It's way more than an upgrade. We get a world, gameplay, decor, furniture, clothing, AND a new career path for 20 bucks. That sounds like the price Seasons should of been lol.

Oh and @applefeather2 YouTube.com/brandinosurr

Yeah, sounds like these are just replacing SPs...well maybe they are still doing SPs but no way they can charge $20 for SPs while offering these for $20 just as well.

That's good for me, I never liked SPs.

https://twitter.com/SimGuruGrant/st...991555601817600



Only purchaseable on Origin, no retail sales.

That might affect sales.

It's basically The Sims 3 store, but a lot more focused and concentrated. A much better theme than any of the stuff packs TS3.

I personally, prefer/have to get digital, although I did buy the base game physical copy, but I installed it via origin because my computer has no disk drives (yay for computers going slimmer and not including one of the most basic things ever, thanks Apple for influencing HP).

Also, looking at that screenshot of the world, it's pretty gorgeous in a Pixar kind of way, reminds of Tangled's forest (although that's Disney and not Pixar) lol.

https://twitter.com/SimGuruGrant/st...985356240150528
"Folks are asking: Game packs fit in between Stuff and Expansion. Like Goldilocks. Stuff Packs < Game Packs < Expansion Packs" ~ Grant Rodiek

Sounds like SPs will still exist. Seems like at a cheaper price though.

Yeah, might be a better model. I will be watching and reading what others think about it. Since it looks like toddlers not coming back, at least any time soon, I am not interested anymore. The base game is good enough.

The only issue with having everything purchased by way of Origin, not every country included in being able to purchase, others were trying to get EA cards or The Sims 4 cards, but they are not accessible everywhere. Some are already talking about that on Twitter and FB.

I think we may see them down the line


Source

Sounds like they're trying to do something about it.

Kotaku Q&A for The Sims 4 Outdoor Retreat

It's actually very much akin to an improved stuff pack. Not only does it seem like it'll have outdoorsy objects and fashions, but it includes a new skill (herbalism) with the ability to make herbal remedies and such, new group activites, and a new neighborhood (which includes vacation-like elements of renting cabins and pitching campsites, which is an entirely new feature in itself), all things that would have been included in multiple stuff packs, world packs and even expansions in the past. All for the price of one stuff pack. Value-wise, on the surface, this is actually pretty good based on what we've gotten in the past (which is a telling statement in and of itself, but whatever).

That being said, this also requires a healthy dose of faith in EA to deliver a robust experience where it's promised, which is not something I have left in me anymore. Up until about halfway through the Sims 3's run, EPs were a first-day buy for me. I even bought Stuff Packs almost immediately. But after being disappointed so many times by the shallow nature of how EA delivered on its promises, I just have no faith anymore. I'll keep an eye on this, but I definitely will not be buying it until I've heard a LOT about it from people who have played it.

That being said, like I said, on the surface, this is actually a pretty good deal.

However, there's another little issue that I'm having trouble with, specifically that THIS seems to be what EA thinks this game needs right now to be the full, rich, robust experience we've all come to expect: camping. Yes, they're probably still working on a new expansion pack proper, but perception is everything. The fact that this is coming out first (yes, it's probably because this was simply done first since it's a smaller project) created a problematic impression of EA's approach to the game (much like how the first TS3 expansion, rather than something more realistic or life-simulatory was basically just "make your Sims into Indiana Jones").

Anyways, now that I've been all over the place, I'll just sum up with a tl;dr: this announcement is not troubling in and of itself, it's actually pretty impressive value-wise. But it's still EA, so...take that as you will.

I actually like the look of Granit Falls but seems like you won't be able to live there. So meh

Meh meh meh

Sorry hun, I don't like guns (noisy and loud), not agile enough for a knife fight, short on cash and definitely out of diamonds. I'll just bring loads of popcorn, chips, snacks and drinks and watch the fireworks in my little corner. Anyone want to join me and sit in the peanut gallery where we can lob all sorts of food and/or comments to this upcoming discussion/debate/debacle?

We don't know for sure yet, the interview made it seem you could build anything there, that might include residential lots

Slacking on speculation now are we?
Kotaku interview: http://kotaku.com/the-sims-4-is-get...onth-1673213480



And before we all get up in arms about two neighborhoods, from the screenshots of the map that we've gotten people have found the neighborhood templates and one of them is a large chunk of the world, I assume this is EA's solution to that more open concept. The only question is, how many lots are in the world, and it should be safe to assume campsites are just public spaces.

New screenshot via SimGuruGrant's Twitter


Link to SimsVIP's compilation of Grant's tweets with questions and answers: http://simsvip.com/2014/12/19/sims-...ant/#more-46383

EDIT: Here's the map for you guys!


source

And another with the full world in view (missing neighborhood 2 this was prior to its discovery)

source

So do you guys think EA gave up on the premium member thing? Or they're just planning more two GPs before announcing yet? I don't think it'll be spooky party and new year's eve because timing isn't right and I guess there's already a costume party on deluxe sims 4, we already have a spooky n' holidays radio station and some costumes, only thing missing is the new years eve party like TS2. We don't have halloween deco though, we used to get this free on TS3 store.


“The Sims 4 Premium: Save on new packs with early access and exclusive items. Become a Premium Member to get early access to 3 new packs, with exclusive items. Your Sims can throw a spooky costume party, camp in the great outdoors, and toast to the new year in style.”

Things change.

One thing I liked is how they mentioned that you only have what you bring with you, everything else you'll have to buy from the Ranger's Station (or something to that effect). Kiiiinda wondering if they're not toying with the old Sims 2 grocery and clothing stores and electronics booths things so you don't automatically just...HAVE everything.



My guess is we won't be able to, it'll be their first version of a "vacation" neighborhood. But that's just a guess. And worst comes to worst, modders will probably be able to rectify that.



From everything I've read, it doesn't sound like their premium thing was really thought out all that closely. My guess is they went back to the drawing board on it. Which is kind of a shame because it seemed like a pretty good idea (though this being EA...)

Didn't that premium membership idea appear around the same time when EA announced their exclusive EA subscription model for XBox and PS4? I think to remember that Sony declined to implement this membership within membership thing while Microsoft did allow it. How is that faring on XBox? Maybe this has had some influence on their Sims club plans?

Edit: EA Access is its name.

One interesting thing about the twitter responses and the Kotaku interview is how much they brought up "Value".

Right mindset to have there. Not "How can we get as much profit from as little productivity as possible?" but "Wow, we are really giving this away for this price!?!" I hope they continue to have this mindset of value, that this should be worth more than $20 instead of making it feel like they are nickle and diming us to death.

So, if I pay extra for a premium................something, I get early access to these packs before general release? Which means, I'm paying EA to be their Beta tester before the general launch of each pack? That's a cool trick they're pulling off.

Oh, and in that photo of the new hood, what's up with the waving thingie with horns pushing through its helmet all about? Is that a new life state? Because I've never seen a Sasquatch rendered with horns before. There will be a Sasquatch in the woods, though, right? Right?

So am I the only one who's worried about that blue plastic stretchy thing sproinnnging around the Sims and doing dastardly deeds?
Yeah, thought I was.

It's pretty bad that because of the steam sale I read Value as Valve.

I think it remains to be seen if it's really worth it because all of these ideas are based on their own creations. They make the rules so it's easy for them to say, yep, this is better than X but not better than Y. We won't know that until we see more or get our hands on it ourselves. It could be a stuff pack with a few extra interactions slapped on. How much gameplay is being gained by going to the woods and camping? How much is being gained by getting poison ivy. It's an itchy animation and a new moodlet.

As long as they feel they're making some headway as far as value and quality then they're totally fine with this crud.

*shrug*



Say what?

Whatever you're on.. please share with the rest of the class hehe. I should probably look at the video eh?

This is kinda the mentality I've been having. It SOUNDS good on paper, it even sounds like a great value. But a lot of what EA's been feeding us has sounded good on paper. But it's been mediocre at best in practice. So I'm waiting on this one before passing judgment.



Actually, the bigger appeal has always been the hint that you'll pay a flat fee for X EP/GP/SP/WP/whateverPs and that, ultimately, you'll save a fair bit of money if you'd intended to buy them anyways.

$19.99 into GBP/sterling £12.79.

Sounds reasonable I guess. I wonder how much stuff packs will be, if there is going to be a considerable drop that would make them like £5? Maybe they've learnt their lesson in good business practice? Though I for one will hold my opinion until we're a few years down the line.

If they added toddlers through this, like properly, it could be very popular. It'd be better to have one of these game packs for say a night life/ late night considering we already have bars.

I still want to know how often they will release these and what they actually include. If it's a few outfits, two hairstyles and some game play changes I'm not sure I'll be interested I want a lot more content than we received with 3.

*Edit*

When in January do you think they'll release this?

I like having Townies fishing together autonomously but will this GP allow for talking while fishing? That is one of my annoyances, since they can't sit still trying to follow each other to talk. What is that about?

Isn't it something technical, as in - they have to use two hands while fishing so they can't talk because they need one hand free/semi-free?
(No, really. I'm not losing my mind though it sounds like it)
Thought I read something about that someplace.