User blog:Lost Labyrinth/The Sims Wiki News - 16th January 2014



Hi! As always, here is a roundup of everything related to The Sims that has happened in the past week.

The Sims news

 * Patch 66 was released for The Sims 3. This is the first update since Twallan retired from modding. Apparently the patch merely changes a couple of .xml files but I haven't heard of any mod breakage, but don't quote me on that as I haven't played TS3 since the update.
 * Remember when EA said that the always-online requirement for SimCity was because they needed cloud servers for simulation? Well it turns out that they have, once again, lied. Because now, EA are adding an offline mode to the game. However, not many people seem to care with comments across news sites and message boards giving off a general consensus that this is "too little, too late".
 * SimCity also now has modding support but not without strict guidelines that pretty much limit what you can do. The whole point of modding is to explore new possibilities and expand on a game's scope, right? Wrong, according to EA.
 * The controversial vice president of EA, Jeff Brown, has left the company to take on a public affairs role at camera creator, GoPro. This follows the departures of founders and CEOs of EA owned studios Chillingo, PopCap and Criterion. I feel that this is relevant.

Wiki news

 * A couple of discussions were bought up, including:
 * Proposed changes to rules on userpage editing
 * A proposal to adopt a new TS4-themed logo for The Sims Wiki
 * As a wiki, we are always looking for new users to take more active roles in participation. Do you enjoy editing here and think you could possibly push yourself to do more? Then why not consider requesting a user rights promotion. Promoted users are given more advanced wiki-editing tools which enable them to carry out more complex tasks and are vital to the long-term success of The Sims Wiki.

Poll
I know this is The Sims Wiki but given the close relation between the two series, I don't see why it hurts to bring it up.

With the major news on everybody's minds being that SimCity is getting an offline mode, some seem more pleased than others in response to fan service. Some people avoided the game completely due to the online mode, lack of mod support and small maps. With offline and mod support becoming an option, I wonder if that would change anybody's minds on the game.

Would an offline mode, mod support, and larger cities ignite your interest in SimCity? Yes. Definitely. I'd maybe look at it more positively. I'm ambivalent either way. I'm actually less interested. Not a chance that I'm even touching this game. Ever.

And that's all for this week. Comment, like our pages etc.

Toodles. 14:30, January 16, 2014 (UTC)