Pets I'm okay with. Well, don't take that the wrong way. By this point in the series, it is frustrating paying for it again and again. However, I do not feel as robbed not having pets in the base game as I do weather/seasons. Pets really does come off as more of an add-on feature.

But then again when you're paying $80 for a base game, features like Pets should be included. Just sayin'.

Weather/Seasons, though. I will not tolerate that. They are as natural to the real world, and The Sims gameplay as aging and the setting and rising of the sun. It should be obvious (although I know it's not) to everybody now that weather/seasons really isn't an add-on feature.

For a base-game that is $60 at the very least (have we even seen it up for that low?), a feature missing like this is a lost sell from me.

However, more frustrating than that is thinking ahead of how long it will take for EA to release The Sims 4 Seasons. Will we even see it before 2017? Sadly, I'm doubting it. Not only do EA want to rob us of more money, they also have to take forever to release it. And I guarantee by the time they release The Sims 4 Seasons, they will be gearing up to talk about The Sims 5, which will also leave the feature out of the base game. And will also not see it for years and years.

I'm tired of playing EA's little games. Is it even possible for this fandom to wise up and see what EA is doing to them? Because we need them to do so, right now.

You see, I might have even let them slide if they had included basic weather like rain, thunderstorms, and cloudy days. But they can't even do that. They are sooo greedy, and this fandom just allows it. It's disgusting.

I rather they just get the gameplay fine-tuned, than worrying about little things like the weather.

With the fourth incarnation of the game, there simply is no excuse for buggy game play. It's not an either/or situation. If the Sims 4 is not going to improve on the Sims 3 or the Sims 2, there is no reason to buy it.

EA's game plan seems pretty obvious. They are going to do the same stuff with the Sims 4 that they did with the Sims 3. We start with a stripped down base game, playing in fucking Mayberry. Then we wait four years while EA dribbles out one rehashed EP after another every six months, until we get a game which has the same gameplay as the Sims 3. After the gameplay is at the Sims 3 level, they announce the Sims 5.

I think we all have a pretty good idea of what most of the EPs will be. Clearly Seasons and Pets will be among them. A University, City and professions EP probably are in the mix. Along with a Supernatural/Magic EP. And we can count on a vacation EP. They have also hinted at an Ope for Business EP as well. That's eight EPs right there -- four years, at a minimum before we. Perhaps we get two more EPs before the five year cycle repeats. Instead of Katy Perry, we get Miley Cirus twerking?

Sucks, but not a deal breaker

I'm not that disappointed because I didn't expect it to be in the base game anyway..but it would have been a pleasant surprise..but it's only worth if it means that we'll get a complete basegame, with an open world, no R.H and CAST.

Yeah from a business stand point I didn't expect it either. More money for expansions and I doubt there's a bunch of people saying if the base game doesn't have weather I'm not buying it.

No surprise. That's how The Sims brand works. Weather and pets always show up in a future EP. It was that way for Sims 3, and the same way for Sims 2. The formula hasn't changed.

IMO, it should change.

It worked for the Sims 1 because in the early 2000s those features did not exist yet. It didn't have countless EPs under its belt. In the game, there was no such thing as a Downtown lot until Hot Date came out. There was no such thing as a cat or dog (with motives) until the Sims Unleashed. There was no such thing as a snowman until the Sims Vacation.

If you compare the Sims 4 base game to a Sims 4 EP, anything that isn't included in the base game will seem "innovative" and original. If you live under a rock and had never heard of the Sims before, anything the Sims 4 throws at you will seem fresh.

But we have been simmers for quite a while now. We don't suddenly lose our memory of previous games and EPs every time a new Sims game comes out. We remember. And the more they keep releasing what should be base game content by now, the older those features get.

They are making content less appealing by releasing them in EPs over and over again. Of course, not including them at all would be a bad idea as well.

Because we remember.

I completely agree, but I don't see it happening. EA execs need your hard-earned cash to pay their bills. That Bentley, Malibu beach house, and yacht aren't going to pay for themselves.

Why should they change it? It works for them. Corporations are not altruistic foundations that want to make everyone happy and feel good. They want to make money. Their only goal is to please stockholders so they make more money. Combining all the features into one game is stupid, it won't make more money, and it won't allow them to stretch out the money-making over multiple quarters and years. It will not help their bottom line.

Find some nice Indie game with people who are creating a game because they love it and it is a hobby, not to make millions and billions of dollars. Then you might get what you want.

They should change it because the more "Pets" or "Seasons" EPs they release, the less appealing those features become. And when something doesn't appeal to me, I'm not likely to spend my money on it.

Plenty of people will though.

Sure, but not as many as those who brought it previously. EA should be aiming for bigger numbers here, not smaller ones. They're not going to get back those 10 million TS2 players who never switched if they don't offer them something new and on top of that, they might also lose 5 million TS3 players who don't feel the need to switch to a game that is lacking features they already own.

We say this every single time. I remember all the people threatening not to buy Sims 3. Sure they lost a lot of people but they gained lots of new ones. Check the forums. Some of those kids never played Sims 2 and probably were not born when Sims 1 came out.

I get it..but I don't think it is going to move them. It appears they are making this capable of playing on low end machines. That means it is a game folks can play on laptops and tablets, easily. Not a lot of really good games out there that can do that plus play on the PC. Right there is an entirely new audience.

I understand how you feel, but I am a pragmatist. It would be better to accept what we can't change and change what we can. We can still influence EA on some things, mainly things like CasT and future EPs. But we are not going to make them change their entire marketing strategy.

This ^^^^^ It can't be too tough to just throw in BASIC WEATHER in a base game. I don't need all the holidays that come with it.. they can bloody well put that in an EP somewhere down the road but BASIC WEATHER!!! Really?

I'm so disappointed that they're saying it won't be in Base Game. I was hoping for it but it's not a deal breaker. However, if CASt isn't in BG, I'm not even thinking about it... I may or may not eventually get the game. Probably when they release Seasons which will most likely be the last EP before they announce The Sims 5.

~~calms down~~

OK, OK... I'm not a programmer so I don't know what I am talking about but I'm one of those players that expect more with each iteration. I went from Sims 2 to Sims 3 because of the open world and the CASt. TS4 isn't really giving me a good reason to switch games, thus my disappointment... so far.

As far as Pets go, I never bought it in TS2 or TS3. The only way I will get a Pets EP is if EA decides to include farm animals and the farming career in the game. So, for me, not disappointed there.

That's not a good thing. TS3 sold half as many copies as TS2. If they gained a lot of new people, let's say... half, that means fifteen million people never moved on from TS2, instead of ten million like I previously said. That's a lot of customers to lose.

Weather was originally supposed to be part of the Sims 2 base game. There was even a mini power outage game. It was disabled however, because the programmers were too stupid to figure out how to only make it weather outside the home. If you enabled the base game weather (with a hack) it would rain indoors too.

http://strategywiki.org/wiki/The_Si...Seasons/Weather

I don't care at all about pets or weather. I fell in love with Sims 1 and Sims 2 without them -- they were welcome additions when they came but I don't think they're necessary.

I read somewhere that weather was supposed to be in Sims 3 BG as well... Is it true?

Some basic weather effects in the base game, like at least rain, would be appreciated. I fully expect that everything else will be sold out in EPs. The financial model is too compelling for EA to abandon it.

However, this time around, the furniture better not require jumping through hoops to make compatible with Spot hopping onto the couch. Or Kitty getting sucked over the event horizon in a freaking tub. Been there, done that, never again. That coding needs to be in place on Day 1, even if we're not getting the EP for another year.



Given that weather definitely was not in the Sims 3 BG, I can say with confidence that rumor, if it existed, turned out to be false.

I'm not disappointed about not having Pets in the game. IMO, they are one of those things like supernatural creatures or robots; some people want 'em and some people really don't. I assume we'll have some kind of caged critter in the base game...and there had better be fishing! I am surprised that they didn't include basic weather. I don't need a whole pack built around it, just some rain and wind every now and then. They could even keep snow out of the game for some kind of Winter Wonderland pack and I'd still be happy.

Still, it's not a deal-breaker, like the lack of CASt.

I don't mind tbh, as long as the basegame works the way it's supposed to With pets I'm on the 'take it or leave it' side, so I'm not fussed about them not being included. Weather I like in my current games, but maybe they can combine it with something fun like holidays so sims can have a proper calendar with days off and everything... with emotions and stuff that might be quite fun, you could watch Sim children get excited for Christmas! (Or other non-religious gift giving winter holiday of your choice...)

I hope they build weather and pets into the *architecture* of the base game, even if they aren't going to give them to us yet. I don't want them scotch-taped on later.

Specifically: weather and pets will have some emotional effects associated with them, and the emotion system had better be able to seamlessly handle that from the beginning. Also, the game should from the beginning have the infrastructure to handle different species, each with its own instances of animations, emotions, and so on.

Oh, and what eskie said. Objects should be built with pets and weather in mind from the beginning.

To be honest Pets is far from being a deal-breaker. Weather is a lot nearer but not there (though rain is again closer than snow). What I'm suddenly really worried though, is gardening. Nobody said anything about it yet, and I really don't know how I'd cope with not watering my lettuce plots. :O

True, Pet's and weather are not for everyone. But that is not why they are not included in the base game. Plenty of Simmers have no interest in building, perhaps build mode be removed from the base game? I rarely create my own Sims, but I have the option to do so if I wish. You have the option to switch off weather if you don't like it. Progress should increase our options, not reduce them.

Seasons and Pets are not included in the base game simply because EA knows they can make plenty of money selling them separately and there will be enough people who will still buy the base game. I'm still reserving judgement on Sims 4, but they're giong to have to do so much more to impress me because what I've seen and heard so far leaves me quite indifferent. Maybe EA think they can wow the socks off of the average 12 yr old, I'm not even sure that much is true. After all, there are parents like myself who try to teach their kids to use good judgement when purchasing games. But they will have to deliver some substance to see any of *my* hard-earned cash.