EA_Arcadia
EA Staff
EA StaffBugs and The Sims 101 - Everything you need to know! - Discussion
Have any questions or comments about our recent discussion about Bugs and The Sims, here's the best place to leave them.
Forum Discussion
I'm just reading media reports of recruiting going on at Maxis so I think that's an indicator that there is work in progress on Sims 4 with an eye on Sims 5 also. The reports are very positive anyway from a news outlet that I've always found to be reliable and trustworthy, plus they are Sims fans. They were pretty harsh about recent issues and I felt like telling them to be kinder to our devs! But this article I've just read sounds more positive.
I do worry about suggestions that there are still more ideas for Sims 4 though because I personally don't think the engine can take it and these patches to prepare for new content (whether we'll be adding it or not) are causing too much disruption now. At the moment I'm researching instead of playing and trying to engage constructively. I keep looking at my console and debating whether to try and play or not. But it's just not relaxing and entertaining to play right now. Not when it's crashing and my Sims keep spinning on the spot.
As a console player there are no mods to help so it's back to ACNH for me for now...with an occasional frown at my Xbox Series S which, right now only sees action when it gets dusted.
Yeah, what @JonaO703 said.
My understanding (based on what EA employees say here) is that the bug report forum, at least, is regularly "scraped" into their bug tracking database. Basically, that means that a software program goes out and grabs a copy of what's in the forum, and any COMPLETE bug report (with the form filled out, particularly how to reproduce it) is looked at.
I'm not sure what they do with feedback, but I do feel confident that they look at it. They're trying to sell software, after all. And I've seen them act on it, too: the werewolf toilet action was updated to "take a feral poo" after feedback here. (Thank you, by the way! <3 )
Again, there's A LOT of data here, and what appears to be a small number of employees who come here and interact, and also I expect that there's a process and it's slow. Modders can fix things faster than EA because they're one person who picks what they work on; the Sims Team has to officially prioritize what they work on and assign resources and... it's a whole thing that's not fast. It's the nature of being a software company.
To guess, based on working for a non-game software company:
Bugs:
- sent to QA, who tries to reproduce the exact circumstances under which it occurs.
- once confirmed and they know exactly what causes it, marked as reproducible
- someone estimates, based on what causes it, how easy or difficult a fix it is
- the bug forum tells them how many players are affected
- based on how easy/hard it is, how severe it is, and how many are affected, a priority is made
- based on priority and available resources, they assign people to work on the bugs BUT DON'T PROMISE TO FIX THEM UNTIL THEY KNOW THEY CAN.
Feedback is harder, because I imagine that, you know. "What do you MEAN you don't like it? we worked hard on that!" is a normal, human-nature response. I know, guys! I know you did! I'm sorry! I write and run a writer's group, trust me, I know! :D So:
'I can see a lot of potential in wants and fears! but you need to expand the wants beyond the base game and high school years, and fears shouldn't be so easy to get, because right now with the small number of wants and fears available and my Sims all getting the same fear every single day, gameplay quickly becomes repetitive and frustrating."
is better feedback than:
"They stink and I hate them."
The first one is actionable, and the second isn't. And to be perfectly fair, I've said the second repeatedly because I was frustrated, but I think the first is factually more accurate and better describes my feelings.
