Now that The Sims 4 is free to play, should Digital Deluxe Upgrade be free as well?

I think giving the base game away is already very generous, so I think it’s fair for them to charge extra for it.

The salaries for all staff working on future updates, bug fixes, expansions and other new content will be paid for from people buying add ons so I’m happy for them to charge for this.

However, I haven’t bought the upgrade myself as it doesn’t include anything I find particularly interesting ALTHOUGH it does have more content than a kit. It’s got a number of build mode items, new recipes you can cook, lots of CAS items including various costumes and 2 new social events (costume party and black and white party). So it’s somewhere between a game pack and a kit.

"RySBI;c-18198772" wrote:
I think giving the base game away is already very generous, so I think it’s fair for them to charge extra for it.

The salaries for all staff working on future updates, bug fixes, expansions and other new content will be paid for from people buying add ons so I’m happy for them to charge for this.

However, I haven’t bought the upgrade myself as it doesn’t include anything I find particularly interesting and yes the price is a bit high for what you get.

I respect your opinion but I will not agree with you. First of all, making the base game free to play was not a generous action, it is more of a strategy to gain more money by selling DLCs, in my opinion. One who now has the base game will get bored eventually and will be pushed to buy DLCs if they have an interest in The Sims 4, as the base game seems pretty much dull to me. If we think rationally because it is business, making the base game free is a bad idea as free means no money, no gain. But then, they must somehow benefit from this action, am I right?

As I said before, the upgrade does barely contribute to the base game, even compared to the kits. I don't know how many people would pay for the upgrade as of now that The Sims 4 is free. They can still make money, but I don't think they'll make that much money from it. I'm sure that people's salaries can be paid with the money coming from the selling of expansion packs, game packs, stuff packs, and kits.

In summary: I think it would be more generous to make the upgrade free, rather than making the base game free to sell more DLCs.

Simply put: No.

Discounted maybe, but not free.

Maybe not free but I wish it would be discounted by now
it offers about kit amount of stuff and the pricing is really rather high :sweat_smile:
I don't have it either for those two reasons I rather keep my money for decent pack

The base game shouldn't have been free to begin with, so no... I don't think the upgrade should be free as well.

EA should reimburse everyone who actually PAID for the base game, regardless of when it was, because it's completely ridiculous how suddenly "new" players are just being given it. Especially those of us who bought it in the beginning when the base game was severely lacking of content and features... it's also a slap in the face to long time Sims fans. We got virtually NOTHING for being loyal to this franchise. All we got was the chance to redeem a $5 kit for "free"... what a bargain!

Deluxe upgrade is pretty irrelevant so it doesn't matter if they charge for it. Only a completionist or someone who doesn't check what’s in the packs would buy it since it's clearly the worst DLC. I got it free myself as they did in fact give it away for free at one point.

I also disagree with the claim of base game being just a shell. I played it for half a year with no DLC and was happy with it. It has also received significant upgrades since then. In my opinion you should not spend on DLC unless you enjoy the base game itself.

"Lustianicia;c-18199851" wrote:
The base game shouldn't have been free to begin with, so no... I don't think the upgrade should be free as well.

EA should reimburse everyone who actually PAID for the base game, regardless of when it was, because it's completely ridiculous how suddenly "new" players are just being given it. Especially those of us who bought it in the beginning when the base game was severely lacking of content and features... it's also a slap in the face to long time Sims fans. We got virtually NOTHING for being loyal to this franchise. All we got was the chance to redeem a $5 kit for "free"... what a bargain!

That's like saying if a free-to-air TV station puts on a movie that you saw at a cinema five years ago, they should reimburse you for the tickets?

The price they charge for it is ridiculous, as it's higher than the price of a Stuff Pack that has much more content. I assume it's the original price difference between the base game and deluxe edition but there's no incentive to pay that much for so little anymore.

But every so often it goes on sale. I bought it for $3.99 a few years ago. They should probably permanently reduce the price to at least not more than the kits (which also probably have more content).

"Lustianicia;c-18199851" wrote:
The base game shouldn't have been free to begin with, so no... I don't think the upgrade should be free as well.

EA should reimburse everyone who actually PAID for the base game, regardless of when it was, because it's completely ridiculous how suddenly "new" players are just being given it. Especially those of us who bought it in the beginning when the base game was severely lacking of content and features... it's also a slap in the face to long time Sims fans. We got virtually NOTHING for being loyal to this franchise. All we got was the chance to redeem a $5 kit for "free"... what a bargain!

We got eight years of playtime.

I don't think it should be free, but maybe knock the price down a bit. I don't think it offers the same bang for your buck that an equivalent priced stuff pack has. It's got about as much in it as a kit, so maybe that's what price band it should occupy.