So, I've gotten to the point that my game is overflowing with crap I don't want. I have two EPs installed for just 1 item and 1 function. And so, I've been thinking (you may want to step back, this rarely ends well)...

... I want Sims 4 to be a la carte. Give me a really good base game with all the basic mechanics (and weather) and just enough stuff to be playable as is, and I'll buy the rest from the store. No more expansions, no more stuff packs, just let me buy what I really want in my game and ignore the stuff I don't.

Is it going to cost more? Yeah, probably. I don't see the store lowering their prices anytime soon. Am I crazy? Yes, definitely! But I'd rather pay 5 bucks for just ESPN than 4 bucks for ESPN and 3 home shopping channels that clog up my guide...wait, went off-topic there, but you know what I mean.

It just seems that if you want to buy the complete game you have to purchase stuff from the store anyway, so why not just do it all that way. Maybe EA could spend some of the marketing budget on something crazy and out there ... like beta testing.

Have a new feature every week or so. A new venue with PC items once a month. A new world every three months. A new build set each month. A new animation pack each quarter. A new CAS set every other Monday. Whatever.

Want a musical instrument? Buy the classical music pack, get a violin, a cello, a flute, 5 compositions per instrument, a stage and a couple of formal outfits. Want the band music pack, get a guitar, drums, a microphone, new compositions and a scuzzy bar for them to play in. Once the set has been out for 90 days, all items can be sold separately. Want a violin, just buy the violin and be done with it.

Keep up the daily deals and free weekend items so that you can suck more hapless victims in people can pick up odds and ends without spending a fortune. Maybe have some random in-game giveaways. Whoops, your Sim just got flattened by a falling space toilet, but hey, you got 300 free simpoints (accept/decline).

And for the love of puppies, fix the farking launcher and find a way for us to store these items without bloating the game files. All back-end updates needed to run new content could be handled in patches (along with the inevitable fixes).

Biggest problems I forsee? Ridiculous prices, difficulties with modding and updating mods.

Thoughts? Smackdowns? Point and laugh at the crazy lady

Edited to Add: Do you think the concept is viable? Would it interest you? What are the pros? Cons?

I feel like I should disagree simply because of the title.

LOL. Go for it. You know you want to...

What I want for the next SIMs game...

*No online store - what they did with TS3 is give us one third of a base game, one third content from expansions & stuff packs & the last third Store content. With TS2 they gave us one half of a base game & one half EP (& SP) Content... and the store was optional (only ever having crap you *might* want BUT NOT need.

*No always internet requirement - yeah I.m staring you in the eyes SIMCity...

*Full support for CC & Mods.

*Hire Twaillan EA Damn it~!

LOL Aeval99!! You're too funny. What you basically want is a base game with an Item Shop.. which is what most MMORPG F2P games offer today. I should know, I play quite a few of them Anyway, that's why I don't buy every EP/SP out there. Of course I haven't bought any SP's yet because out of all SP's released so far, I only want Outdoor Living because it's got some stuff I really want in my game. Of course, a lot of 3rd party CC creators have made stuff that replaces some of those items so I technically don't need it anymore. As for EP's - I only buy the ones that make sense to my game play and to make a statement to EA that I boycott certain features that I feel don't make sense for this game. At least to me. I didn't buy PETS and SuperNatural because I didn't want them in my game. I didn't buy SHowTime because I OBJECT to the half assed attempt of EA to have my sims play in other people's game - i.e. HALF ASSED ONLINE PLAY. I will never get this EP. I haven't got UL yet but plan on getting it and of course IP. If EA brings out a Farming and an OFB style EP.. my game will be complete




NO!!! Don't let Twallan be taken away from us!! We need him more then they do. He's ours I tell ya We love our Twallan

But back on topic - I'd like to see a Sims 4 base game with weather/seasons, OFB style businesses and university at the outset. Oh and of course - NO ONLINE ANYTHING!! Then there will be a great chance that I will get it. Any whiff of online anything with Sims 4 and I'm done.

As far as the weather & seasons in general go...

When TS3 came out the mere fact that the game was setup in an open world environment was reason enough for the game to lag a bit... plus add to the fact EA didn't fix a few broken things with the game...

Only after installing overwatch did I learned of such stupid things like inactive SIMs getting stuck everywhere. Or the fact that those cars driving everywhere were being abandoned by the SIMs driving them. Or that inactive SIMs are leaving TVs & stereos on in other houses! :o

EA did mention that the weather & Seasonal effects had to be taken out of the base game on launch as that added more lag too... You also need to realize that computers back in 2009 are not as nearly powerful as what we have now & EA's staff needed to consider that back in 2009

@lisfyre:

Yeah you're right, we need Twaillan more than EA would

Not a bad idea Aeval99. Not one I personally would go for, but not bad. Personally I skipped two EPs and uninstalled another one. There's not one TS3 EP item that in and of itself would make me buy an EP that didn't have more in it for me. And I refuse to buy that expensive store stuff.

I want the game to be online only, extremely expensive and I want the store to nickel and dime people for basic things and have it set up that there is no way to have pirated copies because the online service checks like mad for these things. I want all CC and mods to be banned by EA's servers.

This is because I don't want to be tempted to buy TS4.

Yep. Pretty much, but with new features and premium items, not just new weapons and armour clothes and furniture.

The thing about online play is that it is coming. It may not be in Sims 4, but eventually it will be in everything. It can no more be stopped than a tornado can be stopped by standing in its path with a stop sign. It's simply a logical progression of our technology.

Rather than denying ourselves the things we like and enjoy, we need to find a way to make the system work for us. More carrot, less stick.

Companies need to figure out a way to make online play a good thing, and I mean actually be a good thing and not just seem that way. Don't make it a requirement, make it something that people want to have. I'd be happy to play Sims 4 online if I had a reasonable chance of winning simpoints each day I logged in. Make it worth my while and I will reward you.

Why do we need yet another thread about what we want from Sims 4? Why not just post in one of the existing threads on this topic?

That's a good question. I changed the title of the thread to better reflect the type of discussion I meant to foster. My intent was to discuss the concept of building an individualized game through the store rather than a general "what I'd like to see in the game" discussion, which we already have in several threads.

While I agree that games are going online, to me The Sims is my sandbox game. I know I said the same thing about SimCity but overall SimCity's set up isn't too bad because while we do play alongside other players, it doesn't feel much like the regular MMORPG. I don't like the concept of online for Sims ala TSO only because for me, it's a bit more personalized. I've invested in them and I've watched them "grow" so in essence they're my "children".

You don't get that when you're going into a full blown MMORPG like EQ, EQ2, SWTOR, RIFT, DAoC, or any other online games out there. You walk into those games KNOWING - you're going to learn skills, you're going to gear up, you're going to kill mobs, farm them for loot, get levels, get more uber gear and depending on the game, you might even PK a few people just cause

I don't get that with The Sims. They're like my old fashioned paper dolls (anyone remember those?) so trying to play them as an MMO ... I just can't bridge that gap. Anymore than I can bridge the gap for themed worlds - medieval objects in Sims 3 when modern cars, phones, taxis, tanning booths, <insert a modern convenience here>, show up in the world. As I said in another thread - if EA introduces things like this, they should also consider introducing the appropriate objects in that time frame. Call me a purist When I play an elf in EverQuest II, I'm in an elven city with an elven home and elven furnishings.. or at least a reasonable facsimile of it. When I play an elf in the sims, I can get some stuff but again... taxis, cell phones, phones, modern appliances just look incongruous, not to mention all the other humans (eww how revolting!!) running around when they should all be elves... need I say more?

I doubt they would ever do that as I think it would make them less money not more. EA spends money on hype before releasing EP's because an excited client base buys more. End of the day all EA care about is how to squeeze the most money out of everyone so EP's, SP's and store content will I think continue to be the deal as you reach the maximin amount of wallets.

@lisfyre I agree with you, about pretty much everything (and yes, I remember paper dollies). Personally, I don't want online play or online features, but I'm a realist; this is the world we live in and progress is not going to stop just because I don't want it (see: cellphones, rap music, no hosiery with high-heels).

Though I have little faith in EA, I don't think that it's impossible to incorporate online play into the Sims series without disrupting the traditional single player experience.. Many console games integrate both successfully within one game, there's no reason that the Sims shouldn't be able to do the same.

Look on the bright side, given the SimCity debacle, they at least know how not to do it.

Just one error in your logical conclusion. You're assuming EA actually understands what they did wrong in the SC debacle.

And no, I couldn't resist. With a title like that, I had to Disagree. Although, it could be an effective approach to bringing microtransactions (well, minitransactions, when you talk about build sets and animation packs) to TS4.

The only potential stumbling block (among many, but the first that pops to mind) is making sure everything plays well in combo with other items. We've already seen premium Store objects that interfere with other premium objects. Moving to a continuous release cycle for object releases (unlike a "pulse" of a whole EP brought out 2 to 3 times a year, that can theoretically be thoroughly beta tested before release) would place a high demand on proper testing with all prior objects (as well as those on the drawing board), which we know is something EA does not excel at.

From what I've heard EA think always online is the way to go. I doubt they think they have done anything wrong with SC except to not give enough servers.

Sims 4 came to life, jumped out of the computer and ate his dog?

I hit agree and disagree because that really does sum up my feelings. On the one hand, I'd love to be able to buy just what I want, and I think that better segregation of items would fix a lot of the issues with the Sims 3's expansion packs, where you get one arcade item per EP so if you want an arcade, better buy all the EPs! So on paper, this idea is perfect.

However, we know what the store looks like. A freaking CHAIR costs a dollar. It costs ten dollars, a fourth of an EP, to be able to make a bathroom in a single style. Want a kitchen in that style? Another ten bucks! Never mind that there isn't a bedroom in that style.* The pricing is simply unacceptable, and unless EA is able to drastically reduce the pricing by not having EPs and SPs, this idea just isn't viable for me.

*On that tangent, how ridiculous is it that EPs seem to have random items in three different styles? I'd rather get a complete house set in one style than a couch and a bed in that style and a counter and wardrobe in another.

EA could make ts4 with expansions and sell in game objects/features separately in the store

I partically agree with you, OP. I do feel like I have lots of features/items in EPs that I never use, and they do add up to unnecessay computer workload. I won't go as extreme as installing an entire EP just for a few items though. That's why I never get SHT and UNI installed, even though I really want the karaoke machine and bowling. You just have to find out a balance between pros and cons.

However, I feel like even if most items can be purchased separately, you still need a whole lot unnecessary ones installed, because some CC require them. cloth meshes, animations, textures... You need a "base" for many CC items to work. And custom world could be the worst. So you will end up paying a LOT more, considering how high EA will set the price just so that they can have as much profit as they pack and sell them in a EP/SP.

And really, just think about how many patches they need to release to fix incompatible store items. Maybe they will even put a price tag on the patches...

No, the game would end up out of date if there would be no new expansion packs
I love expansion packs and i will never let go of 'em
* Hugs my Seasons expansion pack *

If I had my way, we'd have complete sets of everything and an EP would come with 2 or 3 of these complete sets that are set around the theme of the EP. Each set would include living room, dining room, bathroom, bedroom (single bed, bunk bed, double bed, crib) for multiple age groups (infant/toddler, child, teen, and adult), library/study, kitchen, gameroom/den, garden, playground/toys, bar/partyroom, etc.

I mean, it's kinda silly to have, say, a futuristic sci-fi bed but the dresser, wardrobe, desk, computer, windows and toys don't match.

I simply wish taht EA not will be involved in the creation of ts4.

If you could pick a company to develop/produce the Sims 4, which one would it be?