"Writin_Reg;c-16413303" wrote:
"JoAnne65;c-16413282" wrote:
“Talk is cheap. Anyone can say anything they want to explain something or even make things appear to be or not to be something else - but it all comes down to the fact no talk is needed to know the way the game has basically always been no longer exists. There in lies the drama and turmoil - and all of that is felt deep in our own souls as players. We simply want that back. How hard is that to understand. We do not give a darn about the principle and the process - we care whether or not we can recognize the game we have loved and enjoyed the last 15 years and are wise enough to know darn well hardly any of that now exists.
The Devs did not just steer south or north of the priciple of what has made us love the Sims - they fell off the darn cliff.”
(not my words, I’m not a vet, I only joined the club in 2009)
Well why do you think when they do surveys - the first question involves your age. In the old days in any business - used to be do you know our product and if you do - how many years have to used our product. Then someone realized that the future is all about the youth of today - and longevity in business and a product depend on appealing to the youth of today. Now EA surveys ask your age - and it has nothing to do with maturity - as many of us well know since half way through Sims 3 surveys began rejecting older players - saying often - that quota has filled and we are looking at other age groups. Of course they never realized we simmers talked and compared notes and not anybody over the age of 40 got their foot in that survey door - not a one.
It got worse with Sims 4 - now even 30 year olds don't make it in the future sims surveys at all - it is how it is now. They want to see what appeals to tomorrows adults in this game - not what appealed to gamers over the last 18 years that made the game great.
They might tell you they care how we all feel - but EA Marketing tells me that don't care it all - that they want to make games for the future that appeals to the next generation of YA's period. Yesterdays marketing style was all about what long time users of a product wanted - while today marketing it to appeal to folks that can keep buying long after many my age has little to not much future left.
I am not the basket EA wants to put their eggs in. It is a fact - and like it or not - I really am not the future business can depend on to buy their products over the next 20 + years. What I like is less important than what my 13 year old granddaughter likes. She likes the First Pets sp a lot by the way.
It's not quite clear to me if you really believe that, that what you like is less important than what your 13 year old granddaughter likes. Or if you mean that's how EA is thinking at the moment (which I can't but agree with because it's crystal clear). We’re in the same boat, you and I, I think we’re about the same age. And though I agree with you EA seems to think the way you describe (only for Sims, for other franchises and companies older age groups apparently still have a future), I strongly disagree with their principle and I'm not willing to let that go, even when I can't do anything about it and I'm fighting the inevitable. The least I can do is keep being vocal.
Do we have to learn to embrace this new vision and new strategy, like sitting ducks? Accepting their illusion only tomorrow adults matter? I can imagine the makers of the Teletubbies were only concerned about the adults of tomorrow, but why would the creators of a game that is also loved by lots of people that are older be? What is age anyway? A 25 year old can be a Sims vet like you, I’m twice that age and I’m not. I was a newbie at 44 and in 2009 EA had 4 glorious years of me spending loads of money on their game ahead of them. We're almost 10 years later and I'm still there. So is my wallet.
Knowing that things currently are the way you say they are (and I agree) doesn’t mean one has to accept and defend it. That’s what this topic is about. It's not about the way things clearly are (or how EA wants them to be), it's about what we want (and fear).
"Writin_Reg;c-16413354" wrote:
Time waits for no one and never stands still no matter who would like it to. Otherwise no elder would have a "Well in my day..." story to tell. Everything changes whether we like it or not. Nothing today is like it was even 20 years ago - nothing.
When I was a kid it was considered outrageous for moms to have jobs - never mind own their own company and line of products like my mom did. Time marches on, life and things change. It's an unstoppable train. Keep that in mind. There is no pc game I know of that is exactly like it was 20 years ago. That's a fact. Board games sure - but not made for pc games.
Call talk cheap but the fact remains everything we have ever learned came about over talking - from our first learning experiences to our education.
You did, call talk cheap, back in March 2015.
I quoted what you said back then. I genuinely wonder what has changed for you in this respect. Reading that post in retrospect you get a standing ovation from me. I just wonder what has changed.
By no means do I not grant you your current opinion by the way or a change of mind in this respect. I just would like you to grant us ours, because our opinion is as good as yours. Just different.
