Island Living Appreciation
So I see lots of people are disappointed with the new pack. I'm one of the (apparent) minority who love it as it is, so as I haven't seen a thread like this yet, I thought I'd start one. I love th...
Forum Discussion
I love the pack! Love the new items, the improvement to mermaids from TS3, the island graphics, it's all so very beautiful. Of course there are things here and there, but overall I love it. Easily a favourite pack. I'm also one of those minority that prefers this lot system to the open world. It took forever to load in TS3, was super glitchy and needed mods, and some worlds were practically unplayable. In TS4, I find it so much easier to travel with my sims family! I much prefer the click and load to the "taxi/swim/walk for three minutes and oh, we lost the toddlers!" Plus, you can visit other worlds. I also find that with this system, there is more diversity in the world types. TS3, save for a few exceptions like Isla Paradiso, any new worlds introduced were pretty much the same just laid out differently. In TS4, Strangerville is a desert town, Forgotten Hollow is a dark and foggy goth town, Brindleton Bay by the pier...the all have different atmosphere. Lot traits are amazing. I just like this system better, I can play at max graphics and it doesn't take forever to load. I used to read a book while playing TS3 and couldn't even play with decent graphics.
I think the reason that there's lots of complaints is multifold:
1) There is no ceiling on good content. There will always be something any game could have done better, something else they could have added. There is no such thing as absolute perfection, and even more impossible is absolute perfection for absolutely everyone. The more people play any game, especially multiple iterations, the more they want to hit that ceiling, but it doesn't exist. This couples with the fact that limitations exist (including maintaining a teen rating to be buyable by a whole demographic!). You have hardware of CPU's, bug glitche...the more you add the harder it is to make run smoothly, the more it costs them to make and the more they have to charge us. It's not an excuse to put out bad content, but it's a reality. They are a business that exists to make money and they have to balance all of this. Games should actually cost more than what they charge, that's why DLC has become such a big thing.
2) Game fatigue. Sometimes, you're really just bored with a style of game, especially if you typically only play a few. It's likely that they aren't just disappointed, they're just bored of a life simulation game and need to take break and broden their gaming repertoire. They look back at previous iterations with rose-coloured glasses because when they were playing it back then, it was still newer and exciting on the whole. If they had TS3 content released now, they would likely be just as tired of it. Yes, games have to be innovative and introduce new things, but you also can't re-invent the wheel. A first-person shooter is a first-person shooter. An MMO is an MMO. A life simulator is a life simulator. There's only so much that can be done to make it "new", and if you've been playing it for four+ years, you're likely a little fatigued weather you realize it or not.
3) Player Skill improvement. The more you play a game, the better you get at it. You are naturally going to be a better player than you were one expansion pack ago, two ago, a whole iteration ago... you will accomplish things faster, you will understand basic mechanics better. In terms of the sims, you are better at completing aspirations, of finding secrets, of exploring maps... they can't scale a game to the difficulty of the oldest players. They need to be able to introduce new buyers and players. There is also a cap to how difficult/different they can make it. The great thing about the sims though, is that it lends itself well to challenges, there are lots of user mods. A common complaint is that some modders do stuff as fast as the employees, but the game is supposed to run this way. Its supposed to be customizable and allow you to run multiple stories and scenarios. It allows for these mods precisely because as you become a better player, you're just going to do things faster and exhaust content quicker.
4) Growing gaming culture. Gaming culture has exploded for the last decade. People make a living now off of playing games, we have entire communities in forums. We have better technology and more acceptance. As gaming culture has grown so has gamer identity. There are way more types of games, and people have started to better identify and find their particular gamer tastes. We already know it in the sims: people who play almost exclusively for building or CAS, or challenges, occult players, storytellers, realistic players.... Because there are so many ways to play, and it's only growing, its harder to hit and satisfy every type of player. You just can't do it. So yes, many people will be disappointed and they have a right to be. Their personal tastes aren't being met. But some peoples are. Neither of us is right or wrong.
I dont begrudge people who are upset, I get it. We all have play styles and individual tastes and have a right to share them. I do think though, as players, we also need to evaluate it. Is part of my dissatisfaction game fatigue? Am I getting better at the game? If I am this dissatisfied, why am I still buying these expansions on release? Why am I still playing? Should I look at mods, or do a challenge to push myself out of my comfort zone, or take a break? Or should I stop supporting and giving my dollar to better force EA to pay attention to my needs? Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk XD
I think the reason that there's lots of complaints is multifold:
1) There is no ceiling on good content. There will always be something any game could have done better, something else they could have added. There is no such thing as absolute perfection, and even more impossible is absolute perfection for absolutely everyone. The more people play any game, especially multiple iterations, the more they want to hit that ceiling, but it doesn't exist. This couples with the fact that limitations exist (including maintaining a teen rating to be buyable by a whole demographic!). You have hardware of CPU's, bug glitche...the more you add the harder it is to make run smoothly, the more it costs them to make and the more they have to charge us. It's not an excuse to put out bad content, but it's a reality. They are a business that exists to make money and they have to balance all of this. Games should actually cost more than what they charge, that's why DLC has become such a big thing.
2) Game fatigue. Sometimes, you're really just bored with a style of game, especially if you typically only play a few. It's likely that they aren't just disappointed, they're just bored of a life simulation game and need to take break and broden their gaming repertoire. They look back at previous iterations with rose-coloured glasses because when they were playing it back then, it was still newer and exciting on the whole. If they had TS3 content released now, they would likely be just as tired of it. Yes, games have to be innovative and introduce new things, but you also can't re-invent the wheel. A first-person shooter is a first-person shooter. An MMO is an MMO. A life simulator is a life simulator. There's only so much that can be done to make it "new", and if you've been playing it for four+ years, you're likely a little fatigued weather you realize it or not.
3) Player Skill improvement. The more you play a game, the better you get at it. You are naturally going to be a better player than you were one expansion pack ago, two ago, a whole iteration ago... you will accomplish things faster, you will understand basic mechanics better. In terms of the sims, you are better at completing aspirations, of finding secrets, of exploring maps... they can't scale a game to the difficulty of the oldest players. They need to be able to introduce new buyers and players. There is also a cap to how difficult/different they can make it. The great thing about the sims though, is that it lends itself well to challenges, there are lots of user mods. A common complaint is that some modders do stuff as fast as the employees, but the game is supposed to run this way. Its supposed to be customizable and allow you to run multiple stories and scenarios. It allows for these mods precisely because as you become a better player, you're just going to do things faster and exhaust content quicker.
4) Growing gaming culture. Gaming culture has exploded for the last decade. People make a living now off of playing games, we have entire communities in forums. We have better technology and more acceptance. As gaming culture has grown so has gamer identity. There are way more types of games, and people have started to better identify and find their particular gamer tastes. We already know it in the sims: people who play almost exclusively for building or CAS, or challenges, occult players, storytellers, realistic players.... Because there are so many ways to play, and it's only growing, its harder to hit and satisfy every type of player. You just can't do it. So yes, many people will be disappointed and they have a right to be. Their personal tastes aren't being met. But some peoples are. Neither of us is right or wrong.
I dont begrudge people who are upset, I get it. We all have play styles and individual tastes and have a right to share them. I do think though, as players, we also need to evaluate it. Is part of my dissatisfaction game fatigue? Am I getting better at the game? If I am this dissatisfied, why am I still buying these expansions on release? Why am I still playing? Should I look at mods, or do a challenge to push myself out of my comfort zone, or take a break? Or should I stop supporting and giving my dollar to better force EA to pay attention to my needs? Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk XD
