• Inconsistent world style. Especially careers. There is a definite shift towards ‘realism’ in the presentation, yet TS3’s writing still sticks to the far-out whimsical style of TS2 when you can become the World Leader of a town with a population under 100.

Realism mods might still be thin on the ground, but for the most part few players have taken an attitude towards the unrealism being detrimental to the game. Personally, I found it was not so much the whimisical style that put me off, but the surprising lack of quality in the writing, and also the lack of attention to detail to constructing a believable, fictional world. The release of World Earth Adventures proved that I, and probably a few other players, are in the minority when it comes to caring about the fact that Sims world != real world.

• In game advertising. Especially having to pay for it. Take a hint, game companies – gamers (well, PC gamers I’d like to think) don’t like to see advertising except in certain contexts (e.g. sports games). They’ll respect it less if all it does is add to the game company’s revenue, not drop the price meaningfully for consumers or provide some tangible benefit. Example: they could give discount codes for the Store to players that leave ads on. Reward people!

Non-issue, as TS3 shipped without ads, and it’s highly unlikely that they’ll ever be introduced in the future. I was pretty pleased they used Simlish in-world banners as replacements.

Instead EA is much more focused on advertising their own Sims store in the game, as the addition of Shop Mode last November proves. I guess they just couldn’t strike a good enough advertising deal with anyone, so they resorted to shilling their own stuff.

• The missing features. Not just pets and weather. Specifically: guitarist-ism. EA, please think of the pianists, the drummers, and most importantly the BASSISTS. And give brass and woodwinds some love too.

Yes, think of the bass guitarists. It should have added fuel to the fire when revealed that a lot of missing features are already coded into the game (those images I put up are barely the tip of the iceberg), but most players take this in their stride.

• Four month delay, and they STILL wait to release the neighborhood editor? Come on it can’t be that hard to do in that time.

Ha ha. I was only beginning to get whiny about it, and seven months passed before Create-A-World was released.

• Crappy textures and copied stuff. Yes, it’s meant to be a low-spec game, but not everyone appreciates “gameplay > graphics”. I do, naturally. I actually like that TS3 sticks close to the graphic style of its predecessor, but some screenshots and videos show outright duplicates of objects and animations. Don’t make TS3 “53% new game.”

Yup. And let’s not forget that most of TS3’s reused objects have fewer features than their TS2 counterparts did (e.g. the toddler play table).

• Lack of custom content. EA’s the type of company to whom ‘modding’ is a foreign concept. More advanced creators will undoubtedly be frustrated from the lack of concern.

On this point I was wrong: there was no lack of custom content. In fact TS3 modding was quite storied. First came the advent of core modding, with the rapid rise & fall of Indie Stone and ongoing development of AwesomeMod; the subsequent boom in scripting mods and TS2 conversions; the release of more mod tools; the patch that broke .packages; the patch that broke Sims3Packs; the patch that broke both; and so on.

• The dodgy save system. On a PC game this is inexcusable. Limiting save numbers and tying them to a single family seems like a recipe for fiery-ball descruction …
• There was no save limit, but certainly more than a fair share of fiery ball destruction with Error #s all around (the # depending on the patch level, or indeed any unknown factor). AwesomeMod added an autosave function.

Overall? The things I complained about were for the most part alleviated, although the release of TS3 brought many other issues to the fore. Over time, the game will mature with more mini-titles adding more gameplay, objects and features.

Anyway, I got a public response to my pointed letter on paysites! Yay for corporate sincerity.

Jeff Green writes:

Well, the fact that we link to many of these sites ourselves, as you say, gives you the answer to part of your question: These sites aren’t doing anything wrong. Part of why The Sims is so dang popular is this ability to create and trade objects with other gamers. There are a ton of sites that do this completely for free, too, offering thousands of items at no cost at all. So, really, you don’t have to "put up" with anything. You can ignore the pay sites and go to the free ones. Or, make your own stuff and sell it yourself.  Capitalism FTW! God Bless America!

I posted the following (long) comment to the post on ea.com. In case it fails moderation, I’m posting it below.

Thanks for the response Jeff. I appreciate hearing straight talk on the topic of Sims paysites from an EA rep but I have serious problems with what you’re telling Sims fans.

Firstly, I want to say that if  such sites were officially licensed by EA, there would be no problem. I have no problem with people being fairly compensated for their work, but not if they’re breaking laws to do so. As it stands no paysite has a license from EA to conduct their business.

Secondly, you didn’t address why The Sims is the EXCEPTION to the rule for EA’s games when it comes to charging for user-made content. For example BioWare has spoken out through their forum moderators against any attempts to sell mods or offer them as “donation incentives” (where you must “donate” to receive the content at all) for their games. Doesn’t it disadvantage the large casual audience of The Sims 3, new to gaming, who might stumble on a pay site and not know that there are free ones out there?

Thirdly, your response basically sanctions the selling of derivative works of EA’s assets – in breach of their EULAs – because it’s a free country and a free market. Why then has EA Legal stopped people from trying to sell machinima, even when they were trying to raise money for charity? (Do a web search for "Bloodspell DVD EA" and "Male Restroom Etiquette EA").

Where does this permissiveness end? Can I also rip game art or music from a PC game, upload it and sell that as my own? Is it OK to sell multiplayer cheat hacks for games like Crysis or Battlefield? In a totally free market it’d be logical to do all this, plus pirate games and plagiarise its content without mercy. The only thing stopping that in the real world, apart from one’s morals, are intellectual property and contract laws…

Finally, the Create A World tool that just came out this week for Sims 3 has a clause restricting distribution to "personal noncommercial website(s) for the noncommercial benefit of the fan community." (I know that not all modding uses official mod tools, but a large proportion does.) How are paysites EVER operated for the “noncommercial benefit” of fans? Their very purpose is to generate revenue from commercial transactions – subscription or per-download fees, giving out items in exchange for “donations”, etc. Also, how are the for-profit companies that run some paysites “personal noncommercial website(s)”?

Sorry to chill the vibe of this blog, but I hope this response is seriously considered.

- Ryan D.

Next step? I’m seriously thinking about writing to EA Legal.

If you agree or disagree with me, feel free to comment.

DISCLAIMER: These are just my personal opinions. As I’m a storytelling player more than a gamer or modder, that’s the perspective from which I’ll approach my choices. Also, I completely ignored the mods that fixed many of the problems I mention. EA/Maxis didn’t provide those; the community did.

On with the awards…

“Most Annoying NPC” goes to….

Rod Humble from FreeTime

Every one of TS2’s EPs added NPCs to the game. Rod Humble was the worst. Sim Rod Humble, upon installing FreeTime, would appear on every lot and bring you a shiny new computer loaded with Lies and Propaganda for…The Sims 3, of all things! Way to break immersion. Sim Humble would also give families free computers, effectively free money; and he was annoying. What more can I say.

Honorable mentions go to: strays from Pets, the professors from Uni, and the apartment townies from Apartment Life.

“Least Value For Money” goes to…

Pets

The Sims: Unleashed added a slew of great features besides pets: Old Town, gardening, the sweet sax player, all that carnival stuff… What did The Sims 2: Pets add? Pets, strays, werewolves, some superfluous build/buy stuff…and you could breed pets. Not that much new gameplay for the price. Nevertheless, Pets was EA/Maxis’ highest-selling EP. Go figure…

They definitely knew that pets were the #1 most demanded feature, and proceeded to charge full price for pets and pets alone. And they got away with it. I’ll never understand the appeal of having virtual pets to go with your virtual humans. They take too long to train anyway. Boring.

“Worst Supernatural Creature” goes to…

Bigfoot from Bon Voyage

Bigfoot is completely illogical. He is a master of every skill, gets free gifts from co-workers EVERY DAY, and is sterile (where’s the fun?) Plus his name is ‘Bigfoot Bigfoot’. And you couldn’t ‘create’ a Bigfoot or ‘become’ one; you had to go out and drag him home by sucking up to him. WTF?

“Most Detrimental to Storytelling” goes to…

University

Sure, Uni was fun the first few times… but it takes so freaking long to complete if you don’t cheat. If you play a hood ‘by the book’ you end up going through Uni for every Sim. It’s hard to avoid because the game intrinsically awards and punishes Sims based on university. So monotonous and there was only so much I could take of it.

“Worst Supporting Stuff Pack” goes to…

H&M Fashion Stuff

H&MFS signalled EAxis’ first foray into the realm of licensed, non-free product placement. Whether the content was fashionable or not is a question I’ll leave to others. No, this SP was the worst because of its blatant in-game advertising. They gave players building tools and decorations to design their very own H&M fashion store to place in their hoods. So what do impressionable players do? Write H&M stores into their stories like it’s second nature! There’s a name for that: guerrilla marketing. (I think.) Thanks, EAxis, for outright marketing expensive clothing to kids through a video game so subliminally – and making the kids pay for the privilege.

H&M only edges out IKEA Stuff by being 1) the first in time and 2) advertising a brand not even available in the countries it was released in! At least we have an IKEA here.

”Worst Expansion Pack” goes to…

Bon Voyage

Rehash of old EP? Check. Crippling, game-breaking bugs on release? Check. Boring after the first time? Check (for me). Badly integrated with other EPs? Check. No spring break from college. No pets on vacation. No running a hotel as a business.

I enjoyed TS3’s freedom from expansions while it lasted, but all good things come to an end. EA have announced the first TS3 expansion.

I am wholly, WHOLLY unimpressed with a single flaw in this game design.

From the press release:

"[Players will] discover new cities in China, France, and Egypt, and share new stories."

Why am I unimpressed?

Because using real countries is a freaking stupid idea.

I once called this sort of thing a rule of the Sims universe: it’s not Earth! It’s fiction! Suspension of disbelief matters – but obviously not to EA, where money comes ahead of creating a coherent, entertaining game. Did not one person designing this game speak up and point out the ridiculousness of using real country names? Maybe they didn’t want to lose their jobs.

See, the sensible angle would be to describe locations as “European”, “Eastern”, or “Egyptian” (whatever, it’s a dead civilization anyway.) These vacation towns already have unique names – why not market the game with those, like Bon Voyage did?

Seriously, are we to believe that there’s a Sim Taiwan/China and a Sim Israel/Palestine too?

Will these places have real-world languages (hell no), terrible accented gibberish (probably) or just the same Simlish we’re used to (most likely)?

Are the developers trying to shove pro-Yankee imperialism down our throats by having Sims governed by a Leader of the Free World?

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Just the fact that all these questions exist shatter my suspension of disbelief and will ruin any enjoyment I could probably get out of this expansion.

But don’t worry, I’ve got plenty more reasons to hate on World Adventures. The linear, mission-based stories turning the game into less and less of a Wrightian sandbox. The inevitable bugs. Being the harbinger of the upgrade cycle. Cultural stereotyping. My loathing of Vacation and Bon Voyage. The content-stripping (taking content out of the game to plump out future EPs/SPs/the Store).

And the neighbourhood editor that has yet to see the light of day and probably never will. Now that EA is on the expansion wagon, this is the kind of thing that will get pushed to the bottom of the pile and stay there, despite pre-release ‘representations’ that it would be out a few weeks after release.

Really, the editor is the one thing that I’m still ‘following’ TS3 for apart from modding because I will never get attached to premades and premade towns.

Anyway, I’ve never been in this camp before. Before I would eagerly look forward to new expansions. Actually with the Sims, it would be what ‘brought me back to the game’ after not playing it for some time. But I am not going to buy World Adventures. I have no interest in it at all.

Regard this as your forewarning.

Well, it was 99% certain to happen early, but the Sims 3 (weighing in @ 4.94 GB) has leaked.

Edit I: SecuROM is BACK. Run.

Edit II: Whispers that it may be an early leak of the Download Edition (already confirmed to contain SecuROM). Jury is out on whether the disc version will have the Blight. Alternately, may be preview code, due to missing content. Smart to wait until retail version is up. Smarter to buy the freakin’ thing.

I’m angry at this. Two reasons.

Firstly, don’t you fucking realise they’ll go back to SecuROM now? They have the perfect excuse, don’t they? The EA seniors will lament using weak DRM and slap SecuROM on the next expansion that comes out. They must still have a contract with Sony.

All because of an early leak. And I am more angry and frustrated because really there’s nothing individuals can do about it. It’s macroeconomics. Hundreds of thousands (millions?) will pirate because it’s free and there’s almost zero marginal cost. I am against oppressive DRM as most gamers are, for obvious reasons, but this sort of phenomenon is a slap in the face to honest people.

The cycle will go on. Hardcore pirates will unabashedly pirate games, hide behind weak excuses of ‘I HATE DRM’, and publishers, as corporations, will respond in the same way they’ve always done.

Secondly, I admit to pirating games (so don’t call me a hypocrite for saying this). I’ve done it because of why everyone does it. It’s free. It’s easier than going out and finding a copy of the game. Sometimes, it’s easier than finding a copy you own in your own house. So, I’m admitting I would be tempted to download it right now. Just to poke around the files, see what its like, etc. I’m dead set on buying it, but that doesn’t excuse the crime. I wholly admit to doing it rather than hiding behind groundless, pithy justifications.

But in my country, bandwidth is a rip off! I have gone over my bandwidth cap for the month (well, I pin the blame on others in my household, I pay the whole bill though) and I’m on a 64kbps connection until the 30th. I have to spend a substantial amount of money on 50GB of bandwidth and ensure it lasts the month, which is a check on torrenting stuff willy-nilly.

So, game companies? If you want to stop pirates, buy the internet companies and force people to accept ridiculous bandwidth costs. I guarantee it will work in Australia at least.

…

Phew. That feels better.

http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?threadID=1b3acec347263a40b763308c4af2d0a2&directoryID;=225&startRow;=1&openItemID;=item.225,item.43,item.61,item.104,item.41,item.127,item.23

*Sigh* Will they ever learn…

I don’t know if I’ve expressed it elsewhere on this site, but I don’t like the whimsical nature of the TS3 careers. They should at least pay heed to the notion that the workplaces are visible, that the setting is a medium-size town/city, and that people in the real world don’t get paid for jobs that employers aren’t willing to pay them for. At least in TS2 the action happened offscreen. They could be a bit more imaginative with the settings.

Anyway, here’s my take on what was revealed career-wise.

“Rise through the medical ranks from an Organ Donor to a World-Renowned Surgeon”

In the Sims world surgeons are always superior to physicians and this hasn’t changed. Paid organ donation is technically ILLEGAL.

“Propel your Sim’s career from Paper Boy to Star News Anchor”

Newspaper + TV Station in the same workplace? How will they pull that off?

“Skyrocket your Sim from Latrine Cleaner to Astronaut with the Military Career”

Latrine Cleaner could bear to be a little less specific. Plus if the top job is Astronaut, why not make it a Space career instead? I though

“Take your Sim from a Podium Polisher to the Leader of the Free World”

Ahem. Podium Polisher? There’s like six results for that phrase on Google. Must be a job in high demand if you can get paid for it now. Also, world leaders don’t live in two-bit towns.

“Choose your Sim’s career path! Become a legendary Rock Star or a famous Orchestra Conductor”

Well it seems OK enough, but TS3 still seems to have Rock Guitar-ist Syndrome seeing as there are no ‘classical’ instruments.

“Pursue a career in Science and take your Sim from Test Subject to Mad Scientist”

Wow, exactly the same.

“Choose your Sim’s career path! Will your Sim be a Special Agent of [sic] a Forensic Analyst?”

Law Enforcement? Forensic Analyst sounds like more of a Science job, if your whole career background is in the police force.

“Take your Sim from Rabid Fan to a Sports Legend”

Do Fans get paid to be fans now? Does it depend on how rich and crappy your team is?

“Move your Sim up the corporate ladder from Coffee Courier to Power Broker”

Vagueness, vagueness…bring back the actual positions EA.

“Does your Sim have what it takes to become a Super Villain or Master Thief?”

Super villains??

“Take your Sim from a Kitchen Scullion to a Five-Star Chef”

Scullion = “A servant employed to do menial tasks in a kitchen.” (American Heritage Dictionary). Yes, I had to look up the precise meaning which does not bode well. Less obscure career titles would be appreciated.

Finally, WHERE IS EDUCATION??? We have heard nothing about it. Is it cut or something?

Really, PC developers should not overlook a good save system. Don’t use a limited list, use the file system. Let players organise their saves into subfolders. Do it automatically, and let the player define rules (like email clients). Give save files meaningful, renamable names. If the game has quicksave/autosave, I really mean this, ROTATE THE SAVES. It’s not that hard.

But on the topic of gradual aging, I’m going to use my soapbox here and spell out exactly why gradual aging (GA) sucks.

First reason – gradual aging is more realistic, but realism is overrated. Give us fun gameplay, I say.

The second reason – technological limitations. GA would almost certainly mean a variable height system. Granted, I would love to see a variable height system, but I understand that the graphics engine is limited – Sims of all sizes need to interact with objects. Currently the game manages by having one animation per life stage – if you’ve got short and tall Sim meshes, for every increment of age, how will the engine cope with animation?

Speaking of growth spurting – no convincing way of handling puberty. When can Sims become sexually active? you’re just begging for controversy here. The game needs a way to ‘unlock’ items and interactions to these growing Sims, and the only If they’re ‘locked out’ of sex until 18 (or 14? 16? 21? depending on your part of the world) is that necessarily good or bad?

And as for the life stages, I like the distinctiveness of each generation. I just hope that Elders aren’t as boring to play in TS3, living on for ages and ages. I was so thankful when I discovered the no age discrimination hack (lets Elders keep adult jobs).

So presuming you don’t like college, but like the instruments (for sake of example), you keep Uni installed and put up with the annoyances.

EVERY TS2 EP did this, mainly through those persistent wants to go on a date/buy a pet/hire so-and-so/go on vacation etc.

I’ve been thinking about how this relates to telling a neighbourhood storyline.

The added features seem to create the need to ‘write them into’ the story somehow. I really resent how TS2 compels you to add a college, or if you want to go all-out build one from scratch. Each EP added superfluous features which I personally didn’t enjoy (can’t speak for you of course) and over time build up to create a sense of ‘gameplay bloat’. Maybe they were fun the first time, but not the fiftieth.

“I’ll buy a pet for this family. Oooh, they should go on a honeymoon vacation! Let’s join the secret society. She wants to start a business – let’s run it out of her living room”.

Yes, it’s optional, and you can reduce the annoyances with mods, but I ended up taking the drastic approach. The last time I installed TS2 I stuck to the EPs I liked the most – University (for instruments!), Nightlife, OFB, Seasons and Freetime. I didn’t add any sub neighborhoods. I was mostly happy.

I want to play a computer game and be creative, not put up with bloated gameplay.

TS3 will, no doubt, come with close to a dozen expansion packs in the next few years. I’m going to be happy playing a streamlined, EP-free base game for a while.