The Sims 4 Won't Have Pools, Toddlers
- Thread starter StewShearerOld
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I thought this game smelled like a lazy cash-grab. Say what you want about the previous Sims games, but they were at least finished games that did what they were supposed to do. This version has few to no graphical or technical improvements over the previous games and they can't even be bothered to include features in the previous versions. Well, I know it's hard to make games, EA, but it's also hard for me to care enough to buy your games. So I won't.
The Sims and The Sims 2 were fun because of how ridiculous, yet also expansive and simple they were to play.
sims 3 had a lot of potential, but it was wasted in pursuit of money. And now this. EA has to be joking. You couldn't exclude the crotchety old lady who beat you up with a handbag every now and then (who actually reappeared in The Sims 3 as an old woman days away from death. Real tasteful, EA) or the annoying alien invasion or the hilariously bad sex that puts Bioware to shame...
No. Pools and toddlers. Great job, Maxis. Great fucking job.
sims 3 had a lot of potential, but it was wasted in pursuit of money. And now this. EA has to be joking. You couldn't exclude the crotchety old lady who beat you up with a handbag every now and then (who actually reappeared in The Sims 3 as an old woman days away from death. Real tasteful, EA) or the annoying alien invasion or the hilariously bad sex that puts Bioware to shame...
No. Pools and toddlers. Great job, Maxis. Great fucking job.
Does anyone else want to drown a toddler in a pool for the first time *because* of this? It's like in Skyrim where not being able to kill children made people want to kill children.
You mean how it was impossible to make the new Sim City into a single player game, when modders found ways to do it in less then a week? Yea, tell us that one again. And the fact there are no pools doesn't make this game quite as robust in terms of building one's life. But whatever it takes for them to usher out 500 dollars worth of DLC in the span of 5 years. I haven't touched a sims game since 2001, and the way EA treats its customers I'll continue to not buy it in the foreseeable future.
So I suppose we can assume that the pool is well and truly...
*sunglasses*
Closed?
I'll shut up now.
OT: I've never been a big Sims fan myself, I only ever really tooled around a bit with the first one. However, even as a non-fan, this is pure BS of the highest order. Only someone like EA could get away with this level of idiocy. Do EA not know that you can delay a game to make time to fit everything in? Or have they simply forgotten?
*sunglasses*
Closed?
I'll shut up now.
OT: I've never been a big Sims fan myself, I only ever really tooled around a bit with the first one. However, even as a non-fan, this is pure BS of the highest order. Only someone like EA could get away with this level of idiocy. Do EA not know that you can delay a game to make time to fit everything in? Or have they simply forgotten?
That's exactly what they're saying, that it'll be added later. They're not saying they can't add it, they're saying that they were adding stuff to Sims 3 for years beyond the initial development of the game, and therefore Sims 3 has way more stuff that can be carried over for the initial release of Sims 4.crimson5pheonix said:
Of course, while there is some validity to that argument, the real point is simply that if they release everything upfront, then it'll be harder for them to come up with DLC packs to sell later.
(Emphasis mine)Frozengale said:
Sadly (depending on your POV), the Sims franchise is played by millions. The original Sims sold over 11 million units, and is to date the best selling PC-exclusive game, yes, even beating out World of Warcraft [http://www.statista.com/statistics/275226/best-selling-pc-games-of-all-time-worldwide]. The Sims 3 sold 7.5 million units (same source as previous link--and note, roughly twice as many copies of the PC version of Skyrim, just to compare). Even if you decide the actual "fanbase" is a smaller number than the total number of people who bought it (presuming some might buy it and dislike it), the core loyal fans still likely number in the millions (or at least certainly far more than 100,000).
This is exactly why EA feels they can do this. Because even if people abandon the title in droves, there will still be enough Sims addicts who will be stupid enough to buy the title (all the while complaining about how it has disappointed them) and keep it in the black. This is why there IS a Sims 4, because the franchise is so huge, and so successful, and has earned enough brand loyalty to keep it afloat regardless of whether it actually deserves that loyalty or not. I may sound harsh, but as I used to play the Sims (well, still play what I have installed on my machine, but stopped buying awhile ago) and used to go to the forums for troubleshooting advice, etc. and there were so many people who just would post over and over, "Oh I hate this feature but I'll buy it anyway," or "EA, patch our game! Why won't you patch our game! You're horrible and I hate you! Oh, and when will the next expansion come out so I can pre-order it?" There's a huge number of Sims fans that just ask EA to beat them up repeatedly and take their money for it, and that will keep this franchise going for a long, long time. PT Barnum would admire EA for their hooking so many marks.
That said, the stats also show Sims franchises sell far fewer expansions than core games--the only Sims expansion pack to make it in that top 15 post is one for the original Sims, Unleashed, and "only" sold 3.75 million copies. Still that's more than enough to help keep revenues soaring. I couldn't find stats for how well the Sims 3's expansion packs sold, but probably more than "enough." Bad sales for a Sims product would be something like 1 million units sold, and that's still a fair profit.
It's a shame because the core of the Sims game idea is still a fun one--there's good reason it HAS done so well. Virtual dollhouse meets suburban life simulator, with enough storytelling capacity to make it addictive. You get to play god. It's hard not to love that. Sims 1 was brilliant for its time. Sims 2 built on that potential. Sims 3, despite some claims, I feel started strong--the core game I think actually had at least most of what a core Sims game should have--it had all the life stages for one thing (kind of crucial for a LIFE SIMULATOR), as well as all house features including pools (it was missing, like, spiral staircases and half-walls, which feel a little less crucial and were of course added later), as well as enough skill building, jobs, neighborhood features, etc. to feel like a complete game---and added the seamless world which is what I feel held back the Sims 2 from being truly great (I found that the time jumps caused by moving from location to location were really immersion-breaking). Even so, some criticized it for feeling incomplete (the rabbit holes taking away interactivity options, too few objects shipped with core and sold in the store instead). It looks like the Sims 4 is going to be what everyone complained about with the core Sims 3 game, and then some, if it can't even be bothered to include features that should be considered crucial to a suburban life simulator.
Any video game should always feel complete in and of itself, and expansions/DLC should only add what you couldn't imagine have been there before. Sims is clearly moving away from this (I think they did accomplish that early on).
And yes, of COURSE these things will be put in expansion packs later. People see this. Even the people planning to pay full MSRP in advance for the game.
And in case anyone cares--I doubt it, but it's the Internet, and this is like my once annual Escapist post--stopped buying Sims after I got Sims 3: Night Life. Two reasons--customer service really screwed me over on something (I bought something from the Sims store that refused to install itself and customer service was just like "yeah, that happens sometimes, sucks to be you. No you don't get your money back, but here's a coupon for the store that you no longer are able to use"), and because Origin, which was starting to be required as of the Sims 3: Generations. I do not want that crap on my machine. When they announced the expansion pack that was basically a Facebook plugin plus features that effectively duplicated Night Life plus some extra scenery, I decided they had given up on making a worthwhile project, and I haven't looked back since. It is a shame though... I look at the Sims 4 trailers and think that COULD be so good. I like a lot of the changes to CAS, etc. But I know it's a sham, and it's not going to be half as fun as it looks (plus, still not putting Origin on my PC, ever).
This is the real issue with the Sims... it goes very broad, but does not go very deep. You can build up this cool world and play with your AI dolls and have lots of fun, but then realize stuff just doesn't quite meet expectations. You want your Sim to start a fight with this dude, but the Sim just keeps pulling out that same freaking cookbook and reading it in the middle of the street, or starts playing the guitar for no particular reason till he nearly passes out from hunger, and you realize that the programming, the implementation... it's all half-assed, all made to look good on the surface but makes little sense.
In retrospect, when Will Wright left, we all should have known it was going to go downhill from there. (I wish he'd do something new--and something not ruined by a AAA publisher.)
I think an indie developer could make a respectable profit if they started developing a life simulator in a different vein... go deep rather than broad. Don't worry about the housebuilding or whatever, but get into the details of building a person's relationships or careers, with lots of choices to make (not just random opportunities or skill challenges), for a handful of careers. Make a game with a fully fleshed out family or street, rather than a world full of mannequins. I'd back it if someone kickstarted it.
Yeah this pure DLC bait just like weather and hot tubs before it, pools are a basic feature we've come to expect and nothing gets people to buy DLCs like these big features.
What scares me is the fact that this is likely going to be an Origin exclusive and without steam sales to make the dlc reasonably priced exactly how expensive are these things going to be? It cost me $200 to get Sims 3 and half the DLC DURING a steam sale so unless Origin can drop some %80 off sales lasting at least a week I'm just not going to bother with series.
What scares me is the fact that this is likely going to be an Origin exclusive and without steam sales to make the dlc reasonably priced exactly how expensive are these things going to be? It cost me $200 to get Sims 3 and half the DLC DURING a steam sale so unless Origin can drop some %80 off sales lasting at least a week I'm just not going to bother with series.
THIS IS A GODDAMN OUTRAGE!! Now I have to drown real toddlers, and real toddlers are so messy...
But seriously, I'm not even surprised. This game is shaping up to be one that will be as buggy, broken, and devoid of content as The Sims 3.
No pools, toddlers, drivable cars, and the only town that ships with the game will have less space in it than the all three of the ones that shipped with The Sims 2.
I'll keep playing The Sims 2, which has cars, hot tubs, big towns, toddlers, and pools, countless mods to make it customizable and playable for anyone who wants to do anything, and laugh at all the silly people trading in the updated graphics for a woefully empty game devoid of anything that is actually fun.
But seriously, I'm not even surprised. This game is shaping up to be one that will be as buggy, broken, and devoid of content as The Sims 3.
No pools, toddlers, drivable cars, and the only town that ships with the game will have less space in it than the all three of the ones that shipped with The Sims 2.
I'll keep playing The Sims 2, which has cars, hot tubs, big towns, toddlers, and pools, countless mods to make it customizable and playable for anyone who wants to do anything, and laugh at all the silly people trading in the updated graphics for a woefully empty game devoid of anything that is actually fun.
I am so sick of being LIED to. Obvious lies! Ridiculous lies!
Not possible? NOT POSSIBLE!? You've done it all at least TWICE before!!
Aren't you tired of it, EA? Aren't you tired of constantly being in the running of 'Worst Company in America'? Aren't you tired of the critical press and reactions from your fans?
Is it really so hard to make money AND good games?
Jeez! It's like every time you come up with a game I might be interested in...or something that I'm already a fan of...you do something to taint it and bury any value it might have under a mountain of needless bullshit.
It's not that I enjoy boycotting you EA -skipping ME3 was one of the most agonizing decisions I had to make as a gamer- but you give me NO CHOICE! You can't gate content I already have and expect me to thank you for it and hand you more money. You. Just. Can't.
Get it together, you silly bastards.
Not possible? NOT POSSIBLE!? You've done it all at least TWICE before!!
Aren't you tired of it, EA? Aren't you tired of constantly being in the running of 'Worst Company in America'? Aren't you tired of the critical press and reactions from your fans?
Is it really so hard to make money AND good games?
Jeez! It's like every time you come up with a game I might be interested in...or something that I'm already a fan of...you do something to taint it and bury any value it might have under a mountain of needless bullshit.
It's not that I enjoy boycotting you EA -skipping ME3 was one of the most agonizing decisions I had to make as a gamer- but you give me NO CHOICE! You can't gate content I already have and expect me to thank you for it and hand you more money. You. Just. Can't.
Get it together, you silly bastards.
That's not even half of it. They didn't even have basic features like basements until an expansion pack for the Sims 3 put it in. Prior to that, you had to jury-rig your own basement by digging a giant hole in the ground and just building there. And even then it would warp the surrounding terrain because the dev team's apparently never heard of retaining walls.Whatislove said:
I'll freely admit to playing the Sims, even though it's supposedly for casuals, but the obvious cash-grab the franchise has become is just ludicrous. I mean, hiding basic features of the Sims in expansion packs, expecting the player to shell out twenty bucks or more for each and every one, and then announcing the Sims 4 before the last one even comes out? Classy, EA. Real classy. Might as well sent the player a letter saying the two-hundred plus bucks they may have spent on the game will be replaced and made obsolete in a year or so.
I'd get upset but I already decided I'm not buying the game - or if I do, it'll be some time after it's released and it's getting bundled with it's EPs for, like, ten dollars. That's what I did with a lot of the Sims 3.
"And though pool building won?t be available in September"
This basically says "it will come later"
In a patch or dlc, does not really matter. What I am wondering is why pools? Of all the things, why pools?
Does the new graphic engine have a problem with water?
Did they think people didn't care that much about pools?
Didn't they have time?
They have been able to include pools in every game so far, so what the hell.
If it had been anything else that was not that important I would get it, but not this. Toddlers I can sort of understand.
This basically says "it will come later"
In a patch or dlc, does not really matter. What I am wondering is why pools? Of all the things, why pools?
Does the new graphic engine have a problem with water?
Did they think people didn't care that much about pools?
Didn't they have time?
They have been able to include pools in every game so far, so what the hell.
If it had been anything else that was not that important I would get it, but not this. Toddlers I can sort of understand.
Well, let's get in to this. I'm actually a real big fan of the Sims and have been playing since it first came. Even now I have every expansion pack to TS3 and pre-ordered The Sims 4. Since I'm that into the game I've been following the news real closely. And believe, a lot of simmers are really whiny about these exclusions. I'm not btw. It's stated in the original article:
"And while we recognize that some of you will be disappointed that pools and toddlers won?t be available when The Sims 4 Base Game launches in September, you should know that we?re building an incredibly strong foundation that is capable of fulfilling every one of your desires in the years to come."
And having seen a few tweets from the sims team they really intend to include toddlers as soon as possible. They also considering adding a pre-teen life-stage. This game have been terribly delayed already and since they first stated that toddlers would be included it's likely they hit a snatch and decided to launch the game first and then fix the snatch and include it.
Regarding Create-a-style; that's the main reason why TS3 tends to be lagging and most simmers doesn't have a gamer computer. Just an ordinary one that's not strong enough to handle the amount of information needed. And if you install even more stuff, that's just that much more information for the computer to process. Not to mention cheats tends to mess with the computer to.
But I'm not going to let people trash-talk a game they barely know! Just look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtPdobUT-_o&index=2&list=WL (I don't know how to in-bed it). It's just amazing and so much stuff even when it's a base game. It's much more stuff and more interesting stuff than has ever shipped with a sims base game. Most of the nice stuff in TS3 came with the expansions. Oh, this video is also nice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nrEtPITILU
Original article/blog: http://www.thesims.com/news/neighborhoods-weird-moments-and-more?utm_campaign=sims4-social-global-maxis-fb-fb-neighborhood-ts4-blog-prev-site&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&sourceid=sims4-social-global-maxis-fb-fb-neighborhood-ts4-blog-prev-site&cid=22941&ts=1403891128595&sf27580429=1
"And while we recognize that some of you will be disappointed that pools and toddlers won?t be available when The Sims 4 Base Game launches in September, you should know that we?re building an incredibly strong foundation that is capable of fulfilling every one of your desires in the years to come."
And having seen a few tweets from the sims team they really intend to include toddlers as soon as possible. They also considering adding a pre-teen life-stage. This game have been terribly delayed already and since they first stated that toddlers would be included it's likely they hit a snatch and decided to launch the game first and then fix the snatch and include it.
Regarding Create-a-style; that's the main reason why TS3 tends to be lagging and most simmers doesn't have a gamer computer. Just an ordinary one that's not strong enough to handle the amount of information needed. And if you install even more stuff, that's just that much more information for the computer to process. Not to mention cheats tends to mess with the computer to.
But I'm not going to let people trash-talk a game they barely know! Just look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtPdobUT-_o&index=2&list=WL (I don't know how to in-bed it). It's just amazing and so much stuff even when it's a base game. It's much more stuff and more interesting stuff than has ever shipped with a sims base game. Most of the nice stuff in TS3 came with the expansions. Oh, this video is also nice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nrEtPITILU
Original article/blog: http://www.thesims.com/news/neighborhoods-weird-moments-and-more?utm_campaign=sims4-social-global-maxis-fb-fb-neighborhood-ts4-blog-prev-site&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&sourceid=sims4-social-global-maxis-fb-fb-neighborhood-ts4-blog-prev-site&cid=22941&ts=1403891128595&sf27580429=1