Also, limitations/guidelines help keep things mentally manageable for most people, too many choices can overwhelm the player, resulting in a tyranny of choice that can freeze the player or put them off.

The ideal limitation of course is a weak one, passable by people who are willing to look (i.e. moveobjects on).

To me, Paralives doesn't need to be a Sims killer. And while it may be too late to actually "kill" Sims4, EA is managing that people are going back to the older games. Without Paralives being out.
Paralives just needs to be good enough so I might play it in addition to Sims 2 and 3. I'm not giving EA my money ever again. So, Sims 5 is not something I'm adding to it.
If you read comments about the stream on Youtube, you find many people just either complaining that EA is stealing from Paralives' build/buy mode (I don't believe that's true but it wouldn't surprise me) or expressing their dissatisfaction with whatever EA might offer in 2-3 years.

Just because a game is backed by the money from EA won't guarantee a good game.

I did not watch the stream as never do, as too much fluff and little content, but is this being designed to play on a tomato or potato this time? If geared to low end computers again, and mobile, well that is not good news to me.

If I understood correctly, and I did FF a lot through the fluffy bits, which were about 98%, it's multi-platform so if you need to go to school, you can "design a room on your way to school on your phone", upload and then play on your computer at home when you get back.
I mean, haven't these people heard of a work/school-life balance?

Talking of PL vs EA Sims, the choice may be in the little people themselves - whether you want the typically "quirky" or "goofy" (my word is "irritating") behaviour of the clown-like sims, or whether Paras are actually going to act like humans, with a lot of serious aspects to their lives and occasional humour. Last time I asked (some months ago now) Paralives were not planning to put too much of the darker side of life into the game but appeared to be indicating that the paras would not behave in "goofy" ways to those situations they did partake of. TBH I am not sure either Sims 4 or Paralives is going to fulfil me, but I am still awaiting Rod Humble's game announcement, and TS5 might at least be more fun to design houses in.

I'm not really interested in doing multi-player, nor am I eagerly anticipating TS5' s arrival, but in thinking about it, this does intrigue me a bit: Currently, if you send a sim to visit (travel) to a residential property, the sim cannot enter the house once there (at least in my game they can't - if they can, I haven't figured that out yet). To go in, the residential sim has to come out and invite them in, but to do that, I have to go thru a loading screen to that household - and thus lose control of the sim I sent there (unless I go thru another loading screen to go back).
Hence, I assume that with the multi-player ability, I can send my sim to my friend's household, and she will be able to send her sim out to greet and invite me in. Therefore, I am also assuming that there will be a lack of loading screens due to this. The game will just run smooth like that - I control my sim and my friend controls her sim. In a way, this appears to give some element of improved gameplay, which would make TS5 somewhat better.
How far off am I?

Lots of game companies try to shoe horn in multiplayer with little regard for the requirements of the actual game. Instead of engaging with the communities for simple player games, they try to force players to engage in game together, and it doesn't always work.

I've watched Resident Evil struggle to have an engaging multiplayer experience for years. It's not going great.

I am not a multi-player game person. I did the Showtime sends and receives a few times in 3, and that is it. In the above scenario, I am having a hard time imagining it. I control my Sim and set them up to woohoo, and the other person is setting up to make a meal for both of them. So does whoever does it the nano second first get in the queue first and then the other player's things follow? And what if other person sets up something we have no interest in, we have to sit through that to wait until we race to see who can set up what is next? Or is this all that most folks are on phones the whole time deciding what they want their Sims to do?

I want my sandbox, and do not want to share with anyone. That is Sims to me. You can see I am ignorant about this, and like it that way! LOL

Only thing i don't like it we got at most 3 more years of TS4

I'm getting this weird impression that EA thinks that future gaming will be online all the time, on the phone, interacting with friends via gaming, etc. A bit like what Metaverse is trying to do? It baffles me. If the pandemic has taught us nothing I feel it has taught us how important person-to-person contact is for our mental and physical well-being. Zoom-fatigue, disengaged meetings, etc. At least for me, I treasure my in-person interactions so much more. And I am kind of an introvert.

Don't get me started on people, especially younger, who are Siamese twins with phones now. As we both have said, does EA think players will be on phone when playing? And my understanding, very little, is there are turn based games, but that is mostly combat? I cannot imagine Sims as that. I say read the cooking book. Then you say go jogging. Then I say take a shower. UM cannot see that.

As said, however done seems like a total fiasco/mismatch for Sims. ????

To be honest I didn't watch the stream. It's too early in development for anything in the video to really mean anything about the final product. As far as EA goes, no their money doesn't necessarily mean a good game. My point is that money provides resources to make a good game, which is why I said will they, or will they make another TS4 debacle? If they make a good game, I'll buy it. if they don't I won't. I don't have an aversion to games by EA, just because it's EA.

It's not that black and white - no, Paralives isn't going to kill The Sims, but clearly a developer with a similar game can put pressure on EA, because it can sure steal plenty of profits. I have never seen EA act this way so I don't find it far-fetched to believe that Paralives have made them rush the announcement and gone a slightly similar route

I didn't catch most of the stream while watching since all I could hear in my head was, "Hello darkness my old friend~"

I'm done. I won't touch the Sims 5 ever. I'm off to Paralives.

Methinks that if the sims 5 does take off, EA will still be looking pretty in the profits because Paralives will only be like TS4 and not mobile.

This. I was shocked to find out TS5 wasn't further into development.

I feel like they can kill it. I have faith in passion projects than studios driven by greed. TS5 or Project Rene (whatever you gonna call or spin it) will be another controversial game with lacklustee gameplay, because I think the goal behind it was to win over simmers as a rival for paralives and continue on their monetizing scheme spree, nickeling players but not genuinely caring on their gameplay experience.

The worst aspect is not if they make a decent or even good game to start with. They usually do. Even TS4 had its highlights when first released, first playing. I really liked the new multitasking introduced to the game. However, the game just got very dry after a short while playing. The nature of this game, like no other, is the monthly patching that goes on for years and years. And in the wrong hands that can take a masterpiece of a game at release and turn it into a scrap heap before the end. The wrong hands. Such as latter day Maxis' hands. I don't trust them for the long term, no matter what the quality of game is during initial release. There's something about modern Maxis that's just wrong, not competent enough. And I don't blame their bosses EA for all of that.

If history repeats, and Maxis put out their Project Renee as Sims 5 in three years, when Paralives will probably also be released, then Paradox with Rod Humble also put out their people simulator, we could see another SimCity fiasco on our hands. And for all the popular presence Maxis (Team Sims) has generated over the life of Sims 3 and Sims 4 (Old Maxis were all but extinct by the end of Sims 2.) EA will blow out their lights forevermore and they will be gone like their brothers and sister of Maxis (Team SimCity.)

And if it's latter day Maxis we're talking about, and they haven't bucked up their ideas in three years from now when, finally, the competition is really on for the first time ever, from multiple sources, then good riddance to
bad rubbish. Even if you don't see Paralives as the real contender, Paradox take no shame in saying they took all the ideas from Maxis regarding Sim City and just did it better with City Skylines, which ultimately drove the last and worst nail into the Sim City coffin and one half of Maxis gone forevermore. What's to say, with the help of Rod Humble, they don't do it again with the Sims and finish off Maxis once and for all?

I doubt that EA is shaking in its boots about Paralives which who knows if/when will ever release? About half of us here have posted we will not play Paralives as is or do not like how the Para are being done, so far.

Sims has a gigantic fan base that will want to try Sims 5 no matter what. Some as looks good, some as curious, some as completists, some for whatever reasons. As said if starts out at all well that is no guarantee it will age well though.

Yeah, my best experiences with multiplayer modes in games have all been in the grand strategy genre, because playing a strategy game against another human is a distinct step up from playing against an AI. I am ... dubious ... about how much I would use multiplayer in a sims game. I suspect the answer is either "not at all" or "as little as they will let me."

Half of us HERE, but consider how many simmers in other social media posted they be moving to Paralives? MILLIONS. And if it succeeds meeting expectation, then it be bye bye to actual quality life simulator. I feel like they are shaking and a bit worrying, because really they really only showed building aspect that paralives have covered up and not really glimpse of live mode. It feels rushed and only intent to convince players that jumped on paralives hype that "hey, TS5 will be able to do that and so pls join us111". Lindsay wouldn't be so stressing much that this is still in early development and not final product, which may allude the future hat it be much like TS4 first release fiasco where magority are not happy and wtf so many things missing and superficial etc.

I don't believe that Paralives will be as great against TS5 as everyone may predict - unless - and only - if TS5 turns out to be a dud. For all we know at this point, TS5 could be a speedster in the making when it comes to multiplayer games. It's still too early to tell.

You never know, Sims 5 might be like SimCity (2013); when the game was so bad that Cities Skylines swooped in and took the player base.

Sims/EA has a huge base still. And showing what they did and stating is early in development is being somewhat transparent. IMO saying is early in development does not indicate they fear Paralives is a big threat to them.

All we all can do is just wait to see when these games are released and then see how well we do or do not like them and whether to buy and play them?

Sales figures for both will show what people really think/want. Comments on media indicate some things, but only tell a fraction of the story. Sales is the true indicator of success in most ways. These are both being made to sell, and sales will reflect how well they have accomplished that.

Also, there are many players who will purchase both. Getting one does not mean that person will not try the other also.

For many seasoned players, it could well be Paralives has somewhat of an advantage in the interest stakes. Despite getting clips of its development here and there, it is largely an unknown entity, mostly guessing of its workings due to the nature of its genre via the Sims franchise. Whereas the Sims franchise, the same folks who worked on Sims 4 are working on Sims 5. Despite being a 20 year franchise, Maxis being a 20 year entity - revived from near extinction at end of TS2 as new media gurus for TS3 marketing - the vast majority of latter day Maxis have only been working on it since Sims 4 because of the hiring strategy made specifically for TS4 - and it damn well shows. Meaning no real guessing what TS5 will be like over time. Botched, incessant patches, everything broken to some lesser or greater degree by about half way through its lifespan and riddled with so many annoyances - like every new sim still gets a Japanese name due to a pack released two frikken years ago - it would be impossible to tidy them all so they don't tidy any. Sims 5 will be rinse and repeat.

I know Maxis.
I don't know Paralives.
(Absolutely no idea what Paradox and Rod Humble are planning. Too quiet for too long on that one. But hey, we live in hope.)
Who has the advantage in my book?