The Sims 3 buzz/gossip/rumours

[bcool]

It appears EA have backed down on the 10 day revalidation issue and authentication will only occur when a patch or other content is downloaded Kotaku.com

Next is for them to back down on not letting us create our own custom content and meshes (if applicable)

[sumpsychochic]

We won't be able to create neighborhoods? And yet they say they are listening to the community and giving us what we want?

I believe you just won't be able to with the initial release of the game, but it will be available after.

[laurakarla]

how do u get a teen sim pregnant in the sims 2

[AllenABQ]

Interesting all the speculation and all the angst.

The old saying goes, "99% of what we fear never comes to pass." Of course we're dealing with a video game maker here, but still my approach is "wait and see."

PC gaming in general was revolutionized by custom player content. There's hardly any game out there with a huge fanbase that can't be modded in some capacity. I find it hard to believe that EA would take CC away from "The Sims 3".

Of course they might try something stupid like severely restricting what you can mod, or only making mods available through some site/server setup they control. That would be shooting themselves in the foot and amount to losses of tons of simoleans because it would drive away a HUGE portion of the original fan base. There's a reason why "The Sims" keeps going and its not because they release a buggy expansion pack every 6-8 months.

If they DO try to do something like that, watch the sales plummet and within less than a year they'll be massively changing things to recapture their ostracized fan demographic.

People have commented on how awful the TS3 Sims look. Again, I wouldn't be worried. We're just seeing the first sims that some design team came up with for promotional purposes. TS2 Body Shop made faces incredibly customizable. If they had anything LESS than that (and they're promising even better) then they'd only be hurting themselves.

Likewise I seriously doubt that younger age groups are going to disappear. File that under the category of "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING"? The Sims have a fan base that definitely LOVES the childhood age groups. (Probably because the game has a lot of female player appeal.) Cutting that out? I'd only believe it when I heard it formally announced by EA, not by speculating they are gone because we haven't seen any screenies so far.

It's fun to speculate, but with 1-2 years to go before release there's A LOT that can change including a lot that can be added. I wouldn't start dwelling on the negative at least until we're within 3-6 months of release. At that time the real limits of the new game should start getting into the press, the gaming site reviews, etc.

[raindrops84]

Yea it seems too soon to come out with the sims 3 seems like there is so much to be done still with sims 2... Although this whole securom thing is still keeping me skeptical on whether I want to buy anything from EA.

[simdude]

To be honest, I thought they'd stop using SecuRom after the big explosion around the web when it came with BV... I was way off.  I highly doubt they'll get rid of it now, unless more people are willing to participate in a mass outcry of displeasure for that particular "anti-piracy/anti-legal user" program.  If that works, then maybe they'll listen... but still, as it looks, they seriously pretend that they care, they just aren't showing it very well in their actions.  :?

They won't stop using it, it's been confirmed on Spore, another Maxis-EA game out in Q4-'08 (if anyone doesn't know that) and it looks like they plan to insert securom into all future EA products.

"Funny" thing (NOT) i've noticed recently, the german game Anno 1701 is being published like this:

in Europe with Tages v5
in USSR with StarForce v4
in China with SecuRom v7
in America i don't know (maybe someone else does)

I wonder why are they doing that ? Looks like they're "testing the waters", but for what ? The best way to get rid of customers ? Just looking at those three names next to each other like that makes me wanna throw the computer out the window.

I also wonder if this is gonna be the case with Sims 3 ? Different protections for different geographical regions i mean.

Regarding the '09 release of S3, i too think it's too early and could be underdeveloped but probably EA tested the ground with the Sims Stories series and realised people aren't buying the Sims 2 formula as they were expecting anymore and decided it's time for Sims 3. On the other hand, i remember that 2 years ago it was roumored that S3 would come out in 2008. So maybe they are actually working on it for 2-3 years now and think it's pretty much done&ready.

[~*AngelBaby*~]

Thanks soooo much for the information!!!:) I can't wait untill it comes out, either. I was just curious, when it comes out can you still play The Sims2 and still do what your doing now(downloading and stuff) or is it going neglected?:cry:

[MaryH]

I've read that there's a firestorm of controversy now going on because the new patch for FT is loaded with SecuRom, and that people are being advised not to download it.
So EA is loading up patches now with a despised article of software to patch your game. How despicable can they get?
The best way to avoid it is not to download it.

[Tenshii~Akari]

What?!  Seriously?  *checks the BBS and SRMBD*

Wow... EA, can you grow to be any more of an idiotic corporation?  If that's the very same update that they're talking about putting in Spore and Sims 3, please throw bricks at me now... because this is getting ridiculous.  

I find this (thanks to Mimi52861 on the BBS) pretty interesting in why one shouldn't trust their dealings until they decide they want to shape up.  I don't deal with unsatisfactory business conditions and practices, higher number of resolved issues or not... I only shoot for those I can trust more.  Until it starts snowing in the middle of August over my way, they can keep stuff to themselves for all I care.  Not cool at all... :roll:

[simdude]

Phew!! Dam it ! I just got that patch from a friend who downloaded it this morning. I smelled something fishy though, something simillar happened with the BV patch a while ago so i decided not to install it and read the net reviews first.

Thanks for the info MaryH !

I knew it, these crims wouldn't stop doing it. As i said a couple of posts above, EA, at least, are prepared to go all the way with this even if it means losing half their customers.

I regret i signed up for the Sims 3 VIP, i think they might start to send it thru that mail and install it when you open the message, just like a mail virus. They are too dangerous now, this is it ! From now on i won't touch anything coming from EA until it's thoroughly disected and examined for potential securom infestation.

[MaryH]

Below is a link to the site where we're trying to get all simmers involved in writing EA and protesting this, to get them to stop it. We are asking for your experiences with this program, and if you want to join us, we welcome everyone.

http://securom.sublimesims.net/

[simdude]

That's nice as an initiative and all but, to me, that's a no go. For 4 out of 5 points on the "how to help list" there i need to register with the EA-Sims2 official sites and that's something i just don't want to do and for the 5th, i need to mail a letter on the other side of the planet, wich will get there around Christmas, plus it will cost me as much as a game. As far as i'm concerned there's only one effective way to protest in this matter and that's not buying stuff from them anymore. When their sales will drop from 1,000,000 to 100, they'll be aware.

Just like gas prices, until there's only buses left running on the streets, there's no reason to drop the price, gas sells.

Besides, even this securomsublime site requires registration, how can you expect people to join in on a cause when the door isn't open to everybody.

[MaryH]

The door is open to everyone. All you need to do is register-and it's simple to register-there's no barred door. Why do you think is isn't open to everyone? Can you explain that? I'm interested because I'm one of the members of the forum-I wrote the official front page (while it was up) and I am involved in the more intense campaigns.
 We're going to be running a letter's drive, and an official printed petition drive (this is premature only by a couple of days) and if you think that it won't make a difference, hundreds of people have been reading our site and seeing what we're doing.
Please just wait and see what our site is going to do..we're actively working on the points you're making.

[Paden]

If you can't be bothered to look around and inform yourself on what's been going on, then enjoy that thousand, whatever currency your country has, paperweight, because sure as corn grows in the fields and old men like taking naps, one way or another, Securom is going to cause you or someone that you know problems. It's a good site, you ought to take the time to read. You don't have to join to read, as Sara and Mary said earlier, but if you have something to say or a question to ask, it's not that big a hassle. I was posting less than two minutes after I joined. If you wanna know what happened to my good gaming computer, the one I was sooo darn proud of last year, check it out.

http://securom.sublimesims.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:ea-nearly-cost-me-memories-of-my-dying-father&catid=48:what-you-have-said&Itemid=74

[MaryH]

Just one last thought-SimDude, you had to register here to get the posting privileges, did you not? Was that hard? Of course it wasn't-and neither is registering for our site. Our site is set up almost exactly like every active forum site and we don't try to make life hard for anyone.