LGR Nifty Knitting Review
https://twitter.com/lazygamereviews/status/1289201076676079622?s=19
Forum Discussion
(IMO) I don't think the amount of packs are the problem. Sure, there are 17 stuff packs compared to 9 expansion packs, and 8 game packs. (soon to be 9 GPs as well). But I don't think overall our getting new content for the game is what has everyone in a debate about game quality.
I think its more about (a) what content is being offered, and (b) how its being offered. Then that in itself is being compared to what the game is still lacking.
An example argument would be the "Cats and Dogs" GP, and the "My First Pet Stuff". I absolutely wanted the stuff in both packs. And... I bought both packs because of that reason. However, that doesn't mean that I don't feel (to some degree) cheated and taken advantage of by EA. EA could have very well put the content of both packs into 1 pack. (IMO) My first pet stuff should have been part of Cats and Dogs. But it wasn't. So that means I ended up paying darn near the equivalant of an expansion pack price tag for the content instead. GP price tag + SP price tag = almost EP price tag.
At the end of the day, if i'm going to be paying EP equivalent prices, i'm going to fairly expect EP equivalent packs. That wasn't the case.
When TS4 first released, and I learned there would be stuff packs. My first thought was, these packs would help oversee what the game is lacking. Give us stuff packs to fill in the holes and gaps. Maybe even offer a few themes such as a victorian furniture theme set, or a theme of goth clothing. But instead, stuff packs ended up being mini game packs. Now on the surface that sounds like an asset. Having 2 types of game packs. The larger GP and the smaller SP. But instead it turned out to be used to manipulate us into paying a higher price for the content.
As with the Cats and Dogs GP... EA created the GP and then sidelined some of the GPs content to make a SP out of it. Did the SP have enough stuff to justify the price? Sure, absolutely. Was it a good stuff pack adding some great things to the game. Again, I think it was. Should the pack of existed in the first place? NO. A flat out, without question NO.
Its not about Nifty Knitting having, or not having, enough content to justify the price. Its more so about the idea that Nifty Knitting was likely part of, or could/should have been part of, a GP..... which was maybe sidelined to create a stuff pack. Its about us now paying for individual ideas... instead of a pack of ideas.
The sim world we live in now we get a GP for cats and dogs. A SP for rodents. A pack for Vampires, A pack for Witches, a pack for mermaids. That's 3 different packs we had to buy just to get vampires, witches, and mermaids. 2 more packs just to get cats, dogs, and rodents.
That's the problem. That's the bigger picture. If the packs get sliced up any more, we'll all be one step closer to the sim 3 store. We're a long way from buying 1 item at a time for a ridiculous price, but, I can't help but notice that the sim packs are getting smaller, and smaller, as they are being divided up into individual categories.
We don't get arts and crafts anymore. We get 1 pack for knitting. Maybe in the future, we'll get 1 more pack for ice sculpting. And who knows, maybe after that, we'll get 1 more pack for something else. That's the way it works now, slice and dice.
ETA:
(correction)
Upon checking, the Cats and Dogs pack was an EP, not a GP as I first suggested. To me, that kinda makes its worse.
I think its more about (a) what content is being offered, and (b) how its being offered. Then that in itself is being compared to what the game is still lacking.
An example argument would be the "Cats and Dogs" GP, and the "My First Pet Stuff". I absolutely wanted the stuff in both packs. And... I bought both packs because of that reason. However, that doesn't mean that I don't feel (to some degree) cheated and taken advantage of by EA. EA could have very well put the content of both packs into 1 pack. (IMO) My first pet stuff should have been part of Cats and Dogs. But it wasn't. So that means I ended up paying darn near the equivalant of an expansion pack price tag for the content instead. GP price tag + SP price tag = almost EP price tag.
At the end of the day, if i'm going to be paying EP equivalent prices, i'm going to fairly expect EP equivalent packs. That wasn't the case.
When TS4 first released, and I learned there would be stuff packs. My first thought was, these packs would help oversee what the game is lacking. Give us stuff packs to fill in the holes and gaps. Maybe even offer a few themes such as a victorian furniture theme set, or a theme of goth clothing. But instead, stuff packs ended up being mini game packs. Now on the surface that sounds like an asset. Having 2 types of game packs. The larger GP and the smaller SP. But instead it turned out to be used to manipulate us into paying a higher price for the content.
As with the Cats and Dogs GP... EA created the GP and then sidelined some of the GPs content to make a SP out of it. Did the SP have enough stuff to justify the price? Sure, absolutely. Was it a good stuff pack adding some great things to the game. Again, I think it was. Should the pack of existed in the first place? NO. A flat out, without question NO.
Its not about Nifty Knitting having, or not having, enough content to justify the price. Its more so about the idea that Nifty Knitting was likely part of, or could/should have been part of, a GP..... which was maybe sidelined to create a stuff pack. Its about us now paying for individual ideas... instead of a pack of ideas.
The sim world we live in now we get a GP for cats and dogs. A SP for rodents. A pack for Vampires, A pack for Witches, a pack for mermaids. That's 3 different packs we had to buy just to get vampires, witches, and mermaids. 2 more packs just to get cats, dogs, and rodents.
That's the problem. That's the bigger picture. If the packs get sliced up any more, we'll all be one step closer to the sim 3 store. We're a long way from buying 1 item at a time for a ridiculous price, but, I can't help but notice that the sim packs are getting smaller, and smaller, as they are being divided up into individual categories.
We don't get arts and crafts anymore. We get 1 pack for knitting. Maybe in the future, we'll get 1 more pack for ice sculpting. And who knows, maybe after that, we'll get 1 more pack for something else. That's the way it works now, slice and dice.
ETA:
(correction)
Upon checking, the Cats and Dogs pack was an EP, not a GP as I first suggested. To me, that kinda makes its worse.
