"ebuchala;c-16392399" wrote:
"Erpe;c-16391802" wrote:
"ebuchala;c-16391208" wrote:
"MissNightOwl;c-16358866" wrote:
I'm a little confused with the whole TS5 idea. Didn't Graham said that now when the big Pets expansion pack is done, they can work on new exciting packs, or something like that? I don't now, I got impression that there's a lot to do with TS4 (and I think so myself), but everybody suddenly talks about TS5... Anyway, it'd be rather odd if they annouce now the game to come in few years, the Sims Mobile is not interesting to me at all, so I hope it's about a new expansion.
I wouldn't worry about it being TS5 yet. I think some people who really dislike this version have their wishful-thinking caps on, is all. Maxis has been pretty clear that they're following a different release schedule/pattern for dlc with TS4 and, even more recently, that they'll be offering plenty more content for this game. I really do think they plan on continuing with this version for awhile yet to come.
There is no doubt that TS4 will get another EP, a GP and at least 4 more SPs which is quite a lot. But this doesn’t prevent EA from announcing TS5 in a couple of months and then release it about 15 months later in the second half of 2019. So I think that the wishful thinking is mostly done by the dreamers who want TS4 to continue to 2022 or even later ;)
Graham said the they follow a different schedule with the packs for TS4. But we already know that because we have seen that at least half of the usual EPs now are replaced by both the new GPs and by many more SPs. Again the wishful dreamers instead overinterpretate the statement to mean a guarantee that TS4 will continue forever until TS4 even has more EPs than TS3 got ;)
But, this is the speculation section so, like everyone else, I'm just speculating. Either way, I'm interested to see what they're planning next for the Sims.
I have followed this debate closely and I am not especially interested in TS5 even though I don’t play TS4 anymore. The reason is that I don’t think that the release of TS5 will stop the changed schedule with many smaller packs instead of a lot of big EPs. Actually I fear that TS5 won’t get even a single EP but only GPs and even more SPs than TS4 got.
We'll have to agree to disagree on when they're planning on releasing TS5. I've suspected since they released TS4 that they were planning on trying to extend it for at least half again (if not double) the normal life span of the previous Sims games, though I'm sure it's all dependent on how well the expansions continue to sell which is essentially what's been said--they'll continue to make packs for TS4 until it doesn't make sense anymore, which, logically speaking, implies that they'll do it until they feel like releasing a new version is going to make them more money than continuing to extend the current version. No "overinterpretation" involved. But it makes sense to slow down the release schedule of EPs and beef things up with SPs and GPs for content with a longer life span on the base game. I guess we'll know more in a 3 months or so, though.
I just don’t understand the reasoning behind this. Where have they ever said that TS4 will get a longer life than TS2 or TS3 got??
EA makes games only to earn money and it must therefore be EA’s top who decide how long time each Sims game can live until EA’s top want the next basegame released. So this decision can’t be about what the developing teams want. Instead it is based on marketing.
So what EA’s top always have had to consider is for how long time a basegame should have packs before it is better to release a new basegame to make the packs sell better again and EA’s top have always decided to make the next basegame ready to be released after 5 years. Also they have always made certain that the next basegame has something new that can be used in the marketing to persuade simmers to buy it immediately even though they already have the previous basegame with all packs. So I am sure that EA will do that again unless the sales numbers for TS4 have become so low that EA has decided not to make TS5 at all.
The only thing that has changed is that EA’s top decided that TS4 should only have one EP each year because the other EP should instead be replaced by GPs. But why should that prolong TS4’s life beyound 5 years?
To be honest, with this iteration, I prefer the GPs anyway. Though I think that speaks more to their EP team than EPs in general. I think the GP team has been spot on with most of their packs while the EPs have been kind of meh. I don't know that I'd have a problem with them sticking with GPs and SPs and releasing more of both for TS5. I feel like we get more options that way, anyway, to customize our game. To me, the EPs have felt almost like slightly beefier GPs and with the price being double, I'm more inclined to feel like I'm getting my money's worth with GPs than with EPs this go around.
I don’t think that it is reasonable to blame the team because I again am quite sure that the decisions were made by EA’s top. The reason why the EPs have become smaller for TS4 than for the earlier games almost certainly is that EA’s top now know that the packs don’t need to be so big to sell well. But EA’s top managers are hired by EA’s stock holders to increase profit and nothing else. Therefore they all have huge salaries which depends heavily on this. So when they noticed that both SPs and GPs sold so well they most likely decided to reduce the sizes and budgets for the EPs too. I also don’t think that they regretted this at all because it seems to me that they were right in assuming that those smaller and cheaper EPs have sold about as well as the earlier bigger EPs did. Therefore I also don’t think that EAs top again will increase the budget for each EP.
