The Original Sims

Oh my goodness. The Sims. This post is in honor of the recent announcement that the Sims 4 will be coming out in 2014. For those that live under a rock and have no idea what The Sims are... it is a game where you get to create people and basically rule their lives and do fun stuff with them. I don't want to say it's like you're God.. but it kinda is. I choose to look at it a grown up Barbie game (sorry to the guys that play this). 

I started playing this game when I was like 10 or 11 years old (all the good things happened to me when I was 10 I guess) because it was introduced to me by a friend that I sadly don't talk to anymore. ): I remember going to the library to rent all the games and it was the saddest moment of my life when I had to return them. Eventually I got my own copies. I remember all the original games and I have them all. 

The original Sims is the worst quality and possibly the crappiest game I have ever played.. but it was the best thing ever and still is. It brings to mind simpler times and just happy thoughts in general. This all was brought back to mind when I was on Facebook today and there was a link to this site on my wall that I just had to click on. First of all.. the music! I loved and miss the music. The music was what made the Sims the Sims to me. It gave me that wonderful happy feeling that I don't get when playing the newer versions. I remember being so excited with each expansion pack that came out. Pets, vacation, makin' magic! I never really got to play the last one too much because they had announced the Sims 2 and obviously I wanted to play that asap.

I loved the Sims 2, mostly because the graphics were way better than that of the original game, which was miraculous. I would have to say The Sims 2 was my favorite version because when the Sims 3 came out, I hated the graphics. I hated what the people looked like especially compared to the Sims 2. I feel like I bought into the scam of the Sims 3 and I kind of hate myself for loving this game so much. Basically all of it was the same as the previous version with slightly better graphics and a lot more glitches and problems. I didn't even buy all the expansions because they were almost the exact same as in the Sims 2 and at that point I realized I was being dumb and wasting my money. Plus, at $40 a game it's kind of ridiculous. I'm a college student, not a millionaire. I liked it better when it was just Maxis... ANYWAY, I was hoping for EA to bring back the Sims charm that I spoke of earlier in the Sims 3 but... that didn't happen.

Which brings me to my next point... EA announced The Sims 4 but there are still 2 expansion packs coming out for the Sims 3 and honestly, I don't know what to do (I know, what a dilemma, right?) I'm probably going to buy the Sims 4 when it comes out because I love the Sims but ugh, I don't want to waste money. I really hope it'll be the best thing ever and they stop making more after this (which won't happen but whatever), unless they completely butcher it and kill the Sims franchise, then I'll feel better because I would have gotten to be a part of the good part of the Sims. Oh my, I rambling on. 

I get that a lot of work has been put into this whole franchise and I can appreciate that, however, I'm disappointed that the focus has changed from community to money. Why can't seasons and pets be put into the base game: money. Why can't there be good clothes and hair in the base game: money. It's all about money (because EA really needs more money..) When I saw how much store content cost I was stunned! $10 for two pairs of clothes and two new hairstyles? Haha, I thought it was a joke at first but then I realized they were serious... and people were actually buying into this stuff. That's where I drew the line. I wasn't about to pay $20 for a new world and two new items just to make my game slower and more glitchy. It also made me rethink the actual value of the games and expansions and I just realized it wasn't worth it. The last expansion I bought was Seasons (the Sims 3) and I really don't think I'll be buying anything until I evaluate the Sims 4.

The reason why I play it and love it so much is because it's an escape from real life. You get to live your life however you want. You can be a rockstar or a celebrity chef or a painter (my career path in every game I play) but it kinda defeats the purpose if you have to sell your soul in order to play the games. Oh, money, why must thou destroy me!
  
I don't have high hopes for The Sims 4, but we'll see. I do love the Sims and I loved what it used to be, however, it just keeps getting more and more expensive and more and more crappy/ not worth the money. I might as well just go back to playing the original!