To me, this was always a logical decision considering that the base game always felt like a shell game anyway and I think would draw in more players with that price, so that entrance fee just became obsolete. Honestly, this should have been way sooner anyway since the bulk of what you pay for in the Sims are the expansions packs.
So glad to see that most of us here on the forums don't seem to mind that others are now able to get it for free. Most people on twitter are outraged that this is happening which I suppose is expected from that crowd, but it is beyond me why. It's the base game which is constantly going on sale for $5 multiple timesa year as it is. It's not like the entire game and all of it's DLC is being given away for free.
I don't really understand that outrage either, I guess if one bought it recently then it might sting a bit that the game is going to be free because they are still very invested in the game. But for me, who bought it in 2014, I don't mind it, I have gotten my hours from it already.
We will see at the summit what this will mean for the future of the game but right now they gave us the players who already have the game a kit for free so it's a win-win for both.
I bought the game and book at full price in 2014 and don't mind a bit if it goes free now. The more supporters who play it the longer the longevity of the game it seems to me.
I've already tried out the Desert Kit pack and have made a great little house for my Sims in the desert. It's a very nice pack. I like the new windows and door, especially with one window addition to help with putting the curtains up.
I came in a bit later and did not pick up the game until the Summer of 2017 (After toddlers came it felt right for me to finally get the sims 4) I bought the deluxe version at full price and even with all the -unacceptable at times- glitches and bugs, I've had a lot of fun with this game, so I am not mad about the base game being free, welcome to all the new simmers it may bring for the forums and other places!
I bought the game when it first came out, but didn't actually play it until I got a new video card (as TS4, unlike TS3, always crashed before that.) I think it's great that people are going to get the chance to play it. I suspect that they'll buy the DLCs before long. That means there will be more Sims players to get to know! It's a good thing!
TS4 has been free off and on for quite some time. And it's been $5 for what seems forever. This is a common marketing thing that game companies do to *extend* the life of the game (as opposed to heralding that TS5 is "coming soon.")
the free kit still says full price in my game, ive had sims 4 since the beginning..
@amjensen1, try logging out of Origin if you've been logged for a few days and then back in to see the price change. I've had to do that in order to see it as it was coming up as a pricing error on my Origin...
@lisasc360 it doesn't work, just tried it again and still no change.. i struggled to get origin to download the latest update so i have even had it uninstalled and installed again, which didnt work so i downloaded the ea app, that worked, so tried to get the free kit while on the ea app but that didnt work, so i tried to go back and install origin, but still cant get the pack for free..
@lisasc360 it doesn't work, just tried it again and still no change.. i struggled to get origin to download the latest update so i have even had it uninstalled and installed again, which didnt work so i downloaded the ea app, that worked, so tried to get the free kit while on the ea app but that didnt work, so i tried to go back and install origin, but still cant get the pack for free..
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I think this means that the main profit right now comes from the DLC. You get base game for free, you starting to feel that the experience is a little hollow, so you read about the packs and suddenly you want them all. That’s how it started for me. I got base game on PS4 when it costs 9.99 USD which I considered to be extra cheap at that time. I resisted buying packs for barely 6 months. Now I have almost all of them. From marketing point of view this seems pretty logical move. Especially if the game is going to have a support for a long time.
Edit: as for the kit I think it could be way of apologizing for the recent patch that locked people out of the game and slower fixes.
I got the Sims 4 at launch and like its cool for it to be free now. This gets more people interested into the game and gives EA insight to make The sims 5 better or even to make it in the future.
I play on PC and I just wait for the DLC to be on sale like they always do like within the year of release.
@lisasc360 it doesn't work, just tried it again and still no change.. i struggled to get origin to download the latest update so i have even had it uninstalled and installed again, which didnt work so i downloaded the ea app, that worked, so tried to get the free kit while on the ea app but that didnt work, so i tried to go back and install origin, but still cant get the pack for free..
@amjensen1, sorry that you are still having issues with getting the kit to show up as free. Hope you can find a solution over on the AHQ site...
Not surprised. As you need extra game packs that contain stuff that should have been in base game to enjoy the game itself in the first place. Personally speaking, I was hoping to hear more interesting news in this topic as well as some fixes (or easy work arounds) that will help players enjoy continuous gameplay without problems (i.e. glitches, bugs, freezing) that make them want to quit playing.
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I bought Sims 4 when it first came out but I don't mind that it is coming out for free. As games get older prices tend to go down. If people get it for free and really enjoy it, they will want more dlc for their games. It's a way to get people to try it out and they hope the buyers will enjoy it enough to continue to buy content for it. Good marketing strategy for them. I am sure they are planning to fix the bugs as if people are playing a game, even a free one, and it is filled with game-breaking bugs, the chances of them buying more content would decrease. so fixing the bugs would benefit EA/The Sims 4 even more.
A good thing here, I reckon. I grumble enough when there is something I don't like. I like this.
Sure the base game is basic, but it is very playable. There is fair amount of hours of absolutely free play to be had. I hope they don't go too full on with in game ads for DLC, etc. I hope most of that is kept to the main screen.
Some years back, I bought the base Sims 2 for something like a tenner and EA gave me an upgrade to the Ultimate Edition for free. I really like it when I see companies doing this kind of thing.
Awake.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity.... The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
I'd like to think that this means we are going to hear something about TS5. To be honest it's about time considering how long TS4 has been out.
With regard to the base game going free I have no issue with it. And for anyone who was thinking of buying TS4 EA have given people a month's notice which I think is fair enough so people can opt to wait if they want. And as for the free pack - thank you EA, it is a nice goodwill gesture for people who already own the game.
Welcome to new simmers! I don't mind them getting the base game that I paid for, for free. It's 8 years old! Why should I even mind, I had 8 years of fun, and I played for trillions of hours. Dividing what I paid on all those hours, it was practically free for me as well
A few years ago, I bought the sims 4 while on holiday in Eastern Europe, and due to some region lock my game has been stuck in either Polish, Czech or Russian. With this change, will the lock be lifted since there is no longer a price difference?
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I don't really understand that outrage either, I guess if one bought it recently then it might sting a bit that the game is going to be free because they are still very invested in the game. But for me, who bought it in 2014, I don't mind it, I have gotten my hours from it already.
We will see at the summit what this will mean for the future of the game but right now they gave us the players who already have the game a kit for free so it's a win-win for both.
I've already tried out the Desert Kit pack and have made a great little house for my Sims in the desert. It's a very nice pack. I like the new windows and door, especially with one window addition to help with putting the curtains up.
TS4 has been free off and on for quite some time. And it's been $5 for what seems forever. This is a common marketing thing that game companies do to *extend* the life of the game (as opposed to heralding that TS5 is "coming soon.")
This is a great discussion with someone that has a source at EA. The relevant part starts at 27:09. Potentially expect to hear about Sims 5 soon?
@amjensen1, try logging out of Origin if you've been logged for a few days and then back in to see the price change. I've had to do that in order to see it as it was coming up as a pricing error on my Origin...
Hope this helps...
http://store.thesims3.com/myWishlist.html?persona=lisasc360
My stories on this site:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/991317/my-sims-stories/p1?new=1
It's possible that there is an issue with your game entitlement on our side, please reach out to us here http://bit.ly/EA_Contact_Us or on Twitter at @EAHelp so we can take a look into this and get it resolved for you.
I got the Sims 4 at launch and like its cool for it to be free now. This gets more people interested into the game and gives EA insight to make The sims 5 better or even to make it in the future.
I play on PC and I just wait for the DLC to be on sale like they always do like within the year of release.
I mean the DLC packs is basically Microtransactions since the start lol.
@amjensen1, sorry that you are still having issues with getting the kit to show up as free. Hope you can find a solution over on the AHQ site...
http://store.thesims3.com/myWishlist.html?persona=lisasc360
My stories on this site:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/991317/my-sims-stories/p1?new=1
Not that I would buy TS5 - I've spent enough (too much) money on TS4.
TINY HOUSE CHALLENGE
The May Family
Modeling Career?
Sure the base game is basic, but it is very playable. There is fair amount of hours of absolutely free play to be had. I hope they don't go too full on with in game ads for DLC, etc. I hope most of that is kept to the main screen.
Some years back, I bought the base Sims 2 for something like a tenner and EA gave me an upgrade to the Ultimate Edition for free. I really like it when I see companies doing this kind of thing.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity....
The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
With regard to the base game going free I have no issue with it. And for anyone who was thinking of buying TS4 EA have given people a month's notice which I think is fair enough so people can opt to wait if they want. And as for the free pack - thank you EA, it is a nice goodwill gesture for people who already own the game.
It was nice to get a free kit out of them, but I'd rather have a game I can update without multiple annoyances and bugs that need modding out.