I don't understand. If this really was just a test run, then it should really not be a problem at all to take it out after the reactions they got. I also second @CAPTAIN_NXR7 plea for an adult explanation of why they have to keep it. I mean they probably did not sell their souls to the devil in return so there should be room for some decent transparent explanation.
Now now EA, don't be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart. - My TS4 mods - Gallery ID: 83bienchen
I just couldn't handle playing with the shopping button. Even after the emergency patch, it randomly pulsates rapidly (its very distracting!). I modded it away as soon as a mod was available so I could keep playing. But on principle, I'm not gonna buy Crystal Creations until its gone and I don't have to use a mod to get rid of it. I was really looking forward to the CC pack :-(
Okay, I'm just going to say one more thing about it and then I think I'm done with my argument.
I just want to point out the difference with EA's shopping cart and other games I've played that contain in-game purchases and why EA seems like they just don't "get" what they're doing.
I frequently play an MMO that has a built-in store for microtransactions of all kinds. This game was once for sale, and has made the transaction to free-to-play many years ago, as it's an old game. The game also releases expansion packs, with different levels to choose from, with "incentive" cosmetics, gameplay and game currencies for spending more on the upper tiers. I love this game so I usually purchase the top tiers of the expansions as well, to get all of the extra goodies. The EPs for this game run smoothly, I've never had issues, and the team stays on top of patching when issues do happen.
Now, a little bit about their shopping button. They do have it worked into their user interface, but tucked in a place where players are very unlikely to accidentally click on it while they are playing. The button does not flash, animate, or light up. It just blends in. But when you do click on it, it brings up an in-game window that allows the player to browse through and make purchases at their leisure, (having already set up their account separately on the game's website) and when the purchase is complete, there's both a visual and an auditory cue to let you know the purchase went through. The player can then close the store window (or not, they could move it aside if they want, it's not huge) and look in their game and...voila! They find either a game alert or package in their avatar's inventory to click on, depending on what they bought...waiting for them in their game without actually having to leave their game. They can then use the purchased content immediately and continue with their game. So the purchase button is a convenience for the player just as much as it is for the company. It offers a quick and smooth transaction without being a nuisance and there are no complaints. This game is also over 15 years old and has a very loyal player base.
So I hope you understand, EA, that what you have done in patching your shining shopping cart into the thick of your players' Sims games, is not offer a convenience of any sort. In fact, you have not offered anything that you have not already offered three times in the EA launcher, the main splash screen, and the world selection screen. Yet you have made the claim that we can now be made aware of your blatant marketing from "the comfort of our Sim's home". And if we click on your obnoxious shopping cart, what happens? The same thing that happens when we click on anything else in the game that advertises to us; it takes us out of the game completely to bring us back to a place we already passed before loading up the game. And if we do make a purchase, what happens then? We have to restart our game to get the purchased product. That doesn't sound very convenient to me, and in fact, is not only an absolute waste of time, but a grossly pestering advertisement placed always in my field of vision that you, EA, only ever just want more money from me and don't care one iota about your game quality, player satisfaction, or commitment to The Sims' AAA reputation. It's like sticking your open palm in my face every time I jump into my game seeking escapism and enjoyment, insisting on more money because the $1000+ US dollars that I've spent already isn't enough for you. Yes, that is extremely insulting, especially when more and more bugs plague this supposed AAA game and then I read about you laying off hundreds of your developers.
Do keep in mind that your product is not a human necessity. Nobody needs a video game. And if you step on us enough, we will walk away and play or do something else.
One more thing concerning the light on the calendar icon and why it's not at all the same thing as the light on your shopping cart. The calendar is part of the gameplay. Getting an alert to an in-game feature while being immersed in gameplay is completely different then being pestered to leave the game to spend more money so you can meet your quotas. If you truly want us to hand over more money, you would pay more attention to making the game the best it can be, ironing out the bugs quickly and efficiently, and doing justice to the reputation of a 4th generation game that has been beloved by its players for over 20 years.
I am one of the guinea pigs. Yes. I have the cart, and yes it is a light that flashes - despite me looking at all the packs available only yesterday. My feedback for you:
No thank you.
Two reasons:
1. No need. I already know about ALL packs available for purchase because:
You've already made the info available on the Home Page
I read the forums daily where new packs are speculated, then officially announced
I read all your blogs and info you post on your site
I watch Youtube Videos with info and opinions about new packs, so I know exactly if I'd like to purchase or not.
2. There is a time and place for everything. LIVE mode is not the appropriate time and place to interrupt your players trying to enjoy their game.
Imagine: You've just purchased a new Bubble Bath Soap and have just started to enjoy your relaxing bath, when in pops a sales rep and says:
"I see you're enjoying our new Lavender Bubble Bath Soap. Were you aware we have other scents available for you to purchase? Let me tell you all about them, and then, I'll take your order for you - from the comfort of your bath . Now, just pop out of the bath, run down to the store, and they'll be there waiting for you to bring them back to use. See you next time you take a bath."
Imagine: You've just purchased a new Bubble Bath Soap and have just started to enjoy your relaxing bath, when in pops a sales rep and says:
"I see you're enjoying our new Lavender Bubble Bath Soap. Were you aware we have other scents available for you to purchase? Let me tell you all about them, and then, I'll take your order for you - from the comfort of your bath . Now, just pop out of the bath, run down to the store, and they'll be there waiting for you to bring them back to use. See you next time you take a bath."
YES @Simalleyaile thank you for putting it this way. I completely agree.
Now now EA, Don’t be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart!
I immediately began to imagine all these various & hilarious scenarios with this rather clownesque sales rep. popping up out of nowhere at the most inappropriate times. I shall not share my ideas on here, do not worry, the mind gets it when it needs it. 🤡
So…it’s been about a week of unnecessary and more importantly, UNWANTED shopping carts and a couple of days of additional game breaking bugs introduced by the latest stuff pack/ E-patch and goodness knows what else.
What’s the story?! Can a EA/Maxis producer at least explain to us what is really happening to our beloved game? Maybe this week would be a good time, or is that being too optimistic? 👍🏼
I'm not playing Sims 4 until that button is gone, will uninstall the game later this year if it becomes clear there's no intention of removing it and it.
While my expectations for Sims 5/Rene are already not optimistic, I feel like this could just be the final nail in the coffin for me. Especially with serious competition appearing on the horizon.
To me this seems like a moment for EA to step up their game, build more trust, fix broken packs as an incentive to get people to buy them, maybe add more content to existing packs.
Because stuff like a shopping cart as I play the actual game is what drives me and many other people away, especially when you already pass notifications of DLC TWICE already before getting there.
Improving the packs is the way to go to get people to buy what they don't have yet.
Can be bug fixing, improving features, some streamlining to avoid clutter, adding crossover features between expansions (Like letting Sims cut through the jungle with a lightsaber) or adding new content to the expansions instead of only to the base game, using features unique to those packs.
Like for example adding some new saddles for the Horse Ranch pack, adding some new alien outfits and an alien rocket to build to the Get to work pack, new Get to work tasks to do on the job, maybe various packs adding a new vendor with relevant content to the shopping district of the Magic realm, spiral staircases to the castle kit and other packs, etc.
Interactivity between packs also is a great incentive for people to own more packs since then it's really greater than the sum of their parts.
Right now it feels like the game is starting to crumble and that affects a lot of people and many of them don't engage with the community at all so I'm not sure if they are just dealing with it because the sims4 is unique.
I haven't updated my game since last of October 2023 because... I have not seen a reason to do that and when I eventually will update the game I will be greeted by a shopping cart and a game that is in a worse state.
I rather just...wait, there are many other games out there that feel more welcoming than this game right now and if I need a sims "fix" I can still play the game. But buy more packs for it? I really don't see a huge reason to do that anymore, not if that is going to break the game even more.
Would it have been fun for my sims to be able to craft gems? Yeah, maybe, but do you know what not would have been fun? Having my sims moodlets broken and a flashing shopping cart interrupting me as build mode is lagging.
You can't just put a shopping cart on a broken game and expect people to still buy content for it.
I am not sure if the distorted bodies and other bugs are worse than the cart. This is bad. Really bad. Because there are so many serious bugs alongside the cart, it is hard for us to have time to react to each individual issue.
Now now EA, Don’t be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart!
I immediately began to imagine all these various & hilarious scenarios with this rather clownesque sales rep. popping up out of nowhere at the most inappropriate times. I shall not share my ideas on here, do not worry, the mind gets it when it needs it. 🤡
So…it’s been about a week of unnecessary and more importantly, UNWANTED shopping carts and a couple of days of additional game breaking bugs introduced by the latest stuff pack/ E-patch and goodness knows what else.
What’s the story?! Can a EA/Maxis producer at least explain to us what is really happening to our beloved game? Maybe this week would be a good time, or is that being too optimistic? 👍🏼
I totally imagined that sales rep from the beginning of Fallout 4 and I just about died 😂
> @EA_Cade said: > Sul Sul, > > At this point I've spoken to several of you via DM, but I'm going to post here as well because the community as a whole needs to see this information as well. > > As it comes up from time to time, my main role here is not only to engage with you but also to act as a megaphone to your voices for the wider organization. I'm here and on Answers HQ compiling all the feedback we get daily, making it easier to digest and putting the numbers behind that information. Sometimes I'm feeling frisky and I might even throw in a ✨pivot table✨, endless possibilities, lets see where the day takes us! > > The point is that I hear you, and I'm not sugarcoating or putting a false narrative on anything that gets reported up the chain on this topic. Keep your feedback coming, keep it here in this thread for my sake so I can easily spot it and record it accurately and please please please keep it within our rules and guidelines so I don't have to remove your well thought out points because you called us "doody heads" right at the end. > > -EA_Cade
I hate this button. I hate everything about it. I own *everything* but a few kits. EVERYTHING. The button doesn't even SHOW me anything else to buy, because there's NOTHING left. And yet I still click on it by accident trying to click something else. I'm sick of it. I swear by my wallet, I'm not buying Crystal Creations or anything else. I can't even bring myself to open the game anymore. This is so intrusive, greedy, and tacky. If it's still there after all of this feedback, I'm just going to uninstall and go play any of the myriad non-EA titles I own. I don't have to give anyone that treats their fanbase like trash my money, so I'm done. Do better, EA.
Older EPs 60% off is pretty neat but I have em
GPs I also have em SPs? 40% for older ones not mindblowing, not good Simmingal trap.
Kits no sale = also does not lure Simmingals.
For Rent I don't have
but I don't want to jump into it before its fixed regardless of sales I have enough bug drama as it is
sounds like this is going to be one of the many sale seasons Simmingal dodges skillfully
Simmingals health bar is full to battle the cart button. Simmingal cannot be defeated.
It is truly lucky that cart button has not arrived on Simmingals screen it truly would be just distracting whack a mole game
I almost certainly would have bought Growing Together during this sale if the last 10 days hadn’t happened. But now? Nah. If I get bored with my game, I’ll try some new mods instead.
Seems like they are throwing this sale up to test the waters, see how many actually will not buy new content now that button is there when the chips are down or if they only said they wouldn't.
Thing is, if you get the content and play the game, that button is still there, flashing and all. So that content would be as useful as ice cubes in Antarctica.
Seems like they are throwing this sale up to test the waters, see how many actually will not buy new content now that button is there when the chips are down or if they only said they wouldn't.
Thing is, if you get the content and play the game, that button is still there, flashing and all. So that content would be as useful as ice cubes in Antarctica.
Yes, I thought the same thing when I saw the sale. I think it's part of the testing plan to see how many people react to the sale through the shopping cart button and make a purchase. But doesn't the sale already display itself on the giant splash screen on the main menu where you can actually look at the items that come in a pack? Players are much more likely to shop from there if they didn't already see the sale in the EA app when launching the game.
Again, this shopping button is redundant and unhelpful.
So that content would be as useful as ice cubes in Antarctica.
Honestly I don't personally find any use for cart button in my game...... BUT ... I am sure I can figure out few use for those
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
So that content would be as useful as ice cubes in Antarctica.
Honestly I don't personally find any use for cart button in my game...... BUT ... I am sure I can figure out few use for those
Maybe penguins eat them like snacks. Or play keep-away with them. How cute would that be?
this! totally!
My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Maybe penguins eat them like snacks. Or play keep-away with them. How cute would that be?
@LiELF Adding animated penguins to the Sims 4 would be a way cooler feature than a shopping cart.
-No, my almost-elderly mother, I don't think it's a good time for you to try for a baby.
-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.
Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if sales matter at all. Like it probably takes next to no effort to maintain that button, and unless it's provably hurting sales (which would be hard to prove anyway), there's no harm for them if they keep it. The real goal might be to leave it in and normalize it to players, so they can slowly test the waters for more ads in the future.
I'd say it's a pretty baseless conspiracy theory that assumes a company is going out of its way to be cartoonishly malicious. But... like... this button's very existence is proof that we should be wary of things. Among so many other red flags.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
Comments
I just want to point out the difference with EA's shopping cart and other games I've played that contain in-game purchases and why EA seems like they just don't "get" what they're doing.
I frequently play an MMO that has a built-in store for microtransactions of all kinds. This game was once for sale, and has made the transaction to free-to-play many years ago, as it's an old game. The game also releases expansion packs, with different levels to choose from, with "incentive" cosmetics, gameplay and game currencies for spending more on the upper tiers. I love this game so I usually purchase the top tiers of the expansions as well, to get all of the extra goodies. The EPs for this game run smoothly, I've never had issues, and the team stays on top of patching when issues do happen.
Now, a little bit about their shopping button. They do have it worked into their user interface, but tucked in a place where players are very unlikely to accidentally click on it while they are playing. The button does not flash, animate, or light up. It just blends in. But when you do click on it, it brings up an in-game window that allows the player to browse through and make purchases at their leisure, (having already set up their account separately on the game's website) and when the purchase is complete, there's both a visual and an auditory cue to let you know the purchase went through. The player can then close the store window (or not, they could move it aside if they want, it's not huge) and look in their game and...voila! They find either a game alert or package in their avatar's inventory to click on, depending on what they bought...waiting for them in their game without actually having to leave their game. They can then use the purchased content immediately and continue with their game. So the purchase button is a convenience for the player just as much as it is for the company. It offers a quick and smooth transaction without being a nuisance and there are no complaints. This game is also over 15 years old and has a very loyal player base.
So I hope you understand, EA, that what you have done in patching your shining shopping cart into the thick of your players' Sims games, is not offer a convenience of any sort. In fact, you have not offered anything that you have not already offered three times in the EA launcher, the main splash screen, and the world selection screen. Yet you have made the claim that we can now be made aware of your blatant marketing from "the comfort of our Sim's home". And if we click on your obnoxious shopping cart, what happens? The same thing that happens when we click on anything else in the game that advertises to us; it takes us out of the game completely to bring us back to a place we already passed before loading up the game. And if we do make a purchase, what happens then? We have to restart our game to get the purchased product. That doesn't sound very convenient to me, and in fact, is not only an absolute waste of time, but a grossly pestering advertisement placed always in my field of vision that you, EA, only ever just want more money from me and don't care one iota about your game quality, player satisfaction, or commitment to The Sims' AAA reputation. It's like sticking your open palm in my face every time I jump into my game seeking escapism and enjoyment, insisting on more money because the $1000+ US dollars that I've spent already isn't enough for you. Yes, that is extremely insulting, especially when more and more bugs plague this supposed AAA game and then I read about you laying off hundreds of your developers.
Do keep in mind that your product is not a human necessity. Nobody needs a video game. And if you step on us enough, we will walk away and play or do something else.
One more thing concerning the light on the calendar icon and why it's not at all the same thing as the light on your shopping cart. The calendar is part of the gameplay. Getting an alert to an in-game feature while being immersed in gameplay is completely different then being pestered to leave the game to spend more money so you can meet your quotas. If you truly want us to hand over more money, you would pay more attention to making the game the best it can be, ironing out the bugs quickly and efficiently, and doing justice to the reputation of a 4th generation game that has been beloved by its players for over 20 years.
I am one of the guinea pigs. Yes. I have the cart, and yes it is a light that flashes - despite me looking at all the packs available only yesterday.
No thank you.
Two reasons:
1. No need. I already know about ALL packs available for purchase because:
- You've already made the info available on the Home Page
- I read the forums daily where new packs are speculated, then officially announced
- I read all your blogs and info you post on your site
- I watch Youtube Videos with info and opinions about new packs, so I know exactly if I'd like to purchase or not.
2. There is a time and place for everything. LIVE mode is not the appropriate time and place to interrupt your players trying to enjoy their game.Imagine: You've just purchased a new Bubble Bath Soap and have just started to enjoy your relaxing bath, when in pops a sales rep and says:
"I see you're enjoying our new Lavender Bubble Bath Soap. Were you aware we have other scents available for you to purchase? Let me tell you all about them, and then, I'll take your order for you - from the comfort of your bath . Now, just pop out of the bath, run down to the store, and they'll be there waiting for you to bring them back to use. See you next time you take a bath."
YES @Simalleyaile thank you for putting it this way. I completely agree.
Mayoress of SimCity and all associated districts
Great analogy @Simalleyaile!
Now now EA, Don’t be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart!
I immediately began to imagine all these various & hilarious scenarios with this rather clownesque sales rep. popping up out of nowhere at the most inappropriate times. I shall not share my ideas on here, do not worry, the mind gets it when it needs it. 🤡
So…it’s been about a week of unnecessary and more importantly, UNWANTED shopping carts and a couple of days of additional game breaking bugs introduced by the latest stuff pack/ E-patch and goodness knows what else.
What’s the story?! Can a EA/Maxis producer at least explain to us what is really happening to our beloved game? Maybe this week would be a good time, or is that being too optimistic? 👍🏼
While my expectations for Sims 5/Rene are already not optimistic, I feel like this could just be the final nail in the coffin for me. Especially with serious competition appearing on the horizon.
To me this seems like a moment for EA to step up their game, build more trust, fix broken packs as an incentive to get people to buy them, maybe add more content to existing packs.
Because stuff like a shopping cart as I play the actual game is what drives me and many other people away, especially when you already pass notifications of DLC TWICE already before getting there.
Improving the packs is the way to go to get people to buy what they don't have yet.
Can be bug fixing, improving features, some streamlining to avoid clutter, adding crossover features between expansions (Like letting Sims cut through the jungle with a lightsaber) or adding new content to the expansions instead of only to the base game, using features unique to those packs.
Like for example adding some new saddles for the Horse Ranch pack, adding some new alien outfits and an alien rocket to build to the Get to work pack, new Get to work tasks to do on the job, maybe various packs adding a new vendor with relevant content to the shopping district of the Magic realm, spiral staircases to the castle kit and other packs, etc.
Interactivity between packs also is a great incentive for people to own more packs since then it's really greater than the sum of their parts.
I haven't updated my game since last of October 2023 because... I have not seen a reason to do that and when I eventually will update the game I will be greeted by a shopping cart and a game that is in a worse state.
I rather just...wait, there are many other games out there that feel more welcoming than this game right now and if I need a sims "fix" I can still play the game. But buy more packs for it? I really don't see a huge reason to do that anymore, not if that is going to break the game even more.
Would it have been fun for my sims to be able to craft gems? Yeah, maybe, but do you know what not would have been fun? Having my sims moodlets broken and a flashing shopping cart interrupting me as build mode is lagging.
You can't just put a shopping cart on a broken game and expect people to still buy content for it.
I totally imagined that sales rep from the beginning of Fallout 4 and I just about died 😂
> Sul Sul,
>
> At this point I've spoken to several of you via DM, but I'm going to post here as well because the community as a whole needs to see this information as well.
>
> As it comes up from time to time, my main role here is not only to engage with you but also to act as a megaphone to your voices for the wider organization. I'm here and on Answers HQ compiling all the feedback we get daily, making it easier to digest and putting the numbers behind that information. Sometimes I'm feeling frisky and I might even throw in a ✨pivot table✨, endless possibilities, lets see where the day takes us!
>
> The point is that I hear you, and I'm not sugarcoating or putting a false narrative on anything that gets reported up the chain on this topic. Keep your feedback coming, keep it here in this thread for my sake so I can easily spot it and record it accurately and please please please keep it within our rules and guidelines so I don't have to remove your well thought out points because you called us "doody heads" right at the end.
>
> -EA_Cade
I hate this button. I hate everything about it. I own *everything* but a few kits. EVERYTHING. The button doesn't even SHOW me anything else to buy, because there's NOTHING left. And yet I still click on it by accident trying to click something else. I'm sick of it. I swear by my wallet, I'm not buying Crystal Creations or anything else. I can't even bring myself to open the game anymore. This is so intrusive, greedy, and tacky. If it's still there after all of this feedback, I'm just going to uninstall and go play any of the myriad non-EA titles I own. I don't have to give anyone that treats their fanbase like trash my money, so I'm done. Do better, EA.
I'm still not going to buy anything.
GPs I also have em SPs? 40% for older ones not mindblowing, not good Simmingal trap.
Kits no sale = also does not lure Simmingals.
For Rent I don't have
but I don't want to jump into it before its fixed regardless of sales I have enough bug drama as it is
sounds like this is going to be one of the many sale seasons Simmingal dodges skillfully
Simmingals health bar is full to battle the cart button. Simmingal cannot be defeated.
🏡 Gallery 📖 Stories 🌍 World Project 🥔 MOD/CC Free
Thing is, if you get the content and play the game, that button is still there, flashing and all. So that content would be as useful as ice cubes in Antarctica.
Yes, I thought the same thing when I saw the sale. I think it's part of the testing plan to see how many people react to the sale through the shopping cart button and make a purchase. But doesn't the sale already display itself on the giant splash screen on the main menu where you can actually look at the items that come in a pack? Players are much more likely to shop from there if they didn't already see the sale in the EA app when launching the game.
Again, this shopping button is redundant and unhelpful.
Honestly I don't personally find any use for cart button in my game...... BUT ... I am sure I can figure out few use for those
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Maybe penguins eat them like snacks. Or play keep-away with them. How cute would that be?
this! totally!
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
-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.
I'd say it's a pretty baseless conspiracy theory that assumes a company is going out of its way to be cartoonishly malicious. But... like... this button's very existence is proof that we should be wary of things. Among so many other red flags.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017