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Mad Poster
#76 Old 8th Sep 2014 at 8:13 PM Last edited by gazania : 8th Sep 2014 at 9:14 PM.
Hmmm ... now a whole bunch of Amazon ratings disappeared. Either that, or I need more caffeine. A lot of them seemed to be the negative ones. What the ...?

It seems Amazon does do this ... but I haven't noticed it doing it for this high a percentage of ratings. I believe it was around 50 or so. Really .... the last time I checked, there were more than 280 ratings! This now lowers the negative score by a point or two, raises the positive score by a point or two, and actually does raise the three-star score a little (though technically, I believe Amazon considers that a negative as well, if what a seller told me was true. I just consider those "meh" scores.) It's still a 2.5 out of 5, though.

What ... the ... h ... ? I admit that a few negative ratings along the line of "this sucks!" (and nothing else) should have been deleted, but so should have the few that strongly looked like they were written by shills. As in, they read like carefully-scripted ads. (Yes, I read most of them.)

Others have been puzzled about Amazon suddenly deleting what seemed to be perfectly legit reviews before (can't find anything about ratings, though):

http://www.amazon.com/is-Amazon-rem...asin=0071459588 (This thread is interesting.)

http://sheattack.com/negative-titan...deleted-amazon/ Now I admit that this isn't a definitive source, but if what this person implies is true ... egads.

Looks like that goes for ratings as well. Problem is, most of those ratings didn't have a review attached to them. Still don't.

I never saw that happen for Sims 2 or 3 ratings or if it did, it was for a really small number. Odd.

I'm wondering if I should use the EBay sales as a better guide. But I'll still check Amazon.

The plot thickens.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
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Forum Resident
#77 Old 8th Sep 2014 at 10:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Charity
If it washed my clothes, did the dishes and bought me a new car I'd buy it no matter what the graphics look like. XD


If EA can make The Sims 4 do all of that, and continue doing it for at least 10 years, I will burn all of my Sims 2 CDs with fire and permanently uninstall TS2 from my computer never to look back. :-) But that will never happen.
Instructor
#78 Old 9th Sep 2014 at 3:36 AM
@gazania I agree with you completely but EA do what they want when it comes to the games, they pretend they care just to get us to buy but if they did they wouldn't of taken out aliens, toddlers, cars and pools to then re-sell it to us after, it's only taken out temporarily they said... i just don't think they will change it to fit us they just got too greedy like other companies and once that happens they got more money than sense, we told them the last 2 games what we wanted but they didn't listen but i do not see any more potential for the sims games, all ideas have been used up there is only so much you can do with it and it's been done so i don't see what else they can do.
Mad Poster
#79 Old 9th Sep 2014 at 10:44 PM Last edited by gazania : 10th Sep 2014 at 1:47 PM.
BTW, yes, I was this obsessive with reviews, facts and figures for 1, 2 and 3 as well. Just sayin'.

And also just sayin' ... if any of you haven't bought Sims 4 yet but are wavering, I would strongly, strongly advise you hold out just a few months longer. I think six months to a year would be better. The current average prices on EBay are showing even more of a drop. Stay resilient for just a little while. Keep this up, and buying the disks instead of using Origin or a key service may actually pay off. Right now, I'm seeing that a few recently-sold new copies on current auctions went for around $40 - $43. If you buy off EBay, though, I'd make sure it's a sealed game, just in case Origin gives you grief. And use a seller with an excellent reputation, of course, and with many ratings. I still believe that if you delay buying this game, the price should drop a little more shortly, particularly after the holidays. It will also give you time to read more observations and come to your own conclusions in a less-heated, less-frenetic situation.

That's if you want this game so much now that you yearn for it. Me ... back to Sims 2! Maybe I'll try a retirement home in the game soon.

(Had to correct because the late-30s games did go up to and past $40 because of last-minute bids.)

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Mad Poster
#80 Old 10th Sep 2014 at 6:12 AM
Haha. I was totally oblivious to facts, figures and reviews for Sims 1 and Sims 2. Then 3 was coming out and there was the open neighbourhood and pudding faces and suddenly people were complaining. XD
Mad Poster
#81 Old 10th Sep 2014 at 12:14 PM
No toddlers and no swimming pools? what about NO story progression??? And no aliens? I cannot live without aliens. The only thing I saw in Sims 4 that i find likable is that they can walk differently. And small neighbourhoods, no man. I had 101 families in one hood and 97 in the business hood - that's why I never got past the Sims 3 basegame in the first place.
Mad Poster
#82 Old 10th Sep 2014 at 12:38 PM
What I think is that the employees who worked on Sims 4 had absolutely little or no exposure to S2, and just a modicum of exposure to S3-because usually with every new game EA (or any other developer, for that matter) they have to hire new employees to work on that game.

Thus, they're not seeing it through our eyes, but through the eyes of management, who gave them instructions on how to develop S4-and because management did not play S2 or S3 but liked their sales numbers, it happened.

Then they're puzzled when we state that we wanted all those features they ripped out-having never played the previous games before, they would not know the difference this kind of omission would create for a player. They just know what they were ordered to make. That it does not resemble S2 or S3 in what the gamers want has absolutely no meaning to them.
Mad Poster
#83 Old 10th Sep 2014 at 2:22 PM
Maybe though someone did read through the Favourite/Least Favourite Life Stage threads here, saw how many people said the found toddlers boring, and said to themselves, "We won't bother with toddlers then." Rather than trying to think how to make toddlers more fun to play.

Whatever. I don't see how a game without toddlers can really claim to be life simulation.
Mad Poster
#84 Old 10th Sep 2014 at 5:16 PM
It's also a function of the fact that it looks like they stopped production of S4 to be on-line after the SimCity 2013 disaster, and when they were told to make it a PC game rather than an on-line game, they just swapped out a lot of the stuff to make it fit into the box.

This is one case where there is no "one size fits all'.

Also lousy programming might also be a key to it. The clipping issue is proof of the fact that there aren't that many decent or talented animators who would have caught this problem early...and quality control after that. There was none.

So it adds up to a list of omissions constrained by time, and talent. Lack of both made it impossible to recreate a real game or even a decent one.
Instructor
#85 Old 11th Sep 2014 at 7:40 PM
Won't be getting the Sims 4 at all... those babies look darn scary!!!
Instructor
#86 Old 12th Sep 2014 at 9:33 PM
No....they know what they are doing... as a team they work through every step of the process and they have to work together to get all the coding right and the grapics smooth enough and to get out as many bugs as they can before releasing, working with high def graphics too takes more time so instead they are just doing what they can to it in that time and plopping it out on a deadline... but they know taking out stuff obviously gets them more money too... i saw it coming at TS3 really.
Lab Assistant
#87 Old 12th Sep 2014 at 10:23 PM
I finally got Sims 2 UC. Now I can calmly make the metropolis of my dreams, without worry anymore about risking to lose my copies on CD. Is all on my origin account.
But I want to play Sims 4 too. Is not as great as I excepted, but I still enjoy it.
I'm happy with the new CAS system.
Mad Poster
#88 Old 13th Sep 2014 at 2:29 AM
Quote:
. as a team they work through every step of the process and they have to work together to get all the coding right and the grapics smooth enough and to get out as many bugs as they can before releasing, working with high def graphics too takes more time so instead they are just doing what they can to it in that time and plopping it out on a deadline.


Then they do not work very efficiently either-because from the reports I've heard, the LP's and demos I've seen, the clipping in this game is disgraceful. True, the other games did have clipping to one degree or another-but it was minor compared to sims walking right through each other, etc-in nearly 50% of the game!

That's not good coding or programming, no matter which gaming company it is. It's inexcusable.
Mad Poster
#89 Old 13th Sep 2014 at 6:19 PM
I actually stood in the shop today, holding a Sims 4 game. For about two minutes, thinking. Then I put it back on on the shelf
Instructor
#90 Old 13th Sep 2014 at 8:55 PM
lol don't let them get you! xD i agree with you FranH bad coding but i just don't see TS5 being different ether but due to the ratings going down and down id urge them to stop now, i can't believe TS2 only got 86% rating or something like that, id give TS2 a 98% rating (not 100% because of the bugs and some obvious flaws with the interactions), but i guess the game critics are always rather harsh when it comes to games and movies.
Forum Resident
#91 Old 14th Sep 2014 at 5:00 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
I actually stood in the shop today, holding a Sims 4 game. For about two minutes, thinking. Then I put it back on on the shelf


I saw The Sims 4 at Kmart, inside the glass case. I didn't even know the game had been released. Honestly, I plan on trying TS4 at some point... after I've tried TS3.
Meet Me In My Next Life
Original Poster
#92 Old 16th Sep 2014 at 8:45 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
I actually stood in the shop today, holding a Sims 4 game. For about two minutes, thinking. Then I put it back on on the shelf


Hahaha>> You are not alone, I was at Best Buy with some friends, they said out loud to me >> Hey here is your game the Sims, are you going to buy it?
I walk over closer then I pick up the Sims 4, look at the front cover and the back cover, and place it back to it's home on the shelf where it belong, not only that the price of the Sims 4 was sky high.

"Nothing in life is a Surprise it just happen to come your way at the time".
Inventor
#93 Old 16th Sep 2014 at 9:29 PM
Although I admit I am curious about Sims 4, I don't have ány intention of buying it. Like mentioned before, for starters, the price. As a very important second, my computer most likely isn't up to running it, as it also is not fit to run Sims 3. Some features I read about that Sims 4 has, I would have liked to have in Sims 2, but I'm not going to abandon Sims 2. I have grown very attached to it, since great people have made so much good stuff for it to add. It made me stick to it and even when I grow bored of it for a while or because of other circumstances, I always return to it sooner or later. It's the only game that ever achieved that with me.
Mad Poster
#94 Old 23rd Sep 2014 at 12:39 AM
The price has already been reduced on Amazon by about $10.00.

http://www.amazon.com/Sims-4-Limite...keywords=sims+4

I don't recall the Sims 3 coming down this early. I thought it hovered around the original price for at least a couple of months, though honestly, I'm not sure.

The Ebay prices for new games haven't come down that much yet, but I am still seeing many brand-new sealed games go for $40 - $45 US ... with shipping.

So Simonut ... I hope you had held out for a little while. I might pick up the console game first if it comes out to get a taste of what this game is about. And even then, I'll wait until THAT is deeply discounted.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Scholar
#95 Old 23rd Sep 2014 at 12:58 PM Last edited by Katya Stevens : 23rd Sep 2014 at 5:35 PM.
Using CamelCamelCamel, that shows a base price of $50 from December '09 all the way through to to about June '10 perhaps. Considering TS3 was released in June '09, it took about a year (maybe) for the price to start dropping. Caveat: it could have dropped temporarily any time from June '09 to December '09 as CamelCamelCamel doesn't have data for that time period.
Mad Poster
#96 Old 23rd Sep 2014 at 1:16 PM
For me to even think about getting it TS4 will need to add 1-2 EP/SP that add toddlers back in with more interaction with babies and the price below 20$

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Instructor
#97 Old 26th Sep 2014 at 6:35 PM
I got into the Sims 2 back when it was new, and never really moved on. Sure I've played TS3, but that still never really satisfied me, and I yearned to go back to TS2, if only I hadn't lost my favorite neighborhood. Now it's been a while since I've played either and yet here I am, looking at TS4 and just kinda rolling my eyes. I know that when my Laptop comes in the mail, the first thing I'll do after installing necessary updates for the software that will be on it, will be to download Origin onto it and the ultimate edition of TS2, because now I'll actually want to play it. Money for TS4 on the other hand which kinda looks good but we all know that the game doesn't become truly awesome until there are expansion packs added, isn't going to be available until at least Christmas, and I have plans for my spending money for the next 3 quarters anyway. There are things more important than trying out EA's newest attempt to outdo TS2, which we all know, that with the right mods, and the ability to not freak out about loading screens (which aren't a huge issue anyway) is actually pretty good.

I don't get why so many Simmers hate Marsha Bruenig. She actually grows up to be quite pretty if you allow her to.
Test Subject
#98 Old 27th Sep 2014 at 12:51 AM
Played sims 3 and 4 and I am still loyal to the sims 2. Sims 4 is a serious regression in development its like EA said hey lets rip everything people liked about the sims out and market it. I really can't name 1 feature I like about the new game.
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