"filipomel;c-16370371" wrote:
"LiELF;c-16370207" wrote:
"filipomel;c-16369609" wrote:
I feel like if they advertised this new stuff pack as a stand alone stuff pack with *bonus content* for pets then things wouldn't have gotten so heated. If Simguru Graham is being honest when he says the pet items are on top of the normal amount of items, then that means we're getting a lot more than normal, and of course you'd need Cats and Dogs to take advantage of those extra items.
I have to disagree because that "bonus content" would still be gated behind a $10 stuff pack, and people would still feel it should be patched in, due to the low amount of pet objects in the Expansion.
All I said is that things wouldn't have been so bad if they advertised the stuff pack differently. I mean for example "New Stuff Pack with Bonus Content for Cats and Dogs," vs "Do you have Cats and Dogs? Get ready for more!" Which sounds more appealing to you? Obviously the one that mentions bonus content, the bonus content being if you own both packs you're getting more in the end AKA better value for your money, because you're getting bonus content when owning both packs. Advertising is everything, if they advertised the new stuff pack as its own stuff pack without a dependency on Cats and Dogs people wouldn't have been so mad, except for maybe those people saying "The stuff in that Stuff Pack should've been in the EP," which I disagree with because you can say that about any almost any Stuff Pack to fit in almost any EP or GP. It's almost as if people forget that the developers have a certain amount of resources to work with, certain limits too. If the developers could, I am 100% certain that they would put anything the community could possibly want all in one pack, but that's not how the world works.
I do get what you're saying about the advertising, but personally, I would still just see that as a marketing manipulation because it would mean that a player would still have to dish out extra money to get some of the things that were scant in the expansion, "bonus" or not.
I also totally get the problem with budget and resources, and I don't think anyone is trying to blame the developers, we are blaming EA, because
they are the ones who control the budget and call the shots. And why wouldn't they prioritize a budget and give more leeway to the Sims franchise, which has been an ongoing top PC game? Well, I can only guess corporate greed and lack of any concern for their player base. That's essentially the issue that people are seeing here. The developers are tied to whatever restrictions the parent company has chained them to, and it's noticeable. Even the devs themselves sound apologetic and sometimes frustrated when they talk about the limitations. But they aren't really in a position to be able to change it. So the "fight" isn't about slave-driving the developers, it's about making the big, rich, capitalistic EA company accountable for trying to sponge excessive amounts of money out of their customers in exchange for minimal product. I know it sounds almost conspiratorial and excessive, and honestly, I haven't been on any crusade for this up until this specific pack. I have always supported the Stuff packs and the Game packs and I have no problem showing excitement over a new release when something comes out that I really look forward to. But I also don't hold back to say so if I think something is wrong.
As for Cats and Dogs, I bought it on release. I love it myself. I think the Cats are the best they've ever been, and as a cat person, I'm extremely happy to have them. I adore Brindleton Bay and it's one of my top favorite maps because it reminds me of my home area in New England. I was out there in the Expansion Pack forum, sharing excitement when this pack was coming out. I love the furniture, the CAS, and the create-a-pet, and I have a blast playing around with it. Even the Veterinary business is more fun than I expected. But I still think that the pet objects fell short. I was surprised, actually, considering how great everything else was, and it seemed a little weird to me that they wouldn't give us more variety with those things, because we were told they cut out all other animals for the sole purpose of focusing
more on cats and dogs. If the expansion pack was cut down to only two animals, it would only make sense to include more of the objects
for those animals. It just didn't make a lot of sense to leave that section incomplete. But, of course, we come to this new Stuff Pack only four months later, and it's very obvious to me now why that was.
To be completely honest, I
want to be excited for this new Stuff Pack. I really, really do. I would love to have the rodents and the new disease and danger plaguing my Sims. That's right up my alley, believe me. But when I watched that trailer, all I could see was EA waving my own money in my face, saying, "Ha ha, we got ours! You want the rest of these objects? You'll have to give us more!" And with only one pet type in a stuff pack, that bodes of a bazillion more coming with each of the other animal types, until we've all dished out more than two Expansion Packs worth of money to have them all. I just expected the small pets to come all together in a game pack or something.
I really don't think I'm being unreasonable with my viewpoint. I'm not trying to demand that every new pet should be free, or that they belonged in Cats and Dogs, because I totally get why they weren't included. That part makes sense to me. But I do strongly believe that we should have received more than the bare minimum of objects for our cats and dogs to make it complete, and the sudden offer of some of those things only a few short months later just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth over it all. I mean, if we had gotten more pet bed designs and cushions and dog houses and bowls and bones and all of that, I could even accept the addition of pet outfits being an ongoing Stuff Pack offer for those who want them, because it would be similar to getting new Sim outfits. But it all just reeks of something that was planned out way ahead to take advantage of one of their most popular (and in-demand) expansions, and they just took it too far.
