"Cynna;c-16373275" wrote:
I adored TS3. Although, feature-wise, TS2 was the better game, TS3 was all that I hoped for in a Sim game. It felt like a living, breathing world. It remains my ultimate Sims game, to this day. Having said that, I have to agree with the OP -- TS3 is where it all began.
However, if the whole thing got kick started in TS3, the engine is running full throttle in TS4. In fact, the sound of that engine is so loud as to be impossible to ignore any longer.
For me, the difference with the TS3 store was that the premium objects were complementary. They weren't required in order to get the full experience. If you wanted a special pet bowl, yes, you had to buy a pack from the store. However, that food bowl wasn't essential when the actual EP already came with cats, dogs, rodents, lizards, birds, horses and all the accoutrements, including pet bowls. The pet bowl from the store was complementary not necessary. The pet bed from the store was complementary, not necessary.
On the other hand, with TS4, the SPs and GPs are necessary. That is, they are necessary if you want to have the same experience that you were traditionally able to have in the previous Sims games. In TS4, if you want the full pets experience, you need to buy the $40 EP, plus a $10 SP. That's $50 and still, you still haven't gotten birds, or lizards, or (hopefully) horses. How much extra are those going to cost? How much are we going to end up spending for the equivalent of the pets that we were able to enjoy in the previous EPs?
That is why the anger is at a fever pitch right now. Rightlfully so.
The OP is right, this all started with TS3. I wish that I had added my voice to the dissatisfaction back then. However, I didn't realize that it existed. I didn't know because I was too busy enjoying what I had. I didn't feel like there was anything missing, because, for me, there wasn't. In Pets, I had gotten everything that the previous Pets EPs had. In addition, I also got horses. That EP was a bonanza.
Now, there's a whole 'nother level of blatancy to EA's greed.
I really, really want that hamster because, to me, it's one of the multiple missing pieces to the puzz"le. However, this is where I have to finally draw a line. I'm not paying another $10 just to get something that should have been included for my original $40. To me, the Vet career wasn't a worthy trade off for everything else that is missing.
I've said several times that I'm okay with the small animals (like hamsters) being put in a separate pack, especially since we got the active vet clinic in C&D. It actually makes them available to more players, the ones that either couldn't afford C&D (especially in the countries that got hit hard by price adjustments) or who didn't have the computer specs to run C&D.
Here's another theory though. The EP team works on C&D. Graham says, "Hey, notice you didn't include small animals!" and the EP team says, "Yeah, we didn't have the space for them since we did the vet clinic and veterinarian programming." Graham says, "Okay, mind if my team tackles small animals?" EP team: "Go for it." Then when C&D drops, the players with the pack start asking for more items. EP team produces them, then asks the SP team, "Think we can squeeze these in your pack? There really aren't enough items for a full pack, and it would be awkward to put them in patches over the next several months." SP team says, "Yeah, I guess we could do that," not anticipating the backlash.
I would expect that with this backlash, we're not going to see items for other packs included in an SP or a GP again. The items will either be patched in or we'll do without. We'll see items and features that work well with other packs, such as the OR herbal remedies working with JA, or if we get any sort of casino SP or GP that we'd be able to use those items in our homeworld bars and lounges, but no packs that require another pack for full functionality. Just like they've hopefully learned that if there are future editions in The Sims series, make sure that all basic age stages are part of the base game (including toddlers and non-object babies) and make teens feel like teens, not just mini-adults.
