Yikes .... The Game Pack Trailer has more dislikes than likes

"Beardedgeek;c-17661030" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17636175" wrote:
There's some very important factors to consider here, if we're trying to speak "facts" and truth. And people aren't going to like this, so if you're not someone who can handle harsh reality, then move along, move along, and skip my post.

EA is a mult-billion dollar corporation. At their disposal, they have tons and tons of data, research, and analytics to make any major money-making decisions. They invest in this information on a regular basis, because they have shareholders to answer to. So.

The core Sims community's unrest with this pack was not unanticipated. They very well knew the family players, realistic players, the "old school" Sims players, would have a cow over this. They knew. And they did it anyway. Why? Because they don't care anymore to cater to those players. They really don't. The CEO has been saying all along that they are chasing new trends, year after year. They have confirmed to be aiming at the new, younger gaming audience and building the player base. They have studied their statistical analysis and concluded that catering to the "old" isn't as lucrative as pandering to the "new". Therefore...

They already knew there would be an outcry against this pack. They already knew they would lose some players over it. But statistically, it doesn't matter (to them). Because those Simmers on social media only make up a small percentage of the worldwide player community (25 million active players, as last revealed) and the potential for reaching new players, Star Wars fanatics, and trend followers, is much much more profitable. They even stated in a recent article in the Washington Post that from here on out, they will be focusing more actively on the trends and hype of young people, ranging from fashion to TV. So this is only the beginning.

The only way...the only way they would bother to change direction, and it's a long shot, is if the sales of the Star Wars pack took a huge dive, and it would have to be significant enough to be a substantial monetary loss. Because they don't care how upset players are on social media, or how many downvotes the trailer gets. That's only in the thousands. The player base is millions and the Star Wars franchise is legendary. People everywhere, all over the internet are taking notice of the fabled "Sims Star Wars Pack". People who have never played a Sims game in their lives. Remember, they now also have the power of Disney backing them up. If there's one company I'd predict to take over the world one day, it would be Disney.

I'm honestly very interested to see how this pack sells on release day because I feel like this is going to be the big test of the new direction for cross-marketing on a larger scale. I just wish they shared their numbers publicly. But I'll be keeping an eye out for that quarterly report after September to see if there's any mention of it. Because this move is going to change the franchise forever. Life simulator? hardly. Adventure simulator? Maybe. Trend simulator? You bet.

Coming in late here but remember what saved Sims 4 from being a mandatory Online Only experience? The fact that EA (and Maxis!) COMPLETELY botched the Sim City reboot to the point of a 6 person Indie Game developer from Finland beat them hands down making the best City Simulator in history.

EA is most certainly capable of misjudging things, it's just that they have a huge margin due to being very very very rich.

That's true. But to be honest, I don't think a Game Pack is going to be significant enough to make a difference, even if it tanks. I think their main purpose for doing Batuu is to rake in more players, not cater to the existing ones.

In a business, the goal is always to try to beat your profit margins year over year. So EA's tactic is to offer new and different things to try to pull non-Sim players into trying out the game. That way, even if, say, two thirds of those people try it and then abandon it, they will have still gained sales as well as another new chunk of players who are now going to buy up packs (of which there are now, what, thirty?) and the overall revenue will increase.

A bit of a stretch to think a player who’s interest in the whole game hinges on a $20 Star Wars pack is going to buy up 29 other packs that aren’t Star Wars whatsoever. I remember when Sims 4 and Final Fantasy did a crossover and I don’t think that resulted in a bunch of simmers going out and buying up FF15 and all it’s DLC. Just weird how some people assume this is a golden business move that can’t possibly have any negative outcome.

> @logion said:
> It was the same with Eco Lifestyle I think. But this might be even worse from what I have seen on twitter and on discord.

I definitely agree...

> @LiELF said:
> (Quote)
>
> That's true. But to be honest, I don't think a Game Pack is going to be significant enough to make a difference, even if it tanks. I think their main purpose for doing Batuu is to rake in more players, not cater to the existing ones.
>
> In a business, the goal is always to try to beat your profit margins year over year. So EA's tactic is to offer new and different things to try to pull non-Sim players into trying out the game. That way, even if, say, two thirds of those people try it and then abandon it, they will have still gained sales as well as another new chunk of players who are now going to buy up packs (of which there are now, what, thirty?) and the overall revenue will increase.

I could not have explained it better :)

"LiELF;c-17661070" wrote:

"Beardedgeek;c-17661030" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17636175" wrote:
There's some very important factors to consider here, if we're trying to speak "facts" and truth. And people aren't going to like this, so if you're not someone who can handle harsh reality, then move along, move along, and skip my post.

EA is a mult-billion dollar corporation. At their disposal, they have tons and tons of data, research, and analytics to make any major money-making decisions. They invest in this information on a regular basis, because they have shareholders to answer to. So.

The core Sims community's unrest with this pack was not unanticipated. They very well knew the family players, realistic players, the "old school" Sims players, would have a cow over this. They knew. And they did it anyway. Why? Because they don't care anymore to cater to those players. They really don't. The CEO has been saying all along that they are chasing new trends, year after year. They have confirmed to be aiming at the new, younger gaming audience and building the player base. They have studied their statistical analysis and concluded that catering to the "old" isn't as lucrative as pandering to the "new". Therefore...

They already knew there would be an outcry against this pack. They already knew they would lose some players over it. But statistically, it doesn't matter (to them). Because those Simmers on social media only make up a small percentage of the worldwide player community (25 million active players, as last revealed) and the potential for reaching new players, Star Wars fanatics, and trend followers, is much much more profitable. They even stated in a recent article in the Washington Post that from here on out, they will be focusing more actively on the trends and hype of young people, ranging from fashion to TV. So this is only the beginning.

The only way...the only way they would bother to change direction, and it's a long shot, is if the sales of the Star Wars pack took a huge dive, and it would have to be significant enough to be a substantial monetary loss. Because they don't care how upset players are on social media, or how many downvotes the trailer gets. That's only in the thousands. The player base is millions and the Star Wars franchise is legendary. People everywhere, all over the internet are taking notice of the fabled "Sims Star Wars Pack". People who have never played a Sims game in their lives. Remember, they now also have the power of Disney backing them up. If there's one company I'd predict to take over the world one day, it would be Disney.

I'm honestly very interested to see how this pack sells on release day because I feel like this is going to be the big test of the new direction for cross-marketing on a larger scale. I just wish they shared their numbers publicly. But I'll be keeping an eye out for that quarterly report after September to see if there's any mention of it. Because this move is going to change the franchise forever. Life simulator? hardly. Adventure simulator? Maybe. Trend simulator? You bet.

Coming in late here but remember what saved Sims 4 from being a mandatory Online Only experience? The fact that EA (and Maxis!) COMPLETELY botched the Sim City reboot to the point of a 6 person Indie Game developer from Finland beat them hands down making the best City Simulator in history.

EA is most certainly capable of misjudging things, it's just that they have a huge margin due to being very very very rich.

That's true. But to be honest, I don't think a Game Pack is going to be significant enough to make a difference, even if it tanks. I think their main purpose for doing Batuu is to rake in more players, not cater to the existing ones.

In a business, the goal is always to try to beat your profit margins year over year. So EA's tactic is to offer new and different things to try to pull non-Sim players into trying out the game. That way, even if, say, two thirds of those people try it and then abandon it, they will have still gained sales as well as another new chunk of players who are now going to buy up packs (of which there are now, what, thirty?) and the overall revenue will increase.

I thought that for a minute until I saw some streams. Given that the devs are video game players of other games, they had to have known that it would not draw in people who liked other genres of video games. It's not going to draw in people who like strategy games because there's no strategy. It's not going to draw in people who like FPS games because, well, you can't even call the light saber fights interesting after the novelty of getting a light saber. It's not going to draw in either adventure players or rpg players because the quest system itself is the same unchallenging thing over and over. I'm not sure it would even draw in new players at all given how bad the reviews have been.

Who it may draw in are hard core Star Wars fans, but without a lot of engaging game play, and that means a lot more than fetch quest after fetch quest, it won't keep them.

Where I do agree is it won't make a difference if it tanks or not.

"drake_mccarty;c-17661124" wrote:
A bit of a stretch to think a player who’s interest in the whole game hinges on a $20 Star Wars pack is going to buy up 29 other packs that aren’t Star Wars whatsoever. I remember when Sims 4 and Final Fantasy did a crossover and I don’t think that resulted in a bunch of simmers going out and buying up FF15 and all it’s DLC. Just weird how some people assume this is a golden business move that can’t possibly have any negative outcome.

I highly doubt they are expecting a new player to buy all the packs, but there are a lot to choose from so there's a greater chance they will find something else that they like. People's interests are hardly ever singular. The FF "crossover" was just a single CAS item, wasn't it? That wasn't really an effort and nowhere near the scale of funding a GP.

I'm not sure who said there can't possibly be a negative outcome, but the real question is if that outcome is enough to make a difference to send the message that players are trying to communicate. Players complain all the time, it has become the "norm", and Big Business is just that...a business. They're going to look more at proof of overall sales with a focus on new customers. If the overall sales reach the necessary quota, and the increase in new customers meets expectations, then, in theory, it will be considered successful, even if half the existing player base doesn't buy the pack.

It's EA. They only care about numbers, not "core" players or "loyal" simmers. It's unfortunate, but true. They don't care if veteran players don't buy the pack as long as the slack is picked up by new players. So that's where the test is. If it fails, they will probably have to find a new tactic. But it will still be focused on getting new players. New players = financial growth. It's the ugliness of capitalism and it's out of control. This kind of thing is going on everywhere.

> @Felicity said:
> (Quote)
>
> I thought that for a minute until I saw some streams. Given that the devs are video game players of other games, they had to have known that it would not draw in people who liked other genres of video games. It's not going to draw in people who like strategy games because there's no strategy. It's not going to draw in people who like FPS games because, well, you can't even call the light saber fights interesting after the novelty of getting a light saber. It's not going to draw in either adventure players or rpg players because the quest system itself is the same unchallenging thing over and over. I'm not sure it would even draw in new players at all given how bad the reviews have been.
>
> Who it may draw in are hard core Star Wars fans, but without a lot of engaging game play, and that means a lot more than fetch quest after fetch quest, it won't keep them.
>
> Where I do agree is it won't make a difference if it tanks or not.

For me, I am simply into Life Simulation play with some fantasy like fairies. Star Wars is not a fantasy I can begin to wrap my head around, not even enough to watch lets plays of it on youtube. However, I have watched reviews on it.

> @Felicity said:
> (Quote)
>
> I thought that for a minute until I saw some streams. Given that the devs are video game players of other games, they had to have known that it would not draw in people who liked other genres of video games. It's not going to draw in people who like strategy games because there's no strategy. It's not going to draw in people who like FPS games because, well, you can't even call the light saber fights interesting after the novelty of getting a light saber. It's not going to draw in either adventure players or rpg players because the quest system itself is the same unchallenging thing over and over. I'm not sure it would even draw in new players at all given how bad the reviews have been.
>
> Who it may draw in are hard core Star Wars fans, but without a lot of engaging game play, and that means a lot more than fetch quest after fetch quest, it won't keep them.
>
> Where I do agree is it won't make a difference if it tanks or not.

Oh, wait... I began commenting just to say, I agree with you :D

"Felicity;c-17661168" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17661070" wrote:

"Beardedgeek;c-17661030" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17636175" wrote:
There's some very important factors to consider here, if we're trying to speak "facts" and truth. And people aren't going to like this, so if you're not someone who can handle harsh reality, then move along, move along, and skip my post.

EA is a mult-billion dollar corporation. At their disposal, they have tons and tons of data, research, and analytics to make any major money-making decisions. They invest in this information on a regular basis, because they have shareholders to answer to. So.

The core Sims community's unrest with this pack was not unanticipated. They very well knew the family players, realistic players, the "old school" Sims players, would have a cow over this. They knew. And they did it anyway. Why? Because they don't care anymore to cater to those players. They really don't. The CEO has been saying all along that they are chasing new trends, year after year. They have confirmed to be aiming at the new, younger gaming audience and building the player base. They have studied their statistical analysis and concluded that catering to the "old" isn't as lucrative as pandering to the "new". Therefore...

They already knew there would be an outcry against this pack. They already knew they would lose some players over it. But statistically, it doesn't matter (to them). Because those Simmers on social media only make up a small percentage of the worldwide player community (25 million active players, as last revealed) and the potential for reaching new players, Star Wars fanatics, and trend followers, is much much more profitable. They even stated in a recent article in the Washington Post that from here on out, they will be focusing more actively on the trends and hype of young people, ranging from fashion to TV. So this is only the beginning.

The only way...the only way they would bother to change direction, and it's a long shot, is if the sales of the Star Wars pack took a huge dive, and it would have to be significant enough to be a substantial monetary loss. Because they don't care how upset players are on social media, or how many downvotes the trailer gets. That's only in the thousands. The player base is millions and the Star Wars franchise is legendary. People everywhere, all over the internet are taking notice of the fabled "Sims Star Wars Pack". People who have never played a Sims game in their lives. Remember, they now also have the power of Disney backing them up. If there's one company I'd predict to take over the world one day, it would be Disney.

I'm honestly very interested to see how this pack sells on release day because I feel like this is going to be the big test of the new direction for cross-marketing on a larger scale. I just wish they shared their numbers publicly. But I'll be keeping an eye out for that quarterly report after September to see if there's any mention of it. Because this move is going to change the franchise forever. Life simulator? hardly. Adventure simulator? Maybe. Trend simulator? You bet.

Coming in late here but remember what saved Sims 4 from being a mandatory Online Only experience? The fact that EA (and Maxis!) COMPLETELY botched the Sim City reboot to the point of a 6 person Indie Game developer from Finland beat them hands down making the best City Simulator in history.

EA is most certainly capable of misjudging things, it's just that they have a huge margin due to being very very very rich.

That's true. But to be honest, I don't think a Game Pack is going to be significant enough to make a difference, even if it tanks. I think their main purpose for doing Batuu is to rake in more players, not cater to the existing ones.

In a business, the goal is always to try to beat your profit margins year over year. So EA's tactic is to offer new and different things to try to pull non-Sim players into trying out the game. That way, even if, say, two thirds of those people try it and then abandon it, they will have still gained sales as well as another new chunk of players who are now going to buy up packs (of which there are now, what, thirty?) and the overall revenue will increase.

I thought that for a minute until I saw some streams. Given that the devs are video game players of other games, they had to have known that it would not draw in people who liked other genres of video games. It's not going to draw in people who like strategy games because there's no strategy. It's not going to draw in people who like FPS games because, well, you can't even call the light saber fights interesting after the novelty of getting a light saber. It's not going to draw in either adventure players or rpg players because the quest system itself is the same unchallenging thing over and over. I'm not sure it would even draw in new players at all given how bad the reviews have been.

Who it may draw in are hard core Star Wars fans, but without a lot of engaging game play, and that means a lot more than fetch quest after fetch quest, it won't keep them.

Where I do agree is it won't make a difference if it tanks or not.

I'm not so sure. I think that we, as Sims players already, tend to look at every pack through the same eyes and from a specific perspective. The potential is with younger players who love anything Disney or Star Wars and have never tried a Sims game but may like other simulations, even on mobile. The Disney+ service just launched within the last year and there's an entire Star Wars segment with all of the films in the franchise as well as every series and a show about Galaxy's Edge. The Mandalorian is huge right now.

I've also seen some positive streams about the pack, just not always from the usual simmers. People who have been to Galaxy's Edge, love Star Wars, and/or used to play the Sims a long time ago seem to be interested. Sims players who love to make creative builds or stylists who see the potential in CAS seem excited. And while the forums have been full of a lot of loud people protesting the pack, there are still threads where others are enjoying the pack and new people keep popping in who have decided to try it out and like it. I also think that, because of the public aggressive hostility that's been shown for this pack, that those who like it tend to be quieter about it because of fear of backlash from others. Some people don't like confrontation and don't care to get into a cage match over their right to enjoy something.

I just think there is often a lot of misconception to the reality of Sims 4, particularly on the forums, because it skews what appears to be the "majority" and can amplify the vocal minority. I'm not saying that players who hate the Star Wars pack are definitely in the minority, I just don't think there's an accurate overall representation on social media.

But I mean, that's just what I observe. It's possible that the pack doesn't end up doing well at all. I doubt we'll ever know until we see (or don't see) more branding in the game.

"LiELF;c-17661216" wrote:

"Felicity;c-17661168" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17661070" wrote:

"Beardedgeek;c-17661030" wrote:

"LiELF;c-17636175" wrote:
There's some very important factors to consider here, if we're trying to speak "facts" and truth. And people aren't going to like this, so if you're not someone who can handle harsh reality, then move along, move along, and skip my post.

EA is a mult-billion dollar corporation. At their disposal, they have tons and tons of data, research, and analytics to make any major money-making decisions. They invest in this information on a regular basis, because they have shareholders to answer to. So.

The core Sims community's unrest with this pack was not unanticipated. They very well knew the family players, realistic players, the "old school" Sims players, would have a cow over this. They knew. And they did it anyway. Why? Because they don't care anymore to cater to those players. They really don't. The CEO has been saying all along that they are chasing new trends, year after year. They have confirmed to be aiming at the new, younger gaming audience and building the player base. They have studied their statistical analysis and concluded that catering to the "old" isn't as lucrative as pandering to the "new". Therefore...

They already knew there would be an outcry against this pack. They already knew they would lose some players over it. But statistically, it doesn't matter (to them). Because those Simmers on social media only make up a small percentage of the worldwide player community (25 million active players, as last revealed) and the potential for reaching new players, Star Wars fanatics, and trend followers, is much much more profitable. They even stated in a recent article in the Washington Post that from here on out, they will be focusing more actively on the trends and hype of young people, ranging from fashion to TV. So this is only the beginning.

The only way...the only way they would bother to change direction, and it's a long shot, is if the sales of the Star Wars pack took a huge dive, and it would have to be significant enough to be a substantial monetary loss. Because they don't care how upset players are on social media, or how many downvotes the trailer gets. That's only in the thousands. The player base is millions and the Star Wars franchise is legendary. People everywhere, all over the internet are taking notice of the fabled "Sims Star Wars Pack". People who have never played a Sims game in their lives. Remember, they now also have the power of Disney backing them up. If there's one company I'd predict to take over the world one day, it would be Disney.

I'm honestly very interested to see how this pack sells on release day because I feel like this is going to be the big test of the new direction for cross-marketing on a larger scale. I just wish they shared their numbers publicly. But I'll be keeping an eye out for that quarterly report after September to see if there's any mention of it. Because this move is going to change the franchise forever. Life simulator? hardly. Adventure simulator? Maybe. Trend simulator? You bet.

Coming in late here but remember what saved Sims 4 from being a mandatory Online Only experience? The fact that EA (and Maxis!) COMPLETELY botched the Sim City reboot to the point of a 6 person Indie Game developer from Finland beat them hands down making the best City Simulator in history.

EA is most certainly capable of misjudging things, it's just that they have a huge margin due to being very very very rich.

That's true. But to be honest, I don't think a Game Pack is going to be significant enough to make a difference, even if it tanks. I think their main purpose for doing Batuu is to rake in more players, not cater to the existing ones.

In a business, the goal is always to try to beat your profit margins year over year. So EA's tactic is to offer new and different things to try to pull non-Sim players into trying out the game. That way, even if, say, two thirds of those people try it and then abandon it, they will have still gained sales as well as another new chunk of players who are now going to buy up packs (of which there are now, what, thirty?) and the overall revenue will increase.

I thought that for a minute until I saw some streams. Given that the devs are video game players of other games, they had to have known that it would not draw in people who liked other genres of video games. It's not going to draw in people who like strategy games because there's no strategy. It's not going to draw in people who like FPS games because, well, you can't even call the light saber fights interesting after the novelty of getting a light saber. It's not going to draw in either adventure players or rpg players because the quest system itself is the same unchallenging thing over and over. I'm not sure it would even draw in new players at all given how bad the reviews have been.

Who it may draw in are hard core Star Wars fans, but without a lot of engaging game play, and that means a lot more than fetch quest after fetch quest, it won't keep them.

Where I do agree is it won't make a difference if it tanks or not.

I'm not so sure. I think that we, as Sims players already, tend to look at every pack through the same eyes and from a specific perspective. The potential is with younger players who love anything Disney or Star Wars and have never tried a Sims game but may like other simulations, even on mobile. The Disney+ service just launched within the last year and there's an entire Star Wars segment with all of the films in the franchise as well as every series and a show about Galaxy's Edge. The Mandalorian is huge right now.

I've also seen some positive streams about the pack, just not always from the usual simmers. People who have been to Galaxy's Edge, love Star Wars, and/or used to play the Sims a long time ago seem to be interested. Sims players who love to make creative builds or stylists who see the potential in CAS seem excited. And while the forums have been full of a lot of loud people protesting the pack, there are still threads where others are enjoying the pack and new people keep popping in who have decided to try it out and like it. I also think that, because of the public aggressive hostility that's been shown for this pack, that those who like it tend to be quieter about it because of fear of backlash from others. Some people don't like confrontation and don't care to get into a cage match over their right to enjoy something.

I just think there is often a lot of misconception to the reality of Sims 4, particularly on the forums, because it skews what appears to be the "majority" and can amplify the vocal minority. I'm not saying that players who hate the Star Wars pack are definitely in the minority, I just don't think there's an accurate overall representation on social media.

But I mean, that's just what I observe. It's possible that the pack doesn't end up doing well at all. I doubt we'll ever know until we see (or don't see) more branding in the game.

I'm actually not talking about simmers loving or hating the pack. I'm talking about people who play other video games. There was one game changer I saw who got an advanced copy, not a simmer, but he reviewed it. I'll paraphrase him, but he was like, maybe if you like sims you'll like this, but it's boring.

The problem with the pack, if it's trying to draw people in, it honestly needs to be spectacular. You're not getting the regular sims experience, because there's no building and very little CAS. The socialization is quite limited. And the tasks are repetitive. And if someone is trying the game solely because of Star Wars, that's going to be their first impression.

Maybe it's a smash hit? I don't know. But I honestly cannot see them pulling people from other genres in because, honestly, games that do quests do them much, much better.