Yeah that's gonna be a no from me dawg.
Here's an idea: Release complete packs instead of incomplete nonsense where you attempt to sell us watered-down, smaller versions of previous, better expansion packs for previous, better Sims games. Sims 3 built off Sims 2 and 1. TS4 is TS1...minus all the nostalgia, for twice the price. Now it's not just items you'll miss out on if you skip stuff packs -- it's game mechanics. Miss the lovely Bonehilda? Well, yes, you already bought the vampire pack. And the magic pack. And the spooky stuff pack. But that isn't enough! You need to buy the ~~Paranormal~~ pack!
What's that? Oh, you bought the pack and now you want to take a nice photo of your spooky little Addams family to mount on the wall? Yeeeeah, that'll be another $10, please. Gotta have that Moschino(TM) pack if you want your pics to be posed or bigger than a pixel, y'all!
It's insulting, frankly. I don't know about you guys, but I actually have to work for my money, I can't just motherlode my bank account -- if I could, I'd be spending it on a PC and rebuying all this crud on a platform I can at least mod it on. Alas, I am but a lowly muggle, and cannot pull Simoleans out of thin air (nor pluck them from the limbs of a rare tree).
EA knows this. But they also know that those of us playing in the miserable world of console (AKA without CC) are so desperate for more items, styles, and swatches, that they can sell to us what the rest of the players just download for free off a mod site. I'm sure it won't be long before they go the Bethesda route where they just open up a mod store for console players and let us pay to download the must-haves like MCCC, etc while giving a cut of the profits to the modders. Frankly, I'd be more open to that. But this? Yeah, no thanks.
I've been playing a lot of Cyberpunk 2077 lately. I mean a LOT. 400+ hours played and 1400+ screenshots taken. And say what you will about that buggy-as-heck game, it may have its flaws but it also has:
-A character creator that, while limited in some ways, still allowed me to customize my nail length and manicure colors, and left me with a character who looks more like the real-me than my Sim-self does. My fiancé pointed this out, and he's right! Also, no same-face syndrome, and building POC is about five zillion times easier. My Japanese corpo-V actually looks...y'know...Japanese.
-A massive, varied wardrobe with staple items that come in many colors/patterns, plus a ton of unique one-offs and accessories.
-The best photo mode in any game I've played recently. I have taken more screenshots in C77 in the last month than I have playing TS4 for the last four years.
-Tons of free DLC on the way (not to mention online/multiplayer), plus one or two larger paid expansions a la The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine -- for a reasonable price.
-And all that? $60.
I get that they are totally different games, and that a lot of TS4's weaknesses are due to the fateful decision early on in its development to "optimize it for mobile and online play." But that still doesn't explain why CDPR, who have spent the last EIGHT YEARS working on Cyberpunk 77, can afford to give us such amazing content, and so much of it, for such a small amount of money, while EA is out here bleeding us dry and being all, "No, really, it takes ten IRL-years to engineer a single in-game bunk-bed! No, really, the way it's designed means you can't have custom skin/makeup options...oh wait, just kidding, there's been some social uproar so uhhh we waved our wands and magically you can have custom skin and makeup and hair for POC! You're welcome! Just don't ask about custom hair or eyes *cough*ohgodplzdontmakeusactuallyhavetotry*cough*"
IDK, man. Like yes, I am salty. But I'm salty because I love this game and I have loved it for 21 gosh-dang years and this overpriced, watered-down crud just ain't it sis. The fact that they have the nerve to ask for MORE money to put out content that should already be in the game will never, ever sit right with me. When you look at the amount of content vs. money spent on C77 vs. TS4's complete collection with all stuff packs, it becomes painfully clear -- no, it doesn't have to be this way, and no, it doesn't need to cost this much. But they know nostalgia hits hard, and it makes people whip out their wallets.
I'll end this way-too-long post now, but I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I hope The Sims Franchise's 31st birthday looks a lot different than its 21st. At least this one's better that its 20th, I guess. I mean, a hot tub, *really?*
-quietly goes back to her corner to continue pouting and building the Arasaka family with no CC-
