Even if I adored MMOs, I would still be opposed to the Sims as an MMO due to the fact that EA would decide how long I can keep playing and when they shut down their servers, it will be curtains for the game.
Also, I've seen several people mention the idea of online play being "optional". Even if this was truly the case, and with EA I find that hard to believe, any resources devoted to online aspects would always be at the expense of other gameplay elements. Software companies operate under budget constraints and deadlines that would make this inevitable.

And lastly, I tried MMOs a few times, but they seemed to be packed with little boys and teenagers, barely any adults and very very few women. Maybe things are different now but at the time I felt like I had stumbled unkowingly back into Junior high. Been there, done that, now doing it with my kids. Certainly not something I would be interested in shelling out ~100 USD for (that's what new Sims games cost around here). I know EA only care about the young, hip, trendy market section but too bad they seem to forget that "I'm older and I have more insurance. " (and a fatter wallet too)

My sister and I would love to play in a neighborhood together so we're pretty bummed that they seemed to have ditched the online aspect. That's as far as I would like to see the online go though, I have no interest in my neighbors being complete strangers from who knows where.

So how's that Sims Social game been working for you?

@denkert Either you work for EA (simguru or technical stuff) or EA paid you to make this thread.

I HATE THE IDEA OF ONLINE GAMEPLAY IN SIMS 4.

It is a huge mistake of EA. They will just waste their time to make something nobody likes, uses and it probably won't work all the time.
In this period of time thy WASTED making this piece of crab, they COULD have made Create-A-Style. When will EA finally listen to us, and do hat WE want. Because WE play the game. We buy the game. We give them OUR money. And WE keep that lame excuse of a company still in business. If there was another life simulation like the sims. I would buy it, and play it. EA is making our lives a misery. Bad hair texture, crappy clothes, un-detailed furniture, and "online gameplay". Screw the "online gameplay, We want a single OFFLINE game. And what if I want to play Sims 4 at the park like I do with TS3? There will not be internet connection there. And why should I miss the features I paid for? WHY? EA WHY? I can't complete the achievements in TS3, simply because it requires internet connection, and an account. And it takes AGES to log in your account. That could be offline like Sims Medieval. And you must be really proud of what you made huh? The Sims 4 had Emotions! The Sims are Alive more than ever! We have lousy clothes and hair and we don't want to show out lame build/buy mode yet! We made the beggining on a NEW ERA! Yay! Congratulations. You make that because you need money. If it's something people won't buy, how can you make that money? Weather and Pets, not in the base game? Well, you can just go to hell EA.

As politely as I can say this, EA, go fuck yourselves, and while you do that light some fireworks and have a two second orgasm.

Assholes.

(Note: In this rude part I'm talking to EA)

P.S.: WE WANT CREATE A STYLE DAMN IT!!

Yup. I know. I write heresy as well.

I wouldn't mind semi-online.

The main thing would be that online play would have no importance whatsoever to the basic goals of the game; for instance, you have to have a RL friend help you with a job promotion. It would be 100% optional. No "ifs" or "buts". You can happily play the entire game without ever interacting with anyone else in RL once.

My husband plays console games that require an online connection. In time, he even got to know the most "skilled" players (he prefers shooters), and vice versa, and they made some pretty strong teams based on their specialties. While I don't like shooters, it's interesting to listen to them all interact. Not all interactive games are bad.

As I've written 50 times before (hyperbole, I hope), I did like the interaction in the DS version of Animal Crossing: WW. I liked Sims Social before it became quest-this and quest-that (and buggy-this and buggy-that).

I would hope that EA has the brains, however, to make online interaction as safe as possible. No trolling people's neighborhoods and messing up their houses! And no, I'm not sure if EA can quite do that yet.

So no ... not "everyone" is dead-set opposed to Sims 4 having at least some sort of online-component. Not everyone is a "sheeple". I did not buy Sims 3 because it did not appeal to me back in 2009, and doesn't at this moment. (That is not set in stone, however. Tastes change.). I did not buy every EA Sims 2 EP and SP when they first came out, and buy the ones I want used now. Not that there's anything wrong with people liking and buying Sims 3 or every EP and SP to Sims 2. Not at all. But I just want to illustrate that because I find the concept of semi-online play interesting, it will not mean that I will pre-order Sims 4 and play it the day it comes out. If someone gifts it to me as a physical copy, I will probably wait until people here give their opinions before I open the shrink-wrap, ready to return the game if the response here is overwhelmingly negative.

The idea of my visiting someone's house and having a quick cup of tea or coffee together sounds fascinating to me. Back when I played the Big Z games on Facebook, we used to have parties via YoVille. You could interact via avatars, and the chat text would read in small balloons. You can see people's characters in the room, wandering around, looking at the decor, playing in the pool or shooting pool together. The events were closed events; selected people got invites, and the party host or hostess would close the party once everyone was in, allowing the guests to leave, but no one else to come in. It's actually not bad. I wouldn't mind trying it with Sims 4.

But there is a very long laundry list to go through before I even tear that shrink-wrap off. I'm willing to give it a serious thought right now, but not much else until I find out more.

That sounds fun! My teens and my adult son play Sims 3. It would be fun to be able to interact in Sims 4...although that means buying 3 more games!

if they forced it online only like Simcity,I won't buy it,its simple as that

I dislike the idea, just for one reason:

My sims are not me.

A lot of people do create themselves and their families in sims games, sure. But I've never even created a selfsim.

Why? My sim is not an avatar of me, they are random characters I create in a virtual world of their own. Little pixel people doing their things. In a MMO, I can't have this kind of gameplay. Because an avatar is supposed to represent you, and, by using this avatar to interact with other player's, I'm not playing a sim. I am interacting through a virtual version of me, even if this version has a different appearance, name, or even gender.

I like creating sims and live their lives according to who THEY are, not who I am. I like seeing the interactions between these silly computer people. A Sims MMO would be boring, like Second Life, for me. I'm not opposed to a social, MMO online game, as long as if it is a spinoff or something. Turning the next installment of the franchise into one would be disgraceful.

For me, the main creepy factor is having children and teens trying to socialize and romance my sims. I don't like it...it totally yucks me out. It's the main reason I stopped playing Sims Social, it made me sick. So if MMO's is along those lines, I have to bow out. *shivers*

I suggest people start reading this where Peter Moore wants all games to go online:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/24/...-gamescom-2013/

Sims 3 is already online.

Back when we first heard of Sims 4 being an online game, I worked out a best-case scenario in my head where we would have the single-player game as the base experience and the online stuff as a subhood (assuming a more stable, better travel system).

As something I could go to only when I wanted to, I wouldn't mind it myself. There were aspects of TSO that were a lot of fun, and still could be. I loved hosting the various types of lots that were available in that game, and seeing what other players managed to do given the pretty limited options of that game, compared to what could probably be done now.

I'd have enjoyed visiting whatever clubs, stores, and whatever user-created lot types they'd have allowed.

So, yeah, I don't mind the idea of some online gameplay myself. I just don't trust EA to implement it in a non-terrible way.

My avatar in TSO was not me, she was a favorite sim (her own seperate character) from my TS1 game that I recreated for the purpose.

I spent most of my time in that game with the Star Trek community in Calvin's Creek, so definitely not me. Apart from that, my best friend and I used to focus on the stranger character models that were available, like the tragic clown and the service NPC faces. Anything except the one face all the chicks used with those vacant eyes and that long wavy hair.

Mine was the one with blue bunches on top of her head, called Pat. I can't remember the name of the district. Unfortunately I was late to the party, because when it started it was Americans only allowed to play. Then I never saw the game advertised again, so it was some years later before someone mentioned it to me and told me Brits had been allowed to play for some years! No wonder it didn't do well if they didn't advertise it again

^ I might've been wrong, but I didn't call you a penis!

In some cultures, that's a compliment.




(being accused of being hired by EA never is)

Um ... denkert ... I agreed with you. At least a little. I do admit it would have been interesting to at least SEE what EA was cooking up (not necessarily agree with it). All we have are one or two PK screenies. From one, it looked like you could chat within a room, but I wasn't sure whether that was a house or a nightclub, or a place open to everyone or a private room. I would prefer that you personally issue codes to invite someone you know to meet at a community lot in your neighborhood or in your house. You issue the invites privately. Not "Room 12345 is open. Let's mingle, everyone!" Tried the latter option a few times in FB games .... hated it. Lucky me got a potty-mouthed stalker at one of these places. She followed me everywhere, the little brat (sounded like a bored 10-year-old), harassing me and just being a nasty piece of work. Easy enough to fix ... quit the game and re-enter. But still, no fun at all.

BTW, my avatar has NEVER fully resembled me. I stink at making a self-Sim, and doubt that even with oodles of sliders that I could get a likeness of myself spot-on. With the YoVille parties, no one particularly cared if one's avatar made any attempt at being a self-portrayal. At all. I saw a couple of green people at the parties, and people changed hair colors and skintones often .... sometimes AT the party. I don't think there are green people and people who could change their hair color in seconds in real life .... well, in the case of the latter instance, not unless you were Lady Gaga at the VMAs and had a bunch of dancers assist you!

And EA and I don't have the best of relationships right now, and never hired me. I'm not even sure what it would hire me to do!

I remember playing the last installment of Mass Effect a few years back when they added the multi-player feature. Because the offline game had a definite "end" (really bad one IMO), I wandered into this portion of the game out of curiosity and admittedly, I was hooked. The micro-transactions were optional of course, but extremely hard to resist as who wouldn't want a handheld blow torch capable of instantly melting your enemies! To my point (sorry), it may be there for people who tire of the single game and are very much into social networking. If it is, I personally do not think it would necessarily weaken the offline game or be a bad thing. It didn't affect the Mass Effect offline experience in the least.

Oh there you are! Did you *ever* manage to sort out why you were not getting my emails?

Hi there /waves : ) No, but I have been screaming at my Internet provider accusing them of keeping mail from me. Supposedly they are working on it (maybe checking with NSA? lol). Hopefully it will work soon. Thank you.