This silent treatment is the worst

"Grynn;c-17419503" wrote:

"Camkat;c-17419222" wrote:
I get that they can't talk about what they are working on next though and this bothers me none. We shouldn't have a say in the next packs because really, what games do people ever get a say in? Once they get to beta or alpha testing, bugs get reported or game balance suggestions but the general public doesn't get to say things like "well you made this a shooter and I wanted to play a more hands on fight game, change this please". I know sims is a different style of game, all it's own really, but that doesn't mean we get to say what they develop next. Vote with your wallets. Buy the pack if you like it, or don't buy it. Which cycles back up to my other point of people just buying anything and everything.

What? most games with ongoing updates and DLC that I follow players get a say in.

To begin with almost every dev out there in 2020 keep dev logs where they showcase things at a very early concept stage for players to show feedback, it's not that hard and it really does wonders to help boost sales, nowadays when I discover a new game I always check to see if the devs have one to see if the game is still active, if it's in a final state (because let's be real, no game ever releases in a finished state nowadays) or if it has been "abandoned".

I've seen PLENTY of games change stuff due to player feedback, EA doesn't even bother to change minor Tunings that makes packs semi-unplayable like Realm of Magic, we instead have to rely on Zer0's mods to fix it.

The way developers act with The Sims is really the low of the low, it's amazing how the devs treat the community like thrash and players still buy DLCs.

Crusader Kings 2 was released in 2012 and it still sells to this day all because Paradox never let the game die with constant updates and engaging with the community, the difference between the two companies is so absurd.

I would say it depends on the studio, some developers are very vocal about what they are working on and they are also listening to feedback after they have patched a game or changed something. Developers who don't have a publisher or publish their games themselves (like CD Project Red or Devolver Digital) are often also listening more to the community.

Other developers have whole teams who work with the community, organize events and promote things, they do press releases, they do interviews, they make long blog posts about what they are working on, and they have people streaming their games on twitch. They know that in order to keep people invested, they have to provide content and keep people interested. They also often add depth, story and character to their games that makes people interested. And they also work a lot on improving things and making things more interesting by adding updates that changes the game. They create a universe that feels alive even when the game is turned off.

https://i.imgur.com/xtSOYu6.png

When it comes to the sims it feels like between the releases there are a very large amount of jokes... blurry gifs...old marketing pictures and when there is an update they are often overly excited or proud over very small things.

And they also retweet a lot of things that other people are doing, not themselves or they are asking for clips, pictures or builds from other people. Or they are promoting sales.

But with the exception of this community knitting pack, they do not want to share anything at all between releases.

https://i.imgur.com/WaeT0G4.png

The sims is a game that's about simulating life, being social and sharing your experiences and improving your sims, but Maxis does not seem to be interested in that when it comes to themselves or their game.

And if they are, there are not enough people that can show it to us. No community team, no updates about what they are working on, no story or depth to what they are creating. Things that I think could be easily fixed if they hire some more people to work on their community, give their game a bit more depth and create some stories for themselves. I also wished that they could include updates that they can share and ask for feedback on, here on the forums or over at Answer HQ.