EA_Mage said ''soon'' ! How ''soon'' ?

What games, you ask? At EA PLAY 2018, you will have a chance to play our next Battlefield™ experience, new EA SPORTS™ games, and get an inside look at the stunning new action game, Anthem™. The Sims™ 4 and our mobile games will be on hand, and of course, we have a few surprises as well.


The above quote was taken from the EA Play website. Looks as if Anthem, Battlefield and the new sports games are what EA is heavily promoting. Sims4 and the mobile releases seem to be coming in last on their list. But the action games bring in a lot of fans to this type of event so it isn't at all surprising those would be mentioned and promoted before Sims4. According to an article I read in January, Anthem's release date has been delayed to early 2019 rather than the previous release date of fall 2018. In spite of doing more research, I haven't found any news to contradict that. So EA could be doing some damage control during EA Play to keep Anthem fans happy and interested in the game.

I would hope there is some kind of teaser, whether it’s content for Sims 4 (which is good), or an announcement for Sims 5 (which would be very exciting!).

I guess what grant (I think it was him in the interview) said that people will say “I can’t believe they’re doing all this stuff” it had a different meaning. It really meant would be saying “I can’t believe they’re doing this— no teaser, and nothing released for the April-June quarter, and an appalling surprise ‘My first pet’ stuff pack that they never teased”

"catloverplayer;c-16423576" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16422299" wrote:

"catloverplayer;c-16422265" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16422168" wrote:

"rudy8292;c-16421505" wrote:

"Lomelindi7;c-16421083" wrote:
I believe “soon” may be on or about the time if EA Play. So a few weeks prior to the event perhaps. I still believe nothing is coming this quarter (paid content) and an expansion could be announced just before EA Play, playable at the event, then released first week of July or August. I am happy to be wrong, but I won’t get my hopes up for any news before the end of May.

I don't see that happen. If they announce the EP just before EA Play and have it playable there, they have almost no time themselves to show us the game via livestreams, blogs and all that stuff. EP's have like 8+ weeks marketing attached to them and if they make it playable at EA Play, they cannot have a solid embargo/NDA.

With thousands of people coming to such events, it's impossible for them to control what info gets out and what stays in. So IF we are getting an EP this quarter, I guess they will announce it within 2 weeks, just to have enough marketing time before the event to promote the EP and tell us more about it. Then they can release it after EA Play in late june.

But we will see.

If they let people play “Seasons” at EA play then a lot of things in it will likely be disabled because it isn’t ready or stable enough yet. Also only few of the developers will likely be there and they know what they can tell and what they can’t tell people.

I think it will almost be finished then. I'm predicting Late June for release.

Unless it is a GP it will surprise me if it is released already that early. My guess for the next EP is October or November.

Then why are they announcing something and we're not getting any quarterly teaser this quarter? There has to be paid content coming sometimes this quarter. That's why I'm thinking Expansion Pack in Late June.

We just think differently and of course we are only guessing. You speculate mostly about the missing teaser and their advertising about EA Play. But I don’t believe in putting too much weight on such things or overinterpretating them. What interests me much more is the whole tendency about the game and the packs. Here we have seen how EA has changed everything graduately from TS2 to TS3 to TS4 and in the following ways:
1. Originally we got big EPs to buy in physical stores and no SPs.
2. Then EA began to experiment with SPs with only stuff and no gameplay. This mainly happened in 2006.
3. TS3 got 11 EPs and 9 SPs. Most of the time 2 EPs each year but in 2012-2013 even 3 EPs each year. EA didn’t seem to think that this experiment was successful though and likely therefore removed the Salt Lake Study from the Sims game development.
4. Then TS4 was released and EA reduced the number of EPs to only one EP each year but attempted to compensate by also releasing 1 GP and by now also adding a little gameplay to the SPs.
5. The new strategy for the Sims 4 seemed to work well for EA. So EA decided to double the number of yearly GPs and release as many SPs as possible and with even more gameplay. But the EPs even got less and less content which makes me doubt if EA even will continue making EPs at all. It seems to me that EA more likely will just release one small EP each year until TS5 is released and then just stop and likely because the cheaper SPs and GPs just sell better.

This has been the development for the packs and I don’t think that EA will go back. Therefore an early EP in 2018 would surprise me even more than if EA instead of again releasing an EP just released an extra GP instead and then completely stopped making EPs.

"06Bon06;c-16423690" wrote:

"Lomelindi7;c-16423010" wrote:
I guess what grant (I think it was him in the interview) said that people will say “I can’t believe they’re doing all this stuff” it had a different meaning. It really meant would be saying “I can’t believe they’re doing this— no teaser, and nothing released for the April-June quarter, and an appalling surprise ‘My first pet’ stuff pack that they never teased”

Good point what if whatever they are doing is so awful that, that is all everyone is saying XD

Yes, I think marketing wise this was the worst possible moment to stop the quarterly teasers (at least for this quarter). Right after the awful My First Pet situation and the lost of trust from many simmers, going silent for who knows how long is really a bad decision.
I get that this is not related to them, but it is to us, the consumers, is normal to be sceptical now since the last thing we got from the team was a shameful pack announced in a shameful way (not included in the last QT).

@06Bon06 I can’t predict anything about TS5 except that I am quite sure that EA will attempt to make it as different from TS3 and TS4 as possible. Pets and other packs won’t be made in the same way again and we don’t even know yet what the main new idea in TS5 will be.

Big EPs aren’t likely to return though because EA has clearly given them lower and lower priority. So my immediate guess would be only GPs and SPs as mentioned. But EA has also clearly been experimenting with different marketing strategies. So EA could of course also do yet another experiment with the Sims 5 packs. I just don’t believe that EA again will give EPs higher priority. But beside that I just don’t know what we may expect.

> @Erpe said:
> @06Bon06 I can’t predict anything about TS5 except that I am quite sure that EA will attempt to make it as different from TS3 and TS4 as possible. Pets and other packs won’t be made in the same way again and we don’t even know yet what the main new idea in TS5 will be.
>
> Big EPs aren’t likely to return though because EA has clearly given them lower and lower priority. So my immediate guess would be only GPs and SPs as mentioned. But EA has also clearly been experimenting with different marketing strategies. So EA could of course also do yet another experiment with the Sims 5 packs. I just don’t believe that EA again will give EPs higher priority. But beside that I just don’t know what we may expect.

I think Seasons, if they do it (and I think they will) has to be an EP. There's just too much in the development to sell it for the price of a game pack. And no, I don't think they'll break it up, either, because of the basic engine for the change of seasons - it would be like selling cats in one game pack, and dogs in another. While each animal has its own characteristics, the creation of the pet life-form and all the interactions with various existing objects is where the real work was done, and not everyone would buy both packs. You don't want people paying $20 or $30 just to get cats when the development costs demand $60. (Breaking out small pets made more sense, because they're objects, so they don't need a whole lot of extra coding.)

You can't look at a pack just in terms of the number of objects. If Seasons only has three outerwear coats, people would be unhappy (and Llama forbid they try to make up for that by throwing in more coats with a stuff pack, because the coats will only work if you have Seasons). What actually costs money isn't the coats, but the coding for Sims to change into them when the weather is cold.

I do think it will be a holiday-season release, because it *is* so big, and they want maximum sales for the cost of development. I don't think we'll see another EP before that. Game packs and stuff packs, yes. (For all the brouhaha, My First Pet actually sold quite well.) In any event, I'm with everyone else, wanting a hint at what's coming next!

"invisiblgirl;c-16423920" wrote:
> @Erpe said:
> @06Bon06 I can’t predict anything about TS5 except that I am quite sure that EA will attempt to make it as different from TS3 and TS4 as possible. Pets and other packs won’t be made in the same way again and we don’t even know yet what the main new idea in TS5 will be.
>
> Big EPs aren’t likely to return though because EA has clearly given them lower and lower priority. So my immediate guess would be only GPs and SPs as mentioned. But EA has also clearly been experimenting with different marketing strategies. So EA could of course also do yet another experiment with the Sims 5 packs. I just don’t believe that EA again will give EPs higher priority. But beside that I just don’t know what we may expect.

I think Seasons, if they do it (and I think they will) has to be an EP. There's just too much in the development to sell it for the price of a game pack. And no, I don't think they'll break it up, either, because of the basic engine for the change of seasons - it would be like selling cats in one game pack, and dogs in another. While each animal has its own characteristics, the creation of the pet life-form and all the interactions with various existing objects is where the real work was done, and not everyone would buy both packs. You don't want people paying $20 or $30 just to get cats when the development costs demand $60. (Breaking out small pets made more sense, because they're objects, so they don't need a whole lot of extra coding.)

You can't look at a pack just in terms of the number of objects. If Seasons only has three outerwear coats, people would be unhappy (and Llama forbid they try to make up for that by throwing in more coats with a stuff pack, because the coats will only work if you have Seasons). What actually costs money isn't the coats, but the coding for Sims to change into them when the weather is cold.

I do think it will be a holiday-season release, because it *is* so big, and they want maximum sales for the cost of development. I don't think we'll see another EP before that. Game packs and stuff packs, yes. (For all the brouhaha, My First Pet actually sold quite well.) In any event, I'm with everyone else, wanting a hint at what's coming next!

Seasons is mainly only about adding different kinds of weather and this is don’t even in free games like the Sims Freeplay. In Sims Freeplay the weather can be changed by issuing edicts or it changes automatically in some of the events. Adding spring, summer, autumn and winter is just another way to change the weather automatically.

New clothes is also very easy to add and is in Sims Freeplay mostly done for free as prices in the events even though some of it is also offered for high prices in the store. In a game like TS4 it could also either be added in free updates or in SPs.

So the different weather could even have been part of the basegame like EA already had planned for TS2. Or it could be added as part of a GP.

So why was Seasons even an EP in TS2 and TS3? There were no real reasons for this except that GPs hadn’t been invented yet. To justify Seasons as an EP EA then added more things like the plant sims in TS2 and the aliens in TS3. But such things could of course just as well be added in another GP for future Sims games.

"catloverplayer;c-16423576" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16422299" wrote:

"catloverplayer;c-16422265" wrote:

"Erpe;c-16422168" wrote:

"rudy8292;c-16421505" wrote:

"Lomelindi7;c-16421083" wrote:
I believe “soon” may be on or about the time if EA Play. So a few weeks prior to the event perhaps. I still believe nothing is coming this quarter (paid content) and an expansion could be announced just before EA Play, playable at the event, then released first week of July or August. I am happy to be wrong, but I won’t get my hopes up for any news before the end of May.

I don't see that happen. If they announce the EP just before EA Play and have it playable there, they have almost no time themselves to show us the game via livestreams, blogs and all that stuff. EP's have like 8+ weeks marketing attached to them and if they make it playable at EA Play, they cannot have a solid embargo/NDA.

With thousands of people coming to such events, it's impossible for them to control what info gets out and what stays in. So IF we are getting an EP this quarter, I guess they will announce it within 2 weeks, just to have enough marketing time before the event to promote the EP and tell us more about it. Then they can release it after EA Play in late june.

But we will see.

If they let people play “Seasons” at EA play then a lot of things in it will likely be disabled because it isn’t ready or stable enough yet. Also only few of the developers will likely be there and they know what they can tell and what they can’t tell people.

I think it will almost be finished then. I'm predicting Late June for release.

Unless it is a GP it will surprise me if it is released already that early. My guess for the next EP is October or November.

Then why are they announcing something and we're not getting any quarterly teaser this quarter? There has to be paid content coming sometimes this quarter. That's why I'm thinking Expansion Pack in Late June.

Maybe they're working on so many projects that they're not sure what's going to be done this quarter. I still think that MFP was originally planned to be an April release but since it finished early the executives wanted to release it in March so they could count the revenue before the fiscal year ended. And that's why it wasn't in the teaser for last quarter.

I still feel like it's way too early for Seasons -- but they could be working on a GP for release in late June (after first reveal at EA Play), either Witches/general Magic, or something to do with education that could be a prequel for University in 2019, with Sims 5 announced late in the year and released February 2020, the 20th anniversary of the original The Sims release.

"Erpe;c-16423961" wrote:

"invisiblgirl;c-16423920" wrote:
> @Erpe said:
> @06Bon06 I can’t predict anything about TS5 except that I am quite sure that EA will attempt to make it as different from TS3 and TS4 as possible. Pets and other packs won’t be made in the same way again and we don’t even know yet what the main new idea in TS5 will be.
>
> Big EPs aren’t likely to return though because EA has clearly given them lower and lower priority. So my immediate guess would be only GPs and SPs as mentioned. But EA has also clearly been experimenting with different marketing strategies. So EA could of course also do yet another experiment with the Sims 5 packs. I just don’t believe that EA again will give EPs higher priority. But beside that I just don’t know what we may expect.

I think Seasons, if they do it (and I think they will) has to be an EP. There's just too much in the development to sell it for the price of a game pack. And no, I don't think they'll break it up, either, because of the basic engine for the change of seasons - it would be like selling cats in one game pack, and dogs in another. While each animal has its own characteristics, the creation of the pet life-form and all the interactions with various existing objects is where the real work was done, and not everyone would buy both packs. You don't want people paying $20 or $30 just to get cats when the development costs demand $60. (Breaking out small pets made more sense, because they're objects, so they don't need a whole lot of extra coding.)

You can't look at a pack just in terms of the number of objects. If Seasons only has three outerwear coats, people would be unhappy (and Llama forbid they try to make up for that by throwing in more coats with a stuff pack, because the coats will only work if you have Seasons). What actually costs money isn't the coats, but the coding for Sims to change into them when the weather is cold.

I do think it will be a holiday-season release, because it *is* so big, and they want maximum sales for the cost of development. I don't think we'll see another EP before that. Game packs and stuff packs, yes. (For all the brouhaha, My First Pet actually sold quite well.) In any event, I'm with everyone else, wanting a hint at what's coming next!

Seasons is mainly only about adding different kinds of weather and this is don’t even in free games like the Sims Freeplay. In Sims Freeplay the weather can be changed by issuing edicts or it changes automatically in some of the events. Adding spring, summer, autumn and winter is just another way to change the weather automatically.

New clothes is also very easy to add and is in Sims Freeplay mostly done for free as prices in the events even though some of it is also offered for high prices in the store. In a game like TS4 it could also either be added in free updates or in SPs.

So the different weather could even have been part of the basegame like EA already had planned for TS2. Or it could be added as part of a GP.

So why was Seasons even an EP in TS2 and TS3? There were no real reasons for this except that GPs hadn’t been invented yet. To justify Seasons as an EP EA then added more things like the plant sims in TS2 and the aliens in TS3. But such things could of course just as well be added in another GP for future Sims games.

Programming for weather is more complex than that, especially in a game like Sims 4 where you have multiple climates. Sims 3 may have been easier because each world was completely self-contained, but to do it right if it's snowing in Windenburg (northern climate) and you travel to Oasis Springs then you'd have only rain (desert climate), maybe lighter snow in Brindleton Bay or Newcrest and maybe just a heavy frost in Willow Creek. So you have to ensure the right weather shows up as the world is loading.

Then if you're going to have weather, you need to set the seasons properly so they make sense.

There are also the side effects of weather -- Sims dressing in the right type of clothing for the season, so you don't have them roasting in an Oasis Springs Summer, or freezing their rear end off in a Windenburg Winter. Probably will involve not just new CAS but also recoding existing CAS for the type of weather it's appropriate for (the ugly Christmas sweaters go into winterwear, for example, or the spaghetti strap tops for spring/summer. That's going to be a big job, probably on par with the gender patch.

Also will gardening be affected by the changing weather, with periods of time when plants are dormant unless you bring the plants inside somehow (using planter boxes/bowls). Finally, seasonal activities from snowball throwing in winter/water balloons in summer or if they'll tie in the current seasonal challenges into the game; it would be cool to have the Easter egg hunt activate in Spring, the PlantSims in Summer and the Dia de los Muertos in Autumn so there's no pressure to finish the collection in one season because you could work on it the next season.

So when you look at the pack as a whole, it's easy to see why it's big enough to require the budget (time and money) of an EP -- it's way too big for a GP.