I think EA has come to rely on modders to make a decent game for them just as much as we have. That's a REALLY scary thought

This particular discussion isn't something I'll weigh in on, but I would encourage fans to be vocal about the aspects of The Sims that are important to them and to make their voices heard. Of course we're looking at feedback, and we'll continue to do so as more Sims 4 features are revealed in the coming months. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" is likely an idiom for good reason

More helpful words of wisdom from Graham...unfortunately not even that's enough to make me feel at ease this time

A "maybe" would have been nice.

It's encouraging to read the willingness to notice the "squeaks" of Sims players the world over, but it's also clear the loudest complain will be the main focus. I'm sure my interests aren't the interests of the majority of players, and your task is to make the game great for that majority. I hope this next generation of The Sims could support both a simple and a complicated set of tools, so that players who want to dive straight into the Sims experience can be just as happy as those who spend hours building a lot or customizing the entire neighbourhood.

I feel like I'm the only one going to be playing Sims 4, I'll tell you guys if it's good, k?

Christ sake -_______- What are they doing? This is a HUGE step backwards. I LOVE CASt. I like making everything in my houses match and making every sim look unique with their different styled clothes and their different coloured hair. I will still play it but this REALLY pisses me off. It was one of the best features in Sims 3.

I really hope EA are reading this. This is a big f**k you from me (a fan of The Sims since the beginning)




I do sometimes spend a little bit too much time in CASt but even if you didn't use it the option was nice

Graham, it's nice to know you're still reading stuff here while working on 4 now. And I know I can be a squeaky wheel. However, and this is not only because of the apparent decision about CAST, but based on all the albeit limited information released to date, I am one consumer who won't be buying a ticket for this ride. And that's too bad. Too bad for me, as I hoped to see the franchise grow in positive ways. Too bad for EA, because I'm the kind of player they should want to retain. I buy all the crap offered, and have the disposable income to do so without debating the effect on my budget. If EA thinks the casual kiddies will drop serious money on this thing that's being offered, then your quantitative marketing analysts need remedial training on using a stat pack. As I respectfully mentioned in another post to you, you seem like a talented producer who cares about the game, keep your resume buffed. Because of decisions beyond your control, you'll probably need it.

Why must you break my heart. No CASt, for fuck sake. Idiots.

To be honest, I could care less that we can't add patterns. I never did anyway. What I care about is that this means we won't be able to give our sims unique colors anymore. For example, one of my sims has blue hair with pink highlights, blue lipstick, pink short with a blue plaid shirt over it, blue pants, and pink and blue shoes, while another is themed in black and purple, another pink and white, ect. ect. They can take away the ability to use custom patterns. I don't care. But I want either a color slider or a WIDE variety of colors to choose from, similar to Saints Row's color picker.

Graham, doesn't your company realise that a substantial amount of loyal, paying fans who can't wait to throw their money at the franchise, down the black hole that is the store, and at every damn shiny thing that comes hurled their way, are people who just use the game as a glorified building tool? (I would actually play it if gameplay was engaging, like Sims 2).

Don't you guys realise you'll be alienating a whole bunch of dolla... erm, I mean fans, if you leave CASt out, essentially crippling the creative freedom within the game?
Have you seen the amazing lots people build in TS3? Most of those wouldn't be possible within the confines of CASt-less game, with limited (and probably extremely random) colour swatches you would choose to include. Want that modern window to match that traditional door (because hey, the house went through some renovations), but want a unified paint colour? NOPE. Want to humour your OCD demons and match the bed linen to the sofa's upholstery, the curtains and the wallpaper? NOPE, can't do it!

I can only think of 3 reasons why you would choose not to include it, and each of them are debatable.
A) Emotions.
That's a shitty reason, because the emotional impact of colours is so subjective, so much deeper than just blue=sad, green=calm, yellow=happy, black=depression, red=passion etc. And even so, why is it not possible to assign these emotions to hex codes, like people have suggested.
B) Bloated game.
That's a shitty reason too, because guess what, people will turn to downloading recolours. And they'll download a tonne of them, probably with more heft than CASt would carry with it, and it will make creating and sharing lots and sims a nightmare. Imagine having to rely on someone else having the exact same vision as you, who happens to know how to make recolours, and has recoloured every item that, funnily enough, you wanted to use in your building, in exactly the right colours and patterns. Unlikely. But you do, you find someone who's recoloured all those items, downloaded them, built your lot and want to share it with others. The downloaders have to go hunt down every single item on that list, what a nightmare! When it could just be so, so simple.
C) Wouldn't have been feasible in an MMO (if that was indeed the original plan, which I'm pretty inclined to believe was).
Well... It's not an MMO anymore, so no excuses. Push back the release date and give us a game that we actually want to buy. If not, then you've just saved me a heck load of future dollars I would have gladly shoved at you for a quality game, thanks!

Oh Graham, I will miss you when I am no longer playing the most recent Sims series because there is no CasT, no open world, lack of tools like CAW, trees that won't change with the season, wacky emotional sims that drive players crazy, no complexity like Sims 2, no pretty environment like Sims 3, and all the rest of the stuff that I will find out in the next few months won't be in the game...and a few that will, like the stupid (sorry for being mean) body conscious thing that could lead to ED.

Ahh...so sad to contemplate. No worries, I will still buy stuff from the Sims 3 store.

Damn right, and if they're going for this emotional colour thing it should be up to each player to decide how each colour makes a particular sim feel (I still think the whole idea is stupid though). For one thing, I love black, depressing my ass. Yellow makes me want to rip my eyes out. Nothing more hideous than a room painted a "cheery" yellow *shudder*.

They really just seem to be taking this game in the complete wrong direction for me. If they're leaving CASt to implement something as stupid as this, they may want to reconsider their choice.

Please don't tell me I have missed something and that has been confirmed? If so then I really don't know if I will buy Sims 4.

Not it hasn't been confirmed. People seem to think the lack of something in the information and videos we have means it won't be in the game. And that everything currently shown to be in the same will be the same way by launch.

Zach Braff is not happy about the exclusion of CASt. His emotional state right now is depressed.

Graham, does this being vocal apply to every aspect of the game? For example genetics. Is this something that can be altered at this point or would it already be set in stone as a core feature?

Let's not count open worlds out just yet. The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.....though it would be nice if EA were to confirm this....they wouldn't be stupid enough to get rid BOTH of TS3s selling points....right?

I think this is where I totally disagree and see such a huge gap with so many Sims 3 players. They think they were trading up or playing a sequel. I disagree. The games - Sims 1, 2, and 3 were different enough to each have their own flavor or feel. There's a sense of excitement with trying out a new game, which is lost if you only view these games as sequels to each other. This, I believe is the fundamental difference between the die-hard fans of Sims 2 and Sims 3.

Uh..yeah, they might be.

But I was making a hypothetical that I would miss Graham if I didn't play the game because of all that...yadayada. I realize we don't know anything yet.

Crinrict and Graham, I heard you but still...
No CAST, No buy! That is where I draw my line. I am not gonna suffer the bloated mods files again because of 1421075412752 recolors of one chair just to have some diversity in my sims homes!

No you won't. The Sims 2 Store survived less than two years after TS3 was released, and TS3 was actually popular on its own merit.

Not sure I get what you are saying. I had a long reply but then realized I might have misunderstood. Are you saying that Sims 3 players see this as a sequel and that you, as a Sims 2 player do not?

I have seen people talk about how this game should have everything from the last games and then some, and quite honestly I would say half of those people are Sims 2 players. It is a common denominator among the Sims players, not a dividing factor.

The dividing factor is that the two games (Sims 2 and Sims 3) have widely different styles. One is closed world, complex game play, aging and progression under complete control of the players, years and years of mods, etc. The other is an open world, options to allow the game's progression control some aspects, and includes the creative ability to unlimited recoloring and decorating in the game. Some folks moved on to Sims 3, others did not....because Sims 3 was not a sequel but a re-imagined Sims series.

Sims 4 is a new re-imagined game. But just like with Sims 3, some Sims 2 fans did not like the new feature called Story Progression because it took away the control they enjoyed, and now the Sims 3 players do not want to loose the creative abilities available in CasT.

On the other hand, I have heard Sims 2 players say we need seasons and business and all the things they had in Sims 2...and I have heard Sims 3 players say the same thing, we need an open world, we need the ability to recolor in game.

I think we are all much more alike than different. We want a new game, but we don't want to lose what we had before. You may be unique in this but not because you are a Sims 2 or Sims 3 player, but because you want a new re-imagined game rather than same old. Actually, I am sure you are not unique because I have heard people before saying they don't want the same EPs.

Remember though...a new game isn't going to appeal to everyone. Not because it isn't Sims 3 or Sims 2 but because they simply don't like the gameplay.

Sorry, but I get tired of the posts that pit Sims 3 players against Sims 2 players. I really get tired of them...really.

Yeah, I was being sarcastic. I don't buy much from the store anyway.

I am in the same position. I tried going back to TS2 for a bit after I'd been playing TS3, and CASt was the part that made me stop and abandon it. I could live with the loading screens between lots and no traits and the non-identifying relatives and the no conversation states (which lots of people don't like, and I wasn't sure about to begin with, but I soon discovered I really like them). I couldn't keep playing without CASt: even though that was a couple of years ago when TS2 had seasons and things and TS3 didn't.

If TS4 doesn't have CASt, I won't be buying it. I'll read tex12347's reviews!