Sims 3: Bitching and moaning

[strangetomato]

Wow. Just... wow.

From the The Sims 3: World Adventures Q&A on IGN:

The Sims 3: World Adventures offers a whole new way to play that we've never done in a Sims game before. We're utilizing the opportunity system introduced in The Sims 3 to take your sims through a whole variety of different adventures. You can start by talking to a local merchant who will send you off to find a keystone that unlocks the treasure chest to get into the secret chamber and so on. You aren't just picking up random tasks--you can follow and participate in a story. Each location offers different back stories and secrets to uncover. We're also working on a much more interactive exploration system in our tombs and catacombs. The player will need to solve puzzles to get from room to room--you can't just click in the treasure room and say "Go Here" anymore. Using your sims' skills, special items and figuring out a puzzle will be how to get through the multitude of areas we've set up for you to explore.

Sorry, but if I wanted to solve puzzles to get from room to room, I'd play a Legend of Zelda game. They're MUCH better at it. I hate to whine about this yet again, but seriously... what the fuck?

Comments

[peasant007.livejournal.com]

Ooo. So if I get everything right on the puzzles, I will get awesome XP and Phat Lewt...wait.

Nevermind, this is a Sims game. Silly me.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You'd be forgiven for getting confused, what with it being an entirely different game and all.

*sigh*

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

:/ I was thinking pretty much the same while reading the article there (just replacing 'Legend of Zelda' for 'Riddle of The Sphinx' lol). Putting in sims term, it sounds more and more like a "Sims Life Stories" than anything else.

And that bit about the Base camp?? WTF!!?? "Your sims will start out at a kind of "base camp" and will have to earn their way up to being able to have a local home to travel to." What?? O_0

Also, hated the comment about players wanting the game to be more realistic every time. I mean, in part is true looking at the average CC, it does tend to be on the realistic side, but still players want to be able to build and play as they want, not to follow pre-established storylines.

They are just not getting it! :|

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That mention of "base camp" was where I started furrowing my brow, but it wasn't until the puzzle thing that I started getting physically angry. God, they have no clue, do they? Imagine if you wanted to use one of those locations for a story. You'd have to SOLVE it first! That's not the dollhouse we all know and love.

I want to know who these supposed players are that supposedly wanted this. Why weren't any of us picked for the focus group? Surely, we aren't that different from the average simmer...

Yeah, I just don't get it.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

An all new game by Rod Humble: An Adventure in MISSING THE POINT.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I liked The Marriage better. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It's so true, and I feel exactly the same way. As of right now, I can't see myself buying any of these EPs, unless they make some big changes to their approach. I bought the basegame because I had to see it firsthand and make up my own mind, but they're losing me. Sims 3 was fun for a while, but it's just not the same. And we wanted "the same" with better graphics and more options, not this.

Love your icon, by the way.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Please.forgive.all.the.periods...the.spacebar.on.my.computer.doesn't.work.anymore...new.computer.on.the.way.though,lol.

ANYWAY...

I.love.questing.games.with.the.best.of.them...but.I.really.have.no.desire.to.reinstall.TS3.any.time.soon.It's.so.sad.to.me,because.I.did.look.forward.to.it.so.much.:(

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. You're doing well with no spacebar. Thanks for making the effort. :D

Exactly. I like those games too, but the Sims series was something different and special.

I also really, really wanted to like this game. I really did. And I tried. But this is pretty much it for me. I'll be paying attention to what the next EP is, but I can't ever see myself buying that World Adventures game.

[lalalaleigha.livejournal.com]

Inspired partly by your outstanding storytelling, I recently went out to my local video game retailer and stared at the Sims for a while to figure out whether I wanted to buy 2 or 3. (I've been looking for a new narrative tool for a long time and it looked like a hell of a lot of fun to use the Sims. It certainly is. :] )

I ended up with 2. It looks like I made a very good choice.

I'm really not sure what else to say except that I am shaking my head at this news. Part of what I like about the Sims is that it's not nearly as restricted as games like that. Except now, apparently, it is.

you can't just click in the treasure room and say "Go Here" anymore.
But isn't that sort of elemental to the Sims?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You definitely made the right choice. I'm happy for you. It's sad that we won't get a nice upgrade to our storytelling tool with Sims 3. I was hoping it would work out that way, but it's not looking good.

I'm just baffled. I can't even see how the caption legacy crowd will be able to use this. After I've seen the puzzle solved, I can't imagine wanting to read about others solving it, again and again. No, wait... I wouldn't even care the first time. I may as well be honest.

For storytelling, it's just not much use at all.

Like you said, they're tossing out all of the fundamental things that define The Sims, and going in a different direction. It seems foolhardy, given how popular the game is, even after all these years. There's a reason it has staying power.

Oh, and good luck with your storytelling adventures! ^_^ I hope you'll have as much fun as I have. (And I'm flattered that you consider me an inspiration.)

[pnkpnthr334.livejournal.com]

I was looking forward to getting TS3 when an EP came out, but I definitely don't want this. If I send my Sims on vacation I want them to be able to experience all, not have to unlock every single location. I want to just say "Go Here" and have that be that. I don't get why they're making TS3 more complicated than it needs to be. It's a simulation game, not a puzzle solving, adventure game.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, exactly. I have no problem with them making all sorts of complex things for sims to do, but I want to putter around and do them on my own terms. And I certainly don't want to have to solve puzzles.

[samethana.livejournal.com]

I removed TS3 off of my computer within less then a week from getting it. I already gave it to my friend's daughter because she just doesn't have a clue about how a sims game is supposed to be and she really wanted it. I do not regret it one bit. I have been reading articles about it and looking at everyone's pretty pictures, and the one thing I like about it is the scenery. I don't like the look of these sims or the gameplay one bit.
I hope that everyone will boycot EA by not buying this ep so they will wake up and finally see what we actually want and need in our games. (I for one could still use some ep's/sp's for TS2 as I'm hanging on to that one)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I agree on the scenery. I love that, and the custom colour wheel, the story progression (sometimes), and the open neighbourhood. If they could stick with what's good and work on adding more detail to the things we love, like genetics, then we'd have a game worthy of the series. They did some things right, but it's not enough.

Sims 3 should have taken everything good about Sims 2 and made it significantly better. If not, then why bother? We'll always have Sims 2, because the game doesn't "end." They needed to really raise the bar with a sequel, but instead they chose to switch genres. It's a shame.

[wtsims.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I like adventure games. I like them a lot. I lament the fact that they're long past their original heyday and would be really happy to hear that games reminiscent of the Myst or Gabriel Knight or Journeyman Project were making a comeback.

The Sims, however, is not supposed to be a friggin' adventure game. It's supposed to be a life simulator. Apparently, EA has managed to forget this.

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

Sorry for getting nosy here, but I agree with you so much!!
I love adventure games too, still do (aww Myst!! <3 good times for adventure players, indeed), but I love Sims as it was meant to be. A game in which the player can actually create its own world and play as he/she wants to, not following a pre-design path/storyline. I have (and played) lots of those games already, but do not want that for my sims! :/

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

What?

That's about all I can say without building on what's already been said. Life simulation games and adventure games are like boys and girls on the playground — except for the occasional "sissy boy" they don't mix! There are going to be people who won't buy this because of these things you've mentioned, but adventure gamers won't buy it either if they don't like the traditional Sims gameplay.

As for the no-Go-Here thing — I'm absolutely fine with not having access to secret lots (though I've never really needed them for anything yet), so TS2 (and even TS1, to an extent, if you ever worked the beanstalk) didn't really bother me in this way. I wasn't "hungry" for any of those things because the "food" wasn't sitting right in front of me. But now it will be. Know what I'm saying?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You've reminded me of what my SO said, which was, "So they've turned it into a boy's game instead of a girl's game?" As much as I resist gender-restrictive categories, there is a lot of truth to this statement. It's like they don't believe that a domestic-themed "girl's game" can be popular without adding some adventure in there.

My SO also asked if they'd have to find somewhere to pee in the middle of solving the puzzle. :P It's a good question.

[an-nas.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with what everyone has said.

When I first heard that there was going to be The Sims 3, I thought we were getting an improved, more developed The Sims 2. Now it's obviously been clear for quite a while that I was wrong, but this is just so stupid, I don't even know what to say. They're just doing it SO WRONG.

I also thought I might reconsider re-installing TS3 when EPs start coming out, but looks like that won't be happening.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I thought we were getting an improved, more developed The Sims 2.

That's exactly what we should have gotten. Even something much the same as Sims 2, but with better graphics, would have been okay, but to make it worth the bother to start all over with a new game in the series, we would have loved to see big improvements to the simulation side of things. They're wasting valuable energy in adding all this other nonsense.

I haven't uninstalled Sims 3, because I do still enjoy playing it from time to time, but EA needs to hear that I got tired of collecting seeds and completing opportunities a LONG TIME AGO. A chance card is one thing, but don't distract me from managing my household. THAT is the game.

[silentsteel.livejournal.com]

They're trying to turn Sims into an MMORPG. BLEAGH.

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

Apparently EA didn't learn the last time they tried something like that.

D:

[will-o-whisper.livejournal.com]

Well, if they're going to throw in bits of all sorts of other games into the sims, I want an expansion where we get to lead an army of llamas bearing grilled cheese banners into battle against the evil cows. I might actually buy that. :P

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

This!

[simnovoris.livejournal.com]

I'm already pretty bored with S3, it's duller than S2 and not only because it's just a base game (although partly because of that since well, the game's not overly exciting in itself and feels like being stuck with the S2 base game all over again) but because things are just more one-dimensional. Pudding-faced strangers all around and I don't feel that anyone of them has a story.

Started S2 again for the first time in forever today and the only thing I really miss from S3 is the open neighbourhood. It's brilliant. But the rest. Nah.

And I love games that aren't simulation. I'm currently sacrificing sleep in order to roam the Capital Wasteland of Fallout 3 or kicking alien ass in Mass Effect. It's not that I only want to decorate my little dollhouse (or whatever gender biased crap they're believing about sims players) but Sims is about stories, a surreal version of life with all its little things like getting love letters and throwing birthday parties. You can't have that in Fallout. :)

I feel sometimes that the general idea behind all of this is that it's not good enough to be a "girly game" (ie a game with a large amount of female players). Which is just sexist bullshit.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

I was hoping the expansions would add neighborhoods. I was hoping, of course, for Strangetown. Oh well!

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

But who knows what time travel would do to such a great neighborhood (à la Don Lothario)?!

[elizabeth-becks.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I barely like the Sims 3 on its own, now this crap. I have a rubiks cube that I need to solve and that's more important than this new expansion pack.

The Sims 3 on my laptop runs slower than all of the Sims 2 games that I have and I have every one of them. Imagine what this crap expansion would so to my poor laptop.

I seriuosly thought I found crap games that belong to my brother, now I have found one that takes its place at number one of shite games.

I think I've finished my rant.

[themadmaiden.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to consider uninstalling my sims 3. It's just not as fun.

And that expansion pack...wow. That's about all I can say.

[(Anonymous)]

Uh, am I the weirdest person ever? Because this sounds like wicked fun to me. I always wanted the Sims to combine the whole "customize everything" shtick with exploration and adventure someone BESIDES the same boring old neighborhood (I was one of those kids who took their dolls out of the dollhouse and played with them around the house.)

[garnet812.livejournal.com]

My husband bought me the Sims 3 and I think I might have played it maybe a week. I kinda feel bad because he bought it because he noticed I didn't have it. I really did tried to like it. The scenery is awesome, I love the customization for everything, and the traits are cool, BUT I just could not get into the game. I do not like the way the sims look, and I miss my VAMPIRES alot. I love Sims 2 because I get to create the world I want my sims to live it. I have a certain styles to each of my neighborhood and the Sims 3 just seems too vanilla for me. I know it's just the base, and creators are making leaps and bounds everyday in making custom content, but it just does not live up to my expectations. I guess that I wanted Sims 2 with better graphics, control, and traits. And then I see the expansion pack and I just know I will never play Sims 3 again. Sims do not need scavenger hunts and puzzles and BS like that. I thought the whole concept of the sims was so that we could control what happened and what our sims do. Puzzles have NO PLACE in this game. I'm really sorry for the rant and taking up so much of your space.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm really sorry for the rant and taking up so much of your space.

No apologies needed here! ^_^ This is a free rant zone. Rant on. It's not good to bottle up your frustrations.

You feel much the same way I do. I could see the potential there for this game to be a great successor to Sims 2, and it had some GREAT features, but they're going so far off track now. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds, but it sounds like a huge mistake.

[amaryssobellus.livejournal.com]

This is the death of Sims as we know it.

RIP The Sims. You had a good run while it lasted. :/

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

*observes moment of silence*

So sad.

[poppyperson.livejournal.com]

OMG. What were they thinking? Come on, we play puzzle games for puzzels we play virtul world's for sims. Now I have to admit, when I first saw the sims 3 I thought COOL! I do have lots of problems with sims 2 (Like my game can't take custom content) but now...

WHAT IS THE SIMS COMING TO?

[petchy-14.livejournal.com]

*Smiles*
I honestly liked the "Stories" games.. And wasn't everyone saying that the game would add very little to the "real" game unless it featured tasks to be done? And a Reward for it?
Including a Stories type thing sounds actually wicked for me - Hollidays were dull and boring unless there was an actual ~reason~ for them being there.

However, from a storytelling point of view, it seems that thats got to be the worst choice.. but what about just sticking to TS2? TS3 for me is something to go in hand with TS2.. not an "heir to the throne"
I say let them be different, noone wanted an exact carbon copy of "Bon Voyage".. did they?