And for the record; Candyland is selling for about $8.... just sayin

Normally I would agree with you, this time I cannot.

If you have any software background EA is pretty transparent but that is not really an issue with this.

What is the issue is not taking a change, but deciding on a way they wanted to go, in face of polls and everything else (talking about polls and study groups over a year ago) that said what people wanted and they went with this as an endorsement deal. This is a pretty transparent endorsement deal and its not going over well with The Sims3. It may work for football games but at least they picked names that most football fans can identify with.

EA made some huge mistakes with. I think they also know they might have hence the 'damage control' live chat they put together before they had anything more to show then the demo stuff they had for screenshots. They barely had KP's promo done for the live chat. The real live chat, that they do for all releases was not scheduled, as usual, until about a month before release when they have more tings ready to go. This is the first release, especially a stuff pack that has required two live chats and if they saw a need for damage control then they are worried and for good reason.

Actually I think you are one of the first we have heard from that is a long time supporter of sims and gets all the releases. Its outstandingly of note that the people that spoke up first were almost all long term sims players, were sims game collectors and we the usual ones EA could count on to finds ways to support a release.

I don't know what you expect we will get by shutting up and being patient. A stuff pack that costs 50% more then a stuff pack even costs and they cannot add anything but reworked TS3 content? No new functionality - not even a simple register to sell this candy stuff. I think if they added something that was functional or new in this release, that they are charging more for, rather then stuff teh pack with things anyone can make now like community lots and wallpaper people might think differently about getting what they are paying for.

They were very clear that we would not add any functions or new interactions because that was for EPs and they would not overstep their bounds. This 'mega' pack is why the additional cost is just a way to cover up that they are hitting you up for KP's endorsement fee. Patience is not going to get us a not endorsed version for the normal SP price. And if you think the 10 is not mostly for KP then why was her endorsed ST EP 10 more then the regular version?

Sitting back and waiting to see if they might do something everyone can view as likable has never worked before and will not help this time. Normally the negative aspect does not come to light until too close to release to try and push EA into doing something different with the release, this time they have been hearing from supporters about the wrong direction since before they formally announced it and the announcement and the ads and the live chat have not helped. Maybe it won't help those saying 'no' either but at least when we don't buy it - when asked why we can point to this and say - EA listen to your community - not just what your product manager says the community is say.

I have normally been 100% supportive of a Sims release and have been bale to go into detail about why something is the way it is, why it has to be so, how usable a release is if you take time and think about it. I went all through that with this SP and when I sat down to write in support of KPST I just could not. I think its only fair that since I have supported EA in the past with all things sims that when they make a huge mistake that I can say that too.

MotayJones77 wrote:And for the record; Candyland is selling for about $8.... just sayin

ANd almost all of this could be free - at least wht the showed in the Live Chat. Its all built on base game items and if a 3d modeler cared enough to do so could make all the same objects because they are not that difficult - okay 19.99 to pay for the time of the team, overhead and marketing and to make a profit on the "official EA content' stamp. But not 29.99 difficult since they are not adding anything that would require a mod of anything like that except for the fireworks and that would be only menu changes and some animation.

Just for the heck of it I have built a very models of the stuff they showed and the stuff in screen shots. although I don't build and release for sims anymore, and its not so difficult that even with community lots added to the bin for you to play (as the live chat said it would be - like you would get lots from the exchange) if you can find space for them, and wallpaper, everything else I found in game already. Its just not worth 29.99.

stormwench wrote:Normally I would agree with you, this time I cannot.

If you have any software background EA is pretty transparent but that is not really an issue with this.

What is the issue is not taking a change, but deciding on a way they wanted to go, in face of polls and everything else (talking about polls and study groups over a year ago) that said what people wanted and they went with this as an endorsement deal. This is a pretty transparent endorsement deal and its not going over well with The Sims3. It may work for football games but at least they picked names that most football fans can identify with.

EA made some huge mistakes with. I think they also know they might have hence the 'damage control' live chat they put together before they had anything more to show then the demo stuff they had for screenshots. They barely had KP's promo done for the live chat. The real live chat, that they do for all releases was not scheduled, as usual, until about a month before release when they have more tings ready to go. This is the first release, especially a stuff pack that has required two live chats and if they saw a need for damage control then they are worried and for good reason.

Actually I think you are one of the first we have heard from that is a long time supporter of sims and gets all the releases. Its outstandingly of note that the people that spoke up first were almost all long term sims players, were sims game collectors and we the usual ones EA could count on to finds ways to support a release.

I don't know what you expect we will get by shutting up and being patient. A stuff pack that costs 50% more then a stuff pack even costs and they cannot add anything but reworked TS3 content? No new functionality - not even a simple register to sell this candy stuff. I think if they added something that was functional or new in this release, that they are charging more for, rather then stuff teh pack with things anyone can make now like community lots and wallpaper people might think differently about getting what they are paying for.

They were very clear that we would not add any functions or new interactions because that was for EPs and they would not overstep their bounds. This 'mega' pack is why the additional cost is just a way to cover up that they are hitting you up for KP's endorsement fee. Patience is not going to get us a not endorsed version for the normal SP price. And if you think the 10 is not mostly for KP then why was her endorsed ST EP 10 more then the regular version?

Sitting back and waiting to see if they might do something everyone can view as likable has never worked before and will not help this time. Normally the negative aspect does not come to light until too close to release to try and push EA into doing something different with the release, this time they have been hearing from supporters about the wrong direction since before they formally announced it and the announcement and the ads and the live chat have not helped. Maybe it won't help those saying 'no' either but at least when we don't buy it - when asked why we can point to this and say - EA listen to your community - not just what your product manager says the community is say.

I have normally been 100% supportive of a Sims release and have been bale to go into detail about why something is the way it is, why it has to be so, how usable a release is if you take time and think about it. I went all through that with this SP and when I sat down to write in support of KPST I just could not. I think its only fair that since I have supported EA in the past with all things sims that when they make a huge mistake that I can say that too.

I understand what you're saying, but isn't it far too late for EA to change anything substantial about this pack? It's only 2 months away, right? I don't know much about development times, but it seems like they don't have any other choice but to dig their heels in and market it the best they can (through Live Chats, etc).

Not saying people shouldn't complain if they don't like the pack, but it seems like there's nothing anybody can do about it now except not buy it. If it doesn't sell well, EA will presumably learn that this isn't what their fans want, and they'll send out something more people want next time.

mkryan wrote:I understand what you're saying, but isn't it far too late for EA to change anything substantial about this pack? It's only 2 months away, right? I don't know much about development times, but it seems like they don't have any other choice but to dig their heels in and market it the best they can (through Live Chats, etc).

Not saying people shouldn't complain if they don't like the pack, but it seems like there's nothing anybody can do about it now except not buy it. If it doesn't sell well, EA will presumably learn that this isn't what their fans want, and they'll send out something more people want next time.

Yep, comes out in early June. I'd think it's way too late to change it at this point. Like you said, they'll just have to roll with it and hope for the best.

@mkryan: Unfortuantely it is too late to change anything now but I'm at least hoping that the vocal outcry will be enough to make EA realize that they can't continue to shaft their existing fans.

I'm rather torn. A part of me wants this SP to fail just to prove to EA that they made the wrong call but at the same time a part of me is also concerned that if it does fail then EA will stop trying to be creative and that could have an impact on future SPs.

Arletta wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:

Darkslayer wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:I agree with everything the OP says. Everyone is flipping out about the price, and the content, and acting like the people who WANT it and think it's smart is patronizing those who DON'T want it.

Sims is about BEING DIFFERENT! Playing YOUR STYLE! I love Pets, but the next person doesn't that's okay. I won't stab you for it. And EA is smart. They took someone who was involved before, and obviously plays like the rest of us. I like the fun trendy clothes at H&M and loved them forever. So I'm drawn toward the SP because of it. Others don't.

If this were 1997-98, we would have the Spice Girls. Why? Because the Spice Girls were HUGE! They had unique hairstyles and memorable outfits. (Ginger's outfits weren't even CLOSE to today's standards), they had catchy songs. I would be begging mom for this as a Christmas gift in 97 through 98!

If EA wasn't smart, and was trying to attract ONLY young tweens/teens, they would be endorsing Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, or Demi Lovato. I wouldn't be buying at all. Most of those sales will be TEENS with their babysitting funds, or their parents buying it for them.

Sims is not supposed to be REALISTIC. It's a life simulator, with bits of realism, but it's not suppose to be FULL ON! It's for teens and adults, not children learning how to make friends etc. I'm not big on cars, so I won't be buying Fast Lane unless I get it for free. But someone who likes cars would like it. The Stuff Pack has that perfect balance with what the game is about: realism, but with heavy unrealistic undertones.

Then where is the SP for those of us who don't like the glamour / wealth / celebrity angle that EA has been plugging since goodness knows when. I'm all for trying something different and I know that I'm probably not going to like everything they come up with but NEVER have I seen such a blatant attempt to curry favour with a single demographic while alienating everybody else.

I tolerated the constant nudges towards this high end living, the constant subliminal messages that we should live out our fantasies within the game and become rich and famous beyond our wildest dreams and live in a massive house. I even accepted that this game just isn't going to be the gritty cyberpunk fantasy that I personally would love to play out but when you turn a game that has never, ever been about social networking into a social networking mess and then follow that up with an SP like this it just screams - you're no longer good enough for us even though you earn your own income, we want the tweens!

I never expected EA to actually give me a stuff pack that would be right up my street, my likes are far too niche and that's fine. I'm OK with that and it doesn't bother me. What does bother me however and one of my biggest problems with this pack is that why is ONE niche group given favouritism while everybody else is told to like it or lump it?

I mean seriously, would it have killed EA to stick this in the store for the same price and given us an SP that actually caters towards the majority? You can't please everybody no, but I don't think as many people would be as up in arms about this SP had they made it about teen sims, child sims or male sims. You know... one of the groups that isn't a Young Adult Female and thus gets absolutely no attention whatsoever.

Keep the weird and quirky stuff to the store, leave the SPs to content that will appeal to the most people.

But people still complain when the classics are up for grabs at the TS3 Store, you know the cow plant, the Lodge items? Remember those "why wasn't this stuff in an SP?"

I don't mind the attention YA Females are getting. I'm a YA female! I'm a rather quirky, trendy one too! I would totally wear this stuff in the real world! In fact, that is my Simself in my AVATAR! I love the options for teens. I don't play much with babies and toddlers, and I don't care much for children anymore, because disciplining them is too realistic. I find subtlety quite overrated and boring. I like attention grabbing styles.

Alienated? Are you freaking kidding me? Ambitions, Pets, and WA have cheap items. Generations too! Some people like rules but that's fine, when I play games, I don't like going through levels, or seeing the trees before the forest, because they have too much rules! Part of Sims is to be anything you want and ESCAPE real life. I see those child abuse and sad deep serious stories on Sims, and while some find them touching, I find it a little disturbing. I like to imply silly frivolous Sim tragedies, like getting eaten by the cowplant, or running with scissors. Those deaths are funny to me, because they're not offensive or upsetting to others, and they're funny.

The real world is where you earn your living, and work your way up. I prefer to keep it out of Sims.

And they ARE making a TEEN SP! After this one. It won the poll.

They don't want cheap stuff though. Not everyone lives in a nice neighbourhood with cutesy or expensive looking houses. Some ppl live in a beat up neighbourhood with gangs and graffiti (amongst other things). Not everyone wants that in an SP. Like the KP SP it reaches out to a certain demographic, not everyone. You're then alienating the majority by giving in to the minority.

I don't know anybody that lives in a candy themed neighbourhood. It's limited as to what you can do with it, so again that's alienation. Anybody who does enjoy sim kids is alienated as well.

And the polls. Just because the teen sp won the vote on the poll doesn't mean that it will definately be next. As an example of the realiability of the polls, there was a poll asking us amongst other things if we wanted a theme like ST with social features. It lost. We have ST. They had us vote on the name for Lunar Lakes. Something like Arorra Terra was the name that won. It wasn't even an official when they had us vote on it.

Hun, no one has green skin, and lives in a fairy type of place, nor do males get pregnant from alien abductions in the real world...just saying. The majority of us doesn't LIKE serious or realistic in a Sims game. Most of us leave it for E for EVERYONE!

FYI: The majority of us fricken begged for pets! Guess what, not only do we got pets, but added more in depth social interactions to the pets and even the ability to CONTROL them as well. How freaking awesome is that? We also begged for a COW PLANT, we got a cow plant! Then we begged for DJ Booths and Genies, and guess what, we have them again! The only LEGIT complaint was that the pets were all distorted and wonky, but that was OUR faults for not having the proper graphics card. I had them too, and I fixed it with a graphics card and disabled my gawd awful chipset.

I begged for Charlie Sheen, they gave me Katy Perry, but I'm still happy. If they wanted to alienate me, EA would have stupid Justin Bieber *GAGS!*

jeanamariex3 wrote:

Arletta wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:

Darkslayer wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:I agree with everything the OP says. Everyone is flipping out about the price, and the content, and acting like the people who WANT it and think it's smart is patronizing those who DON'T want it.

Sims is about BEING DIFFERENT! Playing YOUR STYLE! I love Pets, but the next person doesn't that's okay. I won't stab you for it. And EA is smart. They took someone who was involved before, and obviously plays like the rest of us. I like the fun trendy clothes at H&M and loved them forever. So I'm drawn toward the SP because of it. Others don't.

If this were 1997-98, we would have the Spice Girls. Why? Because the Spice Girls were HUGE! They had unique hairstyles and memorable outfits. (Ginger's outfits weren't even CLOSE to today's standards), they had catchy songs. I would be begging mom for this as a Christmas gift in 97 through 98!

If EA wasn't smart, and was trying to attract ONLY young tweens/teens, they would be endorsing Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, or Demi Lovato. I wouldn't be buying at all. Most of those sales will be TEENS with their babysitting funds, or their parents buying it for them.

Sims is not supposed to be REALISTIC. It's a life simulator, with bits of realism, but it's not suppose to be FULL ON! It's for teens and adults, not children learning how to make friends etc. I'm not big on cars, so I won't be buying Fast Lane unless I get it for free. But someone who likes cars would like it. The Stuff Pack has that perfect balance with what the game is about: realism, but with heavy unrealistic undertones.

Then where is the SP for those of us who don't like the glamour / wealth / celebrity angle that EA has been plugging since goodness knows when. I'm all for trying something different and I know that I'm probably not going to like everything they come up with but NEVER have I seen such a blatant attempt to curry favour with a single demographic while alienating everybody else.

I tolerated the constant nudges towards this high end living, the constant subliminal messages that we should live out our fantasies within the game and become rich and famous beyond our wildest dreams and live in a massive house. I even accepted that this game just isn't going to be the gritty cyberpunk fantasy that I personally would love to play out but when you turn a game that has never, ever been about social networking into a social networking mess and then follow that up with an SP like this it just screams - you're no longer good enough for us even though you earn your own income, we want the tweens!

I never expected EA to actually give me a stuff pack that would be right up my street, my likes are far too niche and that's fine. I'm OK with that and it doesn't bother me. What does bother me however and one of my biggest problems with this pack is that why is ONE niche group given favouritism while everybody else is told to like it or lump it?

I mean seriously, would it have killed EA to stick this in the store for the same price and given us an SP that actually caters towards the majority? You can't please everybody no, but I don't think as many people would be as up in arms about this SP had they made it about teen sims, child sims or male sims. You know... one of the groups that isn't a Young Adult Female and thus gets absolutely no attention whatsoever.

Keep the weird and quirky stuff to the store, leave the SPs to content that will appeal to the most people.

But people still complain when the classics are up for grabs at the TS3 Store, you know the cow plant, the Lodge items? Remember those "why wasn't this stuff in an SP?"

I don't mind the attention YA Females are getting. I'm a YA female! I'm a rather quirky, trendy one too! I would totally wear this stuff in the real world! In fact, that is my Simself in my AVATAR! I love the options for teens. I don't play much with babies and toddlers, and I don't care much for children anymore, because disciplining them is too realistic. I find subtlety quite overrated and boring. I like attention grabbing styles.

Alienated? Are you freaking kidding me? Ambitions, Pets, and WA have cheap items. Generations too! Some people like rules but that's fine, when I play games, I don't like going through levels, or seeing the trees before the forest, because they have too much rules! Part of Sims is to be anything you want and ESCAPE real life. I see those child abuse and sad deep serious stories on Sims, and while some find them touching, I find it a little disturbing. I like to imply silly frivolous Sim tragedies, like getting eaten by the cowplant, or running with scissors. Those deaths are funny to me, because they're not offensive or upsetting to others, and they're funny.

The real world is where you earn your living, and work your way up. I prefer to keep it out of Sims.

And they ARE making a TEEN SP! After this one. It won the poll.

They don't want cheap stuff though. Not everyone lives in a nice neighbourhood with cutesy or expensive looking houses. Some ppl live in a beat up neighbourhood with gangs and graffiti (amongst other things). Not everyone wants that in an SP. Like the KP SP it reaches out to a certain demographic, not everyone. You're then alienating the majority by giving in to the minority.

I don't know anybody that lives in a candy themed neighbourhood. It's limited as to what you can do with it, so again that's alienation. Anybody who does enjoy sim kids is alienated as well.

And the polls. Just because the teen sp won the vote on the poll doesn't mean that it will definately be next. As an example of the realiability of the polls, there was a poll asking us amongst other things if we wanted a theme like ST with social features. It lost. We have ST. They had us vote on the name for Lunar Lakes. Something like Arorra Terra was the name that won. It wasn't even an official when they had us vote on it.

Hun, no one has green skin, and lives in a fairy type of place, nor do males get pregnant from alien abductions in the real world...just saying. The majority of us doesn't LIKE serious or realistic in a Sims game. Most of us leave it for E for EVERYONE!

FYI: The majority of us fricken begged for pets! Guess what, not only do we got pets, but added more in depth social interactions to the pets and even the ability to CONTROL them as well. How freaking awesome is that? We also begged for a COW PLANT, we got a cow plant! Then we begged for DJ Booths and Genies, and guess what, we have them again! The only LEGIT complaint was that the pets were all distorted and wonky, but that was OUR faults for not having the proper graphics card. I had them too, and I fixed it with a graphics card and disabled my gawd awful chipset.

I begged for Charlie Sheen, they gave me Katy Perry, but I'm still happy. If they wanted to alienate me, EA would have stupid Justin Bieber *GAGS!*

I'm not disputing that they give ppl things they ask for. Alright so YOU are satisfied. What about those who do feel alienated and shut out with the endorsement and the pack? Just because that isn't you, doesn't mean that it isn't happening.

The endorsement and packs coming from it were to mostly hit a new market, seemingly young teens. If they can get some of the regular customers buying so much the better, but the fact remains that it's not really aimed at the regular's, but this new market that they were hoping for.

The endorsement isn't because they think we're amazing or anything, but because Katy Perry is a pop star who won some kind of kids choice award. The pack's theme is to grab that market. It alienates those who are regulars even if you don't see that.

Arletta wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:

Arletta wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:

Darkslayer wrote:

jeanamariex3 wrote:I agree with everything the OP says. Everyone is flipping out about the price, and the content, and acting like the people who WANT it and think it's smart is patronizing those who DON'T want it.

Sims is about BEING DIFFERENT! Playing YOUR STYLE! I love Pets, but the next person doesn't that's okay. I won't stab you for it. And EA is smart. They took someone who was involved before, and obviously plays like the rest of us. I like the fun trendy clothes at H&M and loved them forever. So I'm drawn toward the SP because of it. Others don't.

If this were 1997-98, we would have the Spice Girls. Why? Because the Spice Girls were HUGE! They had unique hairstyles and memorable outfits. (Ginger's outfits weren't even CLOSE to today's standards), they had catchy songs. I would be begging mom for this as a Christmas gift in 97 through 98!

If EA wasn't smart, and was trying to attract ONLY young tweens/teens, they would be endorsing Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, the Jonas Brothers, or Demi Lovato. I wouldn't be buying at all. Most of those sales will be TEENS with their babysitting funds, or their parents buying it for them.

Sims is not supposed to be REALISTIC. It's a life simulator, with bits of realism, but it's not suppose to be FULL ON! It's for teens and adults, not children learning how to make friends etc. I'm not big on cars, so I won't be buying Fast Lane unless I get it for free. But someone who likes cars would like it. The Stuff Pack has that perfect balance with what the game is about: realism, but with heavy unrealistic undertones.

Then where is the SP for those of us who don't like the glamour / wealth / celebrity angle that EA has been plugging since goodness knows when. I'm all for trying something different and I know that I'm probably not going to like everything they come up with but NEVER have I seen such a blatant attempt to curry favour with a single demographic while alienating everybody else.

I tolerated the constant nudges towards this high end living, the constant subliminal messages that we should live out our fantasies within the game and become rich and famous beyond our wildest dreams and live in a massive house. I even accepted that this game just isn't going to be the gritty cyberpunk fantasy that I personally would love to play out but when you turn a game that has never, ever been about social networking into a social networking mess and then follow that up with an SP like this it just screams - you're no longer good enough for us even though you earn your own income, we want the tweens!

I never expected EA to actually give me a stuff pack that would be right up my street, my likes are far too niche and that's fine. I'm OK with that and it doesn't bother me. What does bother me however and one of my biggest problems with this pack is that why is ONE niche group given favouritism while everybody else is told to like it or lump it?

I mean seriously, would it have killed EA to stick this in the store for the same price and given us an SP that actually caters towards the majority? You can't please everybody no, but I don't think as many people would be as up in arms about this SP had they made it about teen sims, child sims or male sims. You know... one of the groups that isn't a Young Adult Female and thus gets absolutely no attention whatsoever.

Keep the weird and quirky stuff to the store, leave the SPs to content that will appeal to the most people.

But people still complain when the classics are up for grabs at the TS3 Store, you know the cow plant, the Lodge items? Remember those "why wasn't this stuff in an SP?"

I don't mind the attention YA Females are getting. I'm a YA female! I'm a rather quirky, trendy one too! I would totally wear this stuff in the real world! In fact, that is my Simself in my AVATAR! I love the options for teens. I don't play much with babies and toddlers, and I don't care much for children anymore, because disciplining them is too realistic. I find subtlety quite overrated and boring. I like attention grabbing styles.

Alienated? Are you freaking kidding me? Ambitions, Pets, and WA have cheap items. Generations too! Some people like rules but that's fine, when I play games, I don't like going through levels, or seeing the trees before the forest, because they have too much rules! Part of Sims is to be anything you want and ESCAPE real life. I see those child abuse and sad deep serious stories on Sims, and while some find them touching, I find it a little disturbing. I like to imply silly frivolous Sim tragedies, like getting eaten by the cowplant, or running with scissors. Those deaths are funny to me, because they're not offensive or upsetting to others, and they're funny.

The real world is where you earn your living, and work your way up. I prefer to keep it out of Sims.

And they ARE making a TEEN SP! After this one. It won the poll.

They don't want cheap stuff though. Not everyone lives in a nice neighbourhood with cutesy or expensive looking houses. Some ppl live in a beat up neighbourhood with gangs and graffiti (amongst other things). Not everyone wants that in an SP. Like the KP SP it reaches out to a certain demographic, not everyone. You're then alienating the majority by giving in to the minority.

I don't know anybody that lives in a candy themed neighbourhood. It's limited as to what you can do with it, so again that's alienation. Anybody who does enjoy sim kids is alienated as well.

And the polls. Just because the teen sp won the vote on the poll doesn't mean that it will definately be next. As an example of the realiability of the polls, there was a poll asking us amongst other things if we wanted a theme like ST with social features. It lost. We have ST. They had us vote on the name for Lunar Lakes. Something like Arorra Terra was the name that won. It wasn't even an official when they had us vote on it.

Hun, no one has green skin, and lives in a fairy type of place, nor do males get pregnant from alien abductions in the real world...just saying. The majority of us doesn't LIKE serious or realistic in a Sims game. Most of us leave it for E for EVERYONE!

FYI: The majority of us fricken begged for pets! Guess what, not only do we got pets, but added more in depth social interactions to the pets and even the ability to CONTROL them as well. How freaking awesome is that? We also begged for a COW PLANT, we got a cow plant! Then we begged for DJ Booths and Genies, and guess what, we have them again! The only LEGIT complaint was that the pets were all distorted and wonky, but that was OUR faults for not having the proper graphics card. I had them too, and I fixed it with a graphics card and disabled my gawd awful chipset.

I begged for Charlie Sheen, they gave me Katy Perry, but I'm still happy. If they wanted to alienate me, EA would have stupid Justin Bieber *GAGS!*

I'm not disputing that they give ppl things they ask for. Alright so YOU are satisfied. What about those who do feel alienated and shut out with the endorsement and the pack? Just because that isn't you, doesn't mean that it isn't happening.

The endorsement and packs coming from it were to mostly hit a new market, seemingly young teens. If they can get some of the regular customers buying so much the better, but the fact remains that it's not really aimed at the regular's, but this new market that they were hoping for.

The endorsement isn't because they think we're amazing or anything, but because Katy Perry is a pop star who won some kind of kids choice award. The pack's theme is to grab that market. It alienates those who are regulars even if you don't see that.

This ^

If you wanted to post in this thread.. to relax and discuss the possiblities with this stuff pack, you couldn't. You would have to weed through countless posts, made by the same people, saying the same things..over and over and over again. You also stand the chance of being personally attacked and regardless of the passionate hatred over this stuff pack...personal attacks shouldn't be tolerated...not by anyone for any reason. I am all for voicing opinions about the game itself, but when it comes to people attacking other people that is where it needs to end.

mkryan wrote:I understand what you're saying, but isn't it far too late for EA to change anything substantial about this pack? It's only 2 months away, right? I don't know much about development times, but it seems like they don't have any other choice but to dig their heels in and market it the best they can (through Live Chats, etc).

Not saying people shouldn't complain if they don't like the pack, but it seems like there's nothing anybody can do about it now except not buy it. If it doesn't sell well, EA will presumably learn that this isn't what their fans want, and they'll send out something more people want next time.

Therein in the crux of the matter. Exactly how "substantial" is the content that makes up this "mega" SP?

According to SimVIP:

♦ Dozens of clothing options, rooms of furniture and decor, 3 new venues and even Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) sung in Simlish.

O.K. So the royalties alone for that new radio station song is a potential cost driver in that $10 price hike. There are also the new animations for the fireworks as previously mentioned.

Still wondering what the word "dozens" is supposed to mean. SimGuruJenn did mention "dozens" of "dozens" of content in this "mega" pack in the live chat. So the plural form of "dozen" implies there is at least 2 multiples of 12 items a.k.a at least 24 extra items in addition to the regular SP item count. So that's another reason for the price hike. Really won't know until the 24th exactly how many.

Besides the 5 new hairs + new CAS sim clothing, I don't see the 3 new lots validating the extra cost. Or any of the recycled & remeshed items like that water slide which already exist in the game.

In fact, I'm willing to bet all 3 community lots--especially that swimming pool one---will be available for download on the exchange as soon as the SP comes out. Just like that Olympian Physique Gym set in the store.

mkryan wrote:

I understand what you're saying, but isn't it far too late for EA to change anything substantial about this pack? It's only 2 months away, right? I don't know much about development times, but it seems like they don't have any other choice but to dig their heels in and market it the best they can (through Live Chats, etc).

Not saying people shouldn't complain if they don't like the pack, but it seems like there's nothing anybody can do about it now except not buy it. If it doesn't sell well, EA will presumably learn that this isn't what their fans want, and they'll send out something more people want next time.

Mostly but not completely. They even said on the live chat that they cannot show all the stuff in the pack until may live chat because its not made yet. If that is the case, throw out a thing or two and make the register. Make a copy of the freezer bunny fount without the freezer bunny.

Take a few of the clothing and ditch the candy attachments or remove then in trade for the register and/or other changes.

You are right in that usually their plans are set months in advance and they are already almost done by the time the announcement is out. Obviously they are not - most likely cause they ditched whatever the next SP was really supposed to be to build candyland for KP. If its not complete there is room for change and most companies would have a beta phase and change a few things - this is EA's time to really prove they listen because they admit they have time still to do it. They have a month unity the May chat and a month after that to release. I could make a ice cream register within a week and they could do it faster then that as they have access to the animations for the bar and all they have to do is remove a glass and add the ice cream cone.

I really wish the excuse was 'no time' or the work is already done and locked in, but that's obviously not so. What we are seeing in screen shots and in the Live Chat were basically the demo stuff to get the SP approved. The live chat was damage control so they showed what they have so far - which is not much.

EA says they listen and the excuse for no changes by the time they usually do a live chat is a time issue, and its a fair response, a month before release is a cramped time to change stuff around. This time they did a Live Chat 2 months before and its a different piece of cake and they don't have an excuse not to listen.

jeanamariex3 wrote:

.....

FYI: The majority of us fricken begged for pets! Guess what, not only do we got pets, but added more in depth social interactions to the pets and even the ability to CONTROL them as well. How freaking awesome is that? We also begged for a COW PLANT, we got a cow plant! Then we begged for DJ Booths and Genies, and guess what, we have them again! The only LEGIT complaint was that the pets were all distorted and wonky, but that was OUR faults for not having the proper graphics card. I had them too, and I fixed it with a graphics card and disabled my gawd awful chipset. ....

These were arguments I had and supported many times when we heard how people wanted pets and EA was not listening. They were but it took time to have the EP finally come into planning and to release.

Here we have a different message that is being sent. Its not that anyone is saying "hey we wanted this and you did not listen you gave us KPST instead"

What people are saying is why the extra cost? We know its not because its a 'mega' stuff pack, we know part of the extra cost is to pay KP for her endorsement - drop her or give us and opt out SP (both of which could be done at this point) and we will buy it, because you can drop the price. If you still want to charge extra for more content, then charge 3 instead of 10.

They also want EA to make the content 'new'content, not stuff people can make themselves and then try to sell it as if its new. "New Pool Tiles" make people think they are getting some new building thing - its wallpaper, and you can make new pool tiles any time you want. Just cause you did not know that wall paper could be applied to pool walls does not make the pool tiles a new thing.

And these 'new venues' are not venues like in ST, they are base game community lots - a community lot with a pool on it is not much different from other community lost with pools on them or beach from community lots - they just drop some of the SP decor on them, refer to them as venues and add then to justify a higher cost. How about the park? Its a community lot park - how many already in the game? And the lot size? We all have problems with fitting in large lots so most people will never use them as they don't want to bulldoze that much property to fit them in.

Don't try and trick us into something untrue. "Oh everything can be recolored" Except the freezer bunny which has to always be pick". Sure - and most of this colorful stuff has more then 4 colors which is the max that can be recolored in CAS. This means that color 5 and 6 that is on some object cannot be changed - limit the usefulness and when things are stuck on other objects and you can't not have them your stuck with a niche object. I could think of 10 good places for the freezer bunny fountain - without the freezer bunny. like a birthday or wedding fountain except for the bunny. I know she loves the bunny but it limits the use of the fountain. Some of the clothing is the same way - with candy shapes stuck to it it can't really be made into something else then a candy dress. And the cupcake bra - that was more inspired by Tank Girl then KP if you ask me.

Then they lie about not being able to do anything but make content - no functionality and then show us the fireworks which they have changed the functions on and added more animations. SO which way is it? You can or you can't do it SP team?

This is what everyone is about that has problems with this SP, as well as many other good issues. So yes, with the time they have EA could listen and fix a couple of little things and make a lot of the unhappy people into SP buyers. This is not an issue where we are not getting an SP we have been asking for this is a problem with the SP we got. But we have also been saying to EA that a few small fixes could make us more supportive of the SP we are stuck with.

I'm also long time supporter of the Sims. I've been playing these games since the release of TS1. (Well, technically, before that, since I also played SimCity). I own TS1 and all of its EPs, TS2 and all of its EPs as well as most of its SPs, TS3 and all of its EPs and SPs to date, and TSM and its Adventure Pack. As I've said in other threads, at first I didn't know exactly what to make of this SP, but I do like it and it has grown on me. I have never expected to like everything that EA produces. (I skipped some SPs from TS2.) Although I'd categorize myself as a collector, I don't buy things that don't interest me. I think that in a series that has so many add-ons it's pretty much impossible to love everything, so I agree with the OP. I also think that they are always looking for ways to bring in new players and customers (which is just what any business does). So, there will be some trial and error. Some of their efforts may fail, but all I can do as a consumer is opt to not buy the things that don't interest me. All that really resonates with a corporation is money anyhow. And the money that you do or don't spend speaks louder than any post on a forum or any tweet on Twitter.

wickichick wrote:If you wanted to post in this thread.. to relax and discuss the possiblities with this stuff pack, you couldn't. You would have to weed through countless posts, made by the same people, saying the same things..over and over and over again. You also stand the chance of being personally attacked and regardless of the passionate hatred over this stuff pack...personal attacks shouldn't be tolerated...not by anyone for any reason. I am all for voicing opinions about the game itself, but when it comes to people attacking other people that is where it needs to end.

I will assume form the 'countless posts' comment you mean this forum not just this threat or topic (people tend to confuse the terms and this thread does not have countless posts etc).

On this forum I have not seen any real topics where people have been personally attacking anyone else. Actually as forums go this one has been pretty clear of trolls attacking certain people and so on. I know people have pointed out that they know that an OP or very support or very negative about this SP and why they should maybe think otherwise but that's not a personal attack.

Now if you mean people jump into posts started by people who think positively about the SP and say negative things, then what about all the negative threads where people have come in supporting the SP? Its called discussion.

No one can reserve a topic and say I just want this to be positive comments just like you can't say only post here if you feel negatively. Certainly there have been topic that have said 'who is not buying' but read through them and see how many also said they were and did not feel they were wrong in posting. So its okay to jump into a topic like that and post a positive sentiment but wrong to jump into a positive topic subject and say why its not positive to them? Its called discussion.

People saying the same things? This goes both ways too. If you did read through all the posts you would see the same positive comments over and over as you see the negatives ones. This time its heavy on the negative, I realize that, so it seems like the negatives are saying the same thing over and over again, but they are responding to what the originator of the topic posts. Its called discussion.

Yes, people are repeating themselves and that happens in forums because people tend to read subjects, not topics or the posts in them and then start their own. This tends to often repeat what has already been asked or said in other topics and so people repeat what they have said because its obvious that what they posted before was not read and they are reiterating for the new topic. This too is called discussion (although it would not be repeats if people read more then subject lines).

GenuineGem wrote:

Hi there, fellow Simmers

I too am a long time Simmer. In fact I've been playing the games for a decade, so when I share my opinion please know that it is indeed an informed opinion and not one based off the fact that I don't find donut-bras appealing.

EA's Sims franchise is not transparent. We don't know how they formulate the Stuff Packs they do or why for that matter, but they obviously thought that The Sims needed some form of celebrity endorsement.
Endorsement isn't SUPPOSED to please current customers, it's there to help encourage a wider audience.
That's why we love Sims, right? Anyone can play it. And even though EA is treading on some of our toes with this whole "candy fun-land" idea, and reincarnating LN in ST but with more features etc., there are people out there who like it, or even who love it the same way we loved LN or Pets (which I personally do not like). People are different! Embrace other's uniquenessness(ness? ness ness ness )

The way I see it, EA TRUSTS their loyal customers enough to take a risk, which I love! We may not know how fruitful that risk is as of yet, but on June 5th, who knows how many new Simmers will be joining the Simming community because of the fact that the game appealed to them? Yes, this SP might not be everyone's cup of tea (it most certainly isn't mine) but sometimes companies or even people for that matter have to take risks.

All I'm saying is that even if this SP is a fluke, EA wanted to try something new, and there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. We as Simmers (especially us Old-Timers) should know by now that not every expansion/stuff pack is a great idea to everyone. I mean, remember H&M? IKEA? Those were great endorsements! People complained about the commercialism and unoriginality of it all but before those stuff packs I didn't even know who H&M and IKEA were! Different strokes for different folks.

So the advice I can give to us all is to be patient. We don't have to buy this NOW. Wait for when it's in a sale bin, or something! I myself for the first time ever am having to actually think about whether I want this or not, so don't think I'm some pro-Katy Perry Sweet Treats crazy fan, just a fan of a franchise who has done a lot for me through the tiniest ways, from making me laugh when my I first discovered that in S3 you could Shower... DANGEROUSLY ( ) to when I was going through such a tough time that the only thing I felt comfortable around were my Sims.

EA knows WE don't like it, but who says THEY won't?
Besides, they're not stupid, they've seen what we want, and personally I am rooting for a University EP so badly that I'd probably send gifts and fruit baskets to EA's offices in the Northern hemisphere if (/WHEN ) they decide that University is a viable EP idea that they would be willing to recreate it.

That's just my opinion, I hope that this appealed to both the believers as well as non-believers Haha, have a good evening/morning/afternoon, everyone!

xx GG

WOW! this is one of the nicest posts i have ever seen talking about how Ea are making their EP/SP' you are so nice about it.. unlike other people who are very angry and writing in caps-lock..