-End Loft when it came out, or worse, EA decided that we shouldn't be able to purchase High-End Loft either, that'd be at least $4,800 dollars that EA would theoretically lose. See my previous comment about the value of EA's stock shares.
I agree with you, if EA didn't want to support the Mac platform, they shouldn't have released the game for it, but once they did release TS3 for the Mac, they made a commitment to support the game and its add-on tools as well.
I'm absolutely disgusted they haven't even told us why they aren't making it for Macs. How long can SimGuru's and EA ignore this?
I really wish I knew LDoCampo, but so far, EA seems to be ignoring this as much as possible. Another forum member noted that there was a point where this was on the front page and the Gurus posted in every thread there except this one. I really hope the reason the Gurus haven't posted in this thread is because they're simply not allowed to say what's going on with a Mac version of the tool, although something as simple as "we're working on it," would be a huge plus in my book. EA's tech support supposedly is now telling people who contact them to post in the TS3 forums since the developers supposedly read the threads here. If that's the case, I can only hope that they're reading or have read this thread, and are working on a Mac version of CAW. Again, all EA has to do to shut me up about this is announce that CAW for the Mac is in the works and I'll be happy. It's the lack of communication that's bothering me more than the lack of CAW at this point.
Again, thank you all, both Windows and Mac users, who have signed this. This petition is now 20 pages and 240 signatures long, for what it's worth, I think that we're doing a good job of making ourselves heard. The only question now, is whether or not EA is listening.
The Sims 3 'Create-a-World' tool - Beta, will only be released on the PC format, i know this is a big disappointment for all you mac user's out there. But there is a very big reason behind it, after it's initial release, the crew at EA is going to be making adjustments and patches and sprucing it up for a more "user-friendly" version. It would be twice the trouble to convert everything over every time they make a patch, more than 3/4 of the 'sim fanatics' playing The Sims 3 are playing on a PC. Macs are not high-end gaming platforms, and are quite pricy. Personally, i believe the mac community should wait for what they get, seeing as this is the first time that The Sims, has been released simultaneously for PC/MAC. Petitions are never going to change anyone at EA's mind, it's their game their rules. The EA crew themselves developed the game on PC's so therefore it only makes sense that it would be initially released on PC only. The mac community just needs to be patient, it's not like they bought their mac JUST for The Sims 3, they made their decision on buying the more expensive model, so they need to deal with the fact that they didn't buy what the sims 3 was created for.
I used to play all my sims game prior to the sims 3 on a pc and it sucked! I first installed the sims 3 on a pc and the graphics were normal but when I installed it on my mac the graphics were superb! So I don't understand when people say PC's are more gamer friendly especially when a macbook with 2gb is the equivalent to a 4gb pc minus all the viruses and slow startup! I don't mind being patient but this is ridiculous! They should hold off on production until they can deliver for both platforms especially since macs are becoming wayyy more popular!
Comments
Cinnabarite and Ewlyn, I agree completely with both of you. If EA is going to use Cider (which they have for TS3,) then the "compatibility" excuse goes right out the window; sure CAW is a program and not a true "game," but all computer games are programs, so that shouldn't really be an issue for Cider. Ewlyn raises the key point here though, which is that once EA agreed to support TS3 on PC/Mac, they pretty much agreed to support its add-ons, including tools like CAW, and there shouldn't be any exceptions to said support. I'd be just as annoyed if EA released a Mac-Only EP, and I've defended Windows users who are annoyed that their games still don't have Vsync. This is basic stuff, and I would think a company that just saw its shares on the stock market take a hit again would want to improve their public image and avoid further alienating their consumers.
I'm sorry that my posts are so long, but I generally try to cover several ideas in each of them, which is admittedly what causes them to be as lengthy as they often are. Thank you for the compliments though. I admittedly am in the process of upgrading one iMac G3, which I purchased second hand, and I have five other second-hand iMac G3s, sitting in my home as well. The "Tangerine" iMac G3 that I'm currently working on is admittedly a computer that I use primarily for playing games under OS 9, but the fact that I purchased this ten-year-old computer last year, and that they're still selling on eBay says something about the longevity of Macs. (I'm actually giving another one I previously upgraded away on Friday.)
I actually wish computer games, like web browsers and office software, would start to standardize in such a way that only a few basic system files would need to be "platform native." Cider is a step in the right direction, but something like Cider should only be needed for very basic APIs in the future. Why game developers haven't standardized the way other software developers have is beyond me. I'm not saying that developers shouldn't be able to implement proprietary code as well, I'm just saying that the "core" code for games should be relatively standardized. Even the TV industry has managed to become relatively standardized; why the computer gaming industry can't do the same thing to some degree is beyond me. (Again, implementation of standardized code specific to each game is another story entirely, I'm just talking about standardizing on something as simple as OpenGL or DirectX for graphics, a programming language for the game itself, and directory structures that would make true ports much simpler than they currently are.)
JTGJustin is correct; PC-created worlds will work on a Mac, so if you have a PC and are able to create worlds on it but prefer playing TS3 on your Mac, you should be able to do so, even with your new world.
I really tried to warn people not to get their hopes up or to assume that a Mac version was even in production for this very reason. When I saw *PC-Only with the initial announcement, I knew that it was highly unlikely that EA wasn't going to release a Mac version of CAW--BETA or otherwise, unless Mac users started making some noise about the lack of the tool for the Mac platform. I think all of us who signed this petition are wondering if EA is going to neglect a huge portion of their user base when the final CAW is release.
Don't worry, I made the same "stupid assumption" when I saw that A) EA, not Aspyr, would be handling TS3 for the Mac, and
Thank you for the update BluebellFlora; now I'm really wishing I knew where my old WinXP disc went. I tried running CAW--BETA on my archaic Pentium 4, but I kept having the save/crash bug and can't seem to work around it; aside from that, the tool is amazing though.
Again, I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support on this. As with signatures 1-100, I've moved 101-200 to the first page of this thread; the most recent signatures will be in my most recent post as before. I'm hoping that EA is reading this even if they're not responding to it. I could even understand if the Beta was going to be PC-Only, but the lack of any word on Mac compatibility is what has me worried. Thank you all for your continued support.
I recommend being prepared to be ignored because EA is doing a very good job of doing just that.
You don't need a patch, Toppenzap; you can already install custom worlds created by PC users; this has been confirmed multiple times. Find the folders that contain the *.world files for Sunset Valley and Riverview, download the Worlds you want to play, and put them in that folder. I should note that some worlds have glitches even for PC users. We can still use worlds created by PC users, we just can't create them ourselves.
The fact that this is going on at all makes me sick, Rane412. The day CAW--Beta was announced for the PC, there should've been an announcement or a second asterisk that read "Mac version coming next year," or "Mac version coming eventually," or even "Mac version coming when the tool is out of Beta." However, EA has made no such announcement, and they haven't even given us a "it'll be ready when it's ready," or a simple "we're working on it" message, and that's what really has me fuming. I'd understand if they didn't want to port the beta; I might not like it, but I'd understand--it's the lack of communication coupled with EA's apathy that's bothering me though. For a company that lowered its quarterly earnings estimate twice, and just had it's stuck plummet $7.77 a share this month, EA doesn't seem to care too much about what its consumers (some of whom are undoubtedly EA stockholders) want. Alienating consumers is the last thing EA should be doing right now. From a business standpoint, EA's actions make no sense, and from a public relations standpoint, EA's actions make no sense.
Frobert12, we're not quite at 300 signatures yet, but you raise a valid point. In fact, let's take this a step further: If we factor in the number of people who won't sign this simply because they don't think it'll work, plus the number of people who haven't seen this petition or don't visit the TS3 forums, but who play TS3 and would love to have a CAW tool on their Macs, and we add them to the 240 signatures that we actually do have, we'd probably be well over 1,000 signatures. $1000*$50=$50,000 theoretical dollars that EA could be without. Furthermore, if the 240 of us who signed this decided not to purchase High-End Loft when it came out, or worse, EA decided that we shouldn't be able to purchase High-End Loft either, that'd be at least $4,800 dollars that EA would theoretically lose. See my previous comment about the value of EA's stock shares.
I agree with you, if EA didn't want to support the Mac platform, they shouldn't have released the game for it, but once they did release TS3 for the Mac, they made a commitment to support the game and its add-on tools as well.
I really wish I knew LDoCampo, but so far, EA seems to be ignoring this as much as possible. Another forum member noted that there was a point where this was on the front page and the Gurus posted in every thread there except this one. I really hope the reason the Gurus haven't posted in this thread is because they're simply not allowed to say what's going on with a Mac version of the tool, although something as simple as "we're working on it," would be a huge plus in my book. EA's tech support supposedly is now telling people who contact them to post in the TS3 forums since the developers supposedly read the threads here. If that's the case, I can only hope that they're reading or have read this thread, and are working on a Mac version of CAW. Again, all EA has to do to shut me up about this is announce that CAW for the Mac is in the works and I'll be happy. It's the lack of communication that's bothering me more than the lack of CAW at this point.
Again, thank you all, both Windows and Mac users, who have signed this. This petition is now 20 pages and 240 signatures long, for what it's worth, I think that we're doing a good job of making ourselves heard. The only question now, is whether or not EA is listening.
Fingers crossed.
I used to play all my sims game prior to the sims 3 on a pc and it sucked! I first installed the sims 3 on a pc and the graphics were normal but when I installed it on my mac the graphics were superb! So I don't understand when people say PC's are more gamer friendly especially when a macbook with 2gb is the equivalent to a 4gb pc minus all the viruses and slow startup! I don't mind being patient but this is ridiculous! They should hold off on production until they can deliver for both platforms especially since macs are becoming wayyy more popular!
Oh and Im definitely for this petition!
most PC users aren't even making usable worlds