Are Game Packs Dead?
When Horse Ranch was released, it became apparent, to me anyway, that it was basically a Game Pack sold as an Expansion Pack. This didn't immediately raise my suspicions. We've seen gamespansion packs...
Forum Discussion
"GrumpyGlowfish;c-18311689" wrote:
Oh, GPs still exist. They're just called EPs now (Growing Together, Horse Ranch).
@GrumpyGlowfish I don't agree that Growing Together is a GP. I think it's actually one of the most complex EPs we've ever had. I have a pet theory that people who think Growing Together is GP-level never played infants without it and assume that most of the infant-related game play that Growing Together added was part of the base game update. You can correct me if I'm wrong.
They had to add the infant life stage to base game, because they had promised not to release anymore DLC of DLC. If infants weren't in base game, they couldn't add additional content for them to other DLC. At the same time, base game infants are an extremely shallow feature. They don't develop skills or abilities, there are not many interactions adults can have with them other than attending to their basic needs. Aside from the crib and a few decorative items, there aren't many items specifically for them, although they can use toddler toys.
Now there's a lot of other content that comes with Growing Together, but if a person mistakenly thinks that most of the infant game play was patched into base game, it'll make that EP seem lighter weight than it really is. Getting back to the main topic, I'm not, at this point, concerned that proper EPs are going away, I just think they'll alternate them with gamespansion packs, instead of alternating them with Game Packs.
"cyncie;c-18311735" wrote:
if they’re planning to continue TS4 alongside Renee, GPS and Stuff Packs might actually become more common than EPS because of the development requirements.
@cyncie I can definitely see this happening down the road if they stick with the GP series. On the other hand, if they take GP-level topics, pad them with a few fluff features and release them as an EP, that might reduce the concern about development requirements. Let's take Fairies as example. Suppose we have fairies + a rejiggering of the Romantic Garden wishing well + a ballet skill (cause Sugar Plum Fairy). Voila! An EP!
