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

[Nonni]

There has been an uptick on creations for Sims 2 everywhere

I'm very happy to hear that!

[roerzman]

It's obvious that sims3 is a dud. Some similarities there with Microsoft and vista, that was also a dud so now we have win.7. Will we have a sims4?
To sell me, EA. will first have to get rid of those abominations that replaced the humans in sims1 and 2,secondly, make modding and installation of mods and cc. easier.In other words, throw the thing in the bin and have another go.
EA. are already admitting that the game could sell better, that's corporate talk stating that it's a flop. So there is a small glimmer of .light on the horizon for me, perhaps in a year or so I can finally move on to the next sims game.
So for the benefit of the EA. snoops. Write an attractive game, make it as easy to modify as in 1 and 2, and let us play the game as we want not how you want. Do that and you'll be seriously wealthy again. After all it wasn't the likes of that fool Humble that made the sims 1 and 2 the phenomenal success that they were, and as in sims2 still is,it was the unbelievable talent of a lot of modders who went about their creative work without having to worry about being dragged before a court for violating some dumb EULA.

[MaryH]

The biggest problem is that EA, while admitting the "game could sell better", will not openly admit to their mistakes in the first place, and that they will flog the game to death with at least half a dozen pointless and bug-ridden EP's. The store will remain open, and no extra content will appear in the form of stuff packs.  They will destroy this franchise through mule-headed obstinacy and greed.

They do not care what their fans think. They've been deaf to their wishes for quite some time, and even if they do hear them, they come out with something so unrelated that everyone will stop playing the game.

They probably will not make a Sims 4. You can probably bet on that, and make money doing so. They're tired of supporting PC gaming, and it's obvious they're going to go for on-line gaming, and microtransactions.

So it's the end of the line for the Sims franchise with this game. Mark my words. In another 4 years the franchise will be but a distant and fond memory.

[gazania]

There has been an uptick on creations for Sims 2 everywhere

I'm very happy to hear that!

I've definitely noticed that within the last couple of months or so. For a long time, things were looking grim for Sims 2. Sites were closing left and right ... still are, unfortunately. And no, you're not seeing surges of new Sims 2 stuff. But for the sites that remain, there seems to be a new spirit among many of them. It's as if many creators have indeed decided that the Sims 2 is still worth creating for.

[Theraven]

Of course it is!  
It's not very long ago I learned SimPE well enough to put my own meshes ingame, and since creating for sims 3 is still very limited (and requires putting my nose into a bunch of tutorials again, plus installing the game, make everything work and blahblahblah), I keep to sims 2 creation.
People just had to understand how limited the new, shiny game was before going back to sims 2 again...

[Nonni]

I seem to recall that I came across an active site that uncatagorically states that they are a Sims 2 site and only a Sims 2 site and that you would have to look elsewhere if you wanted Sims 3 anything.

'going to search for it...'

[EKozski]

My site is a Sims 2 site. Granted it's only Sims and recolors. I do have one Sims 3 sim, but I uninstalled that piece of crap. Too many problems.

Sugah's Place is a Sims 2 only place and so is Basic for Sims. Suga's Place is Sims, clothing and object recolors. Basic For Sims is Sims and clothing recolors.

[roerzman]

EA. online gaming? So far they have a not so good track record, after the securom debacle who knows just what they'll try to slip into your pc. So far I think Zynga has that market pretty well cornered. Who doesn't play Mafia Wars now?
I have disliked EA. for some time but after they shut down Backalley sims because some clot inadvertently uploaded some recolored piece of junk from their shop I absolutely despise them now and will certainly not be playing any of their games online.
Those fleas at EA. have a job ahead of them restoring mine and no doubt a lot of others confidence in them. A lot needs to be undone, securom, sims3 and their dammed EULA, and that insulting store just for starters.
Sims2 lives on for a long time yet.

[kaoz666]

I seem to recall that I came across an active site that uncatagorically states that they are a Sims 2 site and only a Sims 2 site and that you would have to look elsewhere if you wanted Sims 3 anything.

'going to search for it...'

I happen to know of a number of sites as well that are solely committed to Sims2 content. And indeed roerzman makes the most valid point of them all in the fact that EA has a LOT of damage control to do. But like MaryH said, the damage is most likely done. The only way I see a Sims4 even being a remote possibility is if EA pulls together the original Maxis team, including Will Wright, gives them a blank check and says "Fix the mess we made of the franchise". Sadly, that will most likely never happen. So the franchise will more then likely die a slow death following the last EP they churn our for Sims3.

Thankfully for the modding community of Sims2, the game will well outlive it's follow up. There's just to much content out there. Even with the number of sites that have disappeared over the years, there's STILL sites out there with quality CC, and creators, though not is as great a number as 3 years ago, who still put out stellar content themselves. Modders can keep a game going long after it's shelf life has ended. I used Counter Strike and WWF/E No Mercy as examples. Both are games that are nearing 10 years of existence. But with tools created by a multitude of modders, the games take on completely new identities. There are HUNDREDS of mods for No Mercy. You can practically (If you have the no how) build your own wrestling game from the ground up. A lot of the programmer friends I have in various developers got their basic knowledge from modding No Mercy. Sims2 poses the same possibilities. There will always be a demand, if even just a small scale one, for CC for the game. As such, there will always be creators willing to make it.

As far as the 3rd installment of the series, I wholly predict they will continue making new EPs and SPs for it, but market it to the few (and I do mean few) users that have not jumped ship from the game. Make whatever capitol they can from it, and when the demand finally and inevitably dies off, put the game (and most likely the series) to pasture. There's a lesson to be learned from this. Never entrust a franchise anyone aside from whoever had a hand in making it the success it was. The results are 90% never positive.

[Hammie]

*sigh* The Sims 3, to me was a huge dissapointment. I agree withe everyone else's comments. They're better off just chucking the thing and cranking out new EPS for TS2 with the ORIGINAL Maxis team. Because the dude who was in charge of it this time, has royally borked Sims. It's really depressing. The Sims 2 had so much potential to keep going. I mean, so what if game play is a bit quicker? It's no good if it's not a good game. The people look like they've had their skin streched by a taffy machine.  Not to mention when I last checked in on the exchange, all the Maxoids have flown the coop. Pretty much anybody on the Sims 2's original site is on their own.  It's a shame really, EA, just when the Sims 2 was becoming massively epic. Now, they've gone from going through the roof, to head diving into the toilet.

[roerzman]

Ienjoyhamsandwiches is right on the nail there. The thing is a flop and disappointment to many who wasted their money on it. It was said before they released the crap that they could have incorporated most of the game play, seamless neighbourhoods, personality traits etc. into the existing game had would have had something incredible, but alas they allowed that egotistical idiot Humble have his way trying to do a Will Wright and put his personal stamp on the sims. Well he'll certainly be remembered by the gaming community as the idiot who all but destroyed the sims. 

[Hammie]

Amen! 
You're right on the money there, roerzman!

[Nonni]

EKozski says:

My site is a Sims 2 site. Granted it's only Sims and recolors. I do have one Sims 3 sim, but I uninstalled that piece of crap. Too many problems.

Sugah's Place is a Sims 2 only place and so is Basic for Sims. Suga's Place is Sims, clothing and object recolors. Basic For Sims is Sims and clothing recolors.

Oh, silly me. I go there all the time.

[gazania]

EA. online gaming? So far they have a not so good track record, after the securom debacle who knows just what they'll try to slip into your pc. So far I think Zynga has that market pretty well cornered. Who doesn't play Mafia Wars now?

Well, I don't, but I play Farmville, Cafe World and YoVille, though I don't play CW too often.

There have been a LOAD of complaints that Zynga is getting just too greedy with cash items (Gee ... sounds famliar?) And I notice that many of my "neighbors" have gone off to other games by other companies, several of which, unfortunately, are also getting greedy. I guess that the lure of easy money for pixels is just too strong. Hey, I realize that these companies need to make money but unfortunately, many of these companies just don't offer much for RL cash.

A sham Sims 1 page that kept promising a Facebook Sims 1 game got hundreds of thousands of fans ... I believe the number went over one million, though I'm not sure, since it appears that the page is gone now. This is a SHAM page, and it wasn't heavily promoted, and of course, wasn't endorsed by EA. So yes, the interest in a FB Sims 1 game is there.

I still feel that if EA played its cards right, it could put out a game that rivals Zynga. It might be a "traditional" Sims 1-ish game, or it could an Urbz-type game. The only thing is that EA MUST avoid appearing too greedy. The content must be fairly priced and the cash content not overdone. The game must run smoothly, without many glitches. And the quests must be interesting, with plenty of opportunity to interact with neighbors. It must also be secure ... Zynga gets many complaints about that.

Yup. I think I probably have a better chance of winning the top prize on a lottery. But it could theoretically happen. Too bad greed is too strong a lure.

Out of curiosity ... those who played Sims Online ... how was that game?

Anyway, my situation is that I don't hate the Sims 3. I don't write it off as a total failure. And I know that many people really like it, and I respect that. It's just that I thought that EA would examine free-site creations and take things further from there. And from that point, make the Sims 3 so amazing, so incredible, that Sims 2 players would remark, "Sims 2? What's Sims 2?"

[Jenna]

Well, I don't, but I play Farmville, Cafe World and YoVille, though I don't play CW too often.

There have been a LOAD of complaints that Zynga is getting just too greedy with cash items (Gee ... sounds famliar?) And I notice that many of my "neighbors" have gone off to other games by other companies, several of which, unfortunately, are also getting greedy. I guess that the lure of easy money for pixels is just too strong. Hey, I realize that these companies need to make money but unfortunately, many of these companies just don't offer much for RL cash.

Zynga and Playdom are two of the worst offenders when it comes to the social/browser-game market; Shady marketing practices, false promises, in-game spam imploring you to buy their virtual currency, etc. It's pretty bad. There's a multitude of interesting articles written about these shady practices, but this one in particular is one of the most interesting:

http://techcrunch.com/2009/10/31/scamville-the-social-gaming-ecosystem-of-hell/

(be sure to read all the follow up articles)

Out of curiosity ... those who played Sims Online ... how was that game?

It was an utter failure. While it might have had promise, it got taken over by botters, 12s, and other varieties of asshats. That, and all the while it kept devolving further and further into nothing more than a massive cybersex emporium.