So I spoke with an employee of EA Sims 3 team today..

[Carlwashere]

That's the thing, Maxis didn't make Sims 3. EA was in complete control over the whole thing.
I personally like Maxis a lot, Sim City, Spore, and obviously The Sims, are all made by them. But Maxis had no part in Sims 3.

If anyone's conning, It's EA. But what else is new? 

[roerzman]

That's the thing, Maxis didn't make Sims 3. EA was in complete control over the whole thing.
I personally like Maxis a lot, Sim City, Spore, and obviously The Sims, are all made by them. But Maxis had no part in Sims 3.

If anyone's conning, It's EA. But what else is new? 
EA. of course, and let's not forget the creative genius of Rod Humble. (laugh)
Says a lot for a game when it takes the creative talent of the modders/hackers to make the game semi playable. It's good to see that it took a consumer backlash to galvanise those twerps into action. One wonders what their spiel will be this time? "The game is a phenomenal success, blah blah and we are gonna make it even better blah blah" I can hardly wait to see if EA. can turn a pig into a poodle.

[Nonni]

Are you making fun of poor Mr. Humble? All he wants is to make people happy. Are we talking about the same person? I would not call Mr. Humble a genius.

[roerzman]

He made EA. happy. They're all on medication and recreational drugs now to help cheer them up after watching the Sims popularity graph go south.
"It's only the economic downturn" Screams Humble at the crisis meeting as the members swallow another handful of pills.

[MaryH]

"It's only a game, people!" John Rottenchilli was quoted as saying at the last stockholders' meeting.

[Carlwashere]

 
 
Yes, it is only a game. But you guys could at least make it a good one. Lol, isn't that why we pay them? I'm not a mindless sack of money.

[Chaavik]

If EA can bring the look and feel of TS2 (faces mostly) to these Sims, then I will play more often. But until then, I play sparingly only when I'm testing my personal mods or checking out other people's mods and new EP/SPs.

The pudding look was cute for a while but not anymore because I can't get over that big gob of nose mass on the tip of their noses.

[roerzman]

As I said, a pigs into poodles, that's why I still play Sims2 and there still many great custom creations out there.

[gazania]

Well, I was one of those way back in June who was not really impressed with Sims 3. But hey, I thought that I'd wait it out for at least a year and see if the bugs finally were squashed. I also wrote that I would wait until I could get the game used for about half-price, since my card was a "trouble card" initially (ATI 4800-series), and I wasn't sure what else I had on my computer that could cause even more problems.

I thought I would be chomping at the bit by now. But no, I can still wait perfectly well for another nine months or more. The price is right. Amazon sometimes offers the game new for $29.99, and you can get it for a little less on EBay.

But the game simply does not interest me. I wish I can say it does. However, even with many of the game's big selling points, such as the open neighborhood, there are down sides. Yes, you lose the loading screen, but you also lose the ability to download interesting terrains geared to what YOU want, not what EA thinks we want.

I played the Sims 1 on console, and was hooked. Sims 2 excited me. Even though our budget was really tight because my husband was laid off, I saved up a dollar here and a dollar there and bought the base game used. I did the same with some of the expansions up to Seasons, which was the last expansion before the Securom debacle. The others, I got new on sale at a local store.

I think that because of Securom, because of Sims 3 (which sorry ... didn't sound like such a rip-roaring success to me even then ... modest, perhaps ... but not rip-roaring), because of the obvious money-grubbing tactics concerning the store, EA has more problems on their hands than the lukewarm reception with Sims 3. As Kaoz wrote, a Sims 4 could be a huge mistake now, unless it truly knocks people's socks off like Sims 1 and 2 did. And Sims 3 did more than simply cool the fervor of many Sims players toward Sims 3. Some, like I, no longer play the Sims in general quite as much as we used to. The Sims we know and love are frozen in time. There are things now such as new FB and MySpace apps vying for our attention, and I admit, our money. So many Sims 2 sites dropped like flies, Sims 1 sites are like precious artifacts, and much of the Sims 3 content doesn't quite get the oohs and aaahs that the other two versions' sites got, though there has been some amazing work fixing the game's problems by the free sites. They should get far more accolades than they do.

EA bought Playfish. Interesting move. EA COULD pioneer a YoVille-like game that could blast YV, which is fun, but bug-ridden and greedy, out of the water. It could resurrect a "lite" version of Sims 1. Give it a retro spin. It could work IF EA isn't greedy and bides its time.

Yeah. I don't think EA would do that either. But one can dream.

And EA has ... or had ... an untapped market with the popularity of netbooks. Most netbooks have trouble with more complex games like Sims 2. But my netbook plays Sims 1 nicely up to Pets. It got wonky when I installed Superstar, unfortunately, but I have enough to work with for now with the five expansions. EA could explore that angle and make sure that all 7 expansions work on most netbooks. Once again, it can toss in a "retro" angle. Many older games, BTW, are enjoying new lives on netbooks, not just The Sims.

EA can also take Securom off BV and beyond. Come on now ... BV is what? About three years old this year? Give it a rest. If it does, I'll finally buy more expansions. But not until then. While the Securom-removing programs are nice, that's not the point. I will NOT reward EA for stupid behavior. And I don't like arrrring the game. So there we are.

And EA could even release a very occasional new "special-edition" Stuff Pack or Expansion for Sims 2, or even a once-in-a-blue moon  Sims 1 expansion if they iron out any netbook problems. Stop trying to pretend the other two don't exist, and they don't have fans!

Yes, EA can finally revamp Sims 3 and make it the game it could be. It can even resurrect the other two series and take them in other directions once in a while. It will take time and money. But it isn't impossible. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[kaoz666]

I think this thread can officially be called "The Sims 3: One Year Later", lol.

Gazania harks on some epic points in her post. The main one being EA's holding the keys to the castle, yet doing little to nothing with them when The Sims franchise is concerned. Let's bare in mind that TS3 doesn't even have the signature of The Sims creator Will Wright on it. It is in no way the true successor to TS2. It's EA vision, not the vision of the original folks behind the original game and it's sequel. I whole heartily think TS3 would be a completely different experience had Maxis been the developers of it. But they weren't, and what we have of the game now is what we have of the game, for better or worse.

Taking into another thing Ganzania said, the fact of the matter is that to the vast majority of TRUE sim players, that being those of us who have played the game from TS1, TS3 doesn't appeal to what we want. And even with whatever improvements they make to it, it probably still won't. I'm on the exact same boat. I see potential in the game, yes. But no where near enough for me to add it to my library. Even with the upcoming expansion pack in June for TS3, Ambitions...it's still lacks in the key areas that made most of us get into the series in the 1st place. Almost a year and soon to be 2 expansion packs later, and game still hasn't captured the core Sims audience yet. Whereas with the 1st two EPs of TS2 University and Night Life, they sold more copies of the base game then the following EPs up to Apartment Life did. Big difference between the 1st two EPs of each respective game. I'll say this much, if by the 3rd EPs release I still feel the same about TS3 as I do right now, I'm officially writing it off completely.

[MaryH]

I think EA has missed the opportunity to capture the majority of the Sims 2 players by not making it the "true" prequel to the Sims 2. They've lost whatever thread and backstory the game had and tossed it out the door. All for the sake of shiny stuff, some of which doesn't even work.
They haven't fixed the bugs, they haven't improved on the gameplay and have the temerity (the substitute word for what I really want to say) to charge for content that they withheld or did not create for the game until afterwards. All when their customers are screaming for other things that they're used to, repeatedly-EA doesn't even have the politeness to even hear any of the suggestions. Only now are they even close to making an EP that has some careers in it.
The modders have been valiantly trying to make it playable, the independent creators have been dutifully working to make custom content to satisfy everyone, and still it is not a good game.
All because EA did not want to make it better, just their version of it-which is not what we wanted.
I'll say it again-this game is a dumbed down version of the Sims 2. It has lost all the charm and humor of the past two games in favor of rabbit holes and adventures that have no meaning. It is not a "people simulator"-it is a very limited RPG with lots of bugs. All creativity is gone, and so is the inspiration that made the past 2 games fun.
As you can see, I'm not sold on it, nor will I be.
The best thing they can do at this point is to scrap the entire game, and rework it to better reflect what the players want, not the damned stockholders, who have been disappointed so far with their returns from a game that was supposed to blow EA out of the water from the red ink to black.
It has proven a mediocre return on money that has been spent on little improvement and mass disappointment.
Of course when they release the Sims 2 "complete edition" I will be the first in line. Phooey on the Sims 3. It's not a game I want, and it's a waste of money from what I've read and heard for the past year.

[mizer]

Sims 3 is a disgrace isn't the whole point of of a game supposed to be them being semi  entertaining! Im sorry but EA and others need to make games not pretty bits of of scenery that gets dull quick and has bugs to the point of of not functioning! this is just annoying i mean i like games from 4 years ago better then the stuff now mostly because you can tell they really worked hard too make sure it works and is fun! ..... Sigh sorry about that. I need to get that off my chest!

[Nonni]

I think this thread can officially be called "The Sims 3: One Year Later", lol.

Gosh, with all the work people like Pescado have done to try to improve the Sims 3, I was hoping it would be more fun by now.

How much time do you think Sims 3 needs to become an interesting and fun thing to do?

[Paden]

*looks at calendar* Got until the 12th of Forever??

[kaoz666]

Paden's always entertaining post pretty much answers your question, Nonni. Trying to make the game any bit as appealing (and in some cases playable) compared to it's predecessors would pretty much mean they'd have to strip it down so much to rebuild it, they may as well make a new game altogether. So I totally understand EA and Visceral Games decision to just fix what they can, and market the game to those who actually find joy in it rather then trying to mass advertise to the whole of the Sims community.

It's a tragic case of a major game developer focusing more on a brand name then the meaning of the brand itself. I personally think it was doomed from the start when they handed one of their most recognizable and profitable franchises to a development house that up until TS3 made nothing but shooters and action games. Seriously, this is all of the games that Visceral Games have made since it's inception:

007: Everything or Nothing - 2003/PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
The Godfather: The Game - 2006/PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
The Godfather: Mob Wars - 2006/PlayStation Portable
The Godfather: Blackhand Edition - 2006/Wii
The Godfather: The Don's Edition - 2006/PlayStation 3
The Simpsons Game - 2007/PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Dead Space - 2008/PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
The Godfather II - 2009/PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Dead Space: Extraction - 2009/Wii
Dante's Inferno -   2010/PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable

As you can clearly see, Visceral in no way should have been tasked with making a Sims Game, PERIOD. Hell, the only actual GOOD game they've made was Dante's Inferno, and that's only because it's a God Of War clone. It's like asking Pizza Hut to take over making Twinkies for Hostess. Pizza Hut does Pizza, Pasta and Wings, not Twinkies. All you're asking for is people to start hating something they've loved for years. Same scenario here. When you ask a development house that makes action based titles to make a life simulator, you take the risk of the game not exactly living up to expectations. It's taken EA close to a year to finally eat crow and realize this. Will it translate to TS3 being something the die hard sims player will actually get into? Not a chance. But it will serve as a lesson to EA about choosing developers for projects better. Hell, even if they have to suck it up and pull some of the original Maxis team back together into another development house SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of making a Sims game (The Sims 4 preferably), that'd be a better solution. But as far as innovation for TS3, baring they blow it up and start from the ground up, or open up the code so that modders and meshers and tear it apart themselves and turn it into something spectacular as they did with TS2, I wouldn't hold my breath about it. There's no questions asked that the concept of TS3 is awesome. The execution of the concept is where it falls flat.