Thetford wrote:

mw1234 wrote:So we can't build pet stores if we buy the regular version?

It's not a pet store persay, but more of a pet accessory store. Essentially it's just pets furniture from the catalogue, just with the extra option of buying at the store, like buying candles and birthday cakes at the supermarket despite being in the catalogue. It's more of a social place by the sounds of it, like the museum.

The actual method of the aquisition of the pets themselves has yet to be revealved, but it will not in any way shape or form require the Limited Edition Pet Store.

Okay, now I feel a teeny bit better -- if the stuff is available in Buy Mode, the Pet Store basically just serves as a place for Sims and their pets to meet other Sims and their pets, it sounds like...and I'd rather build a Pet Park for that sort of thing.

As for pet acquisition, I'd expect it to work similar to Sims 2; either in Create-A-Sim, or through adoption where you're given a choice of pets. Wonder if there'll be an Animal Control Officer to round up stray animals and to take back pets that are mistreated by their owners, just like the Social Worker takes away kids that are neglected?

SimChick1016 wrote:Why do people have to question business antics of such a large corporation? It seems like a waste of a post, really. It's simple, if you want the extra content that the Limited Edition has to offer(not just the Pet Store-- there is more to come, this is just what we KNOW OF at the moment) then pre-order, if you really could care less about the extra goodies and just want animals added to your game, then get the regular addition.

It makes perfect sense why they are doing this. Most people wait to buy EPs to read reviews and watch the price go down-- this way will get many people to pre-order and in essence, pay more. It's just business, don't ask questions just to wonder what EA's "evil scheme" is...



-SimChick

DITTO! EXACTLY! THANK YOU, SimChick!

cameonet1950 wrote:

SimChick1016 wrote:Why do people have to question business antics of such a large corporation? It seems like a waste of a post, really. It's simple, if you want the extra content that the Limited Edition has to offer(not just the Pet Store-- there is more to come, this is just what we KNOW OF at the moment) then pre-order, if you really could care less about the extra goodies and just want animals added to your game, then get the regular addition.

It makes perfect sense why they are doing this. Most people wait to buy EPs to read reviews and watch the price go down-- this way will get many people to pre-order and in essence, pay more. It's just business, don't ask questions just to wonder what EA's "evil scheme" is...



-SimChick

DITTO! EXACTLY! THANK YOU, SimChick!

I would much rather EA run in the green so they can continue to make us our lovely sim games. I don't find this marketing plan to be a shock at all. I found it quite interesting how they gave away so many free copies of OLS recently with Generations. Seems to me that the demand wasn't exactly what they had hoped. Certainly, having a good estimate as to how many CD copies of the game they are going to need for release day, is a great way to maintain operating costs. They get us to help them buy throwing us a bone or two.

Perhaps its merely a coincidence with the OLS, but makes sense to me. Especially for a company that is planning to go completely digital.

What is the official date it's released for the PC>

Also how long after u pre ordered they game will u get? the day it's released?

Thanks for explaining to us !!! Its make me kinda happy to know that we can get Limited Edition from the store(well hopefully)

.

Jessie3035 wrote:What is the official date it's released for the PC>

Also how long after u pre ordered they game will u get? the day it's released?

Hi Jessie, we haven't announced the official release date for Pets yet, so please look for that in the future.

As far as preordering, the wait time entirely depends who you order from and the shipping method you select. Many retailers offer overnight shipping or in-store pickup so that you can have the game the same day it comes out.

I live in Holland and the Limited Edition is only available for me in digital form. I find that unfair.
As I collect The Sims boxes from the very beginning of the franches I would like to have at least the option to either buy the digital version OR the box version. I've read that EA is going digital, but give at least all the players over the world the same option to choose, and not only America.

I'm really looking ofward to this game and I hope to get the Limited Edition in box form in my country as well.

Thank you for clarifying! This answered all of my questions, except one and a half:
I live in Australia, and I have a Mac. I went to the Origin Website, but it said "PC game". Is it another dual game (PC/Mac?)? And if I order it off the Origin website, will it arrive to me in Australia on-time? Or will I have to wait several weeks to get it?
Thank you,
Islaymca

The bizarre thing about this is that the Sims games seem to be a franchise with a really long tail, in terms of sales. This tactic will net a rush of sales for the limited edition, but probably also create far more interest in buying second hand in the long run, posing a mild threat (but not, I suppose, a huge one?) to that long tail effect.

The benefit of this plan is murky. It seems to generate more ill-will toward EA (like they need THAT) from Sims consumers, create a serious appetite to only buy this title second hand rather than new, and net… …what… …a decent number more preorders?

But aren’t the drawn out sales one of the advantages of this franchise?
What’s the benefit for EA here?

Increased hostility from their already fatigued customers?

A stronger sense that The Sims team is all clumsy marketing and faux-engagement, however otherwise talented?

More... ...confusion?

A quick, one-time injection of cash doesn't seem worth the trouble of programming this venue and content then offering it only temporarily. It just seems to raise that perpetual question: Why this? Why not invest that time fixing the enduring bugs instead of programming this for TEMPORARY release, thereby actually consolidating the player-to-franchise relationship for once, rather than undermining it?

This sort of content makes sense for EA as a registration reward... ...but preorder only? ***?

<rhetoricalquestion> What on Earth am I missing here? </rhetoricalquestion>

*patiently awaits Mojang's hostile takeover of The Sims franchise. I'll wait decades, if necessary. I'm young.*

Thank you for clearing things up. I do have a question. Will the Limited Edition be available on the Steam Store when it comes out?

NinjaNicole wrote:Thank you for clearing things up. I do have a question. Will the Limited Edition be available on the Steam Store when it comes out?

Hi NinjaNicole. I don't have anything to share about Steam at this time, you'll have to continue checking their service for the time being to see if they'll be offering the Pets Limited Edition. I certainly hope we get it on there!

As far as I can tell, the only difference between buying it on release and waiting for it, is I'm sure you've all noticed all the "is this ep worth buying?" all over the forums every time a new one is released. Instead of waiting for other people to say if they should get the expansion pack or not, they're pressuring people to buy it right away.

"aah! Well you COULD wait for the review. But what if you like it and now you can't have the shop? May as well buy it NOW!"

It takes out EA's risk factor that the game won't review favorably and boosts immediate sales.

I still don't agree with it, though it's not as big a deal as we originally thought. Still sneaky, though.

I have a statement, I for one may or msy not buy this EP, unless the Limited Edition is available to everyone including us Aussies, cos I went to EB Games today, and they told me that there is no Limited Edition in their store, and when it comes in, October, so us Aussies will miss out then?!

tea_and_blues wrote:A quick, one-time injection of cash doesn't seem worth the trouble of programming this venue and content then offering it only temporarily. It just seems to raise that perpetual question: Why this?

Because there isn't much programming involved. Consider the alternative: EA could make such a building and sell it in the Store. How many simpoints should it cost?

The Pet Store is only just a new building added to the game. So in reality it doesn't involve any programming at all.

tea_and_blues wrote:Why not invest that time fixing the enduring bugs instead of programming this for TEMPORARY release, thereby actually consolidating the player-to-franchise relationship for once, rather than undermining it?

For the following reasons:

1. EA doesn't get payed for releasing patches.

2. To postpone a game for only a couple of months having a lot of programmers testing and fixing bugs will still cost EA something like millions. But the game won't really sell better and people won't be willing to pay a higher price for the game just because the game has fewer glitches.

3. It would cost EA a lot of programming hours just to identify which problems they should fix and which bugs that are only caused by bad CC or by insufficient video cards or by bugs in video drivers. To "solve" this problem EA could change the game so it didn't allow CC. But people would hate that even more than they hate the glitches.