I just had an email survey request and as it said I'd get £4 of Simpoints free for completing it I did just that! (haven't tried to redeem them yet though). Anyway it was a load of ideas from the Sims Store - what would I buy etc. The main theme seemed to be a Spa type town with celebs and and the options were to have it with a magical woods theme, with crime problems or with ecological issues. They were also looking at a lot of magic ideas - eg a haunted library, magical cauldron item, new lots like a coffee shop, pizza place, bakery (trust me to remember all the foodie ones). Fingers crossed Sims 3 gets a bit more magical!

SimPrograms has a copy of the entire survey. I really liked a lot of the ideas, but the survey was about the store, so if though the store is how EA plans on adding magic to the game, among other things, there are going to be a lot of unhappy simmers.

Damn straight. Makin' Magic is my favorite EP from the whole Sims series... if they're going to add magic to the game, they need to do it right. None of this half-assed, $15 for a haunted library with cauldron bullshit.

yes I was surprised - thought magic would at least be EP-worthy.

It is EP worthy, if they do it right. There is so much potential behind a magic EP that EAxis needs to take the time to consider it before they just schlep out some flop $20 items, that give some shitty moodlet that lasts a sim hour.

That being said, I like the idea of the spa town in the forest, with some magical elements mixed in with it. Though Barnacle Bay was a huge disappointment, so idk.

Aww I didn't get an email

Okay... some interesting stuff here (wish I could vote!) The town... well I don't know what to say, why EA can't make a NORMAL town without pirates or magic is beyond me, it sounds like a weird blend of modern and old fashioned magic which confused me. Without doubt EA will do a horrible execution.

Let's not forget that EA's charging us 35 freaking dollars for it!!! That is a true scam, I am so sick of companies overcharging for digital content. So this world with 10 new objects and added gameplay (which probably won't be very good) costs only 5 dollars less then a forty dollar EP that includes about 50-60 items with a ton of added gameplay??? That's horrible!

Putting my rage aside I liked a lot of the choices (like vending machines and rocking chairs) but the last question... that confused me and I REALLY hope it doesn't mean what I think. Is it talking about objects that you pay for but can only use a limited number of times before it's gone from your game?

No, I think it means you'll like go buy a bottle of perfume, and your sim can use that bottle 5 times before it runs out and they have to go buy a new bottle.

Darn it, the survey is closed already! Why do EA's surveys always end so quickly? Arghhhhh...

I was pleased with the venue options. Really hoping a lot of people chose the bakery, coffee shop, and pizza parlor. Not sure what good a "luxury gym" would do though. I'm guessing your sim would have to pay a weekly membership to work out there which would mean only rich sims and VIPs will show up.

I hope we get everything in the pool and gym section. Good to see EA's hasn't forgotten about the diving board. I loved the surf machine in TS2 for consoles, but I'd like to see surfing as a full-blown skill. Having an in-pool juice bar would be a fresh way to make pools more fun, I think it would serve as a great example of how to make TS3 feel more advanced than TS2 too. The life-sized chess game sounds interesting. I've always wanted to make a tomb under my town's school that parodies Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Bird watching sounds like something that should be offered with a Seasons EP. The snack cart, deep fryer, and ice cream making machine would have been perfect with an EP that included a carnival. Really the idea of everything on the survey being offered through the store rather than in an EP is a bit unsettling. I agree that magic shouldn't be limited to the store. I'm a bit concerned about the quality of future EPs now....

So there's apparently a survey issued by EA touting a bevy of new features regarding their online store. What's interesting is that the survey has only been issued to a small part of the Sims 3 community. It smells fishy and glittery to me....like a popstar with a dollar sign in the middle of her name to let people know she's phresh
You can find the original ariticle here: http://www.simprograms.com/26990/ne...ore/#more-26990 or just read below. warning placed, wall of text ahead.




I'm highly interested in the food objects and the venue choices(yay food! pizza parlor AND a coffee shop AND a bakery? F**K YEAH!), but a little iffy on the idea of everything being sold through the store. Sound like it would cripple the community because (A) not everyone has access to the store, even people in the US, and (B) if everyone cant get a hold of the item, how would modding these new items and features work out?
UNLESS they are planning on opening a worldwide sims store with this notion, I'm not to sure this will go over well. Thoughts?

Discussion going on in this thread about this if you'd like to join... http://linna.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=427568

It's too bad the survey is already closed. Wouldn't have minded a go at it.

I like the sound of the Miama Art deco store set, but my gut feeling says that the majority of people who filled out this questionnaire would have gravitated towards the fantasy and magic type sets.

what EA needs to do is to make a PROPER business EP so that we can have real Diners and Stores, not rabbit holes. There is a lot of potential of such a EP in a open world environment...and i don't want to see something like consignment store or fake late night apartments, half-baked attempts which should be a full EP in its own right.

If magic EP would include alternative, any alternative to Life Fruits, I'm buying. I'm just exceptionally unlucky with the things, it seems... Recently had a dozen or so special seeds planted... Not a single LF. Besides, having to skill gardening just to get them is boring.

*facepalm* where in the world was this thread yesterday? I must be blind because I totally didn't see it.

just to reiterate what I said in a different thread:
I'm highly interested in the food objects and the venue choices(yay food! pizza parlor AND a coffee shop AND a bakery? ice cream maker? DEEP FRYER? F**K YEAH!), but a little iffy on the idea of everything being sold through the store. Sound like it would cripple the community because (A) not everyone has access to the store, even people in the US, and (B) if everyone cant get a hold of the item, how would modding these new items and features work out?
UNLESS they are planning on opening a worldwide sims store with this notion, I'm not to sure this will go over well.

I like magic, but if it's not as good as the magic system in the Sims 1, then dont even bother EA. I'm now starting to think that the survey was partially what to offer in the store and partially what the next EP should be. If only EA would realize what a OFB type of EP could bring to the games. I hope this survey, that anyone barely got to fill out, is a nudge in the right direction.

I love how they are giving a 'preview' to what MIGHT come, but this really is not a good idea to sell this in the store. What happened to EP? Why cant they incorporate magic and and all this other stuff into an EP? Something fishy is going on...

Honestly, if they can add interactions to objects and sell them in the store, I am all for it. I don't want magic so I don't have to buy it. But in an EP, they add things I do want and then things like Vampires and Mummies that I ignore in my game. An EP with JUST Magic items would be fine but that is not how it will be..because they want all of us to buy it. It will have some cool build features that I want or be combined with seasons or a business that I want. So I am all for the magic items available in the store or even a world with magic items incorporated into it. Then I can ignore it if I feel as if its not my thing without missing out on the big things the EP would bring. Same is true with things I want. If people don't want OFB items, then by all means, make them available at the store. I will buy the shop that allows a sim to work in a pizza parlor and comes with interactions such as tossing the pizza, assigning a played sim to the cash register, whatever. Sure, it would probably cost more than an OFB-type EP but if that is the only way I can get it it, so be it.

The things I think would be great in the store are themed items, such as historical (medieval, Victorian, Tudor, Futuristic) that have actions attached, such as a medieval fireplace that acts as a stove or a horse and buggy that acts as a vehicle. Not everyone wants a magic or medieval or futuristic EP but if we like that kind of stuff we are more apt to buy it from the store.

I don't think it's fishy at all because the store has got a new gameplay option. I'm expecting this to happen the question is when.