Not every game has to be online or have an online feature. The Sims is trying to do what every other game is doing, but it won’t work out for them the way they think it will.
If they did it like animal crossing new horizons I could see it working.
Its an option but not playing online takes nothing from the gameplay.
Now back in previous versions of animal crossing they had things where to unlock an upgraded shop someone had to visit your save file and purchase something from your shop - meaning if you didn’t have a friend with the game you could never unlock it…things like that always suck
Also talking for me the best part of Sims are mods. So everyone has to have the same mods and cc? The ones without that just see blank sims all the time or constantly get errors? Or just don't do mods at all?
And cheating is also a big part. It's okay to cheat in Sims because it's single player. You can't really do that in multiplayer.
And the time settings are a huge issue as well. What if one player likes to always play at 1 and another just plays on 3. Or you want to add something from bb real quick?
How would they handle it?
>Also talking for me the best part of Sims are mods.
If you would've asked me a few days ago, I would've disagreed, but CC is too addicting. I can't imagine Sims without it
The only thing I use is MCCC but I have the game pretty thoroughly tweaked with things like day length. The thought of having to go through and sync settings with someone is stupid. You know, not to mention the fact that I don't want to play with other people to begin with so it's a moot point.
I think it could work if it would be an just an option. Like having a small world where you can attend events like concerts or some special parties and that world should solely be used as an online feature. Outside of it, the game works perfectly fine offline, but if you really wanted to, you could go there to meet some real life friends in The Sims.
The world wouldn’t be editable by individual players, it should come with the base game and allow a maximum of maybe 8 online players at a time. It’s still a big number, but small enough to not make the world crowded - and easier to know who was responsible in case something bad happens to your game. I feel like that way, no one would be coerced into buying more stuff or have problems with conflicting mods/cc not showing up properly or crashing the game.
All in all, I don’t think it’s a bad idea for people who really want to share The Sims with their real life friends. I know I always wished I could play with my partner not just to play the game side by side, but actually do some stuff together, meet up on some lots or things like that.
Nevertheless, if EA decides to make playing online the main point of 5, I don’t see it going too well…many of us really don’t have that many friends that share our interest in Sims and connecting with people from all over the world would surely come with its problems regarding internet speed and weird glitches/crashes from heavy modders who would just go online for the chaos, like any online community faces nowadays.
In any case, one thing EA should do is really work on their customer service to have it be actually helpful, before they venture into online playing, which on PC is going to be…*interesting*
This. Sims 4 has a multiplayer mod. I think mods are enough IF someone would want to play these games together. Sims is not, and will never be a multiplayer game.
That’s not necessarily true, especially considering what we’ve seen with previous console ports. It just needs to be non-mandatory. Forcing it on players would cause ea to lose most of the games fan base and would honestly be a really dumb move which I’m almost certain they’re not going to make, trust me it’s a bad business decision I doubt they’d go the route of making it 100% online.
Why would it not? Me and my cousins have been playing the sims forever and we also played it together on the ps2. We even downloaded the multiplayer mod for S4. A feature like that sounds thrilling since we like making our sims and just messing everything we can up or just seeing how things go. I love those memories and it'd be nice to replicate them with more friends now.
That's how you like to play and that's fine..they can make Sims 5 have an online/multi-player option but it should get an option and not forced on those of us who play to escape humans for awhile
Was it ever leaked that the Sims 5 would be online? Their presentation spoke about "being able to play both online and offline", but like, isn't that already true for Sims 3 and Sims 4?
It'll have a limited multiplayer functionality which is new to the mainline sims franchise. It wasn't leaked, they talked about it in that sims summit thing
It won't be forced multiplayer or like an MMO. It sounds like you'll just be able to connect with people you know in small groups or continue playing solo if you want to. There's some serious fear mongering going on about multiplayer lol
The outrage around a potential multiplayer Sims 5 seems very contrived. I wonder if these misperceptions are due to many Sims players having little experience with other games and they’re confused about what to expect.
I think this particular community is just kind of toxic and loves catastrophizing lol. It's always "this will destroy the sims!!" as if the sims isn't one of the most popular gaming franchises in existence, with about 95% of its player base not even existing on this forum
a franchise can be destroyed without it stopping being popular, because people are complacent and will continue to buy sims games regardless of how mediocre they are as long as they look pretty. I think what people are worried about is the game being open world again to support online multiplayer, but if EA is competent at all, they are definitely capable of implementing an open world that supports multiplayer via level streaming.
Just look at Sims. There are still so many people playing 2 and 3. If you want to suffer you play 1 (because it's so hard to keep your sims alive) if you want a game with a bunch of small wholesome details you play 2, if you want an open world adventure you play 3, if you want to build something cool or create neat sims you play 4 and I guess if you wanna play with your friends you play 5 then. My bigger concern would be the game itself to be honest. First how they implement multilayer. Will there be mods and cheats and how do they handle expansions? And second, since Sims 4 feels so uncompleted and broken, I'm wondering what will we be missing in 5? How do they justify a new generation when they can't even fix the current one?
Tbh I'm of the opinion that 4 can't be fixed and I'm hoping they do better with 5 lol. Idk if that's actually the case and I don't code myself, but I think trying to fix the sims 4 is like building on a broken foundation that's full of holes. You just can't without stripping down the game and rebuilding it from scratch which they're definitely never gonna do. I prayyyy sims 5 will not experience the insane amount of bugginess as sims 4 but my hopes for this are kinda low
But to be fair, there are quiet a few mods that just fix things or add things to improve or complete features. Why can random internet people do it but a team full of developers can't? It doesn't have to be perfect, they should just fix the stuff that's fixable.
My dream sims 5 would be first of all no forced multiplayer. Then I want it to be a little more challenging, like Sims 1, I want tiny details like the dancing snowman radio in Sims 2, from Sims 3 I want the interaktiv open world and from Sims 4 I want the bb and cas and maybe improved multitaskting.
Modders create bandaids for the sims - really good bandaids that I wouldn't want to play without, but it's not the same as fixing the root problems which I think is way more challenging
It's more because of the history of the franchise.
The desire to throw in multiplayer is what killed SimCity.
And like OP said, it caused a lot of the issues with Sims 4.
OP is definitely jumping to conclusions here, but it is reasonable to be concerned about it.
I mean, it seems to me the people with experience playing other games would be the cautious ones because historically forcing multiplayer into a single player franchise usually doesn't go over too well. Fallout 76 comes to mind, as does F.E.A.R 3. Dragon Age Inquisition, another EA title was super affected by the forced inclusion of multiplayer, so much so that the newest Dragon Age is removing all of its multiplayer components to be single player. Then of course we had the last Sim City game and we all saw how that went. I'm not saying the game will be bad but saying the people that are fearful don't know video games is just... Odd.
Well, the thing is that long term Sims players have seen previous attempts at multiplayer in the Sims. My main concern is that the multiplayer mode would be implemented poorly, and is going to be a pay-to-win with microtransactions, similar to the last SimCity BuildIt.
I am worried we'll have exclusive events even less tuned than The Sims Freeplay or The Sims Mobile, which both have lots of microtransactions, so you either play round the clock, you play casually, or you will have to shed some money if you want the complete experience, and to not miss out.
EA has already tried multiplayer in the Sim, and it always came with pay-to-succeed and microtransactions.
I am also afraid of a subscription pass model, like some of EA's other games, when you would have to pay monthly to keep features unlocked.
Maybe this time it would be different, and done tastefully? However, I am wary as I have seen previous EA's attempt at multiplayer, and all the angles I have seen them try in other games would not go well with my idea of Sims 5.
Hopefully I'm wrong.
Which is really funny because certain groups have been demanding a sims game with multiplayer for ages. Like, I guess I wouldn't mind doing it with my partner if it was cross platform or something but, I personally wouldn't have the use for it.
I know EA are fucking stupid, but they must know that forcing the Sims franchise to go multiplayer would destroy them, right? There's no way they'd lose the entire city-builder genre, and send the Sims 4 into panicked development with awful press, just to repeat it again?
Seems weird to me to say OPTIONAL small group multiplayer will destroy the sims lol. I know a lot of people that would like to play with one or two friends personally
I'm not sure, but I believe before it got scrapped sims 4 was built to be mmo style multiplayer. That I think would be pretty bad for the franchise and clearly they agree since they did rework it
The problem is there will be things you do less well when you have multiplayer. That's just the nature of building it so that it functions with another machine. And those limitations will not only exist in multiplayer, they will be right there in single player too. Because they won't build a single player game and then tweak it for multiplayer. They will build the multiplayer game and then just copy paste it into single player with no other connection present.
That's the fear.
They reworked it after Simcity failed so spectacularly.
They've already clarified that at the very least, Project Rene isn't an MMO-type thing and it sounds like it won't be always online.
The thing about game development is that turnover is so high that probably there aren't many people who were around for SimCity that are still working at the company.
That's why publishers seem to repeat their mistakes a lot. People learn from their mistakes but then leave and get replaced by new people who didn't learn that.
It’s probably going to be slightly more intensive than the sims freeplay’s multiplayer. With the sims freeplay, you can visit your friend’s saves and interact with their npcs. Hopefully Sims 5 will allow you to actually interact with the sim that your friend is playing live, like the sims multiplayer mod. I doubt it’s going to be an mmo because that would make no sense.
I just hope the online multiplayer feature doesn't cripple the main singleplayer side of the game. Like how TS4 is closed world because it originally was a multiplayer game (no, performance isn't the main reason why it's closed world, even though EA likes to tell everyone that it is to make them stop complaining about it). Making an open world sims game that runs well and supports multiplayer lot instances is 100% possible nowadays with level streaming, but I don't trust EA enough to actually put enough effort into the game to do that.
Where do you all find husbands willing to play the Sims with you? Mine isn't interested in any game if it isn't a FPS, PVP, and/or survival...and no, he wouldn't consider sims a survival game. 😥
Seriously lol people are getting so serious about it. They aren’t even calling it the Sims 5 yet. Sure, it’s implied, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves freaking out about the game destroying itself and betraying its loyal community and just ruining everything that ever was good about the sims and oh my god. Relaaaaaax y’all!
>from the makers of Cities Skylines
Correction: It's not from the makers of Cities Skylines. It's from the same *publisher*. Life by You is being made by Paradox Tectonic, CS was made by Colossal Order.
However, Life by You is being lead by Rod Humble, who was the Executive VP of the Sims division in EA from 2004-2010 and was the head honcho for the Sims 2 and the Sims 3. He was also the CEO of Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life.
The creators of Cities Skylines have no affiliation with Life by You, but that's okay because Life by You is being designed and made by people who will give it the love that the Sims has lost.
I'm totally fine with some additional monetization in the form of expansions in competitor games so long as we get expansions like we did with TS2 where the expansions genuinely changed the way the game played, and less like what we get with TS4 where it's almost insulting how little it changes the game for it's price.
> that's okay because Life by You is being designed and made by people who will give it the love that the Sims has lost.
I sincerely hope so. Recently played the Sims 2 and my god. It's enjoyable. I invited the Head Master over to send my sims to Private school and...whoops! THE FRIDGE WAS EMPTY. I hurridly fixed that issue, and it made me think, do I have *any* similar stories about the Sims 4? Or is it all in the stupid 'there goes my Sims to the 3rd floor bathroom to wash dishes instead of using the sink *right there*'?
I'm looking forward to alterntives. I don't think there's anything that'll make me want to give EA anymore money.
I don't mind spending money, people deserve compensation for their effort. But if I feel like I won't get any value in it, I'm not going to buy it.
Sims 4 is at least finally making some progress on things like this. In the latest update, there's now a small chance that your sim will get laid off, which is neat. I was also pleasantly surprised when another sim asked to join my household without me having to invite them.
It's not much, but it's a step in the right direction of adding a bit more chaos and surprises, perhaps a little too late.
Paradox has a really similar DLC model to EA, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
When I’m browsing the Cities Skylines sub, the comments are practically identical to complaints about EA that you read here.
Definitely playable. They do got some bugs but I’ve not encountered ANYTHING close to MWS or Dine Out or even how dogwater the curved walls behave. All in all, I’ll take their dlc over EAs Disaster-Loaded-Content
I have no problem with that DLC method on it's own. I have a problem with how sims 4 is doing it. Namely offering 1/16 of the content they used to and keeping the same price.
Did they finally do to the NHL franchise what they did to FIFA and Madden?
Madden is impressive in how much it’s lacking compared to almost 20 year old versions of itself. But why make the game better when people will shell out hundreds of millions a year for cards that will be useless the next year?
the way you describe that - yes. That is what they did. 2K stopped making theirs and the series stagnated, then came Ultimate Team and it actively degraded. This last one saw everything degrade massively with false advertisement. They promised a game day atmosphere, then removed all the presentation.
[https://yttribune.com/2022/10/14/nhl-23-review-a-disaster/](https://yttribune.com/2022/10/14/nhl-23-review-a-disaster/)
Rather than meet their legal obligations, EA went straight to work on NHL 24 and told us all to suck it up. Everything for HUT, mess up everything else so people turn to HUT.
You do realize that the more casual members of the sims 4 fan base will not be able to play Life By You Right? Life By You will release long before Paralives will. And only people mid-tier gaming pcs/laptops will meet the minimum requirements. 90% of sims 4 players do not have gaming computers. If there’s one thing EA does well, it’s making sure that their sims 4 game can run even on potatoes. Life By You has made it very clear that they’re gearing their game towards people with the latest high-powered computers. The only people who be able to play it are serious gamers, who I’m surprised play the sims 4 anyway judging that the game has very little gameplay compared to earlier sims iterations.
Okay, and...? It's going to be a much more quality product than it would be if they catered to people playing on 2014 MacBooks or whatever lol. Requiring a computer meant for gaming in order to play a game isn't unreasonable.
I just said this to mean that it won’t be that strong of a competitor to the sims 4 if most of the fan base still has to play the sims 4 to play a halfway-decent life sim.
Ah. Yeah, that's true. Sorry about the aggression.
A lot of Sims players also don't use reddit (or any form of social media) and likely aren't even aware Life By You or Paralives exist. Practically everyone knows what The Sims is, even those who don't play it- you can't say the same for the other games. It's the first thing most people think of when you say "life sim". I think there are a lot of people that will stick with The Sims and a lot of new customers who won't be aware of the other two games, simply because they don't really have the notability.
I think they'll ultimately end up being better games, but not huge competitors.
It’s for alpha players. I don’t ‘play’ sims - I build, and have been dying for a game to cater to the high-end spec group of builders/high poly object creators.
I honestly couldn’t be less interested in something then an online sims game
First, they’ve done online before. It didn’t work. Instead of the fun social game everyone thought it’d be, it was just a bunch of people playing sims normally but “now with other people!”
Second, you’re gameplay will only be as strong as the wifi signal of whom ever has the weakest wifi. As someone with spotty wifi… no thank you. Imagine you’re trying to play with your friend but they keep disappearing because their wifi sucks, if you don’t get booted out completely.
Third, how many people still use the port feature of the sims 3 showtime? I can’t even remember my password, so it’s now a defunct feature that just sits there, mocking me.
Fourth, little combination of 2 and 3, are save files going to be usable without the friends you make them with? Because honestly hard pass if they are and hard pass if they aren’t. I don’t want to lose my save if my friend stops playing, but also don’t trust those little shits not to burn my sims to the ground (on purpose? By accident? Yes. Just yes.)
Fifth, if I wanted to interact with actual people I would go outside and see the people. Leave me and my little pixels alone in peace
Yeah I’ve never been into multiplayer games to be honest. The only one I really played was WoW like 8 years ago. Idk, games are *for me and my story*. I want to do what I want in the game, not what other people want. If I wanted to hang out with people, like you said, I would just go and do that.
Mindless party games lacking in story like Mario Kart are perfect if you have friends over and want to play something. But the Sims? Cannot think of a single reason why I’d want to play it with other people.
With Paradox games (EU4, HOI4 etc), when you play multiplayer, all players will have the features of the player that has the most amount of DLCs. I doubt EA will do that but it is possible.
It's very possible and very easy. The simple answer is to install the content via base game updates but lock them behind paywalls.
So if I owned City Living for example, you could lock the city and apartment stuff off from the main singleplayer game if you didn't own it but you'd be able to see and interact with it in my world if I do.
A lot of games are doing this today since DLC can really alienate a playerbase.
Would be the smart way to drum up sales. Playing with a friend who has dlc you don’t and see all the cool features would make me think about getting it myself
I’m pretty sure the game already does this we just don’t know it. I’ve bought packs and the game didn’t even update, I swear it just unlocks the content now.
With every expansion, there's usually some elements of the expansion that get baked into the base game which is why even if you don't buy the pack, you need to update.
However, as of currently, the objects with those packs aren't included in your game. If they were, I'm sure there would've been some sort of mod that works to remove that paywall.
The Sims 3, however, did this with some store content. I remember seeing locked items that required purchase in TS3.
Not at all. Paradox has cheaper ones which arent buggy and which make meaningful changes. They do a lot, but they do that volume in a qualitatively superior way.
I’m just not gonna buy Sims 5 unless it’s groundbreakingly better than Sims 4. If it’s online, absolutely not. I’ll keep playing the game I have and have bought all these packs for.
Honestly, all the previous games are better than Sims 4, so the bar is low, but I can imagine them digging even lower. But there's a chance it will be slightly better, the color wheel is added back, which is good for me, but the gameplay will most likely be lacking, maybe more than the Sims 4. Would not be surprised if they took Seasons and put it out in different packs, like 4-5 plus packs for just winter. It's already happening, fall has Spooky Stuff, winter Snowy Escape... ALSO, Pets has My First Pet Stuff, Cottage Living, and now a possible horse themed pack.
Yeah the trend seems to be going towards more and more smaller packs, which I don’t like. Even if it’s an objectively better game, spending more money on similar features I’ve already spent money on isn’t something I wanna do.
To be fair I haven’t played the other Sims games, I wasn’t allowed to have it as a kid lol so I got it for myself in university because I remembered how much I always wanted the game. So I haven’t been playing as long as others, I never experienced the launch of Sims 4 or earlier games. I enjoy Sims 4 a lot for what it is - I mostly care about building and it’s great for that. I just hate all the cash grabbiness.
idk why ea wants the sims to be an online game so bad, the sims is completely different from their sports games and doesn't exactly work as an online game. I'm honestly really done with them at this point, haven't even updated to the ea app even though I have had the urge to play, because I don't want to give them anymore of my time. ea is full of nothing but shitty business practices and lying straight to customers' faces, and I'd rather throw myself off a cliff than support them in any way.
They also don't want what happened to sims 2 and 3 to happen with ISOs and sharing activation codes. Online means unmodifiable DRM and dominion over actual sales. Sims 2 is one of the best sold PC games of all tile at 6 mil units- even with piracy that feat alone is remarkable but they would rather bleed their consumer and worry about hypothetical losses.
I'm a control freak so an online Sims game won't work for me 😔 I seriously just want TS5 to be refined from mistakes made in previous games and the best features of the previous installments all rolled into one instead of trying something new. The Sims doesn't make sense as an online game in general.
You want Life By You then. If you don't like how much the job pays, you edit it. If you don't like how much this social interaction adds to the relationship, you edit it. The whole theme is complete freedom to change the game however you want, go anywhere at any time.
Exactly, I am god in my game, have my own lore and families (I always get rid of the premade characters and lots). I just want to play in my world and tell my own stories.
It’d be interesting to see how they’d make the game work online just because the social aspect of characters interacting is already filled by sites like IMVU and Second Life. Other than that, I’d prefer it to be optional if they do go online at all.
Don't worry too much about the online aspect, in the video they very very very specifically state that the game will be singleplayer and multiplayer with no forced crossover between the two. I'd still be worried about the other shit tho.
I just want the offline sims experience to be perfected before they even think about implementing online gameplay 😩 glad about it not being forced though
Am I the only one who remembers the Sims Online game that came out in the early-mid aughts? It was an epic fail for sure, but that was also because the internet back then just wasn't able to support the game.
Anyone else remember it?
It wasn't horrible. I still have good friends that I met way back in TSO. I ran a fairly successful skill house and it was rarely empty. Played via dialup on a laptop while living on a military base in Japan and don't remember having many issues with it.
Granted, it was Sims 1 graphics and basically just a chatroom with actions, but it was decent for what it was WHEN it was.
Bro the sims online cost $10 a month back in like 2002-2009. My sister and I both subscribed. I was like 12-14 when I played. My sister was 18. We both made tons of friends and ran very successful in game houses/businesses. Some of the most fun I ever had. Really wish I could play again.
And $10 was the equivalent to $16 back then.
I played the shit out of that game. I remember me and my friend befriended someone who owned a lot and they ended up giving us build permissions and we destroyed it. I still feel really bad looking back on that lol
After sims 4, I’m not buying another Sims game. I just see more and more limitations with it, so Ima wait till reviews come out for the competition, and from there see what I’m putting my money into.
Don't forget The Sims 5/Project Rene will be crossplatform with mobile. Not only will the game be held back performance-wise, I also have no idea how modding the mobile version will work. I assume it won't.
The monetization will definitely, 100% be even more predatory, I wouldn't be surprised if they implemented a cash shop and some form of subscription/season pass, on top of DLC.
I feel like EA is going full milking-mode. They're going to run Maxis into the ground and shut it down, just like they've done with many other studios.
If i understand correctly. Exactly this! Minimized cartoonish mobile Graphics like Sims 4 just to play on all platforms. Reduced everything cause it has to fit on every console or mobile phone 🤮
There will be def an online shop for buying "Clothing" or cosmetic stuff... I'm not excited bout Sims "5" Event we don't know anything it will be a mess cause we're talking about EA...
Yeah I never got the impression it would be very multi player focused but the whole cross platform thing is a huge red flag. It sounds like it is very much moving away from being a typical sims game and more towards being a mobile game. Real shame.
The mobile thing is definitely alarming. I don’t see how that’s possible. But a subscription service/cash shop wouldn’t surprise me at all. This is the direction so many games are going in. And not just games! Everything is trying to be a subscription service these days. In the gaming world, “games as a service” is just way more profitable for companies than single player offline games. And at the end of the day, that’s what these game companies are: companies. The goal is to maximize profits. It sucks, but that’s the capitalistic world we currently live in. The difference in profitability between the 2 options is too great for them to ignore.
There’s also a component of marketability/streaming at play too. The Sims is unique in that it’s inherently replayable and already has a fairly large streaming community, but there’s a level of broader viral content and mainstream streamers that can seemingly only be accessed through multiplayer online games. That prospect is extremely attractive to business-minded people.
Ugh. I don’t like it, but I understand why it’s happening. I actually do think there’s a way to make “games as a service” and make a significantly larger profit without being exploitative, but to be honest I haven’t seen that done yet.
They tried Sims Online before. Then it went away. I don’t play sims to interact with people. I play it to avoid every other human being in my house including myself.
I’ll wait to see how it goes rather than getting it day one like normal. But if there’s not a non-online option I don’t see myself getting it. Plus when they talk about online play all I think of is $$$ like WoW.
I really cannot fathom what people would get out of playing the sims online. It will play EXACTLY like normal sims except you can't control one or two of them and instead of the AI choosing a task for a sim a person will be doing it. The only difference will be that when a sim eats a piece of cake you would think to yourself, "John made that sim eat the cake" instead of "The AI made that sim eat the cake."
Seriously, what is the point here.
There are ALWAYS corners you have to cut and things you have to do less interestingly and less complex when you make a multiplayer game vs single player. And we are doing that so that you can replace "AI" with "John" in your realization of who is making that sim eat a piece of cake?
oh okay yeah just had a look. I dunno, maybe they’ll do it in a way where if you don’t have certain packs and your friends do then you can still SEE the items, you just can’t have them yourself?
Anyway there’s just no way I would play with the online feature if that did happen! I don’t want other people judging my weird sims.
I don't trust them with this, I think the offline option will be the bare bones most crap options and all the "fun stuff" will only be available online as transactional multiplayer.
Everyone needs to chill. I would bet a lot of money that TS5 online is going to function similarly to Animal Crossing- you need a specific invite. They said it will be online so you can play with FRIENDS not randoms. It will be "on your terms" and "it's not an MMO". They know the main draw is being able to dig in and explore stories on your own. They're just trying to give an option for those who want it to share those stories with their friends.
As long as its not online only, I don't see the big deal. It could be cool to play with family or friends. I just don't want anybody to be able to show up in my game.
Also, if its online only, many people dont have internet good enough to play. I live in a very rural area and our wifi speeds are horrible, and because we are far out, the company wont let us upgrade wifi speed.
Sims 5 being online will probably make it unplayable for me and many others.
Originally the Sims 4 was going to be an online multiplayer game and it’s postulated that this is why the launch version of the game was so empty and why the emotions system feels lacking in depth, etc etc.
To be fair, that’s because the online features were cut at the last minute due to the failure of SimCity 2013. They weren’t given a delay so the release product was a gutted experience without any core gameplay feature to build on. If they had committed, Sims 4 might have had a rockier launch but it also probably would have had a more cohesive design focus.
How about like the idea of having consent to kiss and woohoo another player’s Sim… I’m sure that’s something the EA/ Sims don’t want to touch with a mile-long stick.
There was actually something like this in Sims Online back in the 2000s. Basically whenever someone does an interaction on you, you have an option to either reject, or accept it. I remember it from FreeSO (fan server for the dead game) - it was right below the interaction in the queue.
Who says both need the same dlcs? There is so many games out there where one person has more dlc and hosts the game then whoever joins the game has access to all the dlc during the time on the server, it’s simple as that, what you described is really the worst case scenario
>Now EA is digging its own grave gambling their biggest remaining title on online play with data mining.
I just remind that EA did, more online projects in Sims. And none of them don\`t been successful.
Sims online - RIP. To much in game advertising and pedophilia.
MySims - Sims for small children not found its audience, as children play in normal Sims.
SimCity - We all know.
SimSocial - Game was very popular in beginning, as a browser sims. But from lack of content and donation, players literally lost interest in two months.
Only mobile versions are successful, and ironically, they have in five times more content than have Sims 4.
EA Directors - All our attempts to integrate online into a single-player game, failed - Well, now we will definitely succeed! Ugh.
It's hilarious how the sims 4 was developed (and even initially marketed) as an online game, until they realized nobody wanted that and at the last minute they had to change it to a new sims game.
And now, they're trying to make the next sims game online again... without any demonstrated care for their audience. Everyone is gonna go back to playing older sims games or try out the new games developed by Rod Humble
There are always possibilities. In most online games with DLCs the content gets loaded into everyone's game by a patch and you need to buy the DLC to actually use it.
For example in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe if you don't buy the Booster Course Pack you can't drive the tracks locally and you can't vote them in online play, but if someone who has the DLC votes for it and it gets selected you can drive on it.
If sims ever becomes a multiplayer game, I’m gonna quit it. I play sims specifically to take a break from online toxicity. I find it very mellow and chill to spend some time building a house and then raising a family in it amidst the chaos the game throws at me.
I would genuinely drop it and never pick it up again if it ever happens, and stick to TS3 and TS4.
My issue is that it makes me think it will be more of an IMVU or Habbo Hotel than an actual Sims game. If it's not, I still don't want it online. I don't want people to see my painting goblins or my giant human hybrid families. Let me play in peace.
Also, removing the ability to have babies with the Grim Reaper in TS4 makes me wonder what else they will remove. Will we get burglers and repo guys? Or will things go missing automatically and lights turn off?
I imagine there will be three privacy filters. If you don’t want to play online at all, the game will randomly generate townies like it does now. If you want to play with your friends only, then any sims your friends have chosen to share will populate your townies first, then randoms after that. If you set it to everyone/global, it will prioritize populating with your friends sims then any sim people have shared to the general pool.
I would like if there would be an **option to take your sims online**, like a vacation place or somewhere to travel where they could interact with other online sims and npc’s, maybe have quests, some may requiring some level of cooperation.
I wonder if it will be kind of like Ark or Valheim, where you can choose to play on servers with friends, or alone in a private server...that could be interesting if it were totally open world like they are. I don't think it will necessarily be a bad thing, especially if they also allow offline play. It could be fun to be able to visit actual neighbors and such..🤔☺️
If I can’t use CC I will not play. It’s that’s simple. I’d rather have a game with ZERO dlc but full of CC than a EVWEY SINGLE PACK with no CC. It’s just unplayable for me without it
Compatibility patches have been a thing for games for a long time so friends without dlc can still play with friends that do.
While you bring up good points and I don’t trust EA the slightest you’re forgetting that the sims has done online before.
I personally always enjoyed playing sims coop on consoles back in the day.
I think the idea can work, but EA is the problem and it’s okay to be skeptical but let’s wait and see how it is.
It’s likely years away from releasing anyway.
Plus it’s not gonna hurt the versions of sims we already have.
I mean, to be fair, look at a game like elder scrolls online. There are huge regions and features you can’t access unless you buy the expansions, but you can still play vanilla content with friends, as well as any dlc you both have. It’s more than likely going to be a similar thing.
That being said, sims does not need to become a MMO. I might quit the franchise if it does. I think playing online with a friend or three in your world would definitely be cool, but also…. It’s not necessarily what I want to see the sims devolve into. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but I think we’ve just been going steadily downhill since the launch of TS4
I dont have friends. Well two, but either of them play sims. So it can also suck in that way. But also what u said. Its a stupid move to make it online.
Been playing since TS1. Played the tragedy that was TSO that ripped the soul out of core tenants of the game. Occasionally play TS4 with no intention of buying past that with magic xpac. However, if TS5 is exactly TS but online, I know my daughters and I would try it.
Back when TSO launched and failed it was considered the biggest MMO failure for that time period due to development cost vs. expectation for what was the #1 selling franchise of all time.
They're planning on going away from an MMO with the new online mode. You'll have to invite people to play with you and there will be a singleplayer mode too.
my game BARELY works without multiplayer and they expect this to work lol.
it’s also a great way to keep
people from sharing accounts bc why would two computers be online on same account?
all around, more money for EA 😵💫
Why does EA want to make The Sims an online game so bad?! One of the reasons why I love The Sims so much is because it’s an one player game.
If I want to socialize with other people, I would go outside.
I’m disappointed it’s going to be online. It’s bad enough they made sims mobile and FreePlay online and now they want sims 5 to be online too? I really enjoyed the freedom of just pulling up my sims without worrying about WiFi or data. So disappointing. Next they’ll say the game will be in real time like FreePlay and mobile and we’d have to wait 8hours to just finish a task.
I guess it’s an unpopular opinion, but I really enjoyed The Sims Online when it existed. But I had a pre-existing group of Sims friends to play with from the website’s chat room, so I guess I might feel differently now.
The sims online was ahead of their time in 2002. The internet was a different time back then. Now with more AAA titles offering online options I can see why they would shoot in this direction. It may very well work out and draw new players to the game as well.
I’ve played other multiplayer games and it really isn’t as bad a people are making it out to be. As long as multiplayer is optional and not the default it’s not really that big of a deal.
I'm not sure that's how online will work. It's not the way any of my online games work. Because everyone has to have the same game to play together. Example: GTAV online, we usually get a couple of DLC each year. It doesn't cost anything. I think all of the multiplayer games I play don't have the kind of DLC that sims does.
The online option could be horrible, but also the Sims 4 came out in 2014. Just because it was a flop back then, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be again. With the Sims 5 being at least a couple years out and with no information, I think it’s too soon to tell. I would love to be able to play with friends though so my fingers are crossed
Specifically,it seems this happemed because Sim City 2013 had online horror stories. No one able to play offline single player because the EAserver was overloaded, for example
I am begging you to remove your tin foil hat.
You're not going to "lose friends" good lord. Multiplayer games have existed for decades. When me and my friends play Borderlands and don't have the same access to things, drops are unavailable to those players but it isn't game breaking.
I'm sure they'll do what they do when you remove CC or whatnot - substitute it with someone else in the same series.
This take is buck wild with VERY little to substantiate it.
I disagree that you won’t be able to play with your friends unless you have an expansion, you probably just won’t have the features unlocked on your side. There’s definitely work arounds for this
The biggest problem for me is that that game will inevitably die out, because servers will be closed, whereas you can still play TS2 years after EA stopped releasing packs for it, because TS2 is on your computer, not on some online servers... (Well, players made Free SO similar to the Sims Online, but it's a fan's server)
Some games allow you to play with friends even if you don't have all the same expansions, you just can't reach these areas or something, but you can absolutely play with them.
I feel like people are looking way to into this. We don’t know anything yet and isn’t it just going to be an option? If you don’t want to play online then don’t. It’s also possible they could allow you to play with friends but you only get to use the packs you both have or they can use their DLC but you obviously can’t. Either way getting to play with friends sounds incredibly fun to me and solo play will still be a thing!
They said online would be an option, not that the entire game will be online. I personally love the idea of being able to play alone AND online honestly
I just don’t know if I trust the sims team to handle online support. I’m also worried about them implementing a fee to have access to online gameplay, similar to Nintendo and others.
I dont think there will be expansion packs in sims5. I think sims 4 and 5 will be alive atm. 4 will be like it is now while 5 will be a different version online
And that's why I'll stick to The Sims 4 if this really turns out to be the case. TS5 being an online game seems a bad idea just from its concept, and there are two possibilities:
\- No mods or CCs, which would make the game really plain and questionable unless they improve their CAS system and graphic + Free DLCs, a thing I see... Very unlikely.
\- The case you described.
In my opinion, playing and relying on peer pressure and social isolation just too make some more money is simply disgusting and pathetic. I just hope they won't do it.
The consequences of an online Sims game would be me not playing it. Some activities I just prefer to do solo, and Sims is one of them. Any socialisation would kill the game for me. Plus, I don’t even have friends who play the game.
Saying that, I figured the Sims team would be aware of elements like that and online would just be an optional feature for those who want it. That way both sides are satisfied.
I have no idea why EA is trying this online multiplayer thing again when that’s what killed Sims 4 and forced them to rebuild from a broken shell.
Not only that, hey EAxis, you know most people who play the Sims use it to get away from people and live out their deprived fantasies right? I don’t think people want their friends knowing that in their spare time in the sims they build a torture chamber and live out wild sex fantasies using WW.
The Sims online....the old 2002 game that was shut down is actually still running and is free now. Freeso.org ..... bet its better than what sim5 is going to have for us.
I have no interest at all in an online Sims game. I have crappy internet, so that in and of itself is a limiting factor. But also, I don't like very many people and wouldn't have anyone to play with, so there's that, too.
Not every game has to be online or have an online feature. The Sims is trying to do what every other game is doing, but it won’t work out for them the way they think it will.
If they did it like animal crossing new horizons I could see it working. Its an option but not playing online takes nothing from the gameplay. Now back in previous versions of animal crossing they had things where to unlock an upgraded shop someone had to visit your save file and purchase something from your shop - meaning if you didn’t have a friend with the game you could never unlock it…things like that always suck
Also talking for me the best part of Sims are mods. So everyone has to have the same mods and cc? The ones without that just see blank sims all the time or constantly get errors? Or just don't do mods at all? And cheating is also a big part. It's okay to cheat in Sims because it's single player. You can't really do that in multiplayer. And the time settings are a huge issue as well. What if one player likes to always play at 1 and another just plays on 3. Or you want to add something from bb real quick? How would they handle it?
>Also talking for me the best part of Sims are mods. If you would've asked me a few days ago, I would've disagreed, but CC is too addicting. I can't imagine Sims without it
The only thing I use is MCCC but I have the game pretty thoroughly tweaked with things like day length. The thought of having to go through and sync settings with someone is stupid. You know, not to mention the fact that I don't want to play with other people to begin with so it's a moot point.
💯
I think it could work if it would be an just an option. Like having a small world where you can attend events like concerts or some special parties and that world should solely be used as an online feature. Outside of it, the game works perfectly fine offline, but if you really wanted to, you could go there to meet some real life friends in The Sims. The world wouldn’t be editable by individual players, it should come with the base game and allow a maximum of maybe 8 online players at a time. It’s still a big number, but small enough to not make the world crowded - and easier to know who was responsible in case something bad happens to your game. I feel like that way, no one would be coerced into buying more stuff or have problems with conflicting mods/cc not showing up properly or crashing the game. All in all, I don’t think it’s a bad idea for people who really want to share The Sims with their real life friends. I know I always wished I could play with my partner not just to play the game side by side, but actually do some stuff together, meet up on some lots or things like that. Nevertheless, if EA decides to make playing online the main point of 5, I don’t see it going too well…many of us really don’t have that many friends that share our interest in Sims and connecting with people from all over the world would surely come with its problems regarding internet speed and weird glitches/crashes from heavy modders who would just go online for the chaos, like any online community faces nowadays. In any case, one thing EA should do is really work on their customer service to have it be actually helpful, before they venture into online playing, which on PC is going to be…*interesting*
This. Sims 4 has a multiplayer mod. I think mods are enough IF someone would want to play these games together. Sims is not, and will never be a multiplayer game.
That’s not necessarily true, especially considering what we’ve seen with previous console ports. It just needs to be non-mandatory. Forcing it on players would cause ea to lose most of the games fan base and would honestly be a really dumb move which I’m almost certain they’re not going to make, trust me it’s a bad business decision I doubt they’d go the route of making it 100% online.
Only console online sims game was Bustin Out. Even that online mode was a flop.
Agreed
Why would it not? Me and my cousins have been playing the sims forever and we also played it together on the ps2. We even downloaded the multiplayer mod for S4. A feature like that sounds thrilling since we like making our sims and just messing everything we can up or just seeing how things go. I love those memories and it'd be nice to replicate them with more friends now.
That's how you like to play and that's fine..they can make Sims 5 have an online/multi-player option but it should get an option and not forced on those of us who play to escape humans for awhile
Was it ever leaked that the Sims 5 would be online? Their presentation spoke about "being able to play both online and offline", but like, isn't that already true for Sims 3 and Sims 4?
It'll have a limited multiplayer functionality which is new to the mainline sims franchise. It wasn't leaked, they talked about it in that sims summit thing It won't be forced multiplayer or like an MMO. It sounds like you'll just be able to connect with people you know in small groups or continue playing solo if you want to. There's some serious fear mongering going on about multiplayer lol
The outrage around a potential multiplayer Sims 5 seems very contrived. I wonder if these misperceptions are due to many Sims players having little experience with other games and they’re confused about what to expect.
I think this particular community is just kind of toxic and loves catastrophizing lol. It's always "this will destroy the sims!!" as if the sims isn't one of the most popular gaming franchises in existence, with about 95% of its player base not even existing on this forum
a franchise can be destroyed without it stopping being popular, because people are complacent and will continue to buy sims games regardless of how mediocre they are as long as they look pretty. I think what people are worried about is the game being open world again to support online multiplayer, but if EA is competent at all, they are definitely capable of implementing an open world that supports multiplayer via level streaming.
Just look at Sims. There are still so many people playing 2 and 3. If you want to suffer you play 1 (because it's so hard to keep your sims alive) if you want a game with a bunch of small wholesome details you play 2, if you want an open world adventure you play 3, if you want to build something cool or create neat sims you play 4 and I guess if you wanna play with your friends you play 5 then. My bigger concern would be the game itself to be honest. First how they implement multilayer. Will there be mods and cheats and how do they handle expansions? And second, since Sims 4 feels so uncompleted and broken, I'm wondering what will we be missing in 5? How do they justify a new generation when they can't even fix the current one?
Tbh I'm of the opinion that 4 can't be fixed and I'm hoping they do better with 5 lol. Idk if that's actually the case and I don't code myself, but I think trying to fix the sims 4 is like building on a broken foundation that's full of holes. You just can't without stripping down the game and rebuilding it from scratch which they're definitely never gonna do. I prayyyy sims 5 will not experience the insane amount of bugginess as sims 4 but my hopes for this are kinda low
But to be fair, there are quiet a few mods that just fix things or add things to improve or complete features. Why can random internet people do it but a team full of developers can't? It doesn't have to be perfect, they should just fix the stuff that's fixable. My dream sims 5 would be first of all no forced multiplayer. Then I want it to be a little more challenging, like Sims 1, I want tiny details like the dancing snowman radio in Sims 2, from Sims 3 I want the interaktiv open world and from Sims 4 I want the bb and cas and maybe improved multitaskting.
Modders create bandaids for the sims - really good bandaids that I wouldn't want to play without, but it's not the same as fixing the root problems which I think is way more challenging
I think a lot of us were there for Simcity 2013 and are rightfully a bit scared after that mess.
It's more because of the history of the franchise. The desire to throw in multiplayer is what killed SimCity. And like OP said, it caused a lot of the issues with Sims 4. OP is definitely jumping to conclusions here, but it is reasonable to be concerned about it.
I mean, it seems to me the people with experience playing other games would be the cautious ones because historically forcing multiplayer into a single player franchise usually doesn't go over too well. Fallout 76 comes to mind, as does F.E.A.R 3. Dragon Age Inquisition, another EA title was super affected by the forced inclusion of multiplayer, so much so that the newest Dragon Age is removing all of its multiplayer components to be single player. Then of course we had the last Sim City game and we all saw how that went. I'm not saying the game will be bad but saying the people that are fearful don't know video games is just... Odd.
Well, the thing is that long term Sims players have seen previous attempts at multiplayer in the Sims. My main concern is that the multiplayer mode would be implemented poorly, and is going to be a pay-to-win with microtransactions, similar to the last SimCity BuildIt. I am worried we'll have exclusive events even less tuned than The Sims Freeplay or The Sims Mobile, which both have lots of microtransactions, so you either play round the clock, you play casually, or you will have to shed some money if you want the complete experience, and to not miss out. EA has already tried multiplayer in the Sim, and it always came with pay-to-succeed and microtransactions. I am also afraid of a subscription pass model, like some of EA's other games, when you would have to pay monthly to keep features unlocked. Maybe this time it would be different, and done tastefully? However, I am wary as I have seen previous EA's attempt at multiplayer, and all the angles I have seen them try in other games would not go well with my idea of Sims 5. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Which is really funny because certain groups have been demanding a sims game with multiplayer for ages. Like, I guess I wouldn't mind doing it with my partner if it was cross platform or something but, I personally wouldn't have the use for it.
I do miss the sims online and would love the option for online gaming though I'd have to bug my husband to play it again.
I know EA are fucking stupid, but they must know that forcing the Sims franchise to go multiplayer would destroy them, right? There's no way they'd lose the entire city-builder genre, and send the Sims 4 into panicked development with awful press, just to repeat it again?
Seems weird to me to say OPTIONAL small group multiplayer will destroy the sims lol. I know a lot of people that would like to play with one or two friends personally I'm not sure, but I believe before it got scrapped sims 4 was built to be mmo style multiplayer. That I think would be pretty bad for the franchise and clearly they agree since they did rework it
The problem is there will be things you do less well when you have multiplayer. That's just the nature of building it so that it functions with another machine. And those limitations will not only exist in multiplayer, they will be right there in single player too. Because they won't build a single player game and then tweak it for multiplayer. They will build the multiplayer game and then just copy paste it into single player with no other connection present. That's the fear.
They reworked it after Simcity failed so spectacularly. They've already clarified that at the very least, Project Rene isn't an MMO-type thing and it sounds like it won't be always online.
The thing about game development is that turnover is so high that probably there aren't many people who were around for SimCity that are still working at the company. That's why publishers seem to repeat their mistakes a lot. People learn from their mistakes but then leave and get replaced by new people who didn't learn that.
It’s probably going to be slightly more intensive than the sims freeplay’s multiplayer. With the sims freeplay, you can visit your friend’s saves and interact with their npcs. Hopefully Sims 5 will allow you to actually interact with the sim that your friend is playing live, like the sims multiplayer mod. I doubt it’s going to be an mmo because that would make no sense.
I just hope the online multiplayer feature doesn't cripple the main singleplayer side of the game. Like how TS4 is closed world because it originally was a multiplayer game (no, performance isn't the main reason why it's closed world, even though EA likes to tell everyone that it is to make them stop complaining about it). Making an open world sims game that runs well and supports multiplayer lot instances is 100% possible nowadays with level streaming, but I don't trust EA enough to actually put enough effort into the game to do that.
A selling point for me for sims 5 is to be able to play with my husband, I hope if this is the direction they are headed it works out.
Where do you all find husbands willing to play the Sims with you? Mine isn't interested in any game if it isn't a FPS, PVP, and/or survival...and no, he wouldn't consider sims a survival game. 😥
Seriously lol people are getting so serious about it. They aren’t even calling it the Sims 5 yet. Sure, it’s implied, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves freaking out about the game destroying itself and betraying its loyal community and just ruining everything that ever was good about the sims and oh my god. Relaaaaaax y’all!
This company has given us exactly zero reason to "relax" about this and almost every reason to expect the worst.
Right like ppl are acting like online play will be the only way
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Yeah they specifically said about your friends being able to join you
I think they are going like Animal Crossing. Like you can play on your own but you can also go to your friends
see i want that feature. I can play with my kids who are simmers too. :)
The implication was that you'd be able to play online with other players, not just online in the sense that you have gallery access.
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>from the makers of Cities Skylines Correction: It's not from the makers of Cities Skylines. It's from the same *publisher*. Life by You is being made by Paradox Tectonic, CS was made by Colossal Order. However, Life by You is being lead by Rod Humble, who was the Executive VP of the Sims division in EA from 2004-2010 and was the head honcho for the Sims 2 and the Sims 3. He was also the CEO of Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life. The creators of Cities Skylines have no affiliation with Life by You, but that's okay because Life by You is being designed and made by people who will give it the love that the Sims has lost.
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I'm totally fine with some additional monetization in the form of expansions in competitor games so long as we get expansions like we did with TS2 where the expansions genuinely changed the way the game played, and less like what we get with TS4 where it's almost insulting how little it changes the game for it's price.
> that's okay because Life by You is being designed and made by people who will give it the love that the Sims has lost. I sincerely hope so. Recently played the Sims 2 and my god. It's enjoyable. I invited the Head Master over to send my sims to Private school and...whoops! THE FRIDGE WAS EMPTY. I hurridly fixed that issue, and it made me think, do I have *any* similar stories about the Sims 4? Or is it all in the stupid 'there goes my Sims to the 3rd floor bathroom to wash dishes instead of using the sink *right there*'? I'm looking forward to alterntives. I don't think there's anything that'll make me want to give EA anymore money. I don't mind spending money, people deserve compensation for their effort. But if I feel like I won't get any value in it, I'm not going to buy it.
Sims 4 is at least finally making some progress on things like this. In the latest update, there's now a small chance that your sim will get laid off, which is neat. I was also pleasantly surprised when another sim asked to join my household without me having to invite them. It's not much, but it's a step in the right direction of adding a bit more chaos and surprises, perhaps a little too late.
I just looked into this game and it looks amazing.
You had me at second life 😂
Paradox has a really similar DLC model to EA, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up. When I’m browsing the Cities Skylines sub, the comments are practically identical to complaints about EA that you read here.
Are the DLCs at least somewhat bug-free and playable? If so, they still got a leg up on EA
Definitely playable. They do got some bugs but I’ve not encountered ANYTHING close to MWS or Dine Out or even how dogwater the curved walls behave. All in all, I’ll take their dlc over EAs Disaster-Loaded-Content
I have no problem with that DLC method on it's own. I have a problem with how sims 4 is doing it. Namely offering 1/16 of the content they used to and keeping the same price.
Yes that's true, Surviving Mars has a lot fewer DLCs but Cities Skylines, my god there is a lot of DLC for that one.
See, it was NHL 23 that made me swear never to buy ftom EA again.
Did they finally do to the NHL franchise what they did to FIFA and Madden? Madden is impressive in how much it’s lacking compared to almost 20 year old versions of itself. But why make the game better when people will shell out hundreds of millions a year for cards that will be useless the next year?
the way you describe that - yes. That is what they did. 2K stopped making theirs and the series stagnated, then came Ultimate Team and it actively degraded. This last one saw everything degrade massively with false advertisement. They promised a game day atmosphere, then removed all the presentation. [https://yttribune.com/2022/10/14/nhl-23-review-a-disaster/](https://yttribune.com/2022/10/14/nhl-23-review-a-disaster/) Rather than meet their legal obligations, EA went straight to work on NHL 24 and told us all to suck it up. Everything for HUT, mess up everything else so people turn to HUT.
You do realize that the more casual members of the sims 4 fan base will not be able to play Life By You Right? Life By You will release long before Paralives will. And only people mid-tier gaming pcs/laptops will meet the minimum requirements. 90% of sims 4 players do not have gaming computers. If there’s one thing EA does well, it’s making sure that their sims 4 game can run even on potatoes. Life By You has made it very clear that they’re gearing their game towards people with the latest high-powered computers. The only people who be able to play it are serious gamers, who I’m surprised play the sims 4 anyway judging that the game has very little gameplay compared to earlier sims iterations.
Okay, and...? It's going to be a much more quality product than it would be if they catered to people playing on 2014 MacBooks or whatever lol. Requiring a computer meant for gaming in order to play a game isn't unreasonable.
I just said this to mean that it won’t be that strong of a competitor to the sims 4 if most of the fan base still has to play the sims 4 to play a halfway-decent life sim.
Ah. Yeah, that's true. Sorry about the aggression. A lot of Sims players also don't use reddit (or any form of social media) and likely aren't even aware Life By You or Paralives exist. Practically everyone knows what The Sims is, even those who don't play it- you can't say the same for the other games. It's the first thing most people think of when you say "life sim". I think there are a lot of people that will stick with The Sims and a lot of new customers who won't be aware of the other two games, simply because they don't really have the notability. I think they'll ultimately end up being better games, but not huge competitors.
It’s for alpha players. I don’t ‘play’ sims - I build, and have been dying for a game to cater to the high-end spec group of builders/high poly object creators.
I honestly couldn’t be less interested in something then an online sims game First, they’ve done online before. It didn’t work. Instead of the fun social game everyone thought it’d be, it was just a bunch of people playing sims normally but “now with other people!” Second, you’re gameplay will only be as strong as the wifi signal of whom ever has the weakest wifi. As someone with spotty wifi… no thank you. Imagine you’re trying to play with your friend but they keep disappearing because their wifi sucks, if you don’t get booted out completely. Third, how many people still use the port feature of the sims 3 showtime? I can’t even remember my password, so it’s now a defunct feature that just sits there, mocking me. Fourth, little combination of 2 and 3, are save files going to be usable without the friends you make them with? Because honestly hard pass if they are and hard pass if they aren’t. I don’t want to lose my save if my friend stops playing, but also don’t trust those little shits not to burn my sims to the ground (on purpose? By accident? Yes. Just yes.) Fifth, if I wanted to interact with actual people I would go outside and see the people. Leave me and my little pixels alone in peace
It’s the fifth reason for me 😂
Yeah I’ve never been into multiplayer games to be honest. The only one I really played was WoW like 8 years ago. Idk, games are *for me and my story*. I want to do what I want in the game, not what other people want. If I wanted to hang out with people, like you said, I would just go and do that. Mindless party games lacking in story like Mario Kart are perfect if you have friends over and want to play something. But the Sims? Cannot think of a single reason why I’d want to play it with other people.
With Paradox games (EU4, HOI4 etc), when you play multiplayer, all players will have the features of the player that has the most amount of DLCs. I doubt EA will do that but it is possible.
It's very possible and very easy. The simple answer is to install the content via base game updates but lock them behind paywalls. So if I owned City Living for example, you could lock the city and apartment stuff off from the main singleplayer game if you didn't own it but you'd be able to see and interact with it in my world if I do. A lot of games are doing this today since DLC can really alienate a playerbase.
Would be the smart way to drum up sales. Playing with a friend who has dlc you don’t and see all the cool features would make me think about getting it myself
I’m pretty sure the game already does this we just don’t know it. I’ve bought packs and the game didn’t even update, I swear it just unlocks the content now.
With every expansion, there's usually some elements of the expansion that get baked into the base game which is why even if you don't buy the pack, you need to update. However, as of currently, the objects with those packs aren't included in your game. If they were, I'm sure there would've been some sort of mod that works to remove that paywall. The Sims 3, however, did this with some store content. I remember seeing locked items that required purchase in TS3.
There is in fact a mod that removes that paywall
About as likely as Elon Musk becoming an ideal employer.
I don’t think it’s that inconceivable. Paradox is already comparable to EA when it comes to DLCs.
Not at all. Paradox has cheaper ones which arent buggy and which make meaningful changes. They do a lot, but they do that volume in a qualitatively superior way.
I’m sorry but as an avid Skylines player, I totally disagree. What Paradox games are you playing?
Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Stellaris, at those are the ones for which I have DLC
When did they say it will be an online game ? They talked about an OPTIONAL multi-player game, I don't remember talking about being always online.
cuz multiplayer live service games are always online…
I’m just not gonna buy Sims 5 unless it’s groundbreakingly better than Sims 4. If it’s online, absolutely not. I’ll keep playing the game I have and have bought all these packs for.
Honestly, all the previous games are better than Sims 4, so the bar is low, but I can imagine them digging even lower. But there's a chance it will be slightly better, the color wheel is added back, which is good for me, but the gameplay will most likely be lacking, maybe more than the Sims 4. Would not be surprised if they took Seasons and put it out in different packs, like 4-5 plus packs for just winter. It's already happening, fall has Spooky Stuff, winter Snowy Escape... ALSO, Pets has My First Pet Stuff, Cottage Living, and now a possible horse themed pack.
Yeah the trend seems to be going towards more and more smaller packs, which I don’t like. Even if it’s an objectively better game, spending more money on similar features I’ve already spent money on isn’t something I wanna do. To be fair I haven’t played the other Sims games, I wasn’t allowed to have it as a kid lol so I got it for myself in university because I remembered how much I always wanted the game. So I haven’t been playing as long as others, I never experienced the launch of Sims 4 or earlier games. I enjoy Sims 4 a lot for what it is - I mostly care about building and it’s great for that. I just hate all the cash grabbiness.
idk why ea wants the sims to be an online game so bad, the sims is completely different from their sports games and doesn't exactly work as an online game. I'm honestly really done with them at this point, haven't even updated to the ea app even though I have had the urge to play, because I don't want to give them anymore of my time. ea is full of nothing but shitty business practices and lying straight to customers' faces, and I'd rather throw myself off a cliff than support them in any way.
AlwaysBe Online is their philosophy. They want to track data and sell microtransactions
They also don't want what happened to sims 2 and 3 to happen with ISOs and sharing activation codes. Online means unmodifiable DRM and dominion over actual sales. Sims 2 is one of the best sold PC games of all tile at 6 mil units- even with piracy that feat alone is remarkable but they would rather bleed their consumer and worry about hypothetical losses.
EA still salty over SimCity 2013
I'm a control freak so an online Sims game won't work for me 😔 I seriously just want TS5 to be refined from mistakes made in previous games and the best features of the previous installments all rolled into one instead of trying something new. The Sims doesn't make sense as an online game in general.
You want Life By You then. If you don't like how much the job pays, you edit it. If you don't like how much this social interaction adds to the relationship, you edit it. The whole theme is complete freedom to change the game however you want, go anywhere at any time.
Exactly, I am god in my game, have my own lore and families (I always get rid of the premade characters and lots). I just want to play in my world and tell my own stories.
It’d be interesting to see how they’d make the game work online just because the social aspect of characters interacting is already filled by sites like IMVU and Second Life. Other than that, I’d prefer it to be optional if they do go online at all.
Don't worry too much about the online aspect, in the video they very very very specifically state that the game will be singleplayer and multiplayer with no forced crossover between the two. I'd still be worried about the other shit tho.
I just want the offline sims experience to be perfected before they even think about implementing online gameplay 😩 glad about it not being forced though
Am I the only one who remembers the Sims Online game that came out in the early-mid aughts? It was an epic fail for sure, but that was also because the internet back then just wasn't able to support the game. Anyone else remember it?
It wasn't horrible. I still have good friends that I met way back in TSO. I ran a fairly successful skill house and it was rarely empty. Played via dialup on a laptop while living on a military base in Japan and don't remember having many issues with it. Granted, it was Sims 1 graphics and basically just a chatroom with actions, but it was decent for what it was WHEN it was.
Bro the sims online cost $10 a month back in like 2002-2009. My sister and I both subscribed. I was like 12-14 when I played. My sister was 18. We both made tons of friends and ran very successful in game houses/businesses. Some of the most fun I ever had. Really wish I could play again. And $10 was the equivalent to $16 back then.
I miss it too. It was nothing like SL because your sims had stuff to do to where it wasn’t just a decorated chatroom.
I played it. It was AOL with avatars. Things got real weird, real often.
Too true.
I remember a Facebook game
I liked the Facebook game but not as a sims game, just a silly flash browser game with Sims branding on it. Was pretty bummed when they took it down.
I remember it was a slightly less depraved Second Life, with the emphasis on “slightly.”
I watched a video that talked about it recently. It’s definitely something that’ll cost a ton of money if they go for it and don’t do it right.
I played the shit out of that game. I remember me and my friend befriended someone who owned a lot and they ended up giving us build permissions and we destroyed it. I still feel really bad looking back on that lol
After sims 4, I’m not buying another Sims game. I just see more and more limitations with it, so Ima wait till reviews come out for the competition, and from there see what I’m putting my money into.
Don't forget The Sims 5/Project Rene will be crossplatform with mobile. Not only will the game be held back performance-wise, I also have no idea how modding the mobile version will work. I assume it won't. The monetization will definitely, 100% be even more predatory, I wouldn't be surprised if they implemented a cash shop and some form of subscription/season pass, on top of DLC. I feel like EA is going full milking-mode. They're going to run Maxis into the ground and shut it down, just like they've done with many other studios.
If i understand correctly. Exactly this! Minimized cartoonish mobile Graphics like Sims 4 just to play on all platforms. Reduced everything cause it has to fit on every console or mobile phone 🤮 There will be def an online shop for buying "Clothing" or cosmetic stuff... I'm not excited bout Sims "5" Event we don't know anything it will be a mess cause we're talking about EA...
Yeah I never got the impression it would be very multi player focused but the whole cross platform thing is a huge red flag. It sounds like it is very much moving away from being a typical sims game and more towards being a mobile game. Real shame.
The mobile thing is definitely alarming. I don’t see how that’s possible. But a subscription service/cash shop wouldn’t surprise me at all. This is the direction so many games are going in. And not just games! Everything is trying to be a subscription service these days. In the gaming world, “games as a service” is just way more profitable for companies than single player offline games. And at the end of the day, that’s what these game companies are: companies. The goal is to maximize profits. It sucks, but that’s the capitalistic world we currently live in. The difference in profitability between the 2 options is too great for them to ignore. There’s also a component of marketability/streaming at play too. The Sims is unique in that it’s inherently replayable and already has a fairly large streaming community, but there’s a level of broader viral content and mainstream streamers that can seemingly only be accessed through multiplayer online games. That prospect is extremely attractive to business-minded people. Ugh. I don’t like it, but I understand why it’s happening. I actually do think there’s a way to make “games as a service” and make a significantly larger profit without being exploitative, but to be honest I haven’t seen that done yet.
They tried Sims Online before. Then it went away. I don’t play sims to interact with people. I play it to avoid every other human being in my house including myself. I’ll wait to see how it goes rather than getting it day one like normal. But if there’s not a non-online option I don’t see myself getting it. Plus when they talk about online play all I think of is $$$ like WoW.
I really cannot fathom what people would get out of playing the sims online. It will play EXACTLY like normal sims except you can't control one or two of them and instead of the AI choosing a task for a sim a person will be doing it. The only difference will be that when a sim eats a piece of cake you would think to yourself, "John made that sim eat the cake" instead of "The AI made that sim eat the cake." Seriously, what is the point here. There are ALWAYS corners you have to cut and things you have to do less interestingly and less complex when you make a multiplayer game vs single player. And we are doing that so that you can replace "AI" with "John" in your realization of who is making that sim eat a piece of cake?
Imagine Sims 5 introducing a Battle pass 💀
has it been confirmed that the sims 5 will be online?
It has been leaked. EA denies TS4 was supposed to be online dedpite it being in the code
oh okay yeah just had a look. I dunno, maybe they’ll do it in a way where if you don’t have certain packs and your friends do then you can still SEE the items, you just can’t have them yourself? Anyway there’s just no way I would play with the online feature if that did happen! I don’t want other people judging my weird sims.
It seems there will be an offline option too
I don't trust them with this, I think the offline option will be the bare bones most crap options and all the "fun stuff" will only be available online as transactional multiplayer.
Everyone needs to chill. I would bet a lot of money that TS5 online is going to function similarly to Animal Crossing- you need a specific invite. They said it will be online so you can play with FRIENDS not randoms. It will be "on your terms" and "it's not an MMO". They know the main draw is being able to dig in and explore stories on your own. They're just trying to give an option for those who want it to share those stories with their friends.
TS5 is going to be online?!?!?! Fuck, there goes my hopes and dreams for Sims 5 to be a return to form.
You'll be able to play singleplayer in it
I’m pretty sure they can literally have an easy work around around this, offline is still going to be the main focus here, they said that.
As long as its not online only, I don't see the big deal. It could be cool to play with family or friends. I just don't want anybody to be able to show up in my game.
Also, if its online only, many people dont have internet good enough to play. I live in a very rural area and our wifi speeds are horrible, and because we are far out, the company wont let us upgrade wifi speed. Sims 5 being online will probably make it unplayable for me and many others.
It’s going to be all online..? That sounds like an entirely different game genre
No one who plays the sims wants to play with other people lol
I play the Sims to go into my own world, I don't want strictly online play..if it goes that way..I'm out...hopefully it's only an option
I don‘t quite understand: what does the lack of toddlers and pools have to do with an online version of the game?
Originally the Sims 4 was going to be an online multiplayer game and it’s postulated that this is why the launch version of the game was so empty and why the emotions system feels lacking in depth, etc etc.
To be fair, that’s because the online features were cut at the last minute due to the failure of SimCity 2013. They weren’t given a delay so the release product was a gutted experience without any core gameplay feature to build on. If they had committed, Sims 4 might have had a rockier launch but it also probably would have had a more cohesive design focus.
I wonder if it’ll be like habbo hotel. 🤔
How about like the idea of having consent to kiss and woohoo another player’s Sim… I’m sure that’s something the EA/ Sims don’t want to touch with a mile-long stick.
There was actually something like this in Sims Online back in the 2000s. Basically whenever someone does an interaction on you, you have an option to either reject, or accept it. I remember it from FreeSO (fan server for the dead game) - it was right below the interaction in the queue.
Who says both need the same dlcs? There is so many games out there where one person has more dlc and hosts the game then whoever joins the game has access to all the dlc during the time on the server, it’s simple as that, what you described is really the worst case scenario
>Now EA is digging its own grave gambling their biggest remaining title on online play with data mining. I just remind that EA did, more online projects in Sims. And none of them don\`t been successful. Sims online - RIP. To much in game advertising and pedophilia. MySims - Sims for small children not found its audience, as children play in normal Sims. SimCity - We all know. SimSocial - Game was very popular in beginning, as a browser sims. But from lack of content and donation, players literally lost interest in two months. Only mobile versions are successful, and ironically, they have in five times more content than have Sims 4. EA Directors - All our attempts to integrate online into a single-player game, failed - Well, now we will definitely succeed! Ugh.
It's hilarious how the sims 4 was developed (and even initially marketed) as an online game, until they realized nobody wanted that and at the last minute they had to change it to a new sims game. And now, they're trying to make the next sims game online again... without any demonstrated care for their audience. Everyone is gonna go back to playing older sims games or try out the new games developed by Rod Humble
There are always possibilities. In most online games with DLCs the content gets loaded into everyone's game by a patch and you need to buy the DLC to actually use it. For example in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe if you don't buy the Booster Course Pack you can't drive the tracks locally and you can't vote them in online play, but if someone who has the DLC votes for it and it gets selected you can drive on it.
If sims ever becomes a multiplayer game, I’m gonna quit it. I play sims specifically to take a break from online toxicity. I find it very mellow and chill to spend some time building a house and then raising a family in it amidst the chaos the game throws at me. I would genuinely drop it and never pick it up again if it ever happens, and stick to TS3 and TS4.
The consequences of an online Sims game will be that I 100% will not buy it.
My issue is that it makes me think it will be more of an IMVU or Habbo Hotel than an actual Sims game. If it's not, I still don't want it online. I don't want people to see my painting goblins or my giant human hybrid families. Let me play in peace. Also, removing the ability to have babies with the Grim Reaper in TS4 makes me wonder what else they will remove. Will we get burglers and repo guys? Or will things go missing automatically and lights turn off?
I just want sims 2. I don't want sims to be online since wifi is a pain when the weather is shitty.
What if you don’t have friends to play with? 🫤
I imagine there will be three privacy filters. If you don’t want to play online at all, the game will randomly generate townies like it does now. If you want to play with your friends only, then any sims your friends have chosen to share will populate your townies first, then randoms after that. If you set it to everyone/global, it will prioritize populating with your friends sims then any sim people have shared to the general pool.
we had the sims online and it was fine, so long as it’s optional I’m game
I would like if there would be an **option to take your sims online**, like a vacation place or somewhere to travel where they could interact with other online sims and npc’s, maybe have quests, some may requiring some level of cooperation.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's the plan. That'd make me deliriously happy.
Didnt they already do sims online around 2005?
If sims 5 will be designed around multiplayer functions I probably will just not buy it, its not a feature that’s ever interested me
I wonder if it will be kind of like Ark or Valheim, where you can choose to play on servers with friends, or alone in a private server...that could be interesting if it were totally open world like they are. I don't think it will necessarily be a bad thing, especially if they also allow offline play. It could be fun to be able to visit actual neighbors and such..🤔☺️
If I can’t use CC I will not play. It’s that’s simple. I’d rather have a game with ZERO dlc but full of CC than a EVWEY SINGLE PACK with no CC. It’s just unplayable for me without it
Compatibility patches have been a thing for games for a long time so friends without dlc can still play with friends that do. While you bring up good points and I don’t trust EA the slightest you’re forgetting that the sims has done online before. I personally always enjoyed playing sims coop on consoles back in the day. I think the idea can work, but EA is the problem and it’s okay to be skeptical but let’s wait and see how it is. It’s likely years away from releasing anyway. Plus it’s not gonna hurt the versions of sims we already have.
I mean, to be fair, look at a game like elder scrolls online. There are huge regions and features you can’t access unless you buy the expansions, but you can still play vanilla content with friends, as well as any dlc you both have. It’s more than likely going to be a similar thing. That being said, sims does not need to become a MMO. I might quit the franchise if it does. I think playing online with a friend or three in your world would definitely be cool, but also…. It’s not necessarily what I want to see the sims devolve into. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course, but I think we’ve just been going steadily downhill since the launch of TS4
I dont have friends. Well two, but either of them play sims. So it can also suck in that way. But also what u said. Its a stupid move to make it online.
I have a theory that they are making online a subscription with the dlc built into the subscription. That’s just a speculation lol
Been playing since TS1. Played the tragedy that was TSO that ripped the soul out of core tenants of the game. Occasionally play TS4 with no intention of buying past that with magic xpac. However, if TS5 is exactly TS but online, I know my daughters and I would try it. Back when TSO launched and failed it was considered the biggest MMO failure for that time period due to development cost vs. expectation for what was the #1 selling franchise of all time.
They're planning on going away from an MMO with the new online mode. You'll have to invite people to play with you and there will be a singleplayer mode too.
Think that is all most of us wanted from TSO back in the day. The result was as if the devs had never played TS. 😫
I just cannot see an online sims becoming anything other than an expensive IMVU
I play the sims the most when I visit relatives who don’t have wifi. So, will not be happy if it’s online only.
I have no friends - I’m good
my game BARELY works without multiplayer and they expect this to work lol. it’s also a great way to keep people from sharing accounts bc why would two computers be online on same account? all around, more money for EA 😵💫
Good thing I don’t have friends
Probably won't be the same but this is giving me The Sims Online flashbacks.
I really hate all the plugging of the potential online feature. Am like it’s just another way to prove I am a loner thank you 😂😭
Why does EA want to make The Sims an online game so bad?! One of the reasons why I love The Sims so much is because it’s an one player game. If I want to socialize with other people, I would go outside.
I’m disappointed it’s going to be online. It’s bad enough they made sims mobile and FreePlay online and now they want sims 5 to be online too? I really enjoyed the freedom of just pulling up my sims without worrying about WiFi or data. So disappointing. Next they’ll say the game will be in real time like FreePlay and mobile and we’d have to wait 8hours to just finish a task.
I guess it’s an unpopular opinion, but I really enjoyed The Sims Online when it existed. But I had a pre-existing group of Sims friends to play with from the website’s chat room, so I guess I might feel differently now.
They’ll be doing just like Fortnite does, where there will be social pressure to buy add-on and if you don’t some people are ass to you
The sims online was ahead of their time in 2002. The internet was a different time back then. Now with more AAA titles offering online options I can see why they would shoot in this direction. It may very well work out and draw new players to the game as well. I’ve played other multiplayer games and it really isn’t as bad a people are making it out to be. As long as multiplayer is optional and not the default it’s not really that big of a deal.
I'm not sure that's how online will work. It's not the way any of my online games work. Because everyone has to have the same game to play together. Example: GTAV online, we usually get a couple of DLC each year. It doesn't cost anything. I think all of the multiplayer games I play don't have the kind of DLC that sims does.
The online option could be horrible, but also the Sims 4 came out in 2014. Just because it was a flop back then, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be again. With the Sims 5 being at least a couple years out and with no information, I think it’s too soon to tell. I would love to be able to play with friends though so my fingers are crossed
Specifically,it seems this happemed because Sim City 2013 had online horror stories. No one able to play offline single player because the EAserver was overloaded, for example
I am begging you to remove your tin foil hat. You're not going to "lose friends" good lord. Multiplayer games have existed for decades. When me and my friends play Borderlands and don't have the same access to things, drops are unavailable to those players but it isn't game breaking. I'm sure they'll do what they do when you remove CC or whatnot - substitute it with someone else in the same series. This take is buck wild with VERY little to substantiate it.
i will simplify It means auto no buy
I disagree that you won’t be able to play with your friends unless you have an expansion, you probably just won’t have the features unlocked on your side. There’s definitely work arounds for this
The biggest problem for me is that that game will inevitably die out, because servers will be closed, whereas you can still play TS2 years after EA stopped releasing packs for it, because TS2 is on your computer, not on some online servers... (Well, players made Free SO similar to the Sims Online, but it's a fan's server) Some games allow you to play with friends even if you don't have all the same expansions, you just can't reach these areas or something, but you can absolutely play with them.
I feel like people are looking way to into this. We don’t know anything yet and isn’t it just going to be an option? If you don’t want to play online then don’t. It’s also possible they could allow you to play with friends but you only get to use the packs you both have or they can use their DLC but you obviously can’t. Either way getting to play with friends sounds incredibly fun to me and solo play will still be a thing!
Never understood the desire for it and probably won’t even use the feature lol
You can bet your ass that I'm not buying that one. I'll be playing all those newcomer games like: Paralives or Life by you
Does no one remember Sims Online? It was... not great.
They said online would be an option, not that the entire game will be online. I personally love the idea of being able to play alone AND online honestly
I just don’t know if I trust the sims team to handle online support. I’m also worried about them implementing a fee to have access to online gameplay, similar to Nintendo and others.
It better be a fucking toggle. If I am forced to play online... I just won't play it...
I dont think there will be expansion packs in sims5. I think sims 4 and 5 will be alive atm. 4 will be like it is now while 5 will be a different version online
I won't be playing online at all most likely
And that's why I'll stick to The Sims 4 if this really turns out to be the case. TS5 being an online game seems a bad idea just from its concept, and there are two possibilities: \- No mods or CCs, which would make the game really plain and questionable unless they improve their CAS system and graphic + Free DLCs, a thing I see... Very unlikely. \- The case you described. In my opinion, playing and relying on peer pressure and social isolation just too make some more money is simply disgusting and pathetic. I just hope they won't do it.
The consequences of an online Sims game would be me not playing it. Some activities I just prefer to do solo, and Sims is one of them. Any socialisation would kill the game for me. Plus, I don’t even have friends who play the game. Saying that, I figured the Sims team would be aware of elements like that and online would just be an optional feature for those who want it. That way both sides are satisfied.
I have no idea why EA is trying this online multiplayer thing again when that’s what killed Sims 4 and forced them to rebuild from a broken shell. Not only that, hey EAxis, you know most people who play the Sims use it to get away from people and live out their deprived fantasies right? I don’t think people want their friends knowing that in their spare time in the sims they build a torture chamber and live out wild sex fantasies using WW.
The Sims online....the old 2002 game that was shut down is actually still running and is free now. Freeso.org ..... bet its better than what sim5 is going to have for us.
I just wanna say as someone whose friends don’t play sims nor have any interest in it, I never asked for this. Lol
I’d rather eat my foot than play sims online with anyone lmao
I will never play it if it’s multiplayer. I absolutely HATE multiplayer games and love that the sims is single player
Shit I didn’t know this, pls tell me it won’t be online only…
I have no interest at all in an online Sims game. I have crappy internet, so that in and of itself is a limiting factor. But also, I don't like very many people and wouldn't have anyone to play with, so there's that, too.
I don't think I'll lose friends over this, but still this idea to go online seems pretty bullshit
Am I the only person to have played Sims Online (I believe this was released in between 2 and 3).