@Rob199xI agree. As much as we we complain, in the end the sales figures will decide if the cart will remain. I think that is what this entire test is about. That's why some players are chosen as Guinea pigs while others don't have the cart as they are the control group for this experiment. I expect that the sales numbers for each group will lead EA to a conclusion about the effectiveness of this button.
Let's hope if enough people react by holding off on purchasing that it will make a difference. But to be honest I am afraid that button is here to stay. ☹️
I think most people who are not engaged with the various TS4 online communities won't necessarily connect the shopping cart with any decision about buying the pack. Many of them won't have heard about the shopping cart or won't necessarily have patched their game and seen it for themselves before they bought the pack. The patch was only two days prior, after all, and many people save their gaming time for the weekend. For a lot of people, it would have been after they bought the pack and updated at the same time that they saw the shopping cart.
I actually think it's bugs that will make people hesitate to buy the pack after the initial new-release excitement dies down. The bug forum is absolutely on fire right now. Anyone who didn't buy the pack on release will likely patch their game sometime soon, if they haven't already, and discover that there are some big problems. Then they might get frustrated with the game and abandon it, or they might be reluctant to buy a new pack because their game is already too buggy.
It'll take some time for all of that to play out, though. In the meantime, even though we here and in various other channels represent a relatively small sliver of TS4 players, I feel like it's incumbent upon us to provide feedback on both the shopping cart and the exponentially growing list bugs precisely because the majority of players are not in a position to do that.
For those not on twitter/X, the Sims Direct has posted about the bugs currently associated with the Crystal Creations pack — no mention of the shopping cart button.
Ideally, with this upcoming patch, the cart would be removed but we'll see. Also linking the poll on the Sims forums again for anyone who missed it:
