They didn't add toddlers in an expansion. They patched it into the base game at no additional charge (as they should've).

There would've been an actual riot if they'd made people pay for toddlers.

I love TS3, but god, is it a hot broken mess without mods. I've lost some great saves due to some awful game breaking glitches. I can't think of many other games where you need so many mods just for the damn thing not to cause your computer to go up in flames. I enjoy it, but it is very empty without mods and DLC. TS2 could actually stand on it's own and hold your attention for a while.

I would play TS3 base game no CC before I would touch TS4 again, no question.

How about a separate micro-transaction/small fee for each toddler the player wants? Or even better, hide a chance to have a toddler of your very own within loot boxes. I should really stop this, might be giving EA ideas they didn't already have for a future iteration.

I was so salty that they introduced toddlers for free but then came out with a toddler stuff pack. Like uggh, you literally used this as a money-making scheme too? Thank goodness for CC. I think Sims 4 is worth a try at least, I like to play 2, 3, and 4 off and on. 3 is my favorite to play for long periods of time, and these days I mostly only use 4 to make houses to use as reference for my comic series. If you're an artist, that's at least one thing Sims 4 is good for haha. Build mode is so smooth and easy for me, as a person who absolutely hates building.

Huh, I didn't know that. That's actually pretty hilarious that they had to add an entire life stage after the game was released because that many people disagreed with it. I don't follow TS4 updates very closely (or at all) so I don't know much about the game as it has developed since release. There were too many little things that weren't going to be included, so I just gave up on the installment altogether.

To be fair, you shouldn't pretend that they were planning to just let it go. Not sure why you'd think anyone would have to pay for access to toddlers, and it's been pretty obvious (to me at least) from day one that they'd be patched back in eventually. I like joking about EA as well but I don't accuse them of being anything they're not.

It's a good thing that they're dropping 32 bit support next month, so that there's no longer any reason for them to keep "optimizing" the game for said potatoes. I say that, of course, with little knowledge of what a low-end system looks like specs-wise.

It is standard in the Sims games to have to eventually pay to get both pets and weather. (And magic...) It is not too hard to believe that you might have to pay to get toddlers, especially if they announce them in relation to a new pack. One thing I've learned with EA is "Don't let them get your hopes up." I was placing the odds at 50/50 whether toddlers would become base game with a patch (like WA building tools) or would require the pack as though a toddler were a supernatural life state.

To be fair, it's a pretty odd life stage even in the real world and one that only a few of us can remember having lived through first-hand in any great detail. That all toddlers are collectively part of some temporary occult state, sort of like full moon zombification, is not an entirely unplausible theory.

In TS4, all the life stages are represented at older ages than in TS3, where earlier ages in the stage are being represented, in my opinion. I mean, we have toddlers that only have a generic chat interaction vs toddlers that can speak about specifically everything once they learn how to; toddlers that cannot use stairs vs toddlers that can; toddlers that can even eat on the couch (when IRL did you last see that?) vs toddlers that cannot use couches; toddlers that have visible skills like imagination vs toddlers with a few invisible skills; toddlers that can use some playground equipment vs toddlers that can't (or at least so I remember); children that can learn to use instruments vs children that cannot; taller children vs shorter children; children that have specific LTWs vs children that initially do not have LTWs; (TS4 was so boring that I've barely played the child life stage and barely played families because I was annoyed because of the lack of toddlers at the time); teens who are shorter than adults vs teens that have the same height as adults; etc.

The lack of interactions in general though is something I agree with.

yeah, it should be rebranded "The Sims: Toddlers"; it's actually the one fleshed out gameplay element in the whole game (as I can recognize it).

The rest is kinda "The Sims: BoreDoom with QuickEvents of Pointless Excitation". Maybe the 1st really realistic Sims game, huh?

I think mine might be glitching. She's been talking only in meows for weeks now.

1. One of their biggest money-makers, if not the biggest, nowadays is their live service...Origin. Get simple-minded consumers to take the "It's free!" bait but the true intention behind it seems to be all about getting consumers hooked on Origin. Have you noticed the shift? Have you read the CEO's past statements about the future they want? Have you noticed the other bait...The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection and no where else is that seen but Origin. Because I would definitely buy it on Steam or GOG if it meant I could avoid Origin. Not to mention, TS2: UC was also probably a scripted move to get players reacquainted with such limited gameplay mechanics in preparation for the then upcoming TS4.

2. As already mentioned, TS4 base game didn't do so well and actually, in my opinion, nothing about TS4 surpasses any of the previous and legendary iterations and never will. The base game makes sense to give away for free and the hope is that it gets both new and old consumers alike to want to invest in the rest of the mediocrity. Unfortunately, the new strategy is less content and poor quality equals more content and best quality through psychology for the weak-minded. One of many examples, "Hey, it runs and plays well unlike TS3."

You are smart to question EA's intention. The logical ones always do. Though most likely they question everything anyway so....

===

Even the base game being free...no thanks. It's not my kind of game, not anymore but at least I still have TS/TS2/TS3. But hey, I'm super excited about other non EA published games and one of them is Death Stranding. I love games with deep meanings and are thought-provoking. So thankful for people in the gaming industry who screams quality, hard work and fun, interesting gameplay.

Is TS2 still available free through origin? Because *that* I would be interested in trying out. I never tried TS2 back in the day, but the things I've read about it here make me interested.

I did the free weekend a couple of years ago for TS4 and got so bored in an afternoon. I looked at my husband and told him that I'm trying to enjoy this and he said, "why bother?" the one thing I enjoyed was the ability to choose gender identity and gender expression in CAS as a woman who tends to dress androgynously. Everything went downhill as soon as I exited CAS.

They made a post on the official forums about ending "support" for giving away TS2 codes for the UC, but, some people have still had luck in getting it, depending on the customer service rep that you get. You'll probably need to provide proof of purchase of a TS2 game or pack, but you might still be able to get a rep to add a copy to your account.

As for TS4, unpopular opinion I know, but I don't like some of the things the toddlers can do. I prefer my little ones to be more baby-like, rather than be able to use tablets for pity's sake, though the addition of being able to eat a plate of food while they're sat on the couch was a good one.
But that's just me, everyone else seems to enjoy them, so to each their own.

Officially not. If you feel lucky and your 'begging' skill is big enough, with existing proof of purchase (receipt, game ID code etc.) you may try to contact EA's customer repo.

Funny detail: last I checked the TS2UC (as TS3) was quite popular download from "unofficial" sources.

I wonder if one of the main complaints that TS3 does not run well are from some who got the game in other means. From what little I have read, that seems to be the culprit sometimes with so many overwhelming glitches. From my personal experience, I don't need mods to play TS3 at all but I do use mods because it's an even more enriching gameplay experience. But I also have a couple saves without any mods except NoCD and still have just as much fun with better performance without 3rd party content bogging down extra resources from the GPU and/or CPU.

I have no idea, even for Sims-parascience's sake I won't download like... 20GB (?) just to check file by file data integrity.

If I remember correctly, there was something I read about not being able to register an non official version of TS3 on TS3 site. If that is true then, to me, that means there is a difference put in place and may probably be why overall gameplay would not function properly intentionally. I don't know if that is or is not the case but something I did think about. It would be a curious find to observe the two files to see any differences in data but I don't steal others work whether they make a living off of it or not. My mother didn't raise a thief nor a selfish person who doesn't care that my actions can have ill effect on others. But mostly, it's just not who I am.

If the developers did do something...how clever and good for them. I mean if TS4 has it, I would guess TS3 too.

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-in...cy-punishments/

Just coming to nip this little myth in the bud. "Unofficial" Versions of the game aren't necessarily going to preform worst then the official game as along as the pirates are able to properly circumvent any copyright protection. Keep in mind that game companies and pirates are locked in an ever going arms race. No matter how powerful copyright protections media companies come up with, pirates will still manage to crack the code eventually. The longer it goes on the better and better each side becomes at their respective skill. Even TS4's protection of registering through origin to install was able to be cracked not too long after release. I remember reading a Sim 4 leagacy blog by someone who had a pirated copy. Besides certain early game bugs due to pirated patches not being available yet her game preformed as well as any one else's.

The reason pirated copies cannot be registered is the same reason used physically copies can not be registered. The product key provided has already been used by the original buyer and is blacklisted so to speak, from the system as far as registering goes but can still be used to install any copy of the game official or not.

Personally I think the main reason so many people have trouble running 3 is because it its a mammoth sized game being marketed to a community in which a fairly sizable portion are not big gamers. Generally I find that the people who are most vocal about TS3 being "unplayable" are ones who only (or almost only) play sims games and aren't really interested in other (or many other) games out side of the series. In other words as I tend to think of them "hard-core Simmers rather then hard-core gamers". Most people aren't going to spend $1000 up on a computer when they only use it to play one or two games.

In that since it makes sense that so many hard- core Simmers most likely don't have computers equipped to handle the weight of the fully expanded Sims 3 or the technical knowledge to understand why a newer game runs so much better then one that is older. On the other hand the majority of Simmers who are also even at most average gamers are ether going to have a pc that can sufficiently handle the game or at least have enough technical knowledge to know that,
"well, right now the game is loading an entire map with over 100 characters in which it needs to process where each and every one of them is on the map. It needs to keep track of each and every ones needs, make sure they know how and where to take care of said needs. It needs to remember each 100 sims schedules and make sure they get to work or school on time, and apply the proper changes to their performance. So that why the game takes so long to load. That's way it might freeze up for a second or two every so often as my processor catches up on the calculations."

I personally tend to fall under the second category expect my sims 3 pc is a ten year old hp pavilion laptop that is just a few notches above the min regs for the game. While my preformce with all expansions and a good portion of the store installed is far from ideal it is well within acceptable range, and certainly not unplayable. I expect though that the make it or break it for me is that when the game does start having a lag spike I can tolerate it because I understand enough about how the game and computers work from a technical standpoint to know what the game is doing in the background to enhance my experience that a little three second lag spike every now and again is not the worst trade off.

Pluse if it really bothered me that much paying even 500 dollars to upgrade to a new pc is so much preferable to spending it on TS4. Which by the way I did download a free copy of from origin out of morbid curiosity. Barely 10 minutes in to my game section last night the preformce took a nose dive. I didn't even give it time the recover just quite right then and there and opened 3 instead. With all of the "sacrifices to make sure the game has better preformce" there is just no excuse for it.

Anyway I think I rambled enough.

I didn't say pirated versions will all perform poorly. I wondered if that were the case based on some things I've read. Sure not all developers take measures to troll those who steal and there may be ways of getting around that which I wouldn't know because it's not my area of interest. But it definitely is possible for an non official game to intentionally not play properly and that is my point. But now I'm just reiterating what I already said but just in different words and additions.

Oddly enough, TS3 never released any recommended system requirements so it would have been extremely helpful from the start if that were available. However, it's always a good idea to research before you buy...which I didn't do initially being a newbie and all. There are plenty of reviews from people with all kinds of different computers that can be informational. Majority of all the parts I used to build my first gaming desktop I researched for days and days and maybe even weeks or months before finally narrowing down what I thought was good to run all of TS3. I checked reviews, I checked YouTube videos of people who had those particular hardware components, I checked helpful websites, etc. All PC games have system requirements so unless someone is completely new to the scene like I was there is no excuse. Actually, being a newbie is no excuse to not do research beforehand either but I lived and I learned so yeah. Pretty much why I'm mostly a video game console gamer because computers are complicated.

See I find the people who usually screech about TS3 being unplayable are those that are trying to run it on under powered hardware ( usually a budget laptop ) and barely know how to turn their computer on or off. Plus trying to run all EP's SP's, highest settings, the store and a truckoad of CC that they aren't discerning about, so they end up with some broken stuff.

I play a few games, but Sims is probably the one I play the most. When I bought a new PC ( its six years old now ) its specs were considered with TS3 in mind. I didn't have much of a problem running it on my old one, but I wanted to run the game at high and not medium settings and be able to play comfortably on more than a 30x30 lot size It still runs the game perfectly.
It's the game that has given me the most enjoyment over the years, alongside TS2, so I'd always upgrade with TS3 in mind.

I'd not do anything for Ts4. Except uninstall it very quickly. Which I did after looking at it thanks to their freebie.

Thanks for the clarification. I also did not mean to imply that you thought all Pirated games or versions would not run well. I wanted to point out that it really is not likely a large factor in why so many people find TS3 "unplayable" and more likely that they simple were trying to play on machines ill fit to handle the game.
It is of course possible that a hand full of people who had difficult with TS3 being "unplayable" were using pirated games, assuming EA did add some protection to it that would cause it to preform poorly if it were to be copied illegally. I know TS4 had some sort of protection involving the screen becoming gradually pixalated as the game was running. I never heard about TS3 having anything like that, though it might have at some point. But the main thing is these protections would have only been an issue for the first few months of the games release before pirates managed to crack them. Which is actually the main purpose of most copyright protection on video games, not to stop piracy all together(not that companies don't want to) but rather to slowdown pirates long enough to give the initial sells rush to roll in. Usually this is around the first six month to first year of a games life time and is when most games make the highest amount of prophet in their lifetime.

Anywho I'm gonna stop revealing my knowledge about video game piracy before people start come to conclusions about me.

I did not know that they never released the games recommend requirements though come to think of it I've never seen them printed any where only the min requirements. I do wonder if they had would it have made a difference for most of the people trying to play TS3 under specs? I know for sure my PC doesn't cut it on that front but I don't try to blame the game because I'm to cheap to upgrade or to impatient to wait to play into I final do one of the two.

I read some people somewhere on the forum saying it feels as though the TS4 team never tested any of the expansions together. Something about aspects of season interfering with features of other expansions. Makes me wonder if TS3 team ever benched marked TS3 running with all expansions. I really don't think they did at this point. If that the case then not even they would truly know what the recommended requirements of the game are. Is it any mystery way a game community that likely has one of the highest percentages of computer illiterate* members of any triple A titles has so much trouble running it?

*I say computer illiterate only because my vocabulary lacks a less rude term. I do not mean to say it in such away as to imply that most simmers barely know how to turn on a compute. Even having knowledge to install a game and run it obviously requires some level of literacy. I simply mean that compared to most other triple a games, due to its very nature The Sims tends to attracted a larger subset of fans who would not normally be into video games and out side of work and less technical entertainment purposes (social media, videos ect.) computers in general. This subset there for comes into the gaming community at large with a generally less developed understanding of how games and computes work on a technical level then the average gamer. That is not to say all or even most simmers are technically challenged just that the sims community tends to have a larger subset of members that are in comparison to other game communities.

The point I was trying to make in my original post was that in my experience complaints of TS3 being "unplayable" tend to come from members within this subset who lack the technical knowledge to understand why their pc is underpowered to run TS3 and find it easier to blame the game. In that sense the worse thing TS3 can be accused of is being too ambitions for its targeted demographic.

Ok I have seriously derailed this thread long enough.