"Writin_Reg;c-17152858" wrote:
The question is not if the Sims series will survive but will a competitor survive as thus far they fail to do so. No sooner do they appear and EA sees a single thing in their game like in our Sims and EA roars and shuts them down. They can only survive if they have absolutely nothing in them like were ever in one of the sims games it seems or they are stopped.
Any thing you like in the Sims do not expect it in a competitor or EA will stop them.
You think not - they have done it before and will do it again -
https://consumerist.com/2012/08/03/ea-sues-zynga-over-facebook-game-that-also-has-simulated-people-doing-everyday-things/
EA won. I heard it was not the first time either... but I do not know what other company or companies they stopped - this was the only one I knew for a fact happened as it was instantly removed from facebook....
Zynga is really not a good example. Almost all of their games are taken to court because they are almost direct ports of other games, right down to the UI and everything.
I would hope that if another company came up with a life simulation that utilized different mechanics and a substantially different UI, that EA couldn't do a dang thing about it. Because, life is life and EA doesn't own the simulation of life.
I wouldn't care if the game wasn't exactly like the Sims either. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. So long as the game provided relationships, activities, and an interesting world, I'd be willing to try it.
For example, I would love a game that did away with all the gauges and gadgets that the Sims series relies on. It would be wonderful if the player could know exactly how a Sims was feeling or what they required by observing their actions or reactions. That would be groundbreaking and it would help to remove some of that artificial barrier of a UI from between the player and their Sims.
In any case, one or more competitors are sorely needed in this genre. The monopoly that The Sims series has created no longer breeds innovation. It has begun to stagnate. A fresh pair of eyes and a new way of thinking could do wonders for the genre. Not to mention, a genuine infusion of passion and a desire to improve on what has come before would greatly improve the genre, rather than the incremental advancements (mixed with precipitous falls backward!) that EA has been doling out.
