The downtime between updates isn't the root of the problem. ( Or problems, depending on each Simmer's point of view. ) Personally, I have tried following the gurus on Twitter, I have watched a few Game Changer vods, I have read the posts in the discussions @simgirl1010 has started where she has done her best to bring us news from the gurus after wading through hundreds of Twitter posts then reposting what is relevent to the kind of news we are looking for. Bless her heart for taking on that task. I have neither the patience nor the time to do that. But even after trying to follow the gurus on Twitter, watching Game Changers play their games or build, there has been no real news on upcoming content. These Twitter postings and Game Changer vods are merely distractions. They should never be considered real news outlets.
At the very root of the unhappiness being expressed by Simmers is the lack of information coming out of the head offices at EA. The gurus are forbidden to tell us anything about anything until they are given permission to speak. And that has to grate a bit on the gurus that have been with the franchise for years. Especially when they work on new content they are excited to share, and end up being bound to silence by a non-disclosure agreement. The one and only statement they can make is they are working on future content. Well, yeah, we know that. That isn't really news, or very surprising.
While I appreciate the whys behind the long stretches of no news-worthy disclosures, I can't help but feel sad we aren't allowed into The Inner Circle of Knowledge, and kept in the dark for months on end. Since SimGuruGraham's announcement that was made on April 9th of this year, we still don't know anything about those 3 new packs he said were going to be released in the following six months. He made this statement almost two months ago, yet we still know nothing about what is coming. The excitement I felt when he made that announcement has died. RIP.
All of this doesn't mean I don't love or play Sims4. It doesn't mean I will stop playing it if we have to wait for new content. Once Seasons dropped, I have been pretty happy with the game as a whole. The bugs and irritations have, for the most part, been tamed by searching for and finding, many, many mods. I now have forty mods working in my game. These mods are necessary; they kill the bugs and put an end to autonomous actions that are just too stupid to put up with. I don't use custom careers or traits. I don't feel the need to change the basics. I use only mods that put an end to irritations and bugs. The need to use mods of some kind has been a part of playing any Sims iteration since Sims2. But it would be refreshing to have some fixes that didn't break again after the release of new updates.
This week is a short one with today being a national holiday in the US. That leaves just four short days for some kind of real news to be released. SimGuruLyndsay stated in the May Maxis Monthly that EA would not be making any kind of big announcement at EA PLay, being held the weekend of June7th,8th and 9th. IF, and this is a stretch, an expansion is set to be released close to the end of June, and four game outlets have updated their web sites so they are ready to take pre-orders for the new expansion, then EA has to make an announcement of some kind before EA Play. And this kind of speculation is the cause of our unhappiness with EA and waiting for the truth about what we can expect. We want to discuss the new content and experience the same kind of excitement we had with Sims2 and 3. We have moved beyond becoming excited about hints and riddles and long silences. Heck, I'd be happy with a small screenshot of some kind at this point. Anything, no matter how small, would be better than this feeling we are being ignored.
