What the heck?

Technology advances. Sooner or later we all have to upgrade our computers. This is not an usual move from a studio, especially as the game is now nearly 5 years old. Most games are already 64-bit only. If anything Maxis is playing catch up with the rest of the industry.

"KaeChan2089;c-16997375" wrote:

"ClarionOfJoy;c-16996603" wrote:
I thought TS4 was suppose to work on lower end computers? Good grief, they even went back on this claim! This iteration, hands down, has got to be the worst EVER.

THIS! This I thought when the Sims 4 came out first thing that it was for lower end computers because TS3 was so HARD on some people's computer so they decdied to back down a bit so more people could play. SMH, even though I am not affected but I can't help but feel bad for people who won't be able to buy more packs or get updates...in my honest opinion this is kinda of a d*ck move...and if you want to continue to play it with the upcoming content, you gotta shell out more money for a new PC, imo TS4 isn't worth a new PC...but that's just my opinion.

I agree that continuing to play ts4 isn't worth purchasing a new PC. Some enterprising person(s) should put up a poll with that question with these new orchestrations in mind.

I've always suspected that the chatter about ts4 being designed for low-end computers wasn't an accurate representation of reality and that the reasons were less altruistic.

I think it's the best decision they made for this game, I hated that they were "worried" about low end pc's, that's one of the main reasons the game has so many bugs, I hope this leads us to better packs.

"mika;c-16997130" wrote:
I honestly don't know which my laptop is, I recently got it in December and I'm hoping I won't have to replace it

If you just bought it in December it should be fine. If you're on Windows you can check Settings -> System -> About and scroll down to System Info; if it says 64 bit you're good to go. (My current laptop is 64 bit and I bought it all the way back in 2016 -- I'm hoping to get a new one this year that's a bit lighter (hoping to do some traveling but don't want to leave my Sims at home!).

The specs of a low end machine back in 2014 when the game was released differ significantly to what is regarded as a low end machine now. 32-bit is old technology and has been for years. It’s time to move on and that unfortunately means leaving some people behind, no matter what software or platform you're dealing with.

"MidnightAura;c-16997370" wrote:
While this doesn’t affect me I think it’s shocking that players who have to use the legacy edition will not get any more patches. I dread to think what state they will leave the game in.

We could see a couple of major patches featuring bug fixes in April and May to prepare for it -- Legacy Edition will likely also be fully patched. The big issue will be for mod developers and CC creators -- will they want to have a separate upload available for Legacy players? Technically it should be simple (just keep the final files pre-Legacy available) but for some bandwidth could be an issue.

They had to do it - with the way this game is dependent on Video card updates and the video card companies like Nvidia - etc that stopped support of 32 bit computer last year - never mind Apple stopping support of 32 bit computers - you could no longer get security updates nor Video game updates - so EA, like many of the other studios had no choice but also drop 32 bit support seeing the machines could no longer be updated or made secure. They are technically viruses ready to happen and no decent company could or should support that. When machines become a hazard because they cannot have updates then they need to get the machines to stop using the game.

I would never suggest anyone who can no longer get proper updates to run that computer - not ever.

If a game needs updated video cards like this one does on a regular bases - and can't get them - then that computer has done it's time and needs to be retired.

EA is even making a Legacy system for the people who just can't afford an update - to keep them having the abilty to play the games they paid for - for FREE. Say what you will about EA and greed but if you ask me that is a very nice and ungreedy thing to do of EA, when they do not have too. I have a trunk full of games from over many years of gaming that are no longer playable unless one has older pcs and not one of the companies I have these games from ever gave me a legacy system to use so I could play the old games on my always newer pcs (I frequently rebuild my pcs every 3 years so I never have an old system) - I am just flat out of luck if I want to play any of my old games.

EA is also the only company that gave me a new complete download of my Sims 2 after Windows made it impossible for me to play that game any longer. When window 10 came out - they scurried to give us an update on that free version of Sims 2 - as well as an update for Sims 3 and Sims 3 CAW - again something they did not have to do, but they did. A few years ago they also made it possible for me to play my old Scrabble game that would not even play on Windows 7 as EA owns Hasbro which owned my scrabble game. Not once did EA have to do these things - never mind for free - and very few companies I know of has ever done this - other wise I would not have a trunk full of unplayable games today - now would I?

Perhaps many of you misjudge EA more times than you notice and ignore the times they prove they are not as greedy as you think. Not support 32 bit - as it has no support from it's OS and many video cards is actually a kindness - giving you a Legacy system for free is even kinder - and something no publisher has to do, and I guarantee you many do not even try. I have a trunk of games that prove that.

I don't think they should be praised for giving up supporting the game mid way through its cycle and giving people the Legacy Edition.

How kind of them to allow people to play their game they may have spent up to £500 on! Soo generous.

I can play the sims 1-3 without EA. In fact patch 1.69 is not liked by many, many sims 3 simmers. I still play off disc.

"MidnightAura;c-16997729" wrote:
I don't think they should be praised for giving up supporting the game mid way through its cycle and giving people the Legacy Edition.

How kind of them to allow people to play their game they may have spent up to £500 on! Soo generous.

I can play the sims 1-3 without EA. In fact patch 1.69 is not liked by many, many sims 3 simmers. I still play off disc.

So you believe it is great not to have security updates or get your video card updated if you have a Nvidia card or one of the others who can't get updates for their 32 bit system and this game any more?

I still have the disks as well - I just prefer going through Origin - and Window 10 Home does not play the Sims 1 disk at all.

Since the last update patch for Sims 3 - I have not experienced any problem using Sims 3. But to each there own. I just would never consider encouraging someone to play an unsecure pc on the net - unless they never go anywhere on the net but play the sims and even that I also would not encourage. But hey - that's me, apparently not you.

At least EA is making sure they can use the game they spent all that money on - when not every company does that. As I said I can show you hundreds of dollar of disks I can't play for that very reason - many companies do not make it possible.

"MidnightAura;c-16997729" wrote:
I don't think they should be praised for giving up supporting the game mid way through its cycle and giving people the Legacy Edition.

How kind of them to allow people to play their game they may have spent up to £500 on! Soo generous.

I can play the sims 1-3 without EA. In fact patch 1.69 is not liked by many, many sims 3 simmers. I still play off disc.

I mean those games were made in 32bit computers. You can still play what you payed for with TS4, you just won't be able to play newer DLC which will require the game to access more memory. Would you rather the game crash every time you access one of the newer worlds past StrangerVille?

TS4 is now a 5 year old game and it's life cycle as an iteration is not over yet. In the past this would be it's last year. The fact that they are cutting off support for 32 bits makes every sense if the game is to continue. Just as if they'd make a new game now it would likely not support 32 bit computers. Making this change means this game will likely have support for much longer.