Quarterly Teasers: Statement from SimGuruKate

"AshtontoAshton22;c-16941667" wrote:
I'm glad that they'll be opening up communication more in different channels. It seems like the two main channels for communication right now are these forums and Twitter, so this is definitely excellent to hear. Does anybody know if there are official SimGuru accounts on Instagram?

Just The Sims for now.
https://instagram.com/thesims?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=tyb5o3ayp2bj

"simgirl1010;c-16939239" wrote:
https://twitter.com/SimGuruKate/status/1091505955315937280

I'm worried about this tweet. Basically someone is asking 'will we still have SP's' and the answer is 'maybe we will one day make a SP or GP again'
I feels as if the sims team considers GP's and SP's to be the same while they are in reality to totally different concepts. SP's are just stuff with a nice feature added, while GP's are closer to EP's with real new gameplay. I think the GP's are some of the best packs for the sims 4 and it's sad to hear the sims team doesn't seem to be interested in them any more. Some of the GP's are more important then EP's for my personal gameplay (parenthood, dine out and vacation packs)

I remember people complaining about get famous, calling it a GP which was upgraded to an EP. I didn't believe it ... until I read this tweet. I'm starting to believe that might have actually happened. Because DLC doesn't seem to sell very good compared to EP's. This news supports the theory there will be no more or very few SP's and GP's.

There have been too many SP's in the past, I can understand if there would be fewer SP's. But GP's offered a lot of gameplay, especially parenthood. I will miss them if they stop. With sims 4 EP's offering so little features besides the core theme of an EP, it would be nice to have two GP's instead of one additional EP each year. This way we can have a little more variety of content for a game which still feels as if it is lacking depth and content.

But what is really sad is the question is never answered directly. Why answer with a maybe and not a simple 'no we are not making any at the moment' or 'yes there are a few SP's planned'. That would be a clear message, without room for speculation. I question in the tweet asked for transparency, but that's the one thing I can't find in the answer.

"Stormsview;c-16942072" wrote:



@SimGuruKate can only answer us with the information she is given, If they are not clear on their plans how can she tell us a definite yes or no. I think it could still all be undecided even to the team working on things.
So maybe they will Make more GP's or maybe even a stuff pack someday again.

Things have changed for us Simmers especially when we get new information on their plans of when we will get something new or what it will be.

It does not seem it will change in the near future, We are not even sure If we will get a Sims 5, But what they seem to be sure about is that they will keep making content for Sims 4 for some years. Most are not even sure about that.

I know they can't tell us. But what's the point of always saying 'maybe' . I don't know who decides what we are allowed to know but an actual answer would be nice, even if it were bad news. Then we would at least know what to expect.
It's so frustating to not get a real answer. I think it's just as frustating for SimGuruKate to not be able to give proper answer to some questions as it is for us to keep hearing maybe.

"Sigzy05;c-16942233" wrote:

"Atreya33;c-16942057" wrote:

"simgirl1010;c-16939239" wrote:
https://twitter.com/SimGuruKate/status/1091505955315937280

I'm worried about this tweet. Basically someone is asking 'will we still have SP's' and the answer is 'maybe we will one day make a SP or GP again'
I feels as if the sims team considers GP's and SP's to be the same while they are in reality to totally different concepts. SP's are just stuff with a nice feature added, while GP's are closer to EP's with real new gameplay. I think the GP's are some of the best packs for the sims 4 and it's sad to hear the sims team doesn't seem to be interested in them any more. Some of the GP's are more important then EP's for my personal gameplay (parenthood, dine out and vacation packs)

I remember people complaining about get famous, calling it a GP which was upgraded to an EP. I didn't believe it ... until I read this tweet. I'm starting to believe that might have actually happened. Because DLC doesn't seem to sell very good compared to EP's. This news supports the theory there will be no more or very few SP's and GP's.

There have been too many SP's in the past, I can understand if there would be fewer SP's. But GP's offered a lot of gameplay, especially parenthood. I will miss them if they stop. With sims 4 EP's offering so little features besides the core theme of an EP, it would be nice to have two GP's instead of one additional EP each year. This way we can have a little more variety of content for a game which still feels as if it is lacking depth and content.

But what is really sad is the question is never answered directly. Why answer with a maybe and not a simple 'no we are not making any at the moment' or 'yes there are a few SP's planned'. That would be a clear message, without room for speculation. I question in the tweet asked for transparency, but that's the one thing I can't find in the answer.

I personally would take 2 EP's a year over SP's and GP's. I think we get more content that way.

Yes but we have too many content and news droughts this way and if they continue with just 2 eps a year we're going to be waiting a long time for them to catch up to TS3.

I would atleast like to see 1 GP,1 SP and 2 Expansions this year.

"catloverplayer;c-16942270" wrote:

"Sigzy05;c-16942233" wrote:

"Atreya33;c-16942057" wrote:

"simgirl1010;c-16939239" wrote:
https://twitter.com/SimGuruKate/status/1091505955315937280

I'm worried about this tweet. Basically someone is asking 'will we still have SP's' and the answer is 'maybe we will one day make a SP or GP again'
I feels as if the sims team considers GP's and SP's to be the same while they are in reality to totally different concepts. SP's are just stuff with a nice feature added, while GP's are closer to EP's with real new gameplay. I think the GP's are some of the best packs for the sims 4 and it's sad to hear the sims team doesn't seem to be interested in them any more. Some of the GP's are more important then EP's for my personal gameplay (parenthood, dine out and vacation packs)

I remember people complaining about get famous, calling it a GP which was upgraded to an EP. I didn't believe it ... until I read this tweet. I'm starting to believe that might have actually happened. Because DLC doesn't seem to sell very good compared to EP's. This news supports the theory there will be no more or very few SP's and GP's.

There have been too many SP's in the past, I can understand if there would be fewer SP's. But GP's offered a lot of gameplay, especially parenthood. I will miss them if they stop. With sims 4 EP's offering so little features besides the core theme of an EP, it would be nice to have two GP's instead of one additional EP each year. This way we can have a little more variety of content for a game which still feels as if it is lacking depth and content.

But what is really sad is the question is never answered directly. Why answer with a maybe and not a simple 'no we are not making any at the moment' or 'yes there are a few SP's planned'. That would be a clear message, without room for speculation. I question in the tweet asked for transparency, but that's the one thing I can't find in the answer.

I personally would take 2 EP's a year over SP's and GP's. I think we get more content that way.

Yes but we have too many content and news droughts this way and if they continue with just 2 eps a year we're going to be waiting a long time for them to catch up to TS3.

I would atleast like to see 1 GP,1 SP and 2 Expansions this year.

This has already happened. TS4 didn't catch up 4 years in and that's mainly because we had 3 years with just one EP a year.

I think EA and Maxis greatly discredit the power of "hype" and how teasers and "this is what we're working on" videos can really build up a burning desire in players for that content. I've played many different online games, and they periodically release teasers and even really early versions of bits from upcoming content, and even something as mediocre as a plant that might be found in the world can spark people to get excited wondering what kind of world might spawn such a plant, and so forth. Even Pokémon has taken this approach after the last like 8 years of having the entire Pokedex datamined when early copies/demos got out - with Sun/Moon they started slowly releasing new Pokémon over the course of like 3 months as the global release date approached, and this was an amazing way to get people excited for the new games. EA and Maxis should really take this approach when it comes to Sims content. It doesn't even have to be something big - like I mentioned above, even something mediocre like a counter or a chair could spark imaginations and give us something to theorize and get excited about.

Their inability to do this, which is fairly simple in my eyes, tells me that there's probably a lot of inconsistent upheaval in their production queues, or that EA doesn't have faith in the product to the point where they think building hype will result in a let down.

"TheGreatGorlon;c-16942744" wrote:
I think EA and Maxis greatly discredit the power of "hype" and how teasers and "this is what we're working on" videos can really build up a burning desire in players for that content. I've played many different online games, and they periodically release teasers and even really early versions of bits from upcoming content, and even something as mediocre as a plant that might be found in the world can spark people to get excited wondering what kind of world might spawn such a plant, and so forth. Even Pokémon has taken this approach after the last like 8 years of having the entire Pokedex datamined when early copies/demos got out - with Sun/Moon they started slowly releasing new Pokémon over the course of like 3 months as the global release date approached, and this was an amazing way to get people excited for the new games. EA and Maxis should really take this approach when it comes to Sims content. It doesn't even have to be something big - like I mentioned above, even something mediocre like a counter or a chair could spark imaginations and give us something to theorize and get excited about.

Their inability to do this, which is fairly simple in my eyes, tells me that there's probably a lot of inconsistent upheaval in their production queues, or that EA doesn't have faith in the product to the point where they think building hype will result in a let down.

According to statements from the devs, there are actually legal obligations to adhere to that restrict their ability to talk about future content. It goes beyond company policy. I believe Grant said it was tied into Federal restrictions. I'm not sure exactly what those laws and restrictions say, but that's what was explained.

"LiELF;c-16942897" wrote:

"TheGreatGorlon;c-16942744" wrote:
I think EA and Maxis greatly discredit the power of "hype" and how teasers and "this is what we're working on" videos can really build up a burning desire in players for that content. I've played many different online games, and they periodically release teasers and even really early versions of bits from upcoming content, and even something as mediocre as a plant that might be found in the world can spark people to get excited wondering what kind of world might spawn such a plant, and so forth. Even Pokémon has taken this approach after the last like 8 years of having the entire Pokedex datamined when early copies/demos got out - with Sun/Moon they started slowly releasing new Pokémon over the course of like 3 months as the global release date approached, and this was an amazing way to get people excited for the new games. EA and Maxis should really take this approach when it comes to Sims content. It doesn't even have to be something big - like I mentioned above, even something mediocre like a counter or a chair could spark imaginations and give us something to theorize and get excited about.

Their inability to do this, which is fairly simple in my eyes, tells me that there's probably a lot of inconsistent upheaval in their production queues, or that EA doesn't have faith in the product to the point where they think building hype will result in a let down.

According to statements from the devs, there are actually legal obligations to adhere to that restrict their ability to talk about future content. It goes beyond company policy. I believe Grant said it was tied into Federal restrictions. I'm not sure exactly what those laws and restrictions say, but that's what was explained.

Yes they are right to be careful Don’t Game Your Players
a bit of the rule they are attaining to.
They do not want to mislead their players by showing them something early and then deciding to remove what they showed them later in the development.

Example: Say if a company advertised their new game 4 months before release. In the center of the trailer, it was a huge tree and it had sparkles and smoke and fire shooting out from the tree.
Later the company found that all the sparkles and smoke, fire shooting out of the tree caused to much lag and replaced it with just a rainbow colored tree.
So that would be wrong, the people got hyped because of the tree that they saw.

This could be why they only want to show us what's in the game much closer to the release of the game.
I have seen us simmers try to get things changed from what we saw in the trailer.

Now that is what they do not want, they want to show us what we are getting in the game and not change what was advertised.

Some simmers were very demanding about what they wanted to be changed. So that puts them in a bad place, or between a rock and a hard place sort of speak.

Not to blame us but we simmers could be partially the blame for them keeping it under lock and key up to the last days.

We only think of it as our Sims game, But they look at the business side.

@GalacticGal

I still play sims 4 and I still have fun. When I said im bored, I mean bored of waiting for news. I am bored of wondering whats next. I am bored of waiting for highly anticipated releases, such as University or an Island Pack. I am bored of not knowing. I easily choose sims 4 as my most favorite sims game. It's modern , looks good and runs great. But I am bored as ever with the lack of transparency and not having anything exciting to look forward to for months on end.

I am genuinely curious, how it would hurt their bottom line to announce what they are working on.

"LiELF;c-16942897" wrote:

"TheGreatGorlon;c-16942744" wrote:
I think EA and Maxis greatly discredit the power of "hype" and how teasers and "this is what we're working on" videos can really build up a burning desire in players for that content. I've played many different online games, and they periodically release teasers and even really early versions of bits from upcoming content, and even something as mediocre as a plant that might be found in the world can spark people to get excited wondering what kind of world might spawn such a plant, and so forth. Even Pokémon has taken this approach after the last like 8 years of having the entire Pokedex datamined when early copies/demos got out - with Sun/Moon they started slowly releasing new Pokémon over the course of like 3 months as the global release date approached, and this was an amazing way to get people excited for the new games. EA and Maxis should really take this approach when it comes to Sims content. It doesn't even have to be something big - like I mentioned above, even something mediocre like a counter or a chair could spark imaginations and give us something to theorize and get excited about.

Their inability to do this, which is fairly simple in my eyes, tells me that there's probably a lot of inconsistent upheaval in their production queues, or that EA doesn't have faith in the product to the point where they think building hype will result in a let down.

According to statements from the devs, there are actually legal obligations to adhere to that restrict their ability to talk about future content. It goes beyond company policy. I believe Grant said it was tied into Federal restrictions. I'm not sure exactly what those laws and restrictions say, but that's what was explained.

Well that's a first. Who knew their legal system was so interested in how they divulge information on a software product? ?