EA Play Coming July 22nd

"SelinaKyles;c-17886351" wrote:
June 1st GP, and we’ll get EP reveal that day(EA PLAY day). Hopefully a leak before it, betting it’s farming. I’m not personally interested in farming, but players have been asking it for years now.

It could be a farming pack. They did tease that sims can bond with nature in the next EP. Farmers do bond with nature in a way. Plus we did get at least two new planter and a bug farm in ELS. Plus Sims 3 did have some farming stuff in it, like a new tractor that the sims can ride around on and do a bit of farming with.

I think if there announcing the Expansion Pack at EA Play, it's probably very flashy, colorful or showy. Like Island Living or Journey to Batuu (Yuck).

A Farming Pack could be considered flashy and interesting. Something with animals. Or a Mythology Pack.

It's probably not something mundane, or it wouldn't be considered interesting enough to show at EA Play.

I don’t trust Catherine mallet especially with her experience in the gaming industry.
I do think if anything they may reveal a special announcement @ EA play this year for a pack that won’t be mentioned in the summer like up but I’m not hoping for it either. We will see (:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17882095" wrote:

"sunman502;c-17881828" wrote:

"Justin;c-17881400" wrote:
I don’t trust Catherine mallet especially with her experience in the gaming industry.
I do think if anything they may reveal a special announcement @ EA play this year for a pack that won’t be mentioned in the summer like up but I’m not hoping for it either. We will see (:

I can not say that I trust Catherine Mallet or not because I have no access to her records in the gaming industry. I just know that she's been in this business for a while now. And she had supposedly work at Maxis in the past. But what she worked on at Maxis in the past, I do not know. :)

I found this article about her:


Catharina Lavers Mallet takes over as Maxis boss

• Previously an executive producer of The Sims Social (uh-oh....)
  
• Product manager and producer at Playfish - which develops free to play social network games, such as the aforementioned The Sims Social and SimCity Social (yikes!....)
  
• Studio general manager at King - which developed Candy Crush Saga games and other social network games (oy!....)
  

Do you see a running pattern here?

And then she said:

"Maxis makes some of the most beloved and enduring games of all time, with an incredibly diverse and global community of players. We will be building on and strengthening this legacy of community and inclusion, to bring them new experiences and delighting players worldwide through deeper and ongoing ways to engage with each other and our games. We will also be growing substantially to achieve our ambitious vision.

"I am returning to EA with an enormous appreciation for not only the strength of the Maxis business and the unparalleled creative and technical capability of the team, but also the passion of the creative and diverse community of Sims players.

"There is also tremendous opportunity to build on this foundation and provide delightful experiences for this generation -- and the next -- of Sims players. My background is in helping creative, innovative companies in both Europe and the US deliver on ambitious visions and build deeper, ongoing relationships with their users. I look forward to working with this amazing team to further the great work Joe Nichols has done, and create the kinds of connected, creative experiences our players are looking for as we grow the studio to reflect the global diversity of our player community."

So she has a lot of experience with social network games. Why hire someone with that background if not to turn the future of The Sims games in that direction?

I read that too. But I was referring to her entire video game industry track record. This maybe a small part of what all she has done in the past as far as video games go or it maybe her entire track record. I don't know since I don't have access to what she has worked on in the past.
I knew that Catharina Mallet had lots of experience in the video game industry. But it still does not mean that she can deliver on what plans that she has for The Sims 4 in the future. So for me, I'm neutral when it comes to trusting her or not.

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17883026" wrote:

"sunman502;c-17882694" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17882095" wrote:

"sunman502;c-17881828" wrote:

"Justin;c-17881400" wrote:
I don’t trust Catherine mallet especially with her experience in the gaming industry.
I do think if anything they may reveal a special announcement @ EA play this year for a pack that won’t be mentioned in the summer like up but I’m not hoping for it either. We will see (:

I can not say that I trust Catherine Mallet or not because I have no access to her records in the gaming industry. I just know that she's been in this business for a while now. And she had supposedly work at Maxis in the past. But what she worked on at Maxis in the past, I do not know. :)

I found this article about her:


Catharina Lavers Mallet takes over as Maxis boss

• Previously an executive producer of The Sims Social (uh-oh....)
  
• Product manager and producer at Playfish - which develops free to play social network games, such as the aforementioned The Sims Social and SimCity Social (yikes!....)
  
• Studio general manager at King - which developed Candy Crush Saga games and other social network games (oy!....)
  

Do you see a running pattern here?

And then she said:

"Maxis makes some of the most beloved and enduring games of all time, with an incredibly diverse and global community of players. We will be building on and strengthening this legacy of community and inclusion, to bring them new experiences and delighting players worldwide through deeper and ongoing ways to engage with each other and our games. We will also be growing substantially to achieve our ambitious vision.

"I am returning to EA with an enormous appreciation for not only the strength of the Maxis business and the unparalleled creative and technical capability of the team, but also the passion of the creative and diverse community of Sims players.

"There is also tremendous opportunity to build on this foundation and provide delightful experiences for this generation -- and the next -- of Sims players. My background is in helping creative, innovative companies in both Europe and the US deliver on ambitious visions and build deeper, ongoing relationships with their users. I look forward to working with this amazing team to further the great work Joe Nichols has done, and create the kinds of connected, creative experiences our players are looking for as we grow the studio to reflect the global diversity of our player community."

So she has a lot of experience with social network games. Why hire someone with that background if not to turn the future of The Sims games in that direction?

I read that too. But I was referring to her entire video game industry track record. This maybe a small part of what all she has done in the past as far as video games go or it maybe her entire track record. I don't know since I don't have access to what she has worked on in the past.
I knew that Catharina Mallet had lots of experience in the video game industry. But it still does not mean that she can deliver on what plans that she has for The Sims 4 in the future. So for me, I'm neutral when it comes to trusting her or not.

You had posted before:

"sunman502;c-17881828" wrote:

I can not say that I trust Catherine Mallet or not because I have no access to her records in the gaming industry. I just know that she's been in this business for a while now. And she had supposedly work at Maxis in the past. But what she worked on at Maxis in the past, I do not know. :)

And now you say that you've read that article and yet you don't know what she worked on at Maxis in the past??? Okay....


She also posted her Linked-In CV: Catharina Lavers Mallet

It's not like she's keeping it secret or made it hard to find.

Anyway, after working at EA and King, she worked at Bose as Head of Consumer Wearables, Digital Experiences and Bose AR (augmented reality) that focused on apps to work with Bose products which often required internet access.

She then became advisor at several firms with focus on internet services, audio technology (from Bose experience), assistance on start-ups, and several that are focused on social network apps, most of which are games related.

It is a great CV! I can see why EA made her Vice President and General Manager of EA.

But her social networking experience is worrisome for the future of The Sims. I mean, she doesn't even have any non-social networking experience when it comes to games - and that's a totally separate animal which is handled differently from social networking games.

I don't think she will be that involved in the development of the game. That's something that designers and producers do and if they decide to add social networking to the game I imagine it would have to be backed up by market research data.

I remember reading somewhere where she also praised The Sims Online. ( I can't link because I can't remember where ) I innocently played that game for awhile until I realized what was going on behind the scenes. I would not let my child play such a game!

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17884906" wrote:

"Harukotyan;c-17883906" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17883772" wrote:

In short, they don't care about the gamers that refuse to play online games or drop out. All they want are the "whales". In the game world, "whales" are the small number of gamers who will spend huge amounts of money just to win their games. I think this why EA is gambling on making the next The Sims games all online multiplayer social networking games, because the smaller number of whales will more than make up for the larger group of simmers who drop out. The small group of whales can potentially spend more money than the entire group of people just buying a normal The Sims base game or pack.

I mostly agree with that but "whales" are usually a thing for pay to win games. And I can hardly imagine Sims as pay to win. Though it can easily be Pay to Skin ))) But it'll be a very sad game and can pretty much just be a mobile one. And considering that mobile segment now is larger than both Console + PC maybe they do not want to invest in two separate games anymore? Maybe next gen sims game will be developed with mobile platform in mind?

EA did mention that they want the next The Sims game to be competitive, though I don't know exactly how. That's where they'll put the microtransactions that will give the "edge" in winning whatever competition they cook up. I've played free-to-pay competitive games and it is too stressful and really just not fun after a very short while.

They also said that they want the next The Sims game to be story-oriented. So that means they may pay-gate it in order for players to advance in the story. I've tried games like that too and being pay-gated breaks the flow of the story and gameplay. So because of that, I never found out the ending to those stories because I refused to buy anything!

Then of course there's the CC market which up to now has been free, which they'll want to monetize to get a cut from all profits. I'd rather pay 100% to the creators of the CCs and mods. I already paid for the game to help pay the salaries of the devs. That cut would just go to EA which I honestly don't think they deserve - since there was absolutely no effort from them at all.

So for me, I can see myself not getting into those features and will just skip the next iteration as I have with TS4.

I really hope Paralives and Paradox Tectonic will not follow suit. But in case they do, I've already started branching out from the life simulation genre and am enjoying the "Harvest Moon" type games (My Time at Portia) and the survival games as well (Subnautica). And I'm going to play the heck out TS3 until the very end!

It sounds to me like they are wanting the next Sims game to have a PVE server to it. With what ever competition they cook up, that suggest a PVE,( Player verses Event ). Conan Exiles already have this as part of the game. Funcom, the studio behind the making of Conan Exiles creates an event. The players go online on a PVE server to take part in the event. Hence the term PVE or Player verses Event.

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17887172" wrote:

"sunman502;c-17886330" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17884906" wrote:

"Harukotyan;c-17883906" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17883772" wrote:

In short, they don't care about the gamers that refuse to play online games or drop out. All they want are the "whales". In the game world, "whales" are the small number of gamers who will spend huge amounts of money just to win their games. I think this why EA is gambling on making the next The Sims games all online multiplayer social networking games, because the smaller number of whales will more than make up for the larger group of simmers who drop out. The small group of whales can potentially spend more money than the entire group of people just buying a normal The Sims base game or pack.

I mostly agree with that but "whales" are usually a thing for pay to win games. And I can hardly imagine Sims as pay to win. Though it can easily be Pay to Skin ))) But it'll be a very sad game and can pretty much just be a mobile one. And considering that mobile segment now is larger than both Console + PC maybe they do not want to invest in two separate games anymore? Maybe next gen sims game will be developed with mobile platform in mind?

EA did mention that they want the next The Sims game to be competitive, though I don't know exactly how. That's where they'll put the microtransactions that will give the "edge" in winning whatever competition they cook up. I've played free-to-pay competitive games and it is too stressful and really just not fun after a very short while.

They also said that they want the next The Sims game to be story-oriented. So that means they may pay-gate it in order for players to advance in the story. I've tried games like that too and being pay-gated breaks the flow of the story and gameplay. So because of that, I never found out the ending to those stories because I refused to buy anything!

Then of course there's the CC market which up to now has been free, which they'll want to monetize to get a cut from all profits. I'd rather pay 100% to the creators of the CCs and mods. I already paid for the game to help pay the salaries of the devs. That cut would just go to EA which I honestly don't think they deserve - since there was absolutely no effort from them at all.

So for me, I can see myself not getting into those features and will just skip the next iteration as I have with TS4.

I really hope Paralives and Paradox Tectonic will not follow suit. But in case they do, I've already started branching out from the life simulation genre and am enjoying the "Harvest Moon" type games (My Time at Portia) and the survival games as well (Subnautica). And I'm going to play the heck out TS3 until the very end!

It sounds to me like they are wanting the next Sims game to have a PVE server to it. With what ever competition they cook up, that suggest a PVE,( Player verses Event ). Conan Exiles already have this as part of the game. Funcom, the studio behind the making of Conan Exiles creates an event. The players go online on a PVE server to take part in the event. Hence the term PVE or Player verses Event.

How does PvE work? Would we have to pay extra money for the event? To win rewards? Because so far, EA has been making every online opportunity a money generator (for them, not us, lol!).

I don't know all the details about how PvE's work exactly. The studio creates an event on a server, and they announce that their game now has an event going in their game that it's for. Like Conan Exiles, Funcom the studio that makes Conan Exiles creates an event for Conan Exiles. Funcom announces to the world that Conan Exiles has an event taking place with in the game. They put the event in a server, and the players of Conan Exiles access that event through the PvE button through the game's main menu. As a player of the game, you then join other player from around the world that play that game in that event.
As far as payed events on a PvE, I really can't answer that excepted that I have never heard of any player paying to join a PvE event before. All I know is that you just log into a PvE server and you are in. It is possible that other people who have servers themselves might be able to host a PvE themselves. They might charge people to join their online event. But like I said, I don't know anything about having to pay to join an online event for a game.

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17887740" wrote:

"sunman502;c-17887468" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17887172" wrote:

"sunman502;c-17886330" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17884906" wrote:

"Harukotyan;c-17883906" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-17883772" wrote:

In short, they don't care about the gamers that refuse to play online games or drop out. All they want are the "whales". In the game world, "whales" are the small number of gamers who will spend huge amounts of money just to win their games. I think this why EA is gambling on making the next The Sims games all online multiplayer social networking games, because the smaller number of whales will more than make up for the larger group of simmers who drop out. The small group of whales can potentially spend more money than the entire group of people just buying a normal The Sims base game or pack.

I mostly agree with that but "whales" are usually a thing for pay to win games. And I can hardly imagine Sims as pay to win. Though it can easily be Pay to Skin ))) But it'll be a very sad game and can pretty much just be a mobile one. And considering that mobile segment now is larger than both Console + PC maybe they do not want to invest in two separate games anymore? Maybe next gen sims game will be developed with mobile platform in mind?

EA did mention that they want the next The Sims game to be competitive, though I don't know exactly how. That's where they'll put the microtransactions that will give the "edge" in winning whatever competition they cook up. I've played free-to-pay competitive games and it is too stressful and really just not fun after a very short while.

They also said that they want the next The Sims game to be story-oriented. So that means they may pay-gate it in order for players to advance in the story. I've tried games like that too and being pay-gated breaks the flow of the story and gameplay. So because of that, I never found out the ending to those stories because I refused to buy anything!

Then of course there's the CC market which up to now has been free, which they'll want to monetize to get a cut from all profits. I'd rather pay 100% to the creators of the CCs and mods. I already paid for the game to help pay the salaries of the devs. That cut would just go to EA which I honestly don't think they deserve - since there was absolutely no effort from them at all.

So for me, I can see myself not getting into those features and will just skip the next iteration as I have with TS4.

I really hope Paralives and Paradox Tectonic will not follow suit. But in case they do, I've already started branching out from the life simulation genre and am enjoying the "Harvest Moon" type games (My Time at Portia) and the survival games as well (Subnautica). And I'm going to play the heck out TS3 until the very end!

It sounds to me like they are wanting the next Sims game to have a PVE server to it. With what ever competition they cook up, that suggest a PVE,( Player verses Event ). Conan Exiles already have this as part of the game. Funcom, the studio behind the making of Conan Exiles creates an event. The players go online on a PVE server to take part in the event. Hence the term PVE or Player verses Event.

How does PvE work? Would we have to pay extra money for the event? To win rewards? Because so far, EA has been making every online opportunity a money generator (for them, not us, lol!).

I don't know all the details about how PvE's work exactly. The studio creates an event on a server, and they announce that their game now has an event going in their game that it's for. Like Conan Exiles, Funcom the studio that makes Conan Exiles creates an event for Conan Exiles. Funcom announces to the world that Conan Exiles has an event taking place with in the game. They put the event in a server, and the players of Conan Exiles access that event through the PvE button through the game's main menu. As a player of the game, you then join other player from around the world that play that game in that event.
As far as payed events on a PvE, I really can't answer that excepted that I have never heard of any player paying to join a PvE event before. All I know is that you just log into a PvE server and you are in. It is possible that other people who have servers themselves might be able to host a PvE themselves. They might charge people to join their online event. But like I said, I don't know anything about having to pay to join an online event for a game.

It sounds good, but I don't trust EA to keep something like that free.

If the next game is going to be online, I wish it would be more like The Borderlands series where multiplayer mode is absolutely free and there are absolutely no microtransactions, no extra money to pay beyond buying the games themselves and their DLCs - no ads snuck in when the players have already bought them too. These are many of the reasons why the The Borderlands series is so beloved and that people keep playing them for so long (the first game released in 2009 - and yes, people still play it).*

By the way, Gearbox/2K, who developed/published The Borderlands series, did try experimenting with a Borderlands Online version in China but cancelled it due to profitability concerns. EA should learn something from that! China has a lot of gaming whales and if the devs and publisher thought it wasn't worth it, EA should consider that possibility as well!


*-Also, when they remastered the older games, guess what? Gearbox/2K gave a copy of the new remastered games to ALL the owners of the old versions for FREE. I was so amazed! I wish EA did that with Mass Effect Legendary Edition for owners of the Mass Effect Trilogy, but nope, people have to buy it. This is why I keep thinking that they'll add monetization on top of anything online even when other games provide them free.

There's nothing that I know of where it said that these PvE's must be free of charge. So EA is free to charge per PvE session or not. It's all up to EA on that. Providing that they are going to take a trip down the PvE creation road.

We're at a stage where a lot of little kids and teens play games on devices. I'd guess that they'd want to have a product for that demographic. There are also people who want to play in groups or with their friends so I would bet they'll want a game to appeal to them as well. They also probably know that there's an old core of players in this game that play with computers, a trend that is phasing out for most non-legacy games. This series is a legacy series though. I'd guess they'd want a way for a game to work for this crowd as well.

I just know that I'm not someone who'll "pay to win", I've liked that this series isn't like that and that everything is optional. I can decide to buy new content if I want to, when I want to but I don't have to. The timing in the current model is up to the consumer. Focusing on content is something that we all seem to be fine with.

I do think that there are some generational shifts going on so even with TS4, I do think some fresher content is needed because there has been a recent change. There's more that I could say on this subject about directions that things might be going in based on general trends but I'll leave it at that.