Did EA ruin the Sims?

[Jelboo]

Just a question I'm throwing out there, I'm not going to write a big post on this. I just want to know how people here feel EA has been handling the game and its expansions.

For my part, I really don't like a lot of the decisions they've made and in many ways, the Sims 3 is a worse game than its predecessor.

[Sunshine021]

:faceslap: This again...

[Retarded_Pig]

Might as well awnser. : )
No, they didn't in some ways, but in some ways they did. Towards the beginning of the game, the basegame and WA were quite boring for me. But as more expansions came out, I think they started adding interesting new features never included in any sim game ever, like laundry. I adore the little things like that. Laundry, ice cream trucks, imaginary friends, tree houses, canes, video cameras, basements, hot tubs, all the stuff like that.

I think a selection of the stuff packs were disappointing though. Although I use a lot of stuff pack content in my game, I think they could've done a better job of the amount of new items they added. I think my most favourite stuff pack so far is Fast Lane because it seems to add the most items, plus I love the fancy vehicles. :3

[zigersimmer]

Rhetorical question is rhetorical.

[Petchy]

The fact of the matter is.. EA saved The Sims 1, they made the long-beloved Makin' Magic expansion, they provided support for Maxis to make Sims 2, and continued to work on it looong after the original teams left. It's just a fact, EA was the thing that kept Sims alive. Always has done and probably always will. Does that mean that they're exempt from doing some really shitty things to the franchise?

[AyameS]

I don't think they ruined it. They added some things that are really great and other things that aren't. With a life simulation game, there are so many possibilities for the game to go that they have to choose a direction and run with it. There is really no other way. I just wish that they were more focused on the life simulation aspect with quirkiness intact, rather than the social and RPG elements they've introduced.

[Sunshine021]

I don't think they've ruined it as much as I think EA are beginning to run out of steam. You can only keep a good franchise going for so long. The Sims 3 can be very hit and miss, and while I love the game, I won't be afraid to admit that EA have screwed up some stuff along the way, and have added (or done away with) features in such a way that doesn't make sense. The same could be said for any gaming series, though. You either love some stuff to bits, or you hate it so much that you want to punch something. There just isn't a middle ground with some people. A lot of stuff in The Sims 3 is odd and doesn't make sense, but don't assume that the franchise is ruined just because it isn't up to YOUR speed. Past Sims games can be very hit and miss, too.

[Howabominable]

No. There are some things I don't like about the game, but it's still fun and enjoyable. If the game was ruined we wouldn't be here.

[Periandre]

No. Didn't know you need at least seven character replies.

[purexevil666]

I'v seen thread like that before. You're old *Troll face*

[Zokugai]

Who cares? Play the game if you like it, don't if you don't. What possible purpose could this discussion have?

[AngelicScot]

I have to agree with Howabominable. I will say that I think the current Sims Team isn't as passionate about what they turn out as the last team was. As well as the fact that EA may not be allowing them the budget to do as much as they may want to do. I'd certainly like to see them FIX what they've broken. I'd like to see a little more EP intergration too. And the excuse of "not everyone is going to buy..." doesn't really float for me as most of the patches introduce gameplay that came with EP's whether they were purchased or not. There are a lot of things I do like about the game. There are a lot of things I find extremely frustrating about the game, and there are things that I simply just do not like. I've learnt to work around the parts that I don't like that I can't just completely avoid altogether. Will I keep sinking money into the franchise? IF a Sims 4 should eventualize, no. I am rather looking forward to the next two reported EP's, so I'll likely get those. As it stands at the moment, I have all of the EP's and SP's with the exception of KPS (seriously, I'm a year shy of 50) and I have no real interest in Diesel Stuff. Maybe when it gets tossed into a sale bin. Katy Perry Stuff, never works well for me. But you won't find me "hating" on EA, not particularly. I've had a 20 year association with the company. I've always had good customer service experiences. Do I think they've "ruined" the Sims franchise? I think they've cheaped out on it and are milking the cash cow for all it's worth. So, take that for what it's worth. :)

[Trizind]

I wouldn't call it "ruined", but "gelded" I won't be afraid to use. Relationships are too simple, babies are atrocious, and a smaller variety of interactions (no family kisses?) and romantic ones watered down.

Some things I don't like may not be EA's fault. Some things might be. For example, the paltry selection of male hairstyles that come with the game. It could be that they forgot all about guys' hair and made those all at the end. Or it could be EA trying to push customers into the Sims 3 Store. Maybe it's both.

I will definitely blame EA for the shoddy QA that game and its add-ons have seen, though. I'm sure the testers logged lots of bugs, I see at least one (mostly routing errors) each session. The copies of cars that clog the streets, the youths that stand in front of the school and go through only one door one sim at a time, whatever on Earth vampires and toddlers do that freezes so many sims and forces them to be reset, sims coming from France suddenly gaining French brothers--I need mods to make my game even just mildly enjoyable, personally.

In truth I only bought the base game and WA (even though I have mods that help prevent errors I still regret that purchase), the rest were gifts. It's because of the shoddy QA that I won't be getting anymore Sims 3-related merchandise, even if it's not my money--I don't want purchase a product that needs to be modified just to make it playable.

I'll still enjoy what I have, I just won't be getting anymore.

[morphius1]

Just a question I'm throwing out there, I'm not going to write a big post on this. I just want to know how people here feel EA has been handling the game and its expansions.

For my part, I really don't like a lot of the decisions they've made and in many ways, the Sims 3 is a worse game than its predecessor.

To each his/her own.
I don't hate what EA did to The Sims. I don't love it either, though.
But...they must be doing something right...we keep buying the new EPs and SPs.

[Mootilda]

they must be doing something right...we keep buying the new EPs and SPs.Correction: some of us keep buying the new EPs and SPs. Some of us have stopped buying them.

[Srikandi]

I think most people who ask this question have no idea exactly who made what pieces of the Sims ;)

OP, when EXACTLY were you assuming "EA" took over from "Maxis"? And which games are you attributing to each group? Bearing in mind that Maxis has just been a brand owned by EA since 1997.

And EA has had a long series of different teams working on the Sims, with personnel regularly rotated in and out. And in some cases, whole EPs have been subcontracted to different developers (not owned by EA). So, when we talk about what "EA" has done, we are not talking about a single individual or group.

There is still a "Maxis"... as a separate studio and group of people... who have made some really terrible games. Spore (Will Wright's baby) SOUNDED great but wasn't, and Darkspore was just awful all around :/ Which is why I am also skeptical when people talk as though everything THEY touch is golden.

There are those that argue that if Will Wright had been left to his own devices without any corporate interference, TS2 and Spore would have been much better than they were. Since that is purely a hypothetical, though, I personally see no reason to believe it. There are plenty of game developers (not to mention creative people in other media) who have produced one or two masterpieces and then a lot of drek :/

[High Plains Gamer]

My complaint about ea is they tend to do things half way. We still don' t have things like diving boards. Sims don't swin in the ocean, can't suntan and otherwise do many of the things the could do in The Sims 2.

For example, look at the music career. It starts out being tied to the guitar skill. Then Late Night comes out, but the piano, bass or drum skills don't count towards the musician skill. With Showtime we get singers, but they cannot sing with bands, and they have their own singer career rather than being in the musician profession.

A lot of things just don't seem to be finished. Often things seem to be half done.

[JustTheDoll]

Yes and no. Without EA, it is highly possible there would've been no more Sims' games.
If you're a Sims fan, I don't think it really matters. If you like the game, you like the game. c:

[catnipeverdeen]

The Sims franchise has clearly taken a direction that's more 'get the money' than 'please the customers', for the most part, and things are half-done and not carried out to their full potential. They have a lot of fantastic starting points that they're just incapable or refusing to carry through on like they should. Patches only fix and do so much and so much of it is left up to the player. But, what they do do right is pretty fantastic and fun and keeps the player coming back for me. I have every EP and SP (Katy Perry included) and don't regret getting any of them at all. I just wish they'd put as much effort and care into their products as the players and modders do, because I really don't know how casual players enjoy the game in the state it's in.

I don't think they've ruined it, necessarily, but there's so much more they could be doing than they are. Supernatural and Seasons are coming out, but they're not the company they could be if they really tried. I really think they'd benefit from working more closely and tight-knit, but...as it is. We see what we have. Not that companies aren't about profit in the end, but this comes a little more apparent with each EP.

[Axla]

If you don't like Sims 3, then don't bother playing it. Sell it. And don't come on a forum dedicated to it just to complain about it, that wastes your time and makes you look like a troll.

[annoellyn]

^^ yeah, seriously, why not just add to the other twenty similar threads instead of making a new one? sims 3 makes a lot of money and lots of people like it or they wouldn't play it. what's the point of these threads?

Annie

[Jelboo]

The point of this thread is that I'm asking a question and curious to the answer. I didn't know that automatically made me a troll. I just noticed how there were a lot of opinions going around on how The Sims 3 has been handled (should have been smarter than just say 'EA', I know) and I wanted to start a discussion about it. On a discussion forum. Savvy?;)

[Trizind]

Making a thread to discuss the negative aspects of something isn't per se trolling.

Only the people familiar with the development can really say what EA did and didn't do to The Sims, so that answer probably won't be found here. I'm sure a decade from now or so someone close to the development will actually make a post-mortem.

[Mootilda]

Only the people familiar with the development can really say what EA did and didn't do to The Sims, so that answer probably won't be found here.Actually, I believe that the players have a better idea of whether the game is fun, and whether the game is more or less fun than previous versions. The developers know what they tried to accomplish. We know whether they succeeded.

If the developers of a game were the only people who were allowed to rate the game, then all games would be 5-star, even the really really bad ones.

[simsample]

We already have many threads of this kind, including this one:
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=348342