EA has been hooked on the idea of an on line version of The Sims for so long, it can't see anything beyond it's ability to milk the consumers of their hard-earned cash through in game micro-transactions and a Sims3 version of the store. And creating a Second Life knockoff will probably end up marking the franchise for death. I personally have no interest in sharing my game and accomplishments with anyone else. One of the reasons why the game has been so successful is the fact it is a sandbox game. One player in control of everything without outside interference has always been one of the top selling points since The Sims became a thing. Since the release of Sims4, EA has attempted to lure a younger audience to the fanbase by making the game less about life simulation and more about interconnecting younger players that are addicted to sharing every aspect of their lives through social media. And unfortunately for those who prefer single player games, we no longer meet the criteria behind EA's plans.
As our control over our games diminished, I was seeing a trend forming. And I like what I am now reading about Sims5 even less than I did four years ago. And this topic has made the rounds through many forums, speculation pieces on gaming sites, and bits and pieces of info from a few very reliable sources. I realize the opening post of this thread is a speculation piece, but some of it rings too true to dismiss as fiction. Because it is all part of a trend created by EA that began while Sims4 was in development, before the fans rebelled and made their feelings known. And we've been dealing with EA's mistakes for nearly seven years in the form of base game updates, shallow gameplay, bugs and glitches, and missing features that made the past iterations so much fun to play. If you thought Sims4's base game lacked content, just wait until Sims5 comes out. There will be even less than what Sims4 came with is my guess. But there will be a ton of content to be had, already in place, just waiting for the players to open their wallets and purchase anything that might make Sims5 feel more complete and satisfying. The only drawback would be to have strangers coming into your world, interacting with your Sims, or even worse, acting like an obnoxious moron. Even if we are given the option to play off line, I have serious doubts Sims5 will be an enjoyable, well-rounded game before it has been out for at least three years. And that will entirely depend on how much money the player is willing to spend in order to make that happen. Sure, we buy new packs that do the same thing now, but I think the price tag on Sims5's individual transactions will end up being much more expensive in the long run.
