Maxis Plans Customer Humiliation Joke for April Fools
by Alphaville Herald on 31/03/04 at 11:41 am
I decided to move this up from an earlier thread, because it deserves a topic of its own. Tomorrow, as an “April Fools joke”, all avatars in TSO will have monkey faces, and when you try to type out messages your sim will blurt out (in chat) some stuff about bananas and parts of a song about monkeys. If you can’t wait to see this, just set your computer clock to April 1. This “joke” might be funny if it didn’t so closely reflect EA’s utter disdain for its customers. It also raises the question of why they have the development resources to introduce this user-humiliaiton exercise but not introduce any other new content into the game. Honestly guys, instead of thinking of ways to humiliate your customers, why not try and introduce something new and rewarding into the game?
Urizenus
Mar 31st, 2004
Here are some comments that I am pasting over from the promises thread. Sorry for the confustion.
APEril Fools!
I’d like to add that your pets and the NPC characters will also have the ape heads.
Or as my friend Coco likes to call us: Simians. lol.
Posted by Mr-President at March 30, 2004 10:49 PM
And to think YOU Ian tried to sell this monkey prank as a cheat/exploit on ebay. What a moron. lol.
here is the link so everyone can laugh at you. lol.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3088474697&category=41013
It was 45k before. i swear.
- RB
Posted by RB at March 31, 2004 12:57 AM
lol, Did you actually sell any?
Posted by Mr-President at March 31, 2004 03:06 AM
Wow [RB] your ignorance strikes me really hard. Look before you speak asswipe…. tsotrials IS NOT me
Ask Scrambled1….or TBT
You dumb ass, don’t call me a moron before you check up…
my ebay Id is ian_Schwartz retard,
Posted by ian at March 31, 2004 01:23 PM
TBT
Mar 31st, 2004
Heh this whole thing is funny, but just because someone says that a nickname either is or isn’t them whos going to know unless you actually make a purchase from them.. Besides it’s VERY easy to maintain multiple IDs on ANY web site and or service so if I had my name on ebay which I do and then a 2nd name there who’d ever know unless they bought/sold to each of those names..
And anyway does any of it matter? ;p
So what some bozo tried to sell something everyone is going to see in a few short hours anyway.. Aren’t simolean sellers selling something EVERY sim in TSO can make for theirself? I’m amazed at half the junk sold on ebay including virtual items..
Cocoanut
Mar 31st, 2004
Uri, you old party pooper!
cocomonkey *flings poo at Uri*
Ian
Mar 31st, 2004
lol, coco, i think they coulda come up with something better than the Ape…
And this hardly ever happens but i totally agree with tbt
RB
Mar 31st, 2004
It’s just a bit too convienant Mr Ian. Since you do run tsotrials.com . So unless you have any PROOF to refute my claims, it sticks.
p.s TBT is right. Does it matter? It’s not a headline news issue exactly.
- RB
ian
Mar 31st, 2004
I just said on the last post “Wow that is cool Scambled1″….because i just found out. If It was me who listed it, I would admit it, your just ignorant. as for as i know, RB is the seller
JC Soprano
Mar 31st, 2004
Frankly, you guys need to quit bitching about the custom content. For players like Uri who were not around during beta and the early days you would know that customer content was never going to come. It was something Maxis just liked to talk about.
As for the monkeys, I look forward to the holiday updates that happen. I mean bitching about that is like saying, ya give us content but we are going to be whiney kids if it’s not what we want. Half of you bitch about lack of content.. It’s not a lack of content, it’s a lack of creativity. Period.
JC Soprano
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Scrambled1
Mar 31st, 2004
What did I miss?…
TBT
Mar 31st, 2004
JC we are paying customers we have the right to bitch as we paid for it, not to mention were promised all sorts of wonderful things that have now been entirely cancelled (custome content, video poker, blackjack, the soccer game to name a few)… Heck everything TSO has right now SHOULD have been there at launch or most of it should have been..
A monkey face that I have no control over and only having it for one day is hardly what I call new or custom content.. It’s moreso a gimmick to make you think you get something new that’ll be gone in 24 hours..
And if you really looked at the posts they really aren”t bitching about the content.. They’re bitching about someone trying to sell it…
Slow down there son I know you’re a busy mafia head with sims to go man handle but take your time read a little lol
How creative can I get with a monkey head that’ll last only 24 hours now that you mention creativity?
JC Soprano
Mar 31st, 2004
I started out in the game there wasnt roullette or anything like that. Hell there was hardly any of the advertised content until 2-3 months after it went retail. Before that though, I never had problems finding things to do and make money. Casino owners just had to get creative with dice and what not. I have desk in my lot that is just counters but it looks like a nice big desk. Thats not part of what they give us, but I managed to be creative enough to come up with it. We all pay our $10 your right. But thats a choice, no one is twisting your arm. Not yet anyways lol. j/k
JC Soprano
http://www.thesimmafia.com
ian
Mar 31st, 2004
oh this game is going to be sunsetted in 6-8 months anyways
JC Soprano
Mar 31st, 2004
If that happens it will be 2-3 months after christmas.. They need to make sure they can squeeze in a few more dollars to unsuspecting xmas buyers like they did with Earth and Beyond.
ian
Apr 1st, 2004
Yeah that is kinda what i was pointing to, as in screwing those holiday shoppers. but the game has been out for 2 winter holidays, i think all the “urge” to purchase the game is gone.
Banshee
Apr 1st, 2004
I think that the post-Christmas timeframe sounds right to me, but it depends on when The Sims 2 is launched. TS2 is now slated for what … August? My guess is that TSO will be kept alive for a few months after the launch of TS2 and that TS2 may drag a few months longer into the fall before launch, which would make for a consistent sunset early in 2005. Another factor to consider is that EA will also likely give some warning period … EnB just got six months warning. And it seems unlikely that EA would like to announce the cancellation of TSO during the hot marketing phase of TS2, so it may drag along even further depending on the timing of the release of TS2.
B
Scrambled1
Apr 1st, 2004
I can tell you one thing… Half of the existant players in TSO will flock over to TS2 as soon as it is released… lol
(Did anyone notice TS2′s prank on us?… talking about scrapping the 3d elements.. and going back to 8-bit
)
Scrambled1
-TSOE
Fans
Apr 1st, 2004
TSO will die when The Sims 2 is published. EA is spending more than they are getting with TSO…I totally dispise EA now (Lack of customer support) and I dont buy EA often. I try to focus on other company’s trying to survive from the massive evil Gaming Giant.
EA Games are lazy. All they do is buy smaller game companys (how stupid EA is) and have THEM do the work. Rember the first edition of The Sims and it never said the horrible annoying words of a child saying “EA Games…Challenge Everything” Well I would like to challenge they’re support. I hope EA goes out of bussines (or Mircosoft buys them). Now if only EA games would get it through they’re lead heads only one person cares about the customer…Tigger (Thank YOU!)Just ONE person. Over 500,000 Employees just 1/500,000 CARES ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS! HOW pitiful. I say we strike against EA games by stopping the subscrption (I alerady did. QUIT PERMEANTLY) and have them freak out and beg us to come back. DOWN WITH EA!
JC Soprano
Apr 1st, 2004
Don’t be thanking Tigger. Trust me, she is not as friendly as you think. Shes like the companies PR rep for TSO so of course she is gonna make you feel better. But back in February of 2003 I remember her calling up and and my wife bitching to both of us about my group.. Mainly the website. She also didn’t like the fact that when EA ran the message boards I called them on all there crap (when most of the press began on us).
Ya, she called me up from home and we argued for an hour and a half why owning a website or saying damn violates any rules. Like Uri here, they didn’t like my website and started to take action. She said I was promoting violence and sex basically in a game for teenage girls. Oh ya, this game is geared for teenage girls.. Hense all the drama in the damn game.
Anyway, Diane (Tigger) if you read this.. I love you! hahahahahaha Call me, we’ll do lunch!
JC Soprano
http://www.thesimmafia.com
EA’s Most Wanted
RB
Apr 1st, 2004
LOL. i like that JC. Yes do lunch with Tigger and see if she is as bouncy and friendly then. =D
Get your people to contact her people. heh.
=)
- RB
Pizzed Off Ape
Apr 2nd, 2004
When i started TSO on April First at 12:00 Midnite i was somewhat humored. After the many times i said serious comments and something like “…I have a monkey on my back!” popped up behind it i started to be annoyed by it. Then after i woke up the next morning i was to see MORE of those annoying comments. Maxis? WHY??? Cant you do something cool?! Like add cars to pick you up and drop you off from lots?? I mean COME ON! This is not funny! Please dont do this again. Or many gamers are going to go ape nuts like me.
TBT
Apr 2nd, 2004
Don’t worry P-O-A Maxis won’t do it again…
Er not until next April Fools that is. So you’re good for another 364 days ;p
Simon
Apr 4th, 2004
well, by the looks of it TSO will be gone by the end of this year or by this time next year… i was thinking with this dumb ape thing it was the final straw, i was ready to quit because i was so mad, “Gee, we cant work on Custom Content, we need to program the game to say ‘Hey Hey were the Monkeys!’ and other stuff like that, hehe” is what they must be saying, we are paying the Engineering people over there to sit around and throw pencils into the celing. All I want to know is: Where is Will Wright and how can I contact him? I have sooo many ideas for TSO the employees heads would spin.
TBT
Apr 5th, 2004
Will Wright has little to do if anything with TSO anymore.. Ever since EA got it and the corporate heads started clanging they dumped custom content for the fear of what users might create and upload thus making them ultimately liable for if little jimmy junior sees or does does something he shouldn’t..
its a shame his dream is destroyed by corporate bigwigs, lawyers and fears…
Ronnie
Apr 8th, 2004
It’s sad to see someone suffer from liability if another person’s kid sees the wrong thing. Whatever happened to parents screening thing their kids watch. It’s the parents buying the game for the kids. They should know what it entails. It is not the fault of the product or it’s makers, but it is of the buyer for not doing research first.
Urizenus
Apr 8th, 2004
Well, you know, EA could have taken the simple step of giving the game an honest rating like M. I think that parents trust the ESRB rating to be accurate. The little microscopic disclaimer that “game conditions may change” is a joke. Tell the truth. Give the game an honest rating and then let the parents make an informed decision. Oh but that might hurt sales! Well, EA made their choice. They chose to grab a few extra bucks by misleading parents, so they can pay the price when the liability suits start coming.
Simon
Apr 8th, 2004
i heard somthing about the Design for the Custom Content would have its own “Parental Controls” so parents could turn off 18 years or older content.
i found the links at https://player.thesimsonline.ea.com/news_maxis_item.jsp?thread=40931 but the links get me Tomcat Server Errors :*(
Cocoanut
Apr 9th, 2004
I think you have a funny idea about teenagers, Uri. Also, I think they rate regarding game-provided content, not what the users do with it or say in it.
coco
Urizenus
Apr 9th, 2004
It doesn’t matter if the adult content is engineered into the game, or if the other users create it, or if radioactive hamsters are putting it there; the fact of the matter is that the content of the game is what it is, and that is what the ratings should reflect. The ratings are supposed to reflect the content of the game as it is, not the content that was explicitly put there before the first user entered the game.