Why is there so much horror?

[WhattaHammer]

Hello again.

It seems there is a number of bugs, glitches, and ticks about the game that seem to be very unheard of for something of Maxis's caliber. With so many need for mods within the game, my open question is why?

Why has the game become a car that is brand new, but needs tweeks and fixing right out of the dealership?

Why were some issues not checked, or verified, or overseen before launch?

Has anyone a clue to the answer to these questions?

While I understand the distain some have, all I'm looking for is an opinion response unless you actually know the answer to the general idea behind these questions.

Thank you.

[WhattaHammer]

Jordi-

A cashcow can be milked for as long as people will pay for the product. I.E. Pokemon. However, Pokemon remains, atleast the main vein, to improve on something and keep up a standard. While there are failures and issues, for the most part, it's still an enjoyable game. Electronic Arts seems to believe the passion for the games by it's communities will keep it afloat. As the all glorious Pescado has shown, we can fix though mods what EA doesn't.

Has EA capitalized on this and just sent out something that works better when tweeked by others than the stand alone?

[Nepheris]

I think they just simply do not give a crap. The franchise is huge, as long as they keep churning out something new every so often, people will buy it. Also, less time on development means less costs, and the sooner your product hits the shelves, the sooner you start making a profit.

[PirateFaafy]

Jordi-

A cash cow can be milked for as long as people will pay for the product, e.g. Pokemon. However, Pokemon remains, at least the main vein, to improve on something and keep up a standard. While there are failures and issues, for the most part, it's still an enjoyable game. Electronic Arts seems to believe the passion for the games by its communities will keep it afloat. As the all glorious Pescado has shown, we can fix though mods what EA doesn't.

Has EA capitalized on this and just sent out something that works better when tweaked by others than the stand alone?

They've found that the sheeple simply don't care. Why would you bother holding up the standard when you'll make millions off it regardless?

[Tsarina]

Also, if you're absolutely certain your work is getting fixed if you do a bad job, why try to do it properly?

[simmilk]

A cashcow can be milked for as long as people will pay for the product. I.E. Pokemon. However, Pokemon remains, atleast the main vein, to improve on something and keep up a standard.

I wonder if it's possible to combine this ^ with this > http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,15480.0.html 

[chann]

However, Pokemon remains, atleast the main vein, to improve on something and keep up a standard. While there are failures and issues, for the most part, it's still an enjoyable game.

Seems to me like Nintendo's idea of improving Pokemon is "making up so many new Pokemon your brain will explode".

Has EA capitalized on this and just sent out something that works better when tweeked by others than the stand alone?

Not intentionally. It happens all the time with games - modders will invariably improve the quality of the game. They're not constrained by time, money or managerial direction, and as gamers they know what they want.

Why were some issues not checked, or verified, or overseen before launch?

This one actually stumps me. They had months to fix a glaring issue - the Story Progression options toggle - but left the bug in the release product.

I think it proves that EA has changed focus from "making a better game that will sell well", to "making a game, then marketing that game to the widest possible audience while withholding 50% of its content to sell at a premium online, and then marketing the game some more, then putting ads in it to make more money, then releasing a branded tie-in, then rehashing the Pets expansion yet again to make an extra few billion dollars".

[Whydoeye]

Personally, I prefer to think that a giant purple monster went and ate their brains. Or at least what was left of them.
It's better than having a realistic conspiracy to consider.

[Sigmund]

From what I've read, TS3 has made the most money yet out of the Sims franchise. So really, if they're going to make billions of dollars from a half-formed product, why would EA want to spend more time and money making something better? For all the people that recognize the flaws and glitches in the game, there are more people out there willing to thrown down $50 to play it for a few weeks and then forget about it.