I'm actually pretty stoked for LBY after watching the announcement video. And I am going to preorder it just so I can check it out. The pixel folks in LBY are a bit stiff looking but after what we experienced in Sims3 I'm willing to overlook certain things and explore LBY with an open mind. The fact LBY will come to us ready to be modded tells me the developers know their prospective audience wants choices, and I'm all for having choices. Granted, we saw a bare bones snippet of everything that is in LBY, but what I saw piqued my interest. As far as paying for DLC goes, I have no problem with that since I have been paying for DLC for twenty years. That happens when you play games. I purchased everything EA offered up for Sims1,2 and 3. Not so much for Sims4. I have actually spent less money on Sims4 DLC because of all the problems I encountered with new packs and updates.
The fact Mr. Humble was part of the team responsible for SC5 and it failed, means very little years later because we don't know the full story behind that failed attempt. It isn't a secret EA hates to spend money on producing a quality product, and that is very obvious in how Sims4 has failed to meet players' expectations in the past few years. In my mind, dragging the past into my decision making is not an option.
The open world, the many forms of transportation, the building options, the customization tools for building, decor and even conversation dialogs, has me wanting to see even more of what is in this base game. And we have to remember the game is still in the development phase. There's no way of knowing what the Early Access game will turn out to be. But after seeing the beach with boats, pixel folk sunbathing and a volleyball net, a girl playing with a dog and a child in a home with what I assume to be family members, yeah, I'm excited to play LBY. Those are all in the base game. During the video they stated that there won't be rabbit hole venues. Our pixel folks will have access to every building. Then they showed how players can set up their own neighborhoods. CAW in a base game? Mind blown.
Sims5/Project Rene is a few years away from being released. But my mind was already made up that I won't be moving forward with the Sims franchise before I knew about LBY. I'll be sticking with Sims4 and if LBY turns out to be as good as it looks, I will have two different life simulation games to play. Gosh, I really love having choices.
