In-Game Pulsating Popup Packs Ad: Community Reacts

I’ve already said I won’t buy the new stuff pack and won’t update my game because of this. Now that I see that my favorite mod creater, @83bienchen has drawn the line here as well, I guess it’s over for me. I find Bienchen’s mods essential for enjoying this game. This is a sad day.

A shopping cart is not useful in the UI within the game. Even in the loading screen, the game must minimize to do any shopping, and it must be restarted to use any downloadable content. I can overlook ads on the loading screen, but when it’s IN the game I’ve paid for, it’s too intrusive. It’s a waste of the space and takes away from my enjoyment. Remove this button altogether. The community has spoken.

Going to add my voice and agree with everyone here. Pulsing with lights or no, there is zero reason for a shopping cart ad to be cluttering up our ui. It's completely unnecessary and useless. Even if someone does decide to buy something that way (very doubtful) they would still have to restart their game to play the new pack, which would interrupt their valuable game time. Let's not forget as well the Sims 4 hasn't always been "free to play". I spent 70$ day one to play a bare bones, barer than any past Sims titles, base game and over the years spent hundreds more to make it more enjoyable. I truly think this shopping cart icon is an insult to players like me. Please please please EA/Maxis, reconsider this marketing decision and just get rid of the button. We have plenty of reminders which packs we're missing. We don't need another in our face as we're trying to enjoy our game.

I rarely post anything anywhere, but this cart-button makes me want to speak up. First, I have not updated my game yet because I had no time, so I don’t know if I have that cart-button or not. Nonetheless I don’t want that cart-button now or in the future. As many said before me, I know which packs I don’t have and there’s a reason why. That cart-button will not change my mind. And in case I change my mind there are already enough possibilities to buy what I want.

So, to make it clear to you, EA, I will not buy anything anymore from your company until this cart-button is gone!

I for myself do not fear a pulsating button, but I understand that there are many people this cart-button poses a health risk to.
EA, I don’t understand why you made this button pulsating firsthand, have you forgotten that you had to change the color of the loading screen and a spinning plumbob, because it harmed people or posed a threat to people? How insensitive can one be?

So, to make it clear to you, EA, as long as this button poses a health risk to people and they therefor are not able to play their game, I refuse to play as well!

And, EA, have you realized how many users have newly created an account or posted for the very first time on this forum, to voice their opinion against that cart-button? This should give you a hint also about how good your cart-idea was.

EA, do yourself a favor, in the interest of your future earnings from this game - scrap this button-idea and make this cart-button disappear

@EA_Cade
Thanks for spreading our feedback!

Something to add from my side:

This game is a safe space for many people and for a variety of reasons. For me personally it's a coping tool to deal with anxiety and lack of control in the real world. Since Sims 1.

Constantly being nagged with ads doesn't feel safe. Realizing you're nothing more than a cash cow doesn't feel safe. Being lied to doesn't feel safe (and I consider the emergency patch a lie since the pulsing button has just been replaced with a flashing light). And let's not forget: buying save corrupting packs doesn't feel safe.

I wish the people in managing positions would realize how very different this community is and what the game means to us. And how much impact their decisions have not only on our fun but on our (mental) health.

I was actually looking forward to buying Crystal Creations (after all it looks like a very good pack). But these patches created so much negativity and anger that I don't feel safe nor welcome anymore.

Hi I am also joining in to say that I am extremely upset about this cart button. It’s completely obvious EA is just a cash grab now and I was actually really excited for the new stuff pack but I will not even consider buying it until this button is gone. So tone deaf seriously.

Hey all,

A request from those who are still claiming to see the pulsing cart icon: if at all possible could you get us any video of what you're seeing?

The pulsating cart icon should not be occurring after the emergency patch release. There is a small yellow dot in the corner of the cart icon that you should see until you click on it, then it should go away.

Any info you can provide would be helpful!

Uck.

Listen, I get that this is a capitalistic world, but this is yet another step too far. The optics are just too greedy. And, it's distracting! What are you doing to my beloved game?! I've been playing since the beginning of Sims 1. I loved Sims 1. I loved Sims 2. I loved Sims 3 (the open worlds were AMAZING!).

Sims 4 has been an obvious cash grab. In many ways it's not even as good as Sims 3. But I have still enjoyed playing it. It's just...pretty disappointing. Seeing you continue to march down this path of further monetization of the game through intrusive advertising is heartbreaking. Why are you trying to destroy Sims?

No. EA, you're not hearing us. And you certainly don't seem to understand your own player base.

We do not want any distracting lights, pulses, dots, colors, sounds, or distractions from your little shopping cart. We don't even want your little shopping cart at all, it doesn't even do anything for us that the main splash screen doesn't, so it doesn't make any sense to put it intrusively into our gameplay in the first place. But I get why you want it there, I do. You have investors with demands, you have quarterly and yearly numbers to beat, and you have the classic capitalistic, American ideals to live up to. The more the game makes, the longer it runs, the more difficult it becomes to reach those financial heights. I work for a rapidly growing small business that uses big business thinking and has had continuous growth for the 10+ years I've worked there. Believe me, I get it.

But in this pursuit, you have lost track of why you have been able to beat those numbers and meet those demands over the years. You have completely lost touch with how your game has been able to be so successful. Allow me to remind you... It's the players. Your customers. The people who invest in this game, play this game, and hand over their hard-earned money to support this game. In your hyper-focused speed race to please your investors, you have completely forgotten how important it is to also please the community that makes your success possible. You have forgotten that there is still a producer/consumer relationship here that requires a delicate balance. You have taken your customers for granted for so long that you have become blind to your own insult. You have shown an audacity that leaves a permanent bad taste, and in one swift and very poor decision, have destabilized an already strained relationship and destroyed the little bit of product confidence that we had after having to wait over two months for a fix to a $40 expansion pack that was so obviously pushed out prematurely without enough quality control testing.

This could be your fatal error, as you are about to have the competition of your nightmares within the next year as new life simulation games come flooding the market, making new promises and showing more respect to a player base that they don't even have yet, than you've shown since Sims 4's conception. I strongly suggest you make your next decision very carefully.

I offer this advice from the bottom of my heart; sincerely, and with all due respect. And I can only offer you my honesty in this because I do care. I care about this community and this game. I care about the developers and the community managers and how difficult it must be to find balance between such disconnected groups. Your players want to love this game. And from what I've witnessed over the years, your devs and reps want us to enjoy it. The only one who doesn't seem to care about this...is you. And you are the one who has the power to change it. Doesn't seem right, does it? Believe it or not, we do want this game to continue to succeed, just as much as you do. Our intentions are not malicious, we are not the enemy. But you don't even seem interested in an alliance with us. And that is what's going to destroy a great thing. Please take a moment to ask yourselves if the lack of compromise and cash-cow treatment of a long-time loyal customer base... is worth it.

It doesn't pulsate in my game

@EA_Cade Ahh but hearing us isn't the same as listening to us now is it. It seems the bare minimum of what the player base wants is for the cart to only appear on the home screen, however most of us simmers want it gone completely, the patch where it just lessens the pulsing isn't far enough of a fix on this issue. As with some other simmers I too will not update my game or purchase anything else until this button is at least taken out of gameplay, and I encourage my fellow simmers to do the same, even if the packs that come out are ones we really want. This kind of obtrusive advertising in a game where most of us have already spent $100's of dollars is not an acceptable business practice and needs to be stopped right here and now, or who knows what else you'll come up with next to "enhance" our gameplay.