The Sims already have a bazar when you go to the park on holidays. These forums are great but like you said it is offline. It is time spent away from the game. Imagine if our Sims could be having this conversation for us. I think that is kool!
When you say "holiday at the park", do you by chance mean festivals? Festivals indeed spawn marketstalls that sell ingame objects, but that is no different from entering buildmode to buy something or using the phone options to order stuff. All those objects are part of the game, we already paid for them, and there is no reminder of the outside world when interacting with those vendors, unlike the system you propose, where each object would, at the very least, have a username of the seller attached to it. Such a marketplace would create a very different experience ("vibe") from the existing points of purchase like, let's say, the thrift store from the High School Years expansion.
If you want to make the system you propose work, you need to understand that difference in perception and be willing to compromise. Research how to engage introverts specifically, as that requires a different approach from getting a shy extrovert out of their shell. And read, read, read that shopping cart button discussion in the old forum (it was made read only, but is still accessable), I cannot stress that enough. Your blog post is fine for a boardroom meeting, unfortunately I can't see it convincing the core community, because time spent away from the game is how we socialize in this community.
Good input! I appreciate your response. Yes, the Sims park is filled with festival stands that sell items. Integrating items would be no different, that was a vision of the future. I understand your viewpoint and it is based on current technical methods. Most people here play Sims on the computer, and I think the console would be better for such a process. Good discussion.
Sim festivals are vastly different from thousands and thousands of modders and cc makers trying to sell their stuff in game. Not to mention that if they allowed for such an in game marketplace, all sold stuff would need to be regulated somehow. There is Second Life that does that, but I don't think we want the Sims to become similar to that game.
Gosh NO!!!! That place is only good for dancing. 👀
I still don't think we fully understand each other. It's not the park that gets filled with festival stands. "Park" is a venue type that can get assigned to any lot by the player. Nothing whatsoever spawns on lots, only ever on the shared space between lots. This may sound like nitpicking to you, but you'll need to understand the difference between open world space, lots and venues as well as between festivals and holidays when you create your concept and subsequently make your project pitch.
My viewpoint is not based on technical limitations, but on immersion concerns. You wrote that you are a roleplayer, so let me draw you a mental picture. Imagine your group visits a weapons shop and instead of saying "I bought a new equipment book", your GM makes your character play out the purchase of the book. Not the new weapon. The real life book. Then you use your phones to order that book in the middle of your gaming session. Likewise when you get to choose what new region to explore, the questgiver offers your character adventure modules. That's the level of immersion breaking we're dealing with here. The problem is not the buying and selling of cc on principle, that's fine (personally I'd even accept microtransactions). But it happening in LIVE MODE is what's going too far.
I guess we are missing each other conceptually. I just used the park example because during let’s say, Seasons. Events occur at the park and certain activities are found during certain times of the year. Let’s just say at the spring festival there would be stands for purchasing items like “corndogs”. I wanted to open people up to ideas and get their input. It seems everyone is going off the concepts that are currently out there and picturing a stock market scene with everyone screaming, buy/sell. Trading places example. A virtual marketplace does not have to be overloaded, it can be along the lines that are already in the game. I understand about the spawning concepts because the only way for shared items would have to be in an online interaction. I didn’t get your guns/book analogy though. Sims 4 architecture have sims going to different worlds. In the retail stores, you can purchase clothes and you can purchase food in the restaurant venue. This is a separate world from your game. I know with millions of people creating custom items from shoes to plates of spaghetti and meatballs it can get crazy. I wanted to put the idea out and get input.
