What is it with software peddlers these days? Why this desire to constantly peer over ones shoulders so to speak when using said software? Does anyone have any rights to privacy anymore?
I don't accept piracy as an excuse. The great majority of pirates never had any intention to play let alone buy the games in the first place, they just do it because they can.
I would like to see the results of a market survey regarding the number of games sold and those not sold because one has to be connected to the net to play, and couple that with game sales lost to piracy.
One all ways sees the hysterical figures of hundred of thousand pirated copies of such and such game, movie and soundtrack and how artists, authors etc. are loosing millions hand over fist in lost revenue. Garbage, I say because the vast majority of pirates never had any intention of playing , seeing or listening to the stuff in the first place, they just download it because it's there and it's free. An example is the CC. via the Booty, I don't think the players who download there ever had any intention of donating to Peggy or TSR. they just download it because it's there and it's free.
Police etc. need a court order to come into your home and snoop around. Why don't these weasels require a court order to install spyware that does much the same thing?
For the benefit of game company spy's that monitor sites such this. I will not buy any game that requires me to install steam, I can and will do without.So add that into your stats.

They certainly know how to sell their games, first securom, now this. One can only conclude that they are determined to go to the wall.

What a pack of idiots.

I think that game was always doomed to flop.
It was launched when the securom scandal was at its peak and EA were badly on the nose.
That silly pre-release (pirate) and the overwhelming negative feedback it got plus the bad press their EULA and store got from the gaming community should have been enough to convince even the most mediocre executive that they had a potential lemon on their hands and to continue with it in its present form will only result in throwing good money after bad.
Allowing themselves to be convinced by Rod Humble that he was going to be the next Will Wright and lead EA to new heights of wealth and fame with that childish imitation of what once was a good game tells me that the senior executives of EA were either heavily involved in something else (probably that securom stroke of genius) or all on the booze for a few years.
So where now? EP after EP? Wash their hands of the thing and let it die a natural death? Or get a new design team in and start again?

Sims 3 fan, hmm, I've yet to come across one of these rare creatures.
Are they on the endangered species list?

Didn't they ever make a king size stuff up with this one. A lot of us could see this coming so didn't waste our money on it, others pre ordered the thing even after Pescados "The awful truth" posts.
So where do they go from here? A sims4? They obviously can't do much more with this garbage, people just won't touch it if it's got 3 in the title.

I think this goes back to cutting down system demands. The fools at EA. are under the illusion that the vast majority of players are retirees or teens playing on ten year old Pentiums or some old hand me down.
If they ever did a proper survey they would find that the great majority of players have modern high to mid range computers that are more than capable of playing today's games at descent resolutions.

The thing was developed to be installable on very old low end computers. Not necessarily playable or enjoyable. It was all about the sales figures and Humbles ego,hence the millions spent advertising the tripe.
The popularity of the sims ensures that the thing sell itself and doesn't require a massive advertising campaign, but there was something on the nose with this one, far to many negative rumors, securom,the new EULA, the store, TSR. collusion, permanent Internet connection just to list a few.
The seamless neighbourhoods ensured that buildings couldn't be accessed as in previous versions of the game, otherwise the minimum system requirements would be on par with something like Farcry. Hardly something that was going to sell a questionable game.
Rest assured all the eye candy etc. will come in due time. Then it'll be time to replace those old Pentiums for those that can afford it.

So sad but I tend to agree with you on this. "Pride goeth before the fall."

I shall disagree. You can't survive on pride alone, in the end the mighty Dollar rules supreme, and so do the shareholders, let's wait and see shall we.

You catch fleas of course. No matter I have nothing to do with with that trash or their store. As long as the creators/modders keep creating for the sims2 I will probably keep playing it for a few years yet.
That begs the question. How long will it take EA. to jump back on the sims2 bandwagon and try cash in on it's reborn popularity?

The best thing the modders should have done, was just leave the blasted thing alone, abide 100% to their EULA.
Why try to fix the stupid thing? Let them iron out the bugs. Let them dress the thing up to make it presentable. Let them write the mods. Let them write the default replacement skins so they don't look like something out of Mario Bros.
Why help them? They just treat the whole community with contempt.
If all the modders had of abided to their blasted EULA totally the stupid thing would have died a natural death six months ago.

Unfortunately any social network site especially those that also host online games attract scammers like flies to cow dung.
Those who are silly enough to throw money at virtual pixels get what they deserve, I played Mafiawars for over a year now and Zynga hasn't got one red cent out of me.
If EA. were to make the next generation of sims into another sims online then the result would be the end of the sims.
The whole concept of the original sims was for the consumer to buy the bare bones game and then do as he or she pleases with it and also to share various mods or creations, not to make money out of them but to generate an interest and sites such as this to increase the popularity. And Maxis in turn made a whole lot of money selling the next installments or upgrades because the game became very addictive and grew in popularity.
This is something that was obviously lost to EA. because they decided to become control freaks and hoped that the players would flock to their store, throwing millions of dollars at them for virtual crap that someone at AE. land thinks that players want.
A rule in any business. Take your customers for granted, dictate to them then s--t on them as well means that you will go to the wall.

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. 

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.

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.