☢️ BUT LISTEN! NEW EXPANSION PACK! PRE-ORDER TODAY! 🐋💰🤪 -- [6/12] ⚡ I'm just gonna keep piling it on. 2025! Still no proper functioning Offline Mode!

THIS IS A RANT.

THE LAST TIME I DID ONE OF THESE, IT WAS FOR THE SIMS COMMUNITY.

I AIN'T DONE WITH THE SIMS COMMUNITY YET.

BUT FOR A HOT MINUTE, LET'S TURN OUR GAZE BACK TO EAXIS.

YOU'RE WELCOME TO IGNORE THIS.

I DO THIS FOR PERPETUITY.

☆ // ⋆ CAN EA ABANDON THE SIMS 4 ALREADY:

I am getting so tired of this !@#$.

Maybe you're new and you don't know yet that EAxis has a habit, a TEN (10) YEARS LONG habit, of resurrecting old bugs after they've been squashed. Sometimes it's so bad, that you need only wait til the next update rolls 'round for the bug to return.

2021?

2019?

I think 2019 was when I first tried The Sims 4 and absolutely hated it. Coming from The Sims 2, The Sims 4 feels like trash.

I think 2021 was when the masochism really set in and I decided to return, and somewhere along the way I decided to fix as much as I could.

I digress!

HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS EAXIS HAS SOMEHOW MANAGED TO BREAK THE WELCOME WAGON?

Now you might think, "Ain't nobody cares about the stinkin' Welcome Wagon!", but the broken Welcome Wagon is a symptom of a bigger problem, just like our busted Nude/Bathing outfit A.K.A "the underwear bug" is a symptom of a bigger problem.

What's broken is actually whatever it is that triggers the "New Game" introductory quest thingies.

So it's not just the Welcome Wagon, it's also Trashley Reelpearson.

If you bought EP18 Businesses and Hobbies when it released, you may have been greeted by our new fuzzy friend "Trashley Reelpearson", popping up at your front door and sharing the good word about "Small Business Composting" and then leaving a bunch of cotton candy all over the !@#$ing place - I liked the free cotton candy! 👹

I create a new Saved Game every time the game updates, and I keep this Saved Game as my backup Saved Game until the next update comes 'round. Every time I'm testing a mod or troubleshooting something, I resume this backup Saved Game, which starts me on "Day 1: Just Moved In", which also means that every time I resume this backup Saved Game, I meet my neighbor Johnny, and more recently, I meet Trashley.

Johnny and Trashley ain't been comin' round since the last update when EAxis went fiddling with "Discovery Quests" and added that intrusive "keybinds" overlay that doesn't go away on its own - I thought that !@#$ was just in Build Mode, but no, it's in Live Mode too!

Some months ago, whenever it was that they added the "Discovery Quests", they broke the Welcome Wagon. It would not trigger unless the "Discovery Quests" were disabled.

Now, the Welcome Wagon and Trashley refuse to trigger under any circumstance!

I nuked my TS4 USER FOLDER thinking I broke it, but no!

NAY!

I DIDN'T BREAK IT!

EAXIS BROKE IT! (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

AGAIN! (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

FOR THE UMPTEENTH !@#$ING TIME! (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

I thought they said we had a "crackshot" bug fixin' team. I think they meant "crackpot".

Is that being too mean?

⚡ Maybe yes, because we al- well, I know a little bit about Electronic Arts and how they operate, so it's very likely that the people assigned to fixing Sims 4 bugs are being tossed around between other projects too, or they might not even be Sims 4 developers at all.

But sometimes yuh just need to vent, y'know?

I am !@#$ing tired of the state of this game, and they just keep churning out more and more premium content, bloating the game with more and more half-arsed, and sometimes fully broken, crap! (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

☆ // ⋆ NOT ENOUGH TABLES HAVE BEEN FLIPPED:

Every time this game updates, EAxis manages to break something.

This ain't good game development.

⚡ Not for a game that was "Initial Release" TEN (10) YEARS ago.

⚡ This !@#$ feels like TEN (10) YEARS of "Early Access".

By now, Electronic Arts and EAxis should've figured out what the !@#$ they're doing.

⚡ Don't misunderstand me. They know what they're doing.

Their goal is to churn out as much content as possible and then pretend like they ain't making enough money to justify a new game, but there's talk of a !@#$in' movie, innit? They saw "Free Guy (2021)" and "Barbie (2023)" and decided, "YEP! THAT'S WHERE THE !@#$ING MONEY GOES! THAT'S WHAT THE PLAYERS REALLY WANT!"

Here's an article I hadn't read before:

10/6/2024 -- Sims 5 isn't happening, EA to continue mining Sims 4 with new user-generated content economy -- https://www.tweaktown.com/news/100568/sims-5-isnt-happening-ea-to-continue-mining-4-with-new-user-generated-content-economy/index.html

Electronic Arts is leaning harder into user-generated content economies a la Minecraft and Roblox, and soon Sims players will be able to buy new content bundles.

EA's recent investor's day had a lot to say about AI and user-generated content. The billion-dollar publisher intends to use generative AI to supercharge the production of UGC (or what it calls UGX--User Generated Experiences). The idea is that AI tools could help accelerate the creation of these custom in-game levels, characters, and modes, thereby having more content on a digital market at a quicker rate.

It's unclear on whether or not this AI-driven UGX platform is coming to The Sims 4, but EA did confirm that it will not be making a traditional sequel to the franchise. The Sims 5 isn't happening, and instead, EA will elongate The Sims 4 to ensures gamers can continue their decade's worth of stories and adventures for even longer. EA is also adding a new Creator Kit economy which will allow The Sims 4 players to buy bundles of user-generated content. Think of this as a little bit like Bethesda's controversial Creation Club (aka paid mods)

"The way to think about it is, historically, The Sims franchise started with Sims 1 and then Sims 2, 3, and 4. They were seen as replacements for the previous products. [But now,] we are not going to be working on replacements of previous projects; we're only going to be adding to our universe," The Sims franchise general manager Kate Gorman told Variety.

"What this means is that we will continue to bring [new] experiences and what people would want from The Sims 5. Those creations are your progress, your attachment. We don't want to reset your progress."

So the essence of the announcement is that EA won't make The Sims 5, and will instead monetize The Sims 4 in a new way with its Roblox-style custom content packs that will be sold for real money. Up until now, these user-made pieces of custom content have been free.

This plan is alongside new The Sims 4 content expansions that will also be created and sold for money over time.

GENERATIVE AI, BABY! 🤖

BIG WHALES AND RECURRENT SPENDING! 🐋💰

⚡ Their "PR bullshit excuse" for not making The Sims 5 is that they care deeply about us, their "loyal fanbase". They're reshaping the narrative to make it seem as though if they made The Sims 5, that The Sims 4 would cease to exist, and we, the "loyal fanbase" would be absolutely distraught and have no idea what to do with ourselves, as though simmers don't still actively play The Sims 1, 2, and 3! As if we can't remake some of that custom content for The Sims 5!

They do not !@#$ing care about the state of the game as long as they're generating money, and if we stop buying the !@#$, then they'll pretend there's no interest in the Sims franchise anymore, instead of acknowledging that their handling of the franchise is the problem.

Electronic Arts is the !@#$ing problem.

⚡ And if Electronic Arts isn't the problem, then "Maxis" is the !@#$ing problem.

⚡ There are only three entities in this equation and only two of them have any influence over the state of the game. It's one or the other. It could be both, but it can't be neither, because "the problem" sure as !@#$ ain't the "loyal fanbase".

☆ // ⋆ (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻:

⚡ Credit when credit is due and criticism when criticism is required.

⚡ You should never idolize anyone to the point that you cannot criticize them when they're doing !@#$. We all make mistakes, but Electronic Arts has been making the same kinda mistakes with The Sims 4 for TEN (10) YEARS while profiting immensely off of it. They don't really care, and they deserve all the criticism they get.

⚡ As of June 11, 2025, Electronic Arts' net worth is valued at $36.9 BILLION DOLLARS.

Welcome to my Patreon. We do not kiss Electronic Arts' arse here.

☆ // ⋆ A WILD TRASHLEY APPEARS:

After about (20) restarts...

I had a laptop on that counter that Trashley is sitting at. A cute pink one!

They marveled at the fridge, made some cotton candy, vanished my laptop, placed the cotton candy on the counter, sat down, and ate it in front of me.

Did Trashley just turn my laptop into cotton candy and gobble it down in front of my face? 😹

I give up. I'm done. I'm deleting my mods, my Patreon, and this wretched game.

I'm going back to Terraria and the cute fairies!

!@#$ The Sims 4!

!@#$ Electronic Arts!

!@#$ EAxis!

I still love Trashley though.

Also, still no Welcome Wagon, because of course not! (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

I'm kidding! I'm not going anywhere!

I'm in Live Mode to get myself a Stayover Guest so I can finish the other part of my BUGFIX.

☆ // ⋆ A WILD WAGON APPEARS WITH MORE BUGS:

After about (20) restarts...

My Welcome Wagon finally appeared around 4:00 PM.

Skip to Monday, and Dina invites me to "Laguna del Abrazo" to see a celebrity.

Who's the celebrity?

No !@#$ing idea! Some randomly generated townie with no Fame Shine and a "Turn on Fame Shine" interaction that don't work!

I intentionally turn on GAME OPTIONS » PACK SETTINGS » "Sims Begin Opted Out of Fame" every time I start a new Saved Game.

If I remember correctly, the last time EAxis broke "Sims Begin Opted Out of Fame", turning it on prevented NPCs from assuming job roles, so no bartenders, etc.

How many times is EAxis going to break Fame and Celebrities?!

Celebrities ain't even been working right for months!

MOAR FLIPPING TABLES! (╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

⚡ // ⋆ ACTION NOT SUPPORTED IN OFFLINE MODE:

This !@#$ has been going on for at least THREE (3) !@#$IN' YEARS:

• 3/2/2023 -- https://forums.ea.com/discussions/ea-app-technical-issues-en/ea-games-not-launching-through-steam/7592678

• 2/5/2023 -- https://forums.ea.com/discussions/battlefield-franchise-discussion-en/error-code-ec-203/6762177

• 12/30/2022 -- https://forums.ea.com/discussions/ea-app-technical-issues-en/unknown-error-ec203-in-ea-app/7584902

This one isn't related to "203", but it says you need to Twitter for support. !@#$ Twitter:

• 2/11/2022 -- https://forums.ea.com/discussions/mass-effect-franchise-discussion-en/no-online-access-and-cant-reach-support/9248767

Y'know, Steam has been in Offline Mode for almost 18 months and I ain't never once encountered an error launching anything from Steam in them 18 months.

Some time ago EA tweaked the Offline Mode, then "203" became a regular occurrence for me. If it ain't this, then it's EA App randomly crashing because the internet poofed, and then it refuses to sign me into Offline Mode as it's supposed to, because apparently it forgets my account credentials when it can't phone home.

Let's see...

• $39.99 x 100 = $3,999 -- That's a pittance.

• $39.99 x 1,000 = $39,999 -- Do you suppose "generative AI" is on staff yet?

• $39.99 x 10,000 = $399,900 -- 10k is a reasonable number, right?

• $39.99 x 100,000 = $3,999,000 -- Is 100k reasonable over the next few months?

• $39.99 x 1,000,000 = $39,990,000 -- If there are 70M of us, how reasonable is 1M?

How much would it cost to hire an a few app developers to make a proper app?

We ain't done yet, 'cause I found two LastException error files from this morning while I was in the bar with the fake celebrity.

☆ // ⋆ TBC...