Re: Feedback: Shopping Cart Icon
Chiming in once again today after my first run-in with the pop-ups from this button. I started playing again today after taking the past three months off (mostly unrelated to this issue), to find that my shopping cart button was now "working as intended" and giving me pop-up ads in the singleplayer game that I have spent over $1000 on. The result? I was immediately overwhelmed with the urge to close the game and play something else. It made me want to stop playing the game that is a continuation of my favorite childhood game, from a franchise that I've been supporting for nearly two decades. A game that, despite all of its flaws, I have invested both time and money into for close to 10 years now.
Maybe EA executives would look at this message and think, "They have 3500 hours and have only paid us $1200? We should be charging double!" And unfortunately for us, it's most likely executives like that that made this decision and hold decision power over whether or not the button stays. It's no secret that people feel the button is both predatory and insulting. I introduced this game to my 11yo niece and bought her an expansion pack as a Christmas gift, and now I have to explain to her mother that the gift I gave her is going to constantly urge her to spend money that they don't have on it.
The button constantly pushes new packs, and even has effects and notifications if you own everything for the game. The Sims' business model was never designed with the intention for every player to buy every pack. They specifically design the packs to cover niche content with enough product diversity that everyone can find some things they like, and ignore the things they don't. Now we're being punished for not owning everything, because making consistent profits and having one of the most active playerbases in the world wasn't enough for them.
Yes, I know there's a mod that makes the button go away. However, we shouldn't settle for modders fixing the things we don't like (or don't work) about the game. Doing this completely ignores the fact that console players have no access to mods, and lulls the rest of us into a state of quiet contentment. Yes, we're mad about the bugs and the half-baked content and the in-game ads, but we can download mods for those things and then they don't bother us anymore. If we're not upset by something and actively voicing those opinions, why would they bother to change them?
At the end of the day, I love the Sims and I love the Sims 4. I want to support the Sims Team who are passionate about the game and want to create great content for their players, but I don't want to support the predatory company that owns their game. I was already fairly confident that I wouldn't be playing Project Rene, but this has fully pushed me away from supporting future titles. If they can get away with overcharging and advertising like it's a free mobile game in the Sims 4, how bad do you think the next game will be? I'll still be buying the packs that I want for this Sims title, which I know some people will think is hypocritical. I'll probably install the mod for the button so that I don't contribute to any activity analytics related to it, and do what I can to find some balance between supporting and enjoying the game that I love, and not supporting the company making decisions that I hate. And hopefully, if EA employees are still paying attention to this issue, my opinion can contribute to pushing the game in the right direction.
