User blog:Lost Labyrinth/Remember when you wanted Open for Business for The Sims 3? Well you've basically got it...

...for the low low price of almost $400.

And every single venue has the term "OFB-SIM3" as part of their product ID. While it's common for developers to use terms like this internally, having something like this checked in to public view doesn't fail to raise eyebrows, especially given the content of these venues.

Was this always planned out this way or is this a way in which EA/Maxis have chosen to fulfill community wishes? Wouldn't it have been more effective to perhaps release TS3:OFB as an EP (or ship all the content with Ambitions, but hey we know the story of LN/Showtime)?

The content itself is sub-par, especially compared to TS2's offering. OFB simply doesn't work as a microtransactions-based DLC. TS3 spitting out those annoying notifications every time something happens is just not the way a virtual business should be run and the content feels restricted as if TS3 can't handle business simulation. Is this just another case of developer laziness or the classic EA cash grab? Neither of those answers are necessarily wrong.

Of course, if it makes money for EA then they won't complain. They do this with SimCity DLC too. I'd like to believe that there's more to the developers at Maxis but there's no point disputing it: Maxis as we know it are dead. New Maxis, formerly The Sims Studio, do EA's bidding. They'll release broken games that will never get fixed or they'll sell fixes with expansions. I'd like to believe that they're actually a talented developer who do have big ambitions for both The Sims and SimCity that can only be for the better, but how many times must we be deceived?

Do I endorse this method of content distribution? No. That's why I made this blog. I knew about this for some time and I'm really making this for the sake of awareness. EA/Maxis have fulfilled community wishes for an OFB-type expansion, but they're selling it to you incrementally with not even half of the content and for 10x the price. I'm sure people on this wiki do illegally obtain store content anyway but nonetheless, this is an absolute insult to the fans who have put up with EA for years and continue to do so just to play the game that they love. The argument is already out there that expansions are overpriced as they are but when you release "microexpansions" (yeah I made that up) for $400, that's when they've gone too far. Some of the younger players don't even get that much in a year.

Do I expect this to change for The Sims 4? No. In fact I actually expect it to get worse. We all remember what a broken mess SimCity was at launch with day-one DLC and we all know where The Sims 3 is now. Despite their promises, I'm still expecting a broken, unoptimised product bloated with extortionate DLC (Origin's deluxe pre-order includes some of this) and I only expect it to be on a larger level. I wouldn't be surprised if they through out the EP/SP model in favour of what they're doing here with OFB.

I get that EA/Maxis needs to make money and that they have families to feed. That is fine. But let's look at other developers/publishers for comparison. Valve are often adding new content to their games. Squad gave Kerbal Space Program a pretty major update the other day with new content (and some major performance fixes). They're making money and are respected by the players for it. Why can't EA be as open with their players? They don't exactly have anything to lose.

As a random aside to finish off, I enjoy the feeling of playing an EA game purchased, downloaded and launched via Steam just so I know they didn't get a 100% cut. I maybe wouldn't feel this way if they didn't let money get to their heads.

Please feel free to comment this blog with your thoughts, even if you disagree with what I've said. I'm especially interested in where you all stand on store content, DLC, eternally buggy releases and EA's business practices.

23:47, April 3, 2014 (UTC)