Sims 3: What's the point?

[Miral]

Actually, that's not it. The "big thing" this time around is that it'll have seamless neighborhoods.

The thing that bothers me about this: in the previous games, since there wasn't a continuous neighbourhood, you could build up one family at a time and then get them to meet up and be friends (or enemies) as desired. In Sims 3, with the continuous neighbourhood, it sounds like you won't be able to do that any more -- at least not without having to constantly juggle from one family to another.

 

[scotth266]

Meh. I didn't like Sims 2, so I'll be skipping out on this. Instead, I'll get that new Spore expansion: that at least looks interesting...

 

[The Geek Lord]

Well the sims has always been good for sadistic people to live out their strangest fantasies. My friend used to make his sim swim all day and night until it peed itself on the side of the pool and fell asleep in its own wee, he subsequently boxed him in, got rid of all the doors and set fire to the house...is that worth forty dollars?

Yes, that is worth forty dollars.
But then again, I'm one of those sadistic freaks, so just ignore me.

 

[SimuLord]

The Sims has always been my guilty pleasure as a gamer, and it looks like EA is making an effort to make Sims 3 a true "three" game for the series...it looks like the devs started out with a great concept, refined it to a T in the second game, then took the series in a whole new direction for the third installment.

EA's announced that the DRM will be disc-check only (yes, I'm aware that SecuROM will be the disc-checking utility of choice, but that doesn't bother me---it's install-limit and other more draconian DRM that bothers me), and if Spore's eventual release on Steam is anything to go by, EA may be playing nice enough that I won't have to feel like pirating it is my only option---if it's available through Steam I'll very likely buy it through that channel to let EA know that "yes, I approve of what you're doing, and you're going a long way toward restoring your reputation."

As for expansions, if they pop one out every six months and have the same track record for making the expansions actually worth buying (every Sims 2 pack has something to recommend it if you like the core game, and Nightlife and Seasons in particular were extremely well done), then as I see it, what's another 30 bucks twice a year to keep a game fresh? I just hope they're not really foolish enough to think they can charge twenty bucks for "stuff packs" when you can go to any modders' resource on the Internet and just download better stuff for free.

 

[Metalchair]

well maybe they feel that they need to be like everyone else and make more sequels when they could be makin new original things. but with the new technology i guess they wanted to show off how inteligent they could make their AI and make you just build their surroundings and let the Sims do what they want

 

[xenxander]

It's one more game for your girl friend (what you have one of those???), or your wife you've been neglecting due to your WoW addition.

Let her play it over and over and get her all hyped up and she'll stop nagging you for sex all the time because her sims will be porking each other instead .. hmmm...

(oh.. wait... I'd rather have real-life sex than help a guild raid some retard, but maybe that's because I'm normal?).

 

[Susan Arendt]

I got to play it a wee bit at GDC and it actually seemed really cool. For one thing, all that micromanaging you had to do - you know, getting your Sim to feed itself, wash itself, etc -- is largely done away with. You can, for example, get a perk that lets your Sim only have to eat once a day, or something. It's less micromanaging and more doing. The bit I saw actually made me want to play the game, and I haven't been interested in the Sims since the first one.

 

[teisjm]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
That simple

 

[rosseloh]

Profit for EA. Simple as that.


That said, I always liked building houses in 2, so I'm getting it regardless.

 

[quack35]

I've not played Sims 2, but I'll probably pick this one up.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Point for the sims 3 is that it will allow people to be even lazier, all while EA profits out of milking the fuck out of it. 30 go to 10

 

[Judas-]

Well the sims has always been good for sadistic people to live out their strangest fantasies. My friend used to make his sim swim all day and night until it peed itself on the side of the pool and fell asleep in its own wee, he subsequently boxed him in, got rid of all the doors and set fire to the house...is that worth forty dollars?

You know, it would be, if all the character's voice acting, animation and emotional reactions were handled by Rockstar.

 

[hopeneverdies]

I think I'll just stick with stealing my sister's copy of the Urbz Sims in the City for DS. Not great, but it does suck up a lot of time.

 

[Nargleblarg]

I think this game will be a great game I will admit it's more of an upgrade but then again that's what a series is each game in a series is just an upgrade. It is a much better looking game then the last one. And the hook is this game isn't based around making them survive you now only have 3 mood meters which now barely drain. This game is more about living your life you can go around town and the game is more customizable. You have more control of what kind of person you are and there are more customizable clothes, houses, etc.........well I'm getting it that's all I know

 

[high_castle]

GIRLS LIKE THE SIMS.

It's pretty elementary. We've known it for years. Girls like the Sims, for the same reason they like dolls, and why the ones who like MMOs like MMOs.. they love character development... If the sims offers greater social status, like visiting other people's houses online, or making friends, they will eat it right up.

How many girls have you consulted on that one? Most of the people I know who like the Sims were guys who liked torturing them between rounds of Halo.

As a member of the female gender, I can say I have absolutely no interest in the Sims and never have. You're correct on one point: many women are more invested in character development and storyline and that shoot-em-ups. But I never saw much of either in the Sim games. If I want a game with a good storyline and interesting characters, I'll fire up one of my Bioware RPGs and leave the life simulators for people with too much time on their hands.

 

[Miral]

I just hope they're not really foolish enough to think they can charge twenty bucks for "stuff packs" when you can go to any modders' resource on the Internet and just download better stuff for free.

They're still trying to do it for Spore, so it's likely they will still do "stuff packs".

It's more insidious than that, though -- from what I've heard, they're trying to set up a DLC-style shop: you buy a certain amount of "points" with real money and then use up your points buying individual in-game items from an online store. (Although it did sound like they'd have third-party content in the store as well, so you'd probably also be able to get points if you make something that other people want.)

 

[smithy1234]

I saw a preview of that video game on X-Play and to be honest, it didn't look that great. Cannot see myself buying that game, sorry Sims!

 

[Amarok]

Wow, I might be the only person on this forum who is actually looking forward to The Sims 3

Hell... i think it's a good franchise yeeeaaah they're a bit crazy with the expansion packs (so i only buy the once that look really good - Open for Business for the win)

And for the record, yeah, i seriously DO think the open world with no loading is gonna be cool

 

[SimuLord]

I just hope they're not really foolish enough to think they can charge twenty bucks for "stuff packs" when you can go to any modders' resource on the Internet and just download better stuff for free.

They're still trying to do it for Spore, so it's likely they will still do "stuff packs".

It's more insidious than that, though -- from what I've heard, they're trying to set up a DLC-style shop: you buy a certain amount of "points" with real money and then use up your points buying individual in-game items from an online store. (Although it did sound like they'd have third-party content in the store as well, so you'd probably also be able to get points if you make something that other people want.)

If they do third-party content, like a monetized LittleBigPlanet model, that would actually be really awesome. Even if EA kept the lion's share of the revenue, it'd still mean that people could, if they created good enough content, make at least the price of the game back, which is pretty sweet.

Hell... i think it's a good franchise yeeeaaah they're a bit crazy with the expansion packs (so i only buy the once that look really good - Open for Business for the win)

I found University, Nightlife, Seasons, and FreeTime to be the "essential" expansions. University for the extra want slots, Seasons for the weather and farming/gardening model, and FreeTime for the vast amount of content the "hobbies" added (and the "lifetime achievement award" of sorts that allowed a path to Platinum aspiration without having to follow the narrow "everything toward one goal" track). OFB, Bon Voyage, and Apartment Life fall under "must-have for the Sims enthusiast" category for me---the businesses, vacations, and the very neat way they handled multi-unit dwellings were all big steps forward. Pets...well, meh in my view. Yes, it's great to have animals around (and I've created some really cool dogs), but it's really an icing-on-the-cake and not much else. If you don't care about having animals around you can completely do without it.

Ranking them in order of importance I'd say NL/FT/Uni/Sea/OFB/AL/BV/Pets would be my order.

I've given EA a lot of money over the last five years and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. As I said in an earlier post it's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine as far as games are concerned, and sometimes I don't want to play a game that makes my brain work too hard. I just want to play around with my little on-screen computer people.

 

[EeveeElectro]

It seems similar to what you can do on PlayStation Home and possibly 360...