DANGER: Sims 3 World Adventures Too Adventurous For Many Players
What non Sims 3 players, or Sims 3 players who do not frequent the official EA forums might not realize is that far more exciting than playing the Sims 3 is complaining about it. Some sims players are so experienced that they are actually capable of complaining about an expansion pack before it even arrives. This is almost an Olympic level of whining, and I think it is something we should reward with medals and shiny objects. Perhaps something overpriced from the Sims 3 store?
The Main Objection: The Expansion Pack Will Make Things Too Exciting
I've taken the liberty of compiling some of the negative sentiment from EA's forums so that we can understand this backlash against excitement more clearly.
Creationrules says: The Sims 3: World Adventures should be sold as an entirely seperate game and not an expansion pack, in my opinion. It's great if you want Indiana-Jones virtual reality games, but it's not a good idea for an expansion pack. For example, I won't feel safe taking my Sims on vacation to Egypt in fear of a Mummy coming and plaguing me with a curse. The Sims 3 is not supposed to be an action-adventure game.
Translation: Oh noes! The game will be too interesting! There is the distinct possibility that my sims could do something other than live bland mundane lives that actually make mine look interesting in comparison. I don't want to enjoy any sense of adventure in a video game, I want to celebrate the great dulless of reality!
Creationrules is not alone in her sentiment, plenty of other people do not like this whole 'adventure' idea.
Doodlesam adds: 'The sims isn't an adventure game. I don't play the sims for quests and treasures, If I wanted that I'd go play Tomb Raider. I like the sims because it isn't like every other game out there. Adding adventures takes away the whole open ended theme. Making the game more linear.'
Are they done yet? No, the objections continue to roll in. Saraswati claims that EA should not abandon their middle aged female fanbase by making the Sims 3 more exciting.
She writes: 'It's interesting people keep saying that EA shouldn't be doing an updated version of the same game. Sims has made them millions and millions of dollars as a home simulator not an RPG. Sims as a home and daily life simulator with a bit of humour thrown in sells far more than most RPG's would ever dream of. So why would they discard a larger market for a smaller one?
In relation to doing the same thing again, Sid Meier sells an updated version of Civilisation roughly every five years or so. The game is high quality, has nearly no bugs and has a devoted fanbase that will go out and buy it every single time. EA had that with Sims-there's a core of mostly middle aged women who will go out in droves and buy that home simulator so they can do stuff like build the home they could never have in real life, and they seem to be turning their back on that market, which is crazy as that market is what made them so much money. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.”
Essentially there seems to be a rift between players who are playing the Sims 3 like a virtual reality doll house, who only want to make their sims breed like rabbits and fall in love and breed again, and those who quickly tire of popping out sim babies and want their sims to experience more in their digital lives.
It is a clash of gaming styles, and it is coming to a multi million dollar game near you!
Fortunately, there is an easy solution for players who actively dislike adventure content, and that is to either not purchase the expansion, or to simply play it as a holiday retreat and enjoy the additional functionality the expansion will be bringing to the game, such as an easy way to make basements. Of course, whether or not this will be entirely possible is yet to be seen. At the time of writing, World Adventures is still two full months away, and it is possible that game play will force sims to have adventures in order to unlock various parts of Egypt, China and France. I, for one, think that sounds utterly awesome, but adventure-phobic players will no doubt rush to disagree.
