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Worm32 wrote:
I never claimed to KNOW EXACTLY every financial detail of EA's cost for this game. What I do know is EA reported ( look it up yourselves ) that they have made $50 million on this game. I never once said they should not sell premium items. Of course they should, all games do, I've never disputed that, but look at the amount they are charging for the content (and effort) comparable to 99% of other games. Please just compare it to other companies. and not only that, compare it to other EA titles and the content they get for their money. You're being ripped off here Simpsons Fans. Do the homework for yourself, don't trust random internet guy.

True no one knows cost,overhead, marketing,development costs, etc., but anyone with the slightest bit of common sense can see what is going on here.

You are also trying to compare brands. As what the person above indicated, yes Simpsons is more than Smurfs. The Simpsons is a huge successful franchise with dozens of games (NES, SNES, Xbox 360, etc), merchandise, heck even an official portion of a theme park (Universal Studios). This is the LONGEST, RUNNING, prime time TV show that is not reality TV, Game show, Talk show, news related program. The series is quite popular, so it's no wonder they made the cash. I can't imagine what it costs to maintain copyrights, royalties and everything else like the sound bytes.

Find another show/property that can be compared to the Simpsons, then we can find a product/game that is similar (if that exists) so we can compare apples to apples.

Again, I do think donuts are overpriced, but again I love the show, the game, so I supported it with over $100 (probably closer to $150 or more). So I can see why everyone wants the most popular characters and willing to purchase donuts.

I have to agree with Worm32. They are tapping into people's addiction and robbing people of their money. You can always argue that the people didn't have to pay the money, and you'd be right to say that... BUT that doesn't take away from the fact they they want people to pay at least $10-20 with every new update. I understand MaxxSpiders point of view that they are an active studio constantly working on the game. I can understand if they charged a couple of bucks for a premium but charging people the way they do now is absurd. I am pretty sure it doesn't take a studio of 100+ people to come up with the relatively tiny updates (not complaining) like they do, so I am pretty sure they'd still make their money if they charged a fraction of the cost that they do now. Also I don't agree with MaxxSpiders view on console games not being playable 5 years down the line. A GOOD game will have a massive replay value, and that's not to mention open world games can be played for even longer then 5 years... One example of that would be GTA 4, amongst many others. If you break it down big console game studios are still active way after a game is released. Coming out with patches and updates. And even when they come out with DLC's they still charge a fraction of the cost of the game giving you more then just a couple of buildings and a character.
In conclusion, when someone spends money they'll always defend the thing they have spent their money on. It's been proven in psychology. So trying to prove something in a place where everyone is spending money on a thing you're complaining about is a lost cause. (Sorry if this offended anyone...)

GamerGD3 wrote:

Find another show/property that can be compared to the Simpsons, then we can find a product/game that is similar (if that exists) so we can compare apples to apples.

I doubt you could find one as good, but if something was even half as prolific, you could make a similar game out of it, and it would make money for sure. I made a thread a few months ago, to see what people had in mind:

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/9627416.page

The most likely contender is South Park

AJtheboss1 wrote:
I have to agree with Worm32. They are tapping into people's addiction and robbing people of their money. You can always argue that the people didn't have to pay the money, and you'd be right to say that... BUT that doesn't take away from the fact they they want people to pay at least $10-20 with every new update. I understand MaxxSpiders point of view that they are an active studio constantly working on the game. I can understand if they charged a couple of bucks for a premium but charging people the way they do now is absurd. I am pretty sure it doesn't take a studio of 100+ people to come up with the relatively tiny updates (not complaining) like they do, so I am pretty sure they'd still make their money if they charged a fraction of the cost that they do now. Also I don't agree with MaxxSpiders view on console games not being playable 5 years down the line. A GOOD game will have a massive replay value, and that's not to mention open world games can be played for even longer then 5 years... One example of that would be GTA 4, amongst many others. If you break it down big console game studios are still active way after a game is released. Coming out with patches and updates. And even when they come out with DLC's they still charge a fraction of the cost of the game giving you more then just a couple of buildings and a character.
In conclusion, when someone spends money they'll always defend the thing they have spent their money on. It's been proven in psychology. So trying to prove something in a place where everyone is spending money on a thing you're complaining about is a lost cause. (Sorry if this offended anyone...)

I'm glad someone gets it. I knew what I was getting into by coming into the lions den of EA, and trying to tug on the curtain a bit, but you are 100% right, people will always defend what they've spent money on, so there is no reason for me to waste my breathe debating about it.

If there is one thing I know about its gaming addiction (hell I've got almost 3000 trophies with 36 plats :wink: ), and this new trend of price gouging said addiction with these absurd prices for content on mobile games is ridiculous. I'm not saying that every person who plays TSTO is a gaming addict, but I'd bet you'd be surprised at how many are. EA is not the only guilty party to this "hey these people will pay 10 times as much for 1/10 the effort, we're rich!", mentality, but they sure are leading he charge.

So much hate in the world makes me lose my faith in humanity...

All I was trying to say is how ridiculous it is that Barneys Bowlarama is now $10.00 if I wanted to purchase it. $10.00 will not break my bank but it is money and I am not living off my parents credit card here. Simple put is that I will not purchase it. Its not going to change my life in anyway. I will go on living....some how.

I have given EA money, I have purchased donuts, I give them fuel to continue the updates and I would like for them to keep them coming. I enjoy the game, I just do not enjoy the Greed of EA. Disagree all you want, you have the right to. But an example of EA's greed is NCAA Football, they are making hundreds of millions of dollars off of players who will never see a dime of it. They have revenue, they make income, they do not need to set such ridiculous prices on a tablet game.

They only reason I play this game is because I love the SIMPSONS, Not EA.

HOLLLAAA supply and demand buddy! LMAO I love people that complain about the money when you can play the game without spending a penny, and with no ads! Im defending no one, but if you don't like the prices you can defend yourself by not buying =)

"If you actually care that other people who started playing later than you are able to get a limited time item you already have in your town that for the most part only you see that's pretty sad. Reminds me of the seagulls from Finding Nemo."

That is not my arguement. Doesn't matter anyway.

empathy77 wrote:
So much hate in the world makes me lose my faith in humanity...

All I was trying to say is how ridiculous it is that Barneys Bowlarama is now $10.00 if I wanted to purchase it. $10.00 will not break my bank but it is money and I am not living off my parents credit card here. Simple put is that I will not purchase it. Its not going to change my life in anyway. I will go on living....some how.

I have given EA money, I have purchased donuts, I give them fuel to continue the updates and I would like for them to keep them coming. I enjoy the game, I just do not enjoy the Greed of EA. Disagree all you want, you have the right to. But an example of EA's greed is NCAA Football, they are making hundreds of millions of dollars off of players who will never see a dime of it. They have revenue, they make income, they do not need to set such ridiculous prices on a tablet game.

They only reason I play this game is because I love the SIMPSONS, Not EA.

Barney's is the worst of it all. It's a premium building with a non-premium character. So really you are paying more donuts then other premium buildings/characters for a character that is not premium. Thankfully I got him through the Xmas storyline last year.

I hate how it was assumed I'm defending EA. I was just pointing out there's more than what meets the eye in terms of cost and money. They can charge what they want, in the end it's up to the consumer if they agree to the price, then they pay it. Don't like it, don't buy it. I love the Simpsons and the game, so I've supported them. Sure a game can generate $50 million or whatever, but that doesn't mean it covered all the costs and other things tied to the game like the server maintenance.

People are so self-entitled these days. Quit bellyaching and worry about more important things. It's not worth getting riled up over a virtual town.

Worm32 wrote:
You won't get a lot of sympathy from this forum when it comes to EA. This is the Mecca for EA fanboys and girls, and I've never understood why. I think it is because most of the people on this forum don't have the past abused wife relationship that we console players have had with EA. It always cracks me up when people defend them, talking about how "they need to make money too". If they only knew. Most have no idea of the greed monster EA has been looooooong before TSTO was even an idea.

I mean EA was voted worst company in America for 2012. I will say that again, WORST company of 2012! While I don't agree that they are the worst, that says a lot that a video game company took that title. They've been giving their customers the shaft for years, and it's all because they've tapped (pun intended) into a great money making scheme, addiction.

Everyone will agree that this game is addicting, and EA knows it. Just like a junkie trying to get his next fix, people will pay anything for their precious doughnuts, and again, EA knows it. If someone could explain to me what EA's rational is for the prices on their doughnuts, I would love to hear it.

I just finished the single player of "The Last of Us" on PS3. I won't get into the details about how ridiculously amazing and moving the storyline and graphics of this game are. Let alone what it must have taken to program. That game cost me $60, and has an amazing online multiplayer mode, where I play and talk with friends all over the world (not visit their town with zero interaction). Again, $60. So please please please someone tell me how it isn't BLARINGLY obvious that EA has tapped into an addiction and is now price gouging people beyond anything I've ever seen in all my years of gaming. I know they are not the only ones to blame, as suckers...... I mean people are willing to pay for it, but it seems a little over the top to me, ESPECIALLY FOR A TABLET GAME! I know most on here will disagree with me, but please do a little research on your precious EA. Just be prepared to wake up in cold sweats of guilt when you realize who you've been defending screaming "The doughnuts aren't worth it!!!!!"

Edit: And by the way, almost all video games have exclusive content (usually in the form of preorders), but even that becomes available to everyone else at a later date. It is extremely rare that a video game has major content unavailable to people just because of the time they started playing the game. People need to drop the elitist "I was here first, so you can't have any" mentality around here. It's not the way it's done in video games, period.

That's just the current trend. There was plenty of complaining when I first started lurking and posting. A search of "EA worst company" will get you 7 pages of results.