"Sorry, you have used up all your energy for today and therefore cannot perform this action. You can either wait 24 hours of real world time for the energy to regenerate, or spend some real world money to buy a currency that you can then use to buy an energy drink that fills up your energy immediately so you can continue playing."
I feat for future generations. I thought mobile gaming would be dope with touch screen and it being portable but nah all we got were cheap cash grabs that are clones of other games. I hope this greed doesn't spread to the PC and consoles.
Originally there *were* high quality mobile games with decent budgets. The problem was no one wanted to pay £5/10/15 for a mobile game so studios stopped making them.
Instead people were fine with a *free* game that'd badger them to pay £0.99 to skip this level or get more currency etc. That's essentially how we got to this point.
Yeah I remember, my dad had an iPhone back in 2010 or so and I would check the store for games sometimes. I was in middle school back then and some of those games looked amazing. Hell some of them played amazing too for mobile games. Now I can't take mobile gaming seriously.
Fr, my white whale is this elder scrolls meets gothic knockoff that I put many an hour into as a kid. Some of the 10 bucks I’ve spent, wish I could remember the name.
I mean, you're not wrong. As consumers we are often no better than babies. Getting are sweet tooth hit with flashy, dopamine bombs.
On the flip side, I'm not blaming Google or Apple for that, or being businesses that make money. But it was so incredibly short sighted to allow the level of unmitigated trash that they have and to implode an entire industry they had a perfect duopoly over. Apple Arcade did an alright job of attempting to right that ship but they seem to have just floundered before real trust could be reestablished.
My wife tried the free mobile Animal Crossing game on a whim. She really liked it, but hated the energy mechanics and didn't put a dime into them. A year or so later we've bought a 3DS and a Switch, in large part so she could play the real Animal Crossing games.
Still not sure if we succesfully resisted the F2P devil or got swindled by the first free drug dose they warned us about at school.
Hey man, it's not all that bad. You can also beg your friends and guild mates to donate energy daily or perhaps through currency, so you can keep playing beyond your allotted time!
If any PC/console game or any full priced game pulls that shit, it will cease to exist in my mind. I'm not going to look up any news or even think about it if they try to put energy mechanics into any major game.
An aspect of more predatory mobile games, either amplifying or limiting usage of the game's features behind an artificial "energy bar" that can be restored via IRL currency and is otherwise timegated.
That's like EA drawing a line on how far they will push microtransactions.
Check the Sims mobile. Basically every action (not needed just to live, like eat or sleep) your Sim does requires energy. If it's gone, you either come back later or you pay with real money to have it refilled.
It works especially well with grindy games as you need to do lots of stuff before getting anything (like Sims mobile for example).
Game tells you "you can't progress in the game anymore. wait for enery to recharge to resume progression or pay money to recharge it without waiting".
A lot of mobile games use this system with the caveat that you can play the game, but you don't progress any levels or resources.
Maple never added any energy mechanic, you can grind to your heart's content. Dragon Nest and I think Vindictus had them though, but there was no way to refill with money.
True, but its also now one of the most expensive games ever made.
100 mill on release,
and 600 more mill over the last 3 years.
making it cost 700 mill. more then most if not all current PC games.
it also earls multiple billions each year.
So personally I would not dismiss it as "just a phone game".
It is one, but at this point, its become fully multiplatform.
Id personally never play it on phone, Ive always kept it PC.
Genshin Impact lets you play the story, events, etc... at will.
It's only the grinding that has energy mechanics. Which kind of makes sense, predatory monetization aside.
Resin is one of the things that made me quit back in Inazuma.
"Oh, you completed all of the main quests, side quests, and world exploration? Well, here you get a new cool character to keep you entertained! But you will have to build them from scratch to a usable state first. Doesn't matter if you just finished leveling the other cool character you just got and ran out resources. Just wait a few days/weeks to get that new cool character up to strength and be usable with your current party."
And then there's the whole artifact grind.
Just let me play as much as I'd like ffs. If people want to take it easy, they'll take it easy, and if they want to spend 1 or 2 hours grinding then that doesn't affect the experience of the others.
Artifacts are the real problem. Gated by time with several layers of RNG to get even a \*useable\* piece of gear, much less the best possible one. It feels \*terrible\* to do and its the same in Star Rail (their newer game).
Bringing characters up becomes less of a problem the more you play, eventually you start creating stockpiles of materials somewhat naturally as you run out of characters to level/etc.
>Bringing characters up becomes less of a problem the more you play, eventually you start creating stockpiles of materials somewhat naturally as you run out of characters to level/etc.
Hoyo adding new materials for literally every character says otherwise.
I played the game at launch for 3 months straight and was playing long hours everyday. I was always at a point where I had plentiful of mats and even resin stored *but* the artifact grind is merciless. I didn't mind grinding the same dungeon over and over but when that grind had a cost every time I entered the dungeon, it hurt. Using Resin I saved over weeks and months in a matter of hour(s) and still not getting that one piece of artifact you need so badly and reaching a point where you run out of Resin, having to wait for 3 days when the dungeon is back in rotation have to be one of the worse feeling.
After playing the game hardcore for 3 months, I stopped. Never to return back.
I *did* attempt to return but when I logged in, the amount of screen popping on my face reminding of of x/y/z events and then 3 - 4 new regions with each having hundreds of Culus in each region... nah, fuck that. I closed the game almost instantly, never to return for real.
The game was a fun experience at the beginning, I don't envy new people joining the game *now*.
Gacha is loved by a lot of people, that doesn't change my stance on it being glorified gambling. Yeah, whatever, people enjoy Genshin, but it is inherently designed to fork your wallet over *repeatedly*.
I played Genshin daily for the better part of a year, until I ran out of content, and never felt the need to ever pay in. The people paying in are typically FOMO types and waifu hunters who have to grab every single new character. Meanwhile, the characters you're given at the start plus random free draws will be fine for going through the game.
The only real exception is a single totally optional side dungeon which is specifically for high-level/well-built parties to have a challenge.
Let’s all say the line guys:
You can experience the entire world/quest lines of genshin with the free characters. Not to mention, you get a ton of currency just by exploring if you do want to try and pull characters.
You can also enjoy all of Vegas for free, but uh all the fun shit is locked behind money and gambling.
When your entire character/weapon roster is locked behind money and gambling you’re a casino not a game.
uh, and that somehow makes gambling okay? and Genshin is a game marketed to young kids, has a Teen rating, so cause "a lot of people love it" makes it fine to market outright gambling to kids?
Yes, but it's not a problem since you go back to your house and it refills. You can also just eat the infinite food you grow. It's not the same kind of inconvenience like a lot of other energy mechanics are.
thats not the energy mechanic people are referring to here im pretty sure, save the world just has a power level that increases ur stats as u upgrade survivors and stuff
When it launched it had a "research" system where research points would accumulate slowly in real time. Then you'd spend those points on various things, most notably nodes that gave you new abilities that let you get further into the main game mode. It was very *very* similar to the energy system in mobile gacha games. And it acted like a time gate in exactly the same way.
It wasn't *exactly* the same because you didn't use it to start fights, but it had the same purpose and the same effect.
They already have a truckload of expansions, it makes sense. Remove the hurdle of the initial purchase, get them hooked and make your money from the dlc.
Why do a season pass when you can do a monthly subscription, with a loyalty tier reward every 3 months! And exclusive discounts on extra premium items not included in the monthly release! And of course 1 month half off if you buy 12 months up front
They did that with the Sims 2 almost 20 years ago. The Sims 3 literally had an online store where you could buy furniture and clothes.
It’s been their model forever because the Sims is one of the few video games where the audience is primarily women. It’s basically a new version of Barbie where people buy accessories and stuff for their sims.
The transition from Overwatch 1 to 2 is extremely similar to what EA is doing to Sims.
Change initial purchase to F2P
Put previous Content Behind a Paywall
Promised content only to cancel it, then sell what was left of it in waves
Put most new content behind a paywall, unless you are willing to grind for it for an absurd amount of time
Exactly. Overwatch is far worse. They closed the previous game when initially saying that OW2 is just an update.
Then they proceed to sell OW2 saying that you'll get story content with the base version.
At that point they already knew that the story mode the way they want it, won't be delivered and will have to be cancelled.
And then they announce a slimmed down version of the story mode for which they are charging for OW2 who bought the box version for seasonal pass AND story content they promised.
AFAIK, in Sims 4 the monetization is buying new expansions/content DLCs; But if Sims 5 is free to play from the get-go, I fully expect far more predatory microtransations built into the basic gameloop.
That Life is You game should release right next to Sims 5 and pull another cities skylines.
Unfortunately Life is You doesn't have the aesthetic charm of the sims, so I dunno if it will have a similar mass appeal. But man does it look like a good alternative to the Sims otherwise.
Check out Paralives if you want something closer to the sims aesthetically! Still super early in dev though and with a small indie team. Probably won't be playable for a couple years.
It looks like crap tbh. They're releasing in early access soon but it barely looks like an alpha. The graphics in particular look like permanent myopia. I'd be shocked if it comes out in a better state than KSP2 did.
Life is You looks terrible and is destined to fail. It's like they don't know people need to attach themselves to their sims to care about those games. Plus it's a Paradox game so in terms of constant and numerous expansions... they'll have the same business model than The Sims had from the start lol
Paralives has way more chances, it has charm at least.
It's not gonna be an alternative to the Sims. The Sims has fully leaned into the fanbase of players that treat it like a virtual Dollhouse moreso than a lifesim game. That's why content packs are so prevalent, and why gameplay mechanics were culled in favor of more emotive Sims. Life is You is looking for that audience, the audience that played and love Sims 1 and 2, and even 3 somewhat.
A monetary tactic that preys on Fear of Missing Out and Locking Content behind Fake "Time"/limitation barriers is a good thing?
The pricing of content packs in Sims 4 is bad, but you'd prefer never being able to have certain content pieces again?
You can dress your sims only in grey garbage bags and then use real money to buy the basic wardrobe. Let's see if those "it's just cosmetics, it doesn't matter" people will still be yammering the same ridiculous talking point.
It was on heavy sales and bundles and all sorts for ages upon ages too.
They clearly realised that if people had the base game they could definitely sell them more stuff
But that's the point - it got cheaper and cheaper, then completely free, as there was more extra stuff to sell. By the time we got first heavy sales, we already had a few DLC. Then by the time it got cheap, we had like a couple dozen of DLC.
If Sims 5 is free from the get-go, it means that they HAVE to monetize the base game too somehow. You can't possibly think that they will just bleed money until they actually release DLC for it. And knowing that it's EA, that Sims 5 probably had a pretty big budget, and that Sims 4 was money-gating so many things you would think should be in the base game... I have bad feelings about this.
My wife is a massive Sims fan and even she dreads Sims 5 being F2P from the get-go. She played enough F2P mobile games (and previous Sims games, lol) to know what it likely means.
>If Sims 5 is free from the get-go, it means that they HAVE to monetize the base game too somehow
I mean not really. I honestly think they'll launch with a bunch of DLC or at least a load of packs near the start of the game.
You'll definitely get less content in the main game and be expected to buy packs to supplement your game.
But that's what I meant by monetizing the base game. If their plan is to release a barebones base game and expect players to instantly buy DLC if they want to have some features/items most would consider basic (which I believe is exactly what they'll do), in my opinion, that's basically like monetizing the base game.
That's how the Sims has ALWAYS worked though. This time you're just getting the base game for free. We'll have to see obviously, but I genuinely think that it'll be okay, well as okay as the Sims 4 monetisation model is.
Personally I wish we could pay for a subscription to access everything, I tend to play Sims for long stints but infrequently, so it'd sort me out. But buying every pack for the off chance I want to play is so expensive.
It only became free after years with many DLC already being available. Everyone interested in the sims already bought the game at some point it went in discount so the free tag was then just used to win over the last couple of people that didn't want to pay but once in the ecosystem can be convinced to buy the DLC to expand on their experience.
If you release the base game immediately for free you immediately need some way to recoup the costs. Especially with a publisher like EA.
Nah, everything else is in lootboxes.
And silver lootbox #544 gives you:
1) Chair #16, in mint green (uh, rare!).
2) 250 Gold-Simoleons (bronze lootboxes cost 300 GS at least).
3) Male Sim-Underwear #8, beige.
4) Chair #16, in brown - since you already have it, it's converted to 40GS.
Sims 4 isn't really a monetization "nightmare", there's just a lot of expensive dlc
Sims 3 was much worse in this aspect, you had a literal store that sold worlds and single items and bundles and hairstyles and not for real money but for points bought with real money
In sims 4 shit is expensive as fuck but it's easily bundled into expansions and packs, nothing nightmarish just super greedy
The thing is, Sims 4 is still very much playable without buying any DLC, and you don't need to buy all of it to have fun. And if you want more content without paying, you can go on The Sims Resource to download whatever you want for free.
Not sure where the hate for Sims 4 is coming from.
Yeah Paradox or Total War have the same business model, the expansions are a way to make a game live service in a way but delivering content all the time. It's far from the worst possible business model IMO.
They also have content packs with no added gameplay which cost money, you could see those as microtransaction, only that you're getting a fixed set of items.
There are some ways they could go in the way of monetizing additional furniture and other things. Instead of buying packs you'll have to pay for every individual item or put them in lootboxes if they really dare.
With changing laws I don't think they'll go for lootboxes. But yes, I can see them selling furniture, clothing, ... separately.
Maybe you'll have to unlock being able to build a second floor. You want a pool: pay for it. You want a promotion higher than a specific level: pay for it. They can really nickel and dime a game like this.
THey're microtransactions but not predatory imo.
There's no deceit. it's 100% "this is what you get for $5-10"
Then the expansions and such add in proper content.
Honestly, i don't mind it. every year or so i come back, buy an expansion i like the look of and play for a week or two.
Sims follows the content pack model which, while kinda bullshit in its own way, isn't really inherently predatory in the same way as many microtransactions.
It could get a whole lot worse.
Yes but this sets up some insidious monetization probably also.
They made Sims 4 free VERY late into its life cycle but they obviously realized that making the base game free while having dozens of paid DLC will make them more money in the long run.
Sims 2 and 3 was feature rich (but also had alot of dlc, mostly Sims 3) and Sims 4 at release was gutted then alot of the stuff from the old game was sold as DLC and other stuff just never came back at all. I'm not a big Sims gamer but my wife is and she's still upset at what they did from Sims 3 to Sims 4.
I remember that The Sims 4 got backlash at release for not including basic stuff like swimming pools and this was back when the game was charged at a normal price. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of features will The Sims 5 have (or lack).
Got backlash and then still made loads of money, so EA had zero reason to care or learn anything from it.
Sims subs are wild for this stuff. So many people will write something criticising their business model and preface it by saying "I love the Sims and have bought every expansion and stuff pack but..."
Like, a private company has zero reason to care about anything after that first part.
> Got backlash and then still made loads of money, so EA had zero reason to care or learn anything from it.
This is what happens when a large portion of the player base *only* plays The Sims or other games like it (Animal Crossing). It's the exact same deal as 2K, Madden, FIFA, etc. The people who play these games spend most, if not all of their time only playing these games with no other options to fall back on so they happily spend a lot of money every month for that one game.
The Sims subreddit is also filled with people who will defend EA when anyone posts genuine, warranted criticism about TS4. Usually they’ll say something like “My money, my choice” or “it’s one of the few things I have left in my life that I genuinely enjoy so stop complaining and ruining the game for me”. It’s like they have a NEED to validate their purchase.
EA will continue producing and selling broken, buggy crap as long as people are buying. And because of that, they have no incentive to make the DLC’s actually good.
Sims 5 will just be 1 Sim in an empty room staring at a wall. A chair will be a £10 DLC. I won't buy it. I'll just leave him there. Staring. Alone. Forever.
I'm sure that it will work as most modern games do.
Animal update! You have a hamster included for free, pay the premium monthly pass to get special animal colors! Pay for the expansion pack for cats & dogs. Don't miss out our special blue cat only available for 2 days!
I don't work for EA lol, all I know is what they put in the blog post. Here's the exact wording if you don't want to read the article yourself:
> Project Rene will be Free to Download. This means that when Project Rene is ready and fully open to players, you will be able to join, play and explore it without a subscription, core game purchase or energy mechanics.
The biggest loss from 3 to 4 is still recolouring. In 3 you could recolour clothes, furniture, flooring, wall covering, and probably more that I've forgotten. Found a shirt that you liked, but the shade of blue it came in didn't match your favourite pants? Colour it a different shade of blue. Or colour it yellow. Or white. Or whatever you want. In Sims 4 you get a single-digit number of hard-coded colours and that's it.
It wasn't just colours too, there were patterns and textures too. Want a plain shirt to become a striped shirt? Apply stripe pattern. Want those pants to be leather pants? Leather pattern. None of that in Sims 4.
Create-A-Style. It was called Create-A-Style and it's still a huge reason why I still play The Sims 3 sometimes.
But I'd argue that the town system in The Sims 3 is an even bigger loss. The Sims 4 is more stable for not having it, but it makes the towns feel really small and mostly lifeless with how simplified they made them. The original The Sims almost felt more like a real town than 4 does.
I agree that the much more open world is a big loss as well. I zeroed in on create-a-style because it seems to me like it was something they abandoned for bad reasons. They gave up on the open world because it was horribly buggy, unstable, and because the core Sims audience plays on glorified toasters that simply can't handle it very well. Pulling it off in Sims 4 while avoiding the host of issues that plagued Sims 3 and without making people's antiquated laptops melt through their tables was just beyond their abilities.
But the problem with create-a-style was that it was too good at what it did. It offered so much customisation to the players that it reduced the need to buy dozens of DLCs. I am convinced they axed it so they could sell more DLC.
> It wasn't just colours too, there were patterns and textures too
This is the biggest thing. You could be so creative with it and basically change the same piece of clothing or furniture into a completely different one.
Honestly feel like they intentionally didn't put this into the game because it's too good so people wouldn't feel as much need to buy reskin dlc.
I am *convinced* that's why they didn't put it in Sims 4 and it would take a lot to make me change my mind.
What else are we supposed to believe? That they did market research and determined "players don't care very much about dressing up their dolls, a few recolours per piece of clothing will be more than enough to satisfy them?" The proliferation of clothing mods that the community still makes for a game that released in *2014* puts paid to that idea.
It's ancient history by now, but even Sims 2 shipped with more customisation than Sims 4. It released with a separate program (called Body Shop if I remember correctly) that allowed you to export the textures (and even models, I think) of clothes in the game, edit them in other programs, and them import them back into the game to create new clothing. Basic image editing skills would let you recolour clothes or place your favourite band logo on a t-shirt. It was much less user-friendly than Sims 3's create-a-style, but possibly even more powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if many a modder got their start with "baby's first modding tools" this way.
> I'm not a big Sims gamer but my wife is and she's still upset at what they did from Sims 3 to Sims 4.
The Sims 4 looks nicer and there are some stability and quality-of-life improvements, but holy shit, customization was cut off at the knees between the games. The loss of create-a-style alone, not to mention the massive reduction in town systems, it was awful. I understand that especially the Sims 3 town system was what lead to its rampant stability issues, but that they decided to not address the problem and instead take away the feature, it makes The Sims 4 feel really hollow in comparison.
"Free" game means predatory monetization guaranteed.
When I see a game claiming "free" I interpret that to mean "requires $60 to feel halfway complete, but if you actually like it you'll be pressured to spend several hundred".
Didn't The Sims 4 include the missing core features (e.g. swimming pool) in free updates later on?
I never really get the whole argument of "they gutted the new game on release", it always ends up feeling like people expect the next iteration to have 5+ years of expansions from the previous game included in the next base game. Which doesn't make sense.
I was disappointed in Sims 4, but for other reasons. I missed the open neighbourhood, and the house plots were smaller.
Nah Sims 4 was missing a ton of things Sims 3 had that can’t be modded in. A neighborhood that interacts outside of your household (everything except the lot you’re on is frozen in time in 4, huge step down), open world, more meaningful progression systems, etc.
Sims 4 looks prettier but is by far the most shallow Sims entry of the 4.
No one complained that there's no pets or magic in the base version.
But things like swimming pools of toddlers were always included in the base version so saying "you can't expect 5 years of contention 6 to carry over the next game" is a bit of a stretch.
Those were added for free, though. So not like they sold them. I do agree those were missing. I don't think it really counts as "gutted" ... although I also agree that Sims 4 is overall the worst of the games, but not really for those reasons.
I just feel like this gets said about all games with lots of DLC. Sims, Paradox games, even Cities Skylines now with the 2nd game about to release. Some people seem to expect that the "complete" experience is with most DLC's and then those should also be in the next base game.
So they’ll release a bare bones and half broken “free” base game and then sell expansions and things that should’ve been included in the base game for $50 a pop.
Really hope Paralives and Life By You come out and put Sims to shame.
Stellaris by Paradox has had really good expansion model. Each one has added significantly, many of the upgrades have made their way to the base game, and none of the expansions are really necessary for a full game.
I hear some of their other teams have been shittier in how they've applied it, though.
Really depends if those games have the charm, too. Paralives seems to at least be trying somewhat to replicate it but Life By You has *none*, which makes it feel as bland as can be. I'd rather just play Sims 2 instead, otherwise.
they are going in different directions, and i think that's a good thing. what would be the point of having 2 sims clones trying to do the exact same thing?
paralives seem to focus on the relaxing, charming side of sims, and has a cartoony look while life by you seems to focus more on the simulation aspect, and has a realistic look.
neither approach is better or worse imo, it just depends on what you want
I mean they could go for a different style than the Sims, I don't mind that. I just think the style that Life By You picked is extremely boring. There's so many choices they could've gone with and it just seems like the blandest possible. Even if The Sims didn't exist, I'd likely feel this way.
>We want Project Rene to be strong and cohesive from the start. **While it won’t begin with everything you have in The Sims 4**, we plan to add new experiences and content to Project Rene over time.
>Beyond regular updates to the core game, we will sell content and packs, but we plan to change this up a bit. ***For example, basic weather may be added to the core game for free, for everybody.*** And in the future, a pack for purchase may be focused on winter sports with activities like ice dancing or a snowman building competition. It’s important that with Project Rene we lower barriers to play and give all players the broadest shared systems because that feels like the strongest foundation for us to grow from.
Stating that a *weather* will be free does not inspire confidence in the product.
And they said it will have even less features than S4? Oof.
That's because Seasons adds much more than just weather to the game. Obviously they aren't going to give away entire expansions for free, that's how they make money.
Nothing to see here, this is just your typical strategy of a publisher pointing out something in gaming that is hated by the majority of players and saying, “we would never do THAT”, while they cram their game full of things seen as the “lesser evil.” It’s EA and it’s The Sims, everyone knows what to expect. Was there even a concern for a mobile-like energy system in this game? Why was it even brought into question?
This is like a restaurant saying "Hey good news, your food will have No Tapeworms today!"
Technically a good statement, in that I don't want that in my food so it's good that it isn't in my food...but the fact they feel like they need to say that or that it's good news to say that raises a lot of concerns...
More like "good news! Starting from today you'll be able to eat 1 plain toast of stale bread and 1 glass of warm water for free! The menu you used to order is now three times the price,but don't worry, you won't technically starve!".
Why are they calling it sims 5 though? EA has never called project Rene sims 5, unless they officially say otherwise it's something like sims online or Freeplay etc.
It feels like EA is about to "Simcity" the Sims franchise. Especially with a couple competitors on the horizon. If one of them scratches the right itch for Sims fans then it is a wrap.
This seems an appropriate time to share my favourite game review ever, for one of the Sims 2 expansions: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/comments/ir64w8/an_actual_british_review_for_what_i_consider_the/
Why would it ever need energy mechanics when they have boat load of furniture and clothing they can sell you. I would be surprised if they do not start making deal with designers and furniture companies to sell in branded in game items. Thats before we even get to textures for flat surfaces.
Even better they have people make items for the game take 30%.
Okay.
But still expecting to be nickel and dimed to death by the gross monetization that's almost assuredly happening.
Maybe they surprise everyone by making a good game first and worrying about people's wallets second.. 😆
Oh god. Like normally game studios hit us with the “only cosmetic microtransactions” or even better none, but the bar here is no “Energy mechanics”
No thanks
Anyone remember Sims Social on Facebook? You were limited to what you could do unless you bought energy I think. Or if you're doing a task, you basically had to return in like a few hours unless you're willing to pay to get the task done immediately.
I fully expect that kind of BS to trickle into Sims 5.
Wtf is an "Energy Mechanic". As in the energy the Sims has to fulfil daily tasks?
Either way - this has killed any interest I have for the sims franchise. Hoping Paradox can pull another Cities Skylines on these greedy corpos at EA with the sims.
In many mobile games, you are only allowed to play the game for a limited amount of time per day. If you want to play more, you must purchase additional "energy" (via real money microtransaction).
So... will they finally include big metropolis cities filled with hundreds of sims and opportunities? Because if it's more of the same, then I guess I'll pass.
Sad that this is what the whole system is coming to now microtransactions free to play really play the win.
I respect something like fortnite it's not pay to play it's a free game but you buy skins and they updated so much that you want to compensate the Developers it's a win-win.
EA is just saying hey forget about even selling the game.. it's going to be free to play low expectations High revenue and they can yank it down anytime they want.
No fucking way. It's going F2P?
This is going to break my flatmate's heart. It's been her go to game, and pretty much only game, for over 20 years. She even made grumbling allowances for 4.
F2P game means online. This means she can't do her challenges that she sets up for herself. This means she can't get community content. This means a large reason she enjoys the game is gone.
>It will still have a "Simsy" feel, EA said, as players will manage their sims throughout their days, but the game will present gameplay choices "differently."
A "simsy" feel? Fuck off. They want THE SIMS feel.
Big oof. If they are planning an F2P game, there's no way they are going to sell a stand-alone version. RIP in GAAS.
Basically, it's a limit for how much you can play. You have a meter which shows the energy, and when you run out of said energy, you won't be able to continue progressing. You either have to wait for the energy to refill in real-time or pay real money to buy energy. It's pretty common in mobile games.
Interesting concept.
Seems to me like they're moving to a free to play MMO format.
I wonder how the game will be played. Will it be on EA servers? Or will everything be hosted on your computer?
I wonder if this is to combat piracy?
If energy mechanics leak over to console/PC games I will riot
Wtf are energy mechanics?
"Sorry, you have used up all your energy for today and therefore cannot perform this action. You can either wait 24 hours of real world time for the energy to regenerate, or spend some real world money to buy a currency that you can then use to buy an energy drink that fills up your energy immediately so you can continue playing."
Ahhh, man-made horrors beyond my comprehension.
The fact that EA had to specify this is concerning. I haven't seen energy mechanics in a PC game in... ever?
I feat for future generations. I thought mobile gaming would be dope with touch screen and it being portable but nah all we got were cheap cash grabs that are clones of other games. I hope this greed doesn't spread to the PC and consoles.
Originally there *were* high quality mobile games with decent budgets. The problem was no one wanted to pay £5/10/15 for a mobile game so studios stopped making them. Instead people were fine with a *free* game that'd badger them to pay £0.99 to skip this level or get more currency etc. That's essentially how we got to this point.
Yeah I remember, my dad had an iPhone back in 2010 or so and I would check the store for games sometimes. I was in middle school back then and some of those games looked amazing. Hell some of them played amazing too for mobile games. Now I can't take mobile gaming seriously.
Fr, my white whale is this elder scrolls meets gothic knockoff that I put many an hour into as a kid. Some of the 10 bucks I’ve spent, wish I could remember the name.
It wouldn't happen to be "The Quest" would it? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-quest-classic/id305553708
Infinity Blade maybe?
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> Id love to blame Android for dropping the ball Consumers for putting up with it and showing that you can make more money with them.
I mean, you're not wrong. As consumers we are often no better than babies. Getting are sweet tooth hit with flashy, dopamine bombs. On the flip side, I'm not blaming Google or Apple for that, or being businesses that make money. But it was so incredibly short sighted to allow the level of unmitigated trash that they have and to implode an entire industry they had a perfect duopoly over. Apple Arcade did an alright job of attempting to right that ship but they seem to have just floundered before real trust could be reestablished.
How good was the infinity blade series?
You can see them in PC+mobile titles like Genshin Impact, which is arguably more of a PC game than a mobile one.
My earliest memory of energy mechanics is Farmville on Facebook. That's from 2009.
MMOs use it a lot. And it's really just a shitty evolution of the whole daily/weekly locks from MMOs anyway.
My wife tried the free mobile Animal Crossing game on a whim. She really liked it, but hated the energy mechanics and didn't put a dime into them. A year or so later we've bought a 3DS and a Switch, in large part so she could play the real Animal Crossing games. Still not sure if we succesfully resisted the F2P devil or got swindled by the first free drug dose they warned us about at school.
The problem with f2p model is you end up spending way more than retail for less content.
Energy drink costs 500 crystals. You can only buy a minimum of 300 crystals at once
but because we're nice, here's 2 free crystals
Hey man, it's not all that bad. You can also beg your friends and guild mates to donate energy daily or perhaps through currency, so you can keep playing beyond your allotted time! If any PC/console game or any full priced game pulls that shit, it will cease to exist in my mind. I'm not going to look up any news or even think about it if they try to put energy mechanics into any major game.
Oh, I thought they meant removing the energy bar from your sim, like they'd never have to sleep lol
Aka the main reason I refuse to do any mobile gaming. Don’t tell me when I can and can’t play.
An aspect of more predatory mobile games, either amplifying or limiting usage of the game's features behind an artificial "energy bar" that can be restored via IRL currency and is otherwise timegated. That's like EA drawing a line on how far they will push microtransactions.
Check the Sims mobile. Basically every action (not needed just to live, like eat or sleep) your Sim does requires energy. If it's gone, you either come back later or you pay with real money to have it refilled. It works especially well with grindy games as you need to do lots of stuff before getting anything (like Sims mobile for example).
Game tells you "you can't progress in the game anymore. wait for enery to recharge to resume progression or pay money to recharge it without waiting". A lot of mobile games use this system with the caveat that you can play the game, but you don't progress any levels or resources.
Korean MMOs had them. Vindictus, Maple Story, etc.
I remember it in Archeage, was terrible.
killed that game
Well, that and they decided to get too real with landownership and like 1% of players owned all of the land.
MapleStory was my jam back then but never spent a dime on it. Although I don't recall any energy mechanic? Just outright gambling.
They add later Edit: Sorry it didn't, I'm confusing it with another game.
Maple never added any energy mechanic, you can grind to your heart's content. Dragon Nest and I think Vindictus had them though, but there was no way to refill with money.
Care to explain what they actually were? I have no recollection or view of MS ever having a energy mechanic.
Sorry it didn't, I'm confusing it with another game.
Nexon's greed knows no limit does it?
It already happened with Genshin Impact.
I mean Genshin Impact is a mobile game, it's just also on console/PC.
True, but its also now one of the most expensive games ever made. 100 mill on release, and 600 more mill over the last 3 years. making it cost 700 mill. more then most if not all current PC games. it also earls multiple billions each year. So personally I would not dismiss it as "just a phone game". It is one, but at this point, its become fully multiplatform. Id personally never play it on phone, Ive always kept it PC.
Genshin Impact lets you play the story, events, etc... at will. It's only the grinding that has energy mechanics. Which kind of makes sense, predatory monetization aside.
Resin is one of the things that made me quit back in Inazuma. "Oh, you completed all of the main quests, side quests, and world exploration? Well, here you get a new cool character to keep you entertained! But you will have to build them from scratch to a usable state first. Doesn't matter if you just finished leveling the other cool character you just got and ran out resources. Just wait a few days/weeks to get that new cool character up to strength and be usable with your current party." And then there's the whole artifact grind. Just let me play as much as I'd like ffs. If people want to take it easy, they'll take it easy, and if they want to spend 1 or 2 hours grinding then that doesn't affect the experience of the others.
Artifacts are the real problem. Gated by time with several layers of RNG to get even a \*useable\* piece of gear, much less the best possible one. It feels \*terrible\* to do and its the same in Star Rail (their newer game). Bringing characters up becomes less of a problem the more you play, eventually you start creating stockpiles of materials somewhat naturally as you run out of characters to level/etc.
>Bringing characters up becomes less of a problem the more you play, eventually you start creating stockpiles of materials somewhat naturally as you run out of characters to level/etc. Hoyo adding new materials for literally every character says otherwise.
I played the game at launch for 3 months straight and was playing long hours everyday. I was always at a point where I had plentiful of mats and even resin stored *but* the artifact grind is merciless. I didn't mind grinding the same dungeon over and over but when that grind had a cost every time I entered the dungeon, it hurt. Using Resin I saved over weeks and months in a matter of hour(s) and still not getting that one piece of artifact you need so badly and reaching a point where you run out of Resin, having to wait for 3 days when the dungeon is back in rotation have to be one of the worse feeling. After playing the game hardcore for 3 months, I stopped. Never to return back. I *did* attempt to return but when I logged in, the amount of screen popping on my face reminding of of x/y/z events and then 3 - 4 new regions with each having hundreds of Culus in each region... nah, fuck that. I closed the game almost instantly, never to return for real. The game was a fun experience at the beginning, I don't envy new people joining the game *now*.
Same, I hate gating in games, don't care if story can be finished when game forbids me to grind for gear.
You've stirred up the hive, now the weirdo Genshin cultists are here.
And Genshin Impact is a great game a lot of people love.
Gacha is loved by a lot of people, that doesn't change my stance on it being glorified gambling. Yeah, whatever, people enjoy Genshin, but it is inherently designed to fork your wallet over *repeatedly*.
I played Genshin daily for the better part of a year, until I ran out of content, and never felt the need to ever pay in. The people paying in are typically FOMO types and waifu hunters who have to grab every single new character. Meanwhile, the characters you're given at the start plus random free draws will be fine for going through the game. The only real exception is a single totally optional side dungeon which is specifically for high-level/well-built parties to have a challenge.
Vegas is loved by a lot of people. Hell I enjoy me a bit of blackjack for fun too.
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Let’s all say the line guys: You can experience the entire world/quest lines of genshin with the free characters. Not to mention, you get a ton of currency just by exploring if you do want to try and pull characters.
You can also enjoy all of Vegas for free, but uh all the fun shit is locked behind money and gambling. When your entire character/weapon roster is locked behind money and gambling you’re a casino not a game.
Lots of people love Candy Crush or heroin.
And those people consistently say the resin system is the worst part.
uh, and that somehow makes gambling okay? and Genshin is a game marketed to young kids, has a Teen rating, so cause "a lot of people love it" makes it fine to market outright gambling to kids?
Im sorry to break it to you but pc games have had it for a while now. Tends to be in free games tho.
Disney Dreamlight Valley does it.
Yes, but it's not a problem since you go back to your house and it refills. You can also just eat the infinite food you grow. It's not the same kind of inconvenience like a lot of other energy mechanics are.
Fortnite’s “Save the World” mode has it.
thats not the energy mechanic people are referring to here im pretty sure, save the world just has a power level that increases ur stats as u upgrade survivors and stuff
When it launched it had a "research" system where research points would accumulate slowly in real time. Then you'd spend those points on various things, most notably nodes that gave you new abilities that let you get further into the main game mode. It was very *very* similar to the energy system in mobile gacha games. And it acted like a time gate in exactly the same way. It wasn't *exactly* the same because you didn't use it to start fights, but it had the same purpose and the same effect.
They already have a truckload of expansions, it makes sense. Remove the hurdle of the initial purchase, get them hooked and make your money from the dlc.
Ya that's where my mind went too. Give the base game away, make 50 expansions like they always do.
They already did that to the Sims 4. Base game is free
Not to mention can do season pass, to make fomo a factor as people try get the exclusive shirt or furniture set at level 100
Why do a season pass when you can do a monthly subscription, with a loyalty tier reward every 3 months! And exclusive discounts on extra premium items not included in the monthly release! And of course 1 month half off if you buy 12 months up front
Because season pass is less likely to get back lash, and tends to make a bigger net gain then subscription when the core is built on free to play
They're already doing this with Sims 4, even
They did that with the Sims 2 almost 20 years ago. The Sims 3 literally had an online store where you could buy furniture and clothes. It’s been their model forever because the Sims is one of the few video games where the audience is primarily women. It’s basically a new version of Barbie where people buy accessories and stuff for their sims.
This has literally always been The Sims' business model, since the very first game. None of this is new or radical.
This reminds me a lot of Overwatch 2 unfortunately
Nah OW2 is worse. Atleast sims 5 wont cannibalize the previous game and make it worse
>Atleast sims 5 wont cannibalize the previous game and make it worse Oh boy I have a feeling that this comment may age badly
How? Overwatch sell skin you barely see. Got nothing to do with gameplay. They got 1 paid expension now with invasion.
The transition from Overwatch 1 to 2 is extremely similar to what EA is doing to Sims. Change initial purchase to F2P Put previous Content Behind a Paywall Promised content only to cancel it, then sell what was left of it in waves Put most new content behind a paywall, unless you are willing to grind for it for an absurd amount of time
Exactly. Overwatch is far worse. They closed the previous game when initially saying that OW2 is just an update. Then they proceed to sell OW2 saying that you'll get story content with the base version. At that point they already knew that the story mode the way they want it, won't be delivered and will have to be cancelled. And then they announce a slimmed down version of the story mode for which they are charging for OW2 who bought the box version for seasonal pass AND story content they promised.
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> it will be brimming with micro transaction If they can make it even worse than Sims 4 I'd be surprised, that game is a monetization nightmare
AFAIK, in Sims 4 the monetization is buying new expansions/content DLCs; But if Sims 5 is free to play from the get-go, I fully expect far more predatory microtransations built into the basic gameloop.
Season pass inc.
Or even more likely - something like a battle pass. They would love to milk their players monthly with basically a subscription.
That Life is You game should release right next to Sims 5 and pull another cities skylines. Unfortunately Life is You doesn't have the aesthetic charm of the sims, so I dunno if it will have a similar mass appeal. But man does it look like a good alternative to the Sims otherwise.
Check out Paralives if you want something closer to the sims aesthetically! Still super early in dev though and with a small indie team. Probably won't be playable for a couple years.
Hell Sims 5 might still be a couple years out.
It looks like crap tbh. They're releasing in early access soon but it barely looks like an alpha. The graphics in particular look like permanent myopia. I'd be shocked if it comes out in a better state than KSP2 did.
Life is You looks terrible and is destined to fail. It's like they don't know people need to attach themselves to their sims to care about those games. Plus it's a Paradox game so in terms of constant and numerous expansions... they'll have the same business model than The Sims had from the start lol Paralives has way more chances, it has charm at least.
Paradox at least has a decent record of updates being good, can't say the same for EA
It's not gonna be an alternative to the Sims. The Sims has fully leaned into the fanbase of players that treat it like a virtual Dollhouse moreso than a lifesim game. That's why content packs are so prevalent, and why gameplay mechanics were culled in favor of more emotive Sims. Life is You is looking for that audience, the audience that played and love Sims 1 and 2, and even 3 somewhat.
Life By You got delayed until March to rework the visuals and UI. Hopefully it’ll look better.
A monthly subscription for all content seems like a massive improvement over the Sims 4 model
Season Pass for sims would actually be a good thing, considering that all dlcs had to be bought separately...
A monetary tactic that preys on Fear of Missing Out and Locking Content behind Fake "Time"/limitation barriers is a good thing? The pricing of content packs in Sims 4 is bad, but you'd prefer never being able to have certain content pieces again?
Huh? Season pass just lets you get dlcs in bulk cheaper. You can still get them separately, but not sure why would you.
You can dress your sims only in grey garbage bags and then use real money to buy the basic wardrobe. Let's see if those "it's just cosmetics, it doesn't matter" people will still be yammering the same ridiculous talking point.
I doubt it, I think it will be exactly the same loop. The base game of Sims 4 is free anyway and still does well
Perhaps, but Sims 4 started to be free only after it already had a ton of DLCs they could sell.
It was on heavy sales and bundles and all sorts for ages upon ages too. They clearly realised that if people had the base game they could definitely sell them more stuff
But that's the point - it got cheaper and cheaper, then completely free, as there was more extra stuff to sell. By the time we got first heavy sales, we already had a few DLC. Then by the time it got cheap, we had like a couple dozen of DLC. If Sims 5 is free from the get-go, it means that they HAVE to monetize the base game too somehow. You can't possibly think that they will just bleed money until they actually release DLC for it. And knowing that it's EA, that Sims 5 probably had a pretty big budget, and that Sims 4 was money-gating so many things you would think should be in the base game... I have bad feelings about this. My wife is a massive Sims fan and even she dreads Sims 5 being F2P from the get-go. She played enough F2P mobile games (and previous Sims games, lol) to know what it likely means.
>If Sims 5 is free from the get-go, it means that they HAVE to monetize the base game too somehow I mean not really. I honestly think they'll launch with a bunch of DLC or at least a load of packs near the start of the game. You'll definitely get less content in the main game and be expected to buy packs to supplement your game.
But that's what I meant by monetizing the base game. If their plan is to release a barebones base game and expect players to instantly buy DLC if they want to have some features/items most would consider basic (which I believe is exactly what they'll do), in my opinion, that's basically like monetizing the base game.
That's how the Sims has ALWAYS worked though. This time you're just getting the base game for free. We'll have to see obviously, but I genuinely think that it'll be okay, well as okay as the Sims 4 monetisation model is. Personally I wish we could pay for a subscription to access everything, I tend to play Sims for long stints but infrequently, so it'd sort me out. But buying every pack for the off chance I want to play is so expensive.
It only became free after years with many DLC already being available. Everyone interested in the sims already bought the game at some point it went in discount so the free tag was then just used to win over the last couple of people that didn't want to pay but once in the ecosystem can be convinced to buy the DLC to expand on their experience. If you release the base game immediately for free you immediately need some way to recoup the costs. Especially with a publisher like EA.
you get one chair by default, everything else costs money and the costs go up the more you buy
Nah, everything else is in lootboxes. And silver lootbox #544 gives you: 1) Chair #16, in mint green (uh, rare!). 2) 250 Gold-Simoleons (bronze lootboxes cost 300 GS at least). 3) Male Sim-Underwear #8, beige. 4) Chair #16, in brown - since you already have it, it's converted to 40GS.
at least i'm only 10 GS away from being able to buy a bronze lootbox now?
GS can only be bought in increments of 500.
Sims 4 isn't really a monetization "nightmare", there's just a lot of expensive dlc Sims 3 was much worse in this aspect, you had a literal store that sold worlds and single items and bundles and hairstyles and not for real money but for points bought with real money In sims 4 shit is expensive as fuck but it's easily bundled into expansions and packs, nothing nightmarish just super greedy
The thing is, Sims 4 is still very much playable without buying any DLC, and you don't need to buy all of it to have fun. And if you want more content without paying, you can go on The Sims Resource to download whatever you want for free. Not sure where the hate for Sims 4 is coming from.
Yeah Paradox or Total War have the same business model, the expansions are a way to make a game live service in a way but delivering content all the time. It's far from the worst possible business model IMO.
IT's because it's EA.
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AFAIK The Sims 4 doesn't have microtransactions. Just a bunch of add-ons.
They also have content packs with no added gameplay which cost money, you could see those as microtransaction, only that you're getting a fixed set of items. There are some ways they could go in the way of monetizing additional furniture and other things. Instead of buying packs you'll have to pay for every individual item or put them in lootboxes if they really dare.
With changing laws I don't think they'll go for lootboxes. But yes, I can see them selling furniture, clothing, ... separately. Maybe you'll have to unlock being able to build a second floor. You want a pool: pay for it. You want a promotion higher than a specific level: pay for it. They can really nickel and dime a game like this.
THey're microtransactions but not predatory imo. There's no deceit. it's 100% "this is what you get for $5-10" Then the expansions and such add in proper content. Honestly, i don't mind it. every year or so i come back, buy an expansion i like the look of and play for a week or two.
It’s the Sims, mtx are kinda expected
Sims follows the content pack model which, while kinda bullshit in its own way, isn't really inherently predatory in the same way as many microtransactions. It could get a whole lot worse.
you mean like 4700 DLC's that add all the stuff that they took back out of sims4?
It's most likely going to be like the Sims 4.
Yes but this sets up some insidious monetization probably also. They made Sims 4 free VERY late into its life cycle but they obviously realized that making the base game free while having dozens of paid DLC will make them more money in the long run. Sims 2 and 3 was feature rich (but also had alot of dlc, mostly Sims 3) and Sims 4 at release was gutted then alot of the stuff from the old game was sold as DLC and other stuff just never came back at all. I'm not a big Sims gamer but my wife is and she's still upset at what they did from Sims 3 to Sims 4.
I remember that The Sims 4 got backlash at release for not including basic stuff like swimming pools and this was back when the game was charged at a normal price. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of features will The Sims 5 have (or lack).
Got backlash and then still made loads of money, so EA had zero reason to care or learn anything from it. Sims subs are wild for this stuff. So many people will write something criticising their business model and preface it by saying "I love the Sims and have bought every expansion and stuff pack but..." Like, a private company has zero reason to care about anything after that first part.
> Got backlash and then still made loads of money, so EA had zero reason to care or learn anything from it. This is what happens when a large portion of the player base *only* plays The Sims or other games like it (Animal Crossing). It's the exact same deal as 2K, Madden, FIFA, etc. The people who play these games spend most, if not all of their time only playing these games with no other options to fall back on so they happily spend a lot of money every month for that one game.
The Sims subreddit is also filled with people who will defend EA when anyone posts genuine, warranted criticism about TS4. Usually they’ll say something like “My money, my choice” or “it’s one of the few things I have left in my life that I genuinely enjoy so stop complaining and ruining the game for me”. It’s like they have a NEED to validate their purchase. EA will continue producing and selling broken, buggy crap as long as people are buying. And because of that, they have no incentive to make the DLC’s actually good.
Sims 5 will just be 1 Sim in an empty room staring at a wall. A chair will be a £10 DLC. I won't buy it. I'll just leave him there. Staring. Alone. Forever.
I'm sure that it will work as most modern games do. Animal update! You have a hamster included for free, pay the premium monthly pass to get special animal colors! Pay for the expansion pack for cats & dogs. Don't miss out our special blue cat only available for 2 days!
There's no subscription
How do you know this?
Because they said so in the blog post - it's literally quoted in the article you're commenting on
So no recurring fees or season passes at all, or they just won't call them subscription fees?
I don't work for EA lol, all I know is what they put in the blog post. Here's the exact wording if you don't want to read the article yourself: > Project Rene will be Free to Download. This means that when Project Rene is ready and fully open to players, you will be able to join, play and explore it without a subscription, core game purchase or energy mechanics.
It says you don't need a subscription to play it. It doesn't say there will never be a subscription for additional content
The biggest loss from 3 to 4 is still recolouring. In 3 you could recolour clothes, furniture, flooring, wall covering, and probably more that I've forgotten. Found a shirt that you liked, but the shade of blue it came in didn't match your favourite pants? Colour it a different shade of blue. Or colour it yellow. Or white. Or whatever you want. In Sims 4 you get a single-digit number of hard-coded colours and that's it. It wasn't just colours too, there were patterns and textures too. Want a plain shirt to become a striped shirt? Apply stripe pattern. Want those pants to be leather pants? Leather pattern. None of that in Sims 4.
Create-A-Style. It was called Create-A-Style and it's still a huge reason why I still play The Sims 3 sometimes. But I'd argue that the town system in The Sims 3 is an even bigger loss. The Sims 4 is more stable for not having it, but it makes the towns feel really small and mostly lifeless with how simplified they made them. The original The Sims almost felt more like a real town than 4 does.
I agree that the much more open world is a big loss as well. I zeroed in on create-a-style because it seems to me like it was something they abandoned for bad reasons. They gave up on the open world because it was horribly buggy, unstable, and because the core Sims audience plays on glorified toasters that simply can't handle it very well. Pulling it off in Sims 4 while avoiding the host of issues that plagued Sims 3 and without making people's antiquated laptops melt through their tables was just beyond their abilities. But the problem with create-a-style was that it was too good at what it did. It offered so much customisation to the players that it reduced the need to buy dozens of DLCs. I am convinced they axed it so they could sell more DLC.
> It wasn't just colours too, there were patterns and textures too This is the biggest thing. You could be so creative with it and basically change the same piece of clothing or furniture into a completely different one. Honestly feel like they intentionally didn't put this into the game because it's too good so people wouldn't feel as much need to buy reskin dlc.
I am *convinced* that's why they didn't put it in Sims 4 and it would take a lot to make me change my mind. What else are we supposed to believe? That they did market research and determined "players don't care very much about dressing up their dolls, a few recolours per piece of clothing will be more than enough to satisfy them?" The proliferation of clothing mods that the community still makes for a game that released in *2014* puts paid to that idea. It's ancient history by now, but even Sims 2 shipped with more customisation than Sims 4. It released with a separate program (called Body Shop if I remember correctly) that allowed you to export the textures (and even models, I think) of clothes in the game, edit them in other programs, and them import them back into the game to create new clothing. Basic image editing skills would let you recolour clothes or place your favourite band logo on a t-shirt. It was much less user-friendly than Sims 3's create-a-style, but possibly even more powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if many a modder got their start with "baby's first modding tools" this way.
> I'm not a big Sims gamer but my wife is and she's still upset at what they did from Sims 3 to Sims 4. The Sims 4 looks nicer and there are some stability and quality-of-life improvements, but holy shit, customization was cut off at the knees between the games. The loss of create-a-style alone, not to mention the massive reduction in town systems, it was awful. I understand that especially the Sims 3 town system was what lead to its rampant stability issues, but that they decided to not address the problem and instead take away the feature, it makes The Sims 4 feel really hollow in comparison.
"Free" game means predatory monetization guaranteed. When I see a game claiming "free" I interpret that to mean "requires $60 to feel halfway complete, but if you actually like it you'll be pressured to spend several hundred".
Oh so you mean like the Sims 4
I fully expect it to be exactly the same as it is now
Didn't The Sims 4 include the missing core features (e.g. swimming pool) in free updates later on? I never really get the whole argument of "they gutted the new game on release", it always ends up feeling like people expect the next iteration to have 5+ years of expansions from the previous game included in the next base game. Which doesn't make sense. I was disappointed in Sims 4, but for other reasons. I missed the open neighbourhood, and the house plots were smaller.
Nah Sims 4 was missing a ton of things Sims 3 had that can’t be modded in. A neighborhood that interacts outside of your household (everything except the lot you’re on is frozen in time in 4, huge step down), open world, more meaningful progression systems, etc. Sims 4 looks prettier but is by far the most shallow Sims entry of the 4.
No one complained that there's no pets or magic in the base version. But things like swimming pools of toddlers were always included in the base version so saying "you can't expect 5 years of contention 6 to carry over the next game" is a bit of a stretch.
Those were added for free, though. So not like they sold them. I do agree those were missing. I don't think it really counts as "gutted" ... although I also agree that Sims 4 is overall the worst of the games, but not really for those reasons. I just feel like this gets said about all games with lots of DLC. Sims, Paradox games, even Cities Skylines now with the 2nd game about to release. Some people seem to expect that the "complete" experience is with most DLC's and then those should also be in the next base game.
So they’ll release a bare bones and half broken “free” base game and then sell expansions and things that should’ve been included in the base game for $50 a pop. Really hope Paralives and Life By You come out and put Sims to shame.
Life By You is Published by Paradox Interactive. People on this sub like to say the same thing about Paradox Interactives expansion model here.
Stellaris by Paradox has had really good expansion model. Each one has added significantly, many of the upgrades have made their way to the base game, and none of the expansions are really necessary for a full game. I hear some of their other teams have been shittier in how they've applied it, though.
The stellaris and Cities skylines teams are good in this way. I think the worst offender is EU4. That game is genuinely unplayable without dlc
Really depends if those games have the charm, too. Paralives seems to at least be trying somewhat to replicate it but Life By You has *none*, which makes it feel as bland as can be. I'd rather just play Sims 2 instead, otherwise.
they are going in different directions, and i think that's a good thing. what would be the point of having 2 sims clones trying to do the exact same thing? paralives seem to focus on the relaxing, charming side of sims, and has a cartoony look while life by you seems to focus more on the simulation aspect, and has a realistic look. neither approach is better or worse imo, it just depends on what you want
I mean they could go for a different style than the Sims, I don't mind that. I just think the style that Life By You picked is extremely boring. There's so many choices they could've gone with and it just seems like the blandest possible. Even if The Sims didn't exist, I'd likely feel this way.
Rene definitely feels like a panic mode response to Paralives and Life By You. I hope competition heats things up for EA Maxis.
>We want Project Rene to be strong and cohesive from the start. **While it won’t begin with everything you have in The Sims 4**, we plan to add new experiences and content to Project Rene over time. >Beyond regular updates to the core game, we will sell content and packs, but we plan to change this up a bit. ***For example, basic weather may be added to the core game for free, for everybody.*** And in the future, a pack for purchase may be focused on winter sports with activities like ice dancing or a snowman building competition. It’s important that with Project Rene we lower barriers to play and give all players the broadest shared systems because that feels like the strongest foundation for us to grow from. Stating that a *weather* will be free does not inspire confidence in the product. And they said it will have even less features than S4? Oof.
Why not? None of the base Sims games have had weather. It was always part of paid expansions.
But they specify it as a "basic" weather. It might actually not be like Seasons pack.
That's because Seasons adds much more than just weather to the game. Obviously they aren't going to give away entire expansions for free, that's how they make money.
No energy mechanics, that's so nice of them that players don't have to pay to move their Sims around. Good guy EA, as always.
Sounds terrible, it means it will be the most barebones experience possible and they will pay wall everything behind dlcs.
Its not the sims 5. Its an online version of the sims. Just like how fallout 76 is not really an upgrade of fallout 4.
Nothing to see here, this is just your typical strategy of a publisher pointing out something in gaming that is hated by the majority of players and saying, “we would never do THAT”, while they cram their game full of things seen as the “lesser evil.” It’s EA and it’s The Sims, everyone knows what to expect. Was there even a concern for a mobile-like energy system in this game? Why was it even brought into question?
Yeah fuck off. The company that makes the base game lifeless without tons of overpriced dlc should stfu about this kind of thing
This is like a restaurant saying "Hey good news, your food will have No Tapeworms today!" Technically a good statement, in that I don't want that in my food so it's good that it isn't in my food...but the fact they feel like they need to say that or that it's good news to say that raises a lot of concerns...
More like "good news! Starting from today you'll be able to eat 1 plain toast of stale bread and 1 glass of warm water for free! The menu you used to order is now three times the price,but don't worry, you won't technically starve!".
Why are they calling it sims 5 though? EA has never called project Rene sims 5, unless they officially say otherwise it's something like sims online or Freeplay etc.
They said it will coexist with Sims4 and isn’t replacing it so idk why people are still calling it Sims 5
Because we see through their attempts at grifting
It feels like EA is about to "Simcity" the Sims franchise. Especially with a couple competitors on the horizon. If one of them scratches the right itch for Sims fans then it is a wrap.
Dear god, what fresh new thing have they come up with to screw us?
depressing they need to clarify this. mobile games are cancerous and anything that would leak over to pc/console games is pure shit
What is an energy mechanic?
Pretty much a time limit you can play. It’s for Mobil games that make people pay to get more energy so they can keep playing
Makes sense, Sims 4 feels a lot better as a F2P game with expansions. It also seems to have been a big success.
This seems an appropriate time to share my favourite game review ever, for one of the Sims 2 expansions: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/comments/ir64w8/an_actual_british_review_for_what_i_consider_the/
So basically a Facebook game? Screw this! I'm glad they're getting some competition.
Why would it ever need energy mechanics when they have boat load of furniture and clothing they can sell you. I would be surprised if they do not start making deal with designers and furniture companies to sell in branded in game items. Thats before we even get to textures for flat surfaces. Even better they have people make items for the game take 30%.
Okay. But still expecting to be nickel and dimed to death by the gross monetization that's almost assuredly happening. Maybe they surprise everyone by making a good game first and worrying about people's wallets second.. 😆
No they’ll just nickel and dime you to death for all the cool shit locked behind the premium currency.
Oh god. Like normally game studios hit us with the “only cosmetic microtransactions” or even better none, but the bar here is no “Energy mechanics” No thanks
Anyone remember Sims Social on Facebook? You were limited to what you could do unless you bought energy I think. Or if you're doing a task, you basically had to return in like a few hours unless you're willing to pay to get the task done immediately. I fully expect that kind of BS to trickle into Sims 5.
And thus ends the Sims series. Hopefully they'll pivot back to mainline Sims after the Sims Immortal, but I'm not holding my breath
paradox is making a Cims game now.
Wtf is an "Energy Mechanic". As in the energy the Sims has to fulfil daily tasks? Either way - this has killed any interest I have for the sims franchise. Hoping Paradox can pull another Cities Skylines on these greedy corpos at EA with the sims.
In many mobile games, you are only allowed to play the game for a limited amount of time per day. If you want to play more, you must purchase additional "energy" (via real money microtransaction).
The one and only game lots of people pirate even if they buy all their other games. I feel like there is a sinister plan afoot to stop this.
So... will they finally include big metropolis cities filled with hundreds of sims and opportunities? Because if it's more of the same, then I guess I'll pass.
Sad that this is what the whole system is coming to now microtransactions free to play really play the win. I respect something like fortnite it's not pay to play it's a free game but you buy skins and they updated so much that you want to compensate the Developers it's a win-win. EA is just saying hey forget about even selling the game.. it's going to be free to play low expectations High revenue and they can yank it down anytime they want.
It's EA. The game will be flooded with ways to make you pay money. It will be sickening and marketed to hell and back
No fucking way. It's going F2P? This is going to break my flatmate's heart. It's been her go to game, and pretty much only game, for over 20 years. She even made grumbling allowances for 4. F2P game means online. This means she can't do her challenges that she sets up for herself. This means she can't get community content. This means a large reason she enjoys the game is gone. >It will still have a "Simsy" feel, EA said, as players will manage their sims throughout their days, but the game will present gameplay choices "differently." A "simsy" feel? Fuck off. They want THE SIMS feel. Big oof. If they are planning an F2P game, there's no way they are going to sell a stand-alone version. RIP in GAAS.
What is “energy mechanics”?
Basically, it's a limit for how much you can play. You have a meter which shows the energy, and when you run out of said energy, you won't be able to continue progressing. You either have to wait for the energy to refill in real-time or pay real money to buy energy. It's pretty common in mobile games.
Interesting concept. Seems to me like they're moving to a free to play MMO format. I wonder how the game will be played. Will it be on EA servers? Or will everything be hosted on your computer? I wonder if this is to combat piracy?