I think I like most of what you said. I'm surprised you didn't mention pets though.
I agree with supernaturals. I miss vampires, I would like my darker sims to be vampires and have weird abilities. I also LOVED witches and wizards and miss the alchemy trait so much.
I also agree with exploring thats why I miss having different worlds withe new plants, fish and gems to find. It would be awesome in the sims 4 with the secret spots.
Fashion is probably the 70% of my love for sims. I love being able to style them and I miss stuff packs based on stores. H&M was a personal favorite. For years I've been dreaming about a victoria secret, charlotte russe and forever 21 SP. The first thing I do is style my current sims with the new EPs, GPs and SPs the team releases if i think it fits their style.
Oh I LOVE pets. Especially dogs (I'm a dog person but I still like cats too!) and in my games my Sim always had two dogs to keep them company. My big thing is I absolutely want a hotdog dog costume XD
It would go so nicely with Graham's hot dog costume!
I'm a CC Creator and family player that is super hyped that toddlers are back!
Since everyone made a big deal about the tweet, why not ask what type of EPs she likes. Do you think @SimGuruDrake could answer that? For example:
Cute EPs
- Any EP that includes what we consider cute (pets,babies and children)
Magical
- Mysterious worlds
- Mysterious Creatures
- Fantasy lover
Destinations
-Amazing worlds
- Brand new spaces for sims to do all sorts of new activities
Relationships
- Love related things
- Friendship related things
I actually just got a big grin on my face because no one has really asked me that! Just want to preface that what I'm about to say is 100% my own personal preferences and as per usual I do not include any hints whatsoever so please take what I am about to say at face value.
Now I'm thinking about stuff I've enjoyed from the past and new things that would be my dream addition. Looking at this as if the sky is the limit and could be any type of pack not just expansion:
On to the question!
Magical:
I LOVE witches and wizards. Learning to cast spells and the havoc it would cause when you get it wrong. Mythical creatures like baby dragons, mandrake plants, pixies, and centaurs would be awesome. (In my mind very much inspired by the likes of Harry Potter).
Exploration:
Venturing out to new destinations and exploring historical sites (including ruins) and learning about the different cultures and traditions. Learn new trades and new cuisines.
Fashion:
Start from the bottom on the indie scene and working up to being the top designer in the fashion world. Styling all new looks and new patterns that everyone just has to wear.
Forensic Files:
Various ways to cause questionable deaths to my Sims which lead to investigations by police to find the culprit (if you've ever watched the show forensic files you'd know what I mean.)
MEDIEVAL TIMES!!! Knights in shining armor, castles, fending off dragons (or befriending them and becoming a dragon rider), with inspirations from King Arthur and the Tudor Dynasty (I LOVE history). This would be perfect for fairies (especially if I ever wanted to recreate the story of Sleeping Beauty).
Other things that I would enjoy:
Vampires, Mermaids, Shape shifters, Farming / Living off the land (I am super into Stardew Valley), Entrepreneur career (build your own company from the ground up), Movie Star / Film Maker (including animated films).
Also some have asked how I play: I'm a bit of a deviant player / loner. My sims are normally very career focused and have a very small circle of friends and rarely do they have kids. Right now my current Sim (Evelyn Oak--her name is based after my all time favorite Pokemon and also my favorite character from the original Pokrmon series Gary Oak) is a "starving artist" trying to make her way in the art world. She is creative, childish (being a kid at heart helps her see the wonders and possibilities in everything around her--she totally collected and battled Voidcritter cards as a kid and was the local undefeated champion), and a loner. She spends a lot of her time painting and learning her trade. She is currently talking to this really cute gentleman she met during ghost night at the local pub (her neighbor invited her out to try and meet people) --don't worry he isn't a ghost but he is a cutie. He is a DJ and he inspires her to push herself creatively and to use her surroundings as inspiration, including listening to new types of music while she paints.
@Scobre has reminded me though that I need to get back to my Anne Boelyn sim --I was playing her on my work computer during my free moments.
Well hopefully since your team ignores our requests here on the forums maybe "your" enthusiasm for a supernatural EP can convince them it's a good idea.
I'm planning, with Pets, to have an elder woman with cats who begins a relationship with an elder man with dogs (or maybe vise versa). I want to explore how their relationship is affected when the "kids" don't get along.
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
Like a Simmer mentioned, New Ideas are fine, but don't PUSH them on us, when we don't even have the Basics. Switch it up! New, Old, Old, New, etc. This game is NOT complete, and people are getting plummed because we don't even have the basic necessities!
I didn't read what @SimGuruDrake said as trying to push ONLY new content on us. I read what she said as be open and excited about new ideas as well as how they can put a new spin on old favourite themes.
Their new ideas are incredibly bland. Get Together was a new idea for them and the resulting pack was collectively short on new gameplay and content. That doesn't really lead itself to assure players that their other 'new ideas' will be any better.
Packs in TS4 are small. They really are. Get Together could, and should, have came with a lot more than it did. Get to Work came with a lot of stuff, but most of it is essentially useless outside of the chosen career. Also their spin on "retail" was incredibly disappointing. They knew how popular owning and operating businesses was/is, and they butchered a fan favorite and have left it rather underdeveloped and buggy over a year later. That right there tells me as a consumer they cannot provide an even medium between "new" and "old" ideas.
So she asks why we don't want the team to get creative? Well I for one would love for the team to get creative, but I would rather have incredibly fleshed out gameplay and game systems, something that we aren't seeing in general. There's tons of fluff in The Sims 4; many things that we are sold are relatively disjointed in the gameplay they provide. Some people find value to them, I see content that I will maybe use here and there but I'm not going to go around to every household and make new stories using that heavily themed stuff. It doesn't work for me without supporting content. I didn't buy premium objects from TS3 store for that very reason, so the fact that SP's are doing that now is even more of a reason for me not to buy them.
So by all means Maxis should continue thinking of new stuff, but that should have no bearing on established fan favorites. If they can't provide content that is of equal or greater quality and functionality than previous games why even try? Dine out? Could have been amazing if they would have started with the functionality in Sims 2 and improved upon that. They didn't, and the resulting experience is different and not in a better way either.
Maxis acts as if they don't have 14 years worth of ideas already developed and available. Their mindset of "new" is clouding their perception of what their older games did and why certain content is extremely popular. If I bought a car that offered 42mpg, and a few years later they refreshed the car inside and out and changed the mileage from 42 to 25 why would I buy it? Now clearly no company would intentionally butcher a car line like that, but if they did they wouldn't expect the car to appeal to who it did before. They wouldn't treat it like the same car, and they certainly wouldn't make promises that it could achieve everything and more than the older model which had way better mileage. So this is my issue with Maxis. They are the manufacturer in this situation, where they have made a tremendous change, but instead of recognizing that they are playing dumb and acting like they don't see the problem. The game has been out for almost two full years, if no one at Maxis can figure out why players are upset then they need to hire more competent staff.
Well, @SimGuruDrake since you asked. I just said something similar on another thread, but when you make a transition to another sims' games, there are certain things that need to be there for me. Things like Generations, Pets, Seasons, University, because they add the basics of life. And I speak for myself, but I need those basic features to properly simulate life and enjoy playing my families. I miss having a house full of cats and dogs running around and greeting my sims when they get home, I miss sending my families to the beach on a hot day or stay at home having a hot drink by the fireplace when it's snowing outside, I miss having dates where you could do a bunch of things like go karaoking or play bowling, I miss playing teenagers and start wondering what they will study at University and what experience they will get there, I miss having my sim kids invite their friends over to play at the tree house and then later have a sleepover, I miss having my teens sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet their crush, I miss toddlers. Those are all things we took for granted on a sims' game and suddenly they are not there anymore. Sure, things like Seasons and Pets always take their time to make, I'm not expecting you to deliver those EPs only two years later, but Generations? University? There are too many new things already in TS4, it's time for a classic. You can still throw new things in, but the core of these EPs should remain the same. They add ordinary things that we do in our everyday lives, and without them, I can't properly enjoy the game because I feel like something is always missing.
How a majority of us who have been simming since 2000 now feel in a nutshell.
Yeah the Sims 4 is a real ''life simulator''. I lolled and cringed. To be a decent life simulator we at least need the appropriate life stages back first. Holy plumbob too much blablabla.
It seems like the team only wants to see what they want to see. ''Yeah just because people here on the forum are asking for X, doesn't mean other people want the same''
If they actually took the time to read comments outside of this forum they will come to the ''shocking'' conclusion that there are enough things A LOT of people want the same.
I think the community that is on the forum is a representative number. What you gonna do? With polls and elections not everyone is going to vote, but there is always an outcome... what you gonna say then? Yeah well, not everyone voted, so maybe not everyone wants it, so just leave it. The logic.
Please take that blinders off and start dealing with the real problems.
Yeah the Sims 4 is a real ''life simulator''. I lolled and cringed. To be a decent life simulator we at least need the appropriate life stages back first. Holy plumbob too much blablabla.
It seems like the team only wants to see what they want to see. ''Yeah just because people here on the forum are asking for X, doesn't mean other people want the same''
If they actually took the time to read comments outside of this forum they will come to the ''shocking'' conclusion that there are enough things A LOT of people want the same.
I think the community that is on the forum is a representative number. What you gonna do? With polls and elections not everyone is going to vote, but there is always an outcome... what you gonna say then? Yeah well, not everyone voted, so maybe not everyone wants it, so just leave it. The logic.
Please take that blinders off and start dealing with the real problems.
Lol true. Every time they post something on f b or youtube it is full of people asking for toddlers.
So I guess that means we all want the same ^^
So she loves EP3, okay, so it's something that is really good for her. It shows that, when announced, she would want every opportunity to talk with us about it, since what's the point of telling someone you love something if you're not going to talk about it?
The forums plus everything else is taken into account, yes, but if "Toddlers!" is being shouted from the rooftops everywhere, I think they're pretty aware of how much we want them. Besides that, looking for common factors between everything besides the T's can become difficult, as wading through the myriad of ideas, discussions, threads, feedback, comments, and so on can be difficult enough, but it gets even more difficult when aggression gets in the way of an open clear dialogue, muddying up perceptions, words and tones, and making it difficult to understand each other,
@SimGuruDrake getting new experiences is good, and it does help to expand the box, but right now, people are expecting the "Classics" in EPs because of how much they were loved in the past. The first 2 EPs that the team has released have presumably been worked on before the release of the game, and were more so set in stone because of how many resources there already were for them, but releasing the EPs right that the team knows will sell, or at least planning for them to be released soon would help gain back trust from the fanbase. While new experiences can be fun to explore, they can feel hollow for some people who feel like the core of the game is missing.
Balancing acts are a very real and difficult thing. Every pack has to have a limited amount of resources, and while the live service can help get more resources to a pack, there's only so many that can be shifted into one. You can't try and do everything, otherwise the features will be stretched thin and not satisfy anyone at all. In GTW, the 3 careers took up resources, as they each had to have unique goals, assets, events, and so on, and they also developed retail too, which disappointed a lot of the people expecting OFB. In GT, it felt like some of the resources were too concentrated, draining from everything else. The clubs and world of Windenburg most likely took up a majority of resources, leaving only some to be spread out across the gameplay, skills, and other new objects to interact with. While the clubs and world were very beautiful and did help to change the game (at least that's what I think), the rest of the EP felt a bit gutted, as some of the objects felt like they could've had more depth to them, and that there could be more to this EP, life state included.
I think that's all the points, if I missed any, I'm not editing this, as it's way too much for me to be posting this early in the morning.
Just some random Simmer you probably don't even follow on the gallery! Gallery name's the same as my username! Did I just rhyme there?
How about we try this. Let's list four EPs that we think are "basic" to the game in no particular order. No mean or nice comments, just a list of four EPs you want in the game as soon as possible. Maybe this will show them the exact EPs we want that, hopefully, they can start working on. I'll start;
How about we try this. Let's list four EPs that we think are "basic" to the game in no particular order. No mean or nice comments, just a list of four EPs you want in the game as soon as possible. Maybe this will show them the exact EPs we want that, hopefully, they can start working on. I'll start;
1) Supernaturals
2) Seasons
3) Pets
4) University
Generations
Seasons
Pets
Vacations
1) Generations
2) University
3) Seasons
4) Supernatural
It amazes me, and not in a good way, that EA and its minions still, after all this time and all the outcry and discussion, refuse to comment definitely on the biggest elephant in the room I've ever seen, toddlers. I know not everyone wants them, but come ON. You'd have to be blind, deaf, and a hermit for the last two years not to have noticed it. Either they're working on them or not. Either the game can have them or it can't. TWO YEARS. Don't give us that line about "can't comment" -- EA can comment if they want, just like they comment on other things.
Also, finding out that SGDrake is not a "family player," while certainly her right, does not surprise me in the least. I gather the TS4 devs weren't family players either, and so, in the finest tradition of Final Fantasy Disease, if the devs don't want it, we can't have it either. In other words, what they want is the ONLY way to play the game. Babies as objects, no toddlers? They don't care so to them the game is fine as is.
It amazes me, and not in a good way, that EA and its minions still, after all this time and all the outcry and discussion, refuse to comment definitely on the biggest elephant in the room I've ever seen, toddlers. I know not everyone wants them, but come ON. You'd have to be blind, deaf, and a hermit for the last two years not to have noticed it. Either they're working on them or not. Either the game can have them or it can't. TWO YEARS. Don't give us that line about "can't comment" -- EA can comment if they want, just like they comment on other things.
Also, finding out that SGDrake is not a "family player," while certainly her right, does not surprise me in the least. I gather the TS4 devs weren't family players either, and so, in the finest tradition of Final Fantasy Disease, if the devs don't want it, we can't have it either. In other words, what they want is the ONLY way to play the game. Babies as objects, no toddlers? They don't care so to them the game is fine as is.
I feel the exact same way that it seems like they don't care just because you don't play with a family don't rule out family players I myself am a family player and I personally feel ruled out when it comes to Sims 4.
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
I would have to say the $80 base game with it's 'extras' was pretty greedy when it lacked over 80% of actual gameplay and interactions the TS2 base offered. I don't know, I would expect some MMORPG to maybe cost that much not this knock off.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
I saw someone say that if you want these things what are you willing to give up for them? With the content the TS4 base game was released with.....well lets just say we gave up a lot and still didn't get any of these things.
"People really love to explore 'failure states. In fact, the failure states are really much more interesting than the success states." ~ Will Wright
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
Nope, still EA.
Look at any other game series, in particular the new Civ 6. The base game comes with all of the expansion content of Civ 5 because, amazingly, that content has already been made so they had access to the assets and it was easy to update to the new version. They knew people wouldn't want to play a base game that didn't include all of the advanced features that the expansions added, let alone pay for a repeat of them in expansions for the new game further down the line.
Why on earth would you try to defend somebody who's ripping you off? Do you enjoy spending a fortune on content you've already bought for the previous game? Do you like how content is being cut down but costs are staying the same?
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
Nope, still EA.
Look at any other game series, in particular the new Civ 6. The base game comes with all of the expansion content of Civ 5 because, amazingly, that content has already been made so they had access to the assets and it was easy to update to the new version. They knew people wouldn't want to play a base game that didn't include all of the advanced features that the expansions added, let alone pay for a repeat of them in expansions for the new game further down the line.
Why on earth would you try to defend somebody who's ripping you off? Do you enjoy spending a fortune on content you've already bought for the previous game? Do you like how content is being cut down but costs are staying the same?
I agree,
When this series is done we would have spent, at the very least, about $300 with just the expansion packs.
It's a feature rich game at the end, but a $300 dollar game? They can at least throw in a weather system in the base game.
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
Nope, still EA.
Look at any other game series, in particular the new Civ 6. The base game comes with all of the expansion content of Civ 5 because, amazingly, that content has already been made so they had access to the assets and it was easy to update to the new version. They knew people wouldn't want to play a base game that didn't include all of the advanced features that the expansions added, let alone pay for a repeat of them in expansions for the new game further down the line.
Why on earth would you try to defend somebody who's ripping you off? Do you enjoy spending a fortune on content you've already bought for the previous game? Do you like how content is being cut down but costs are staying the same?
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
Nope, still EA.
Look at any other game series, in particular the new Civ 6. The base game comes with all of the expansion content of Civ 5 because, amazingly, that content has already been made so they had access to the assets and it was easy to update to the new version. They knew people wouldn't want to play a base game that didn't include all of the advanced features that the expansions added, let alone pay for a repeat of them in expansions for the new game further down the line.
Why on earth would you try to defend somebody who's ripping you off? Do you enjoy spending a fortune on content you've already bought for the previous game? Do you like how content is being cut down but costs are staying the same?
I agree,
When this series is done we would have spent, at the very least, about $300 with just the expansion packs.
It's a feature rich game at the end, but a $300 dollar game? They can at least throw in a weather system in the base game.
This is an interesting point and perhaps one of the most relevant on the topic of cost of the game. People feel like they are getting ripped off because the base game didn't come with all this stuff and yet when it's released in packs, the cost is $380. Do people want to pay $380 up front for a game that has all of these things in it? Time, resources, labor, etc., all cost money and a company doesn't survive by giving things away or even breaking even.
So, let's say Seasons, Pets, and Generations are all EPs and cost $40 each. Plus the base game which, in its most basic format, was $50, I believe. But heck, we'll go with $80 so people don't think I'm trying to fudge things here. So, 3 $40 expansions plus a base game for $80 is $200. Are people willing to pay $200 for a base game that includes Seasons, Pets and Generations? Even if they discount it like a bundle pack, it still wouldn't bring the price down to a more standard base game price for games these days.
@Ianamus brought up Civ 6 including all the expansion content of Civ 5 and explained why--the content was already there so all they had to do was access the assets and set it up for the new version. They did this somewhat with TS3, from what I understanding, reusing a ton of animations from that game and porting them into 3. So, how many versions of the game do you want where they just reuse assets, put a new coat of paint on it, add a few new shinies and call it a day?
Someone else mentioned earlier that just basic weather (like rain and thunder) shouldn't be that costly to add, which I agree with. But, as @SimGuruDrake pointed out, there are limitations to what can be included in the base game, I assume based on things like cost to produce versus how much they can charge (i.e., $80 for a base game versus $100 or more to add in even a portion of an EP and that would still be considered the standard version [not a collector's edition or deluxe edition]).
We can complain about the cost as much as we want, but the game is going to cost what it costs. What you're left with is deciding if the price is worth what you're getting because complaining probably isn't going to change the prices they normally set. Looking at this logically, we've been told they have a set number of animations they can add into any given pack, depending on the type of pack it is. If people feel like the packs we've gotten so far are too shallow, I don't see how that's going to change for them since including more animations is out and that seems to be the sticking point for how people feel the game is shallow. I assume, like most products, the price calculation includes how much labor goes into the product--adding more animations to something would increase the cost, therefore, dropping stuff packs and/or game packs and adding those animations to the expansions will only increase the price of the expansions (something I suspect they don't want to do since they've probably done a ton of research on what the sweetest price point is for each pack type).
Origin ID: ebuchala I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
I don't play Civ 5 or Civ 6, but I'm guessing they were built on the same game engine so adding things from Civ 5 to Civ 6 would not be hard. The Sims 4, however, is built on a different game engine than S3 was so that is not possible. If you know so much about gaming, you should know this.
People complain that EA is "milking" us but here, people expect a base game with two EPs included to be released probably at the same price of the original BG. Who's greedy now?
I would have to say the $80 base game with it's 'extras' was pretty greedy when it lacked over 80% of actual gameplay and interactions the TS2 base offered. I don't know, I would expect some MMORPG to maybe cost that much not this knock off.
I feel like they are milking us. If they weren't they would tell us if they were planning on putting toddlers back in, yes or no. The implication is they want to string people along by not saying anything, because people are hopeful that the team will deliver. So even though they have never promised toddlers, people are hopeful and optimistic because the team has not said "no there will NOT be toddlers" because EA doesn't want people to move on.
I feel like they are milking us. If they weren't they would tell us if they were planning on putting toddlers back in, yes or no. The implication is they want to string people along by not saying anything, because people are hopeful that the team will deliver. So even though they have never promised toddlers, people are hopeful and optimistic because the team has not said "no there will NOT be toddlers" because EA doesn't want people to move on.
You don't have to remain hopeful and optimistic and keep following that dangling carrot. Some people have already made up their own minds that toddlers will not be added for whatever reason. Whether you could continue to play the game on that basis is then another decision to be made.
I'm sure that many will be helped along in their decisions when we finally find out what EP3 is going to be. It could be make or break time for some of us.
@SimGuruDrake you asked about new experiences and why some are adverse.
I'm very happy to have new experiences but from my perspective there are only certain aspects of the game that are enduring and replay able.
In both 2 and 3, I never tired of seasons, university and ofb in 2. I loved the different way seasons was implemented in 3 so I don't need or want exact replicas.
However things like supernatural and ambitions, they are good, but they are once in a while and or reserved for particular games.
The other part of this though is how they are implemented and the overall 'vibe' of ts4.
I was sooooo excited for ofb remake, but retail has become a once in a while thing for me. It is too easy and doesn't have enough depth for me.
Other things I notice about the vibe of ts4 is that it is very light ( ie not deviant/dark), not challenging, happy sims and too simple. So new experiences are limited to the vibe per se. I believe maxis tried to all some depth to resturants and did so, but they went the max allowed within the vibe - and it's not satisfying enough for me.
I get that it's a game made not for me, but as a business enterprise and to make max return for shareholders. And I get that views of players are not limited to the forums. But I do wonder does the game have a target audience and what does it look like? Does this drive the vibe.
I wish to end by saying I don't hate ts4, for a non builder and non sim creator in past iterations, I can finally create sims and buildings I am proud off. I do get, though, that it comes at the cost of more creative tools for advanced builders.
I also really like clubs, but they are also limited by the niceness of gameplay.
Just my 2 cents. For me it's more about the vibe than the specific experiences.
SimGuruDrake did reveal in another thread that she is a solo deviant player. So even if a Guru has a certain play style, doesn't insure that those play styles will be in the game either. I mean she likes both supernaturals and deviance, which are two things I like too, yet I feel in addition to family play both are lacking in this iteration. I really hope that the next EP has a life state at least. You have no idea how bummed I got when I hear life states being a trend for EP was never intentional. It is almost like everything I loved about the Sims in the first place is being thrown out the window for these so-called "new shallow" ideas. So when things that are taken away from me that made me fall in love with the Sims, can I still call it the Sims or does it become something else and foreign?
Honestly sometimes I wonder if it wasn't for the name, the Sims 4 would even be considered a sequel. It's just not a sequel and I still don't think it deserves the 4 in its title. If anything for it being a different game, it is a reboot, nothing more than that. It seriously has more in common with Kim Kardashian and Animal Crossing game than it does with the Sims franchise. I just wish it had been called something else if they wanted to take the franchise into a new direction away from the life simulation genre quoting from former EA employee Lucy Bradshaw, "“It’s less of a life simulation but more a game about drama.” Source: http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/19/how-entertainment-and-life-gives-life-to-the-sims/ So I'm sorry @SimGuruDrake, but even two years later Simmers aren't getting the direction of this iteration other than it being a game that has put everything we loved about the Sims in the garbage can. Even after all that time, this quote still holds true, “We haven’t done a great job in explaining to the world what the game’s possibilities are,” Franklin said. I just feel like a lot of the drama on forums could have been avoided if in the attempting of taking the franchise into a new direction, the name could have been different. Usually with sequels with movies, they stop counting after the third one. Then again movies of more than three usually don't do well, Star Wars being the exception. Anyway, I hope with the next attempt of changing the game's genre, the sequel title won't be added. It would just help avoid a lot more confusion and comparison problems. It's how side games like the Sims Medieval and the Sims Castaway were able to be remembered on their own.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
Comments
It would go so nicely with Graham's hot dog costume!
My simblr is Emy the Gamer
Well hopefully since your team ignores our requests here on the forums maybe "your" enthusiasm for a supernatural EP can convince them it's a good idea.
THIS... and also what @Bythedreadwolf said too:
How a majority of us who have been simming since 2000 now feel in a nutshell.
INFJ -A/-T
It seems like the team only wants to see what they want to see. ''Yeah just because people here on the forum are asking for X, doesn't mean other people want the same''
If they actually took the time to read comments outside of this forum they will come to the ''shocking'' conclusion that there are enough things A LOT of people want the same.
I think the community that is on the forum is a representative number. What you gonna do? With polls and elections not everyone is going to vote, but there is always an outcome... what you gonna say then? Yeah well, not everyone voted, so maybe not everyone wants it, so just leave it. The logic.
Please take that blinders off and start dealing with the real problems.
Lol true. Every time they post something on f b or youtube it is full of people asking for toddlers.
So I guess that means we all want the same ^^
complete forum tutorial
Thank you @MDianaSanders for halloween-fying Golluma
Okay, well, this thread has been interesting.
So she loves EP3, okay, so it's something that is really good for her. It shows that, when announced, she would want every opportunity to talk with us about it, since what's the point of telling someone you love something if you're not going to talk about it?
The forums plus everything else is taken into account, yes, but if "Toddlers!" is being shouted from the rooftops everywhere, I think they're pretty aware of how much we want them. Besides that, looking for common factors between everything besides the T's can become difficult, as wading through the myriad of ideas, discussions, threads, feedback, comments, and so on can be difficult enough, but it gets even more difficult when aggression gets in the way of an open clear dialogue, muddying up perceptions, words and tones, and making it difficult to understand each other,
@SimGuruDrake getting new experiences is good, and it does help to expand the box, but right now, people are expecting the "Classics" in EPs because of how much they were loved in the past. The first 2 EPs that the team has released have presumably been worked on before the release of the game, and were more so set in stone because of how many resources there already were for them, but releasing the EPs right that the team knows will sell, or at least planning for them to be released soon would help gain back trust from the fanbase. While new experiences can be fun to explore, they can feel hollow for some people who feel like the core of the game is missing.
Balancing acts are a very real and difficult thing. Every pack has to have a limited amount of resources, and while the live service can help get more resources to a pack, there's only so many that can be shifted into one. You can't try and do everything, otherwise the features will be stretched thin and not satisfy anyone at all. In GTW, the 3 careers took up resources, as they each had to have unique goals, assets, events, and so on, and they also developed retail too, which disappointed a lot of the people expecting OFB. In GT, it felt like some of the resources were too concentrated, draining from everything else. The clubs and world of Windenburg most likely took up a majority of resources, leaving only some to be spread out across the gameplay, skills, and other new objects to interact with. While the clubs and world were very beautiful and did help to change the game (at least that's what I think), the rest of the EP felt a bit gutted, as some of the objects felt like they could've had more depth to them, and that there could be more to this EP, life state included.
I think that's all the points, if I missed any, I'm not editing this, as it's way too much for me to be posting this early in the morning.
Generations
Seasons
Pets
Vacations
1) Generations
2) University
3) Seasons
4) Supernatural
Also, finding out that SGDrake is not a "family player," while certainly her right, does not surprise me in the least. I gather the TS4 devs weren't family players either, and so, in the finest tradition of Final Fantasy Disease, if the devs don't want it, we can't have it either. In other words, what they want is the ONLY way to play the game. Babies as objects, no toddlers? They don't care so to them the game is fine as is.
I feel the exact same way that it seems like they don't care just because you don't play with a family don't rule out family players I myself am a family player and I personally feel ruled out when it comes to Sims 4.
I would have to say the $80 base game with it's 'extras' was pretty greedy when it lacked over 80% of actual gameplay and interactions the TS2 base offered. I don't know, I would expect some MMORPG to maybe cost that much not this knock off.
I saw someone say that if you want these things what are you willing to give up for them? With the content the TS4 base game was released with.....well lets just say we gave up a lot and still didn't get any of these things.
Nope, still EA.
Look at any other game series, in particular the new Civ 6. The base game comes with all of the expansion content of Civ 5 because, amazingly, that content has already been made so they had access to the assets and it was easy to update to the new version. They knew people wouldn't want to play a base game that didn't include all of the advanced features that the expansions added, let alone pay for a repeat of them in expansions for the new game further down the line.
Why on earth would you try to defend somebody who's ripping you off? Do you enjoy spending a fortune on content you've already bought for the previous game? Do you like how content is being cut down but costs are staying the same?
I agree,
When this series is done we would have spent, at the very least, about $300 with just the expansion packs.
It's a feature rich game at the end, but a $300 dollar game? They can at least throw in a weather system in the base game.
IS IT OCTOBER YET??? Sorry, I really want Civ 6.
This is an interesting point and perhaps one of the most relevant on the topic of cost of the game. People feel like they are getting ripped off because the base game didn't come with all this stuff and yet when it's released in packs, the cost is $380. Do people want to pay $380 up front for a game that has all of these things in it? Time, resources, labor, etc., all cost money and a company doesn't survive by giving things away or even breaking even.
So, let's say Seasons, Pets, and Generations are all EPs and cost $40 each. Plus the base game which, in its most basic format, was $50, I believe. But heck, we'll go with $80 so people don't think I'm trying to fudge things here. So, 3 $40 expansions plus a base game for $80 is $200. Are people willing to pay $200 for a base game that includes Seasons, Pets and Generations? Even if they discount it like a bundle pack, it still wouldn't bring the price down to a more standard base game price for games these days.
@Ianamus brought up Civ 6 including all the expansion content of Civ 5 and explained why--the content was already there so all they had to do was access the assets and set it up for the new version. They did this somewhat with TS3, from what I understanding, reusing a ton of animations from that game and porting them into 3. So, how many versions of the game do you want where they just reuse assets, put a new coat of paint on it, add a few new shinies and call it a day?
Someone else mentioned earlier that just basic weather (like rain and thunder) shouldn't be that costly to add, which I agree with. But, as @SimGuruDrake pointed out, there are limitations to what can be included in the base game, I assume based on things like cost to produce versus how much they can charge (i.e., $80 for a base game versus $100 or more to add in even a portion of an EP and that would still be considered the standard version [not a collector's edition or deluxe edition]).
We can complain about the cost as much as we want, but the game is going to cost what it costs. What you're left with is deciding if the price is worth what you're getting because complaining probably isn't going to change the prices they normally set. Looking at this logically, we've been told they have a set number of animations they can add into any given pack, depending on the type of pack it is. If people feel like the packs we've gotten so far are too shallow, I don't see how that's going to change for them since including more animations is out and that seems to be the sticking point for how people feel the game is shallow. I assume, like most products, the price calculation includes how much labor goes into the product--adding more animations to something would increase the cost, therefore, dropping stuff packs and/or game packs and adding those animations to the expansions will only increase the price of the expansions (something I suspect they don't want to do since they've probably done a ton of research on what the sweetest price point is for each pack type).
I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning psychopath. Reaper
I feel like they are milking us. If they weren't they would tell us if they were planning on putting toddlers back in, yes or no. The implication is they want to string people along by not saying anything, because people are hopeful that the team will deliver. So even though they have never promised toddlers, people are hopeful and optimistic because the team has not said "no there will NOT be toddlers" because EA doesn't want people to move on.
I'm sure that many will be helped along in their decisions when we finally find out what EP3 is going to be. It could be make or break time for some of us.
I'm very happy to have new experiences but from my perspective there are only certain aspects of the game that are enduring and replay able.
In both 2 and 3, I never tired of seasons, university and ofb in 2. I loved the different way seasons was implemented in 3 so I don't need or want exact replicas.
However things like supernatural and ambitions, they are good, but they are once in a while and or reserved for particular games.
The other part of this though is how they are implemented and the overall 'vibe' of ts4.
I was sooooo excited for ofb remake, but retail has become a once in a while thing for me. It is too easy and doesn't have enough depth for me.
Other things I notice about the vibe of ts4 is that it is very light ( ie not deviant/dark), not challenging, happy sims and too simple. So new experiences are limited to the vibe per se. I believe maxis tried to all some depth to resturants and did so, but they went the max allowed within the vibe - and it's not satisfying enough for me.
I get that it's a game made not for me, but as a business enterprise and to make max return for shareholders. And I get that views of players are not limited to the forums. But I do wonder does the game have a target audience and what does it look like? Does this drive the vibe.
I wish to end by saying I don't hate ts4, for a non builder and non sim creator in past iterations, I can finally create sims and buildings I am proud off. I do get, though, that it comes at the cost of more creative tools for advanced builders.
I also really like clubs, but they are also limited by the niceness of gameplay.
Just my 2 cents. For me it's more about the vibe than the specific experiences.
Honestly sometimes I wonder if it wasn't for the name, the Sims 4 would even be considered a sequel. It's just not a sequel and I still don't think it deserves the 4 in its title. If anything for it being a different game, it is a reboot, nothing more than that. It seriously has more in common with Kim Kardashian and Animal Crossing game than it does with the Sims franchise. I just wish it had been called something else if they wanted to take the franchise into a new direction away from the life simulation genre quoting from former EA employee Lucy Bradshaw, "“It’s less of a life simulation but more a game about drama.” Source: http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/19/how-entertainment-and-life-gives-life-to-the-sims/ So I'm sorry @SimGuruDrake, but even two years later Simmers aren't getting the direction of this iteration other than it being a game that has put everything we loved about the Sims in the garbage can. Even after all that time, this quote still holds true, “We haven’t done a great job in explaining to the world what the game’s possibilities are,” Franklin said. I just feel like a lot of the drama on forums could have been avoided if in the attempting of taking the franchise into a new direction, the name could have been different. Usually with sequels with movies, they stop counting after the third one. Then again movies of more than three usually don't do well, Star Wars being the exception. Anyway, I hope with the next attempt of changing the game's genre, the sequel title won't be added. It would just help avoid a lot more confusion and comparison problems. It's how side games like the Sims Medieval and the Sims Castaway were able to be remembered on their own.