The Sims 2 Store Disaster

The Sims 2 Store launched last week, and you get 6 free items for registering. Most of the items in the store are from stuff packs & expansions. You'll need the EA Download Manager (so you need XP installed) to use the store, and if you don't have the new FreeTime patch installed that allows you to use the store, it will download & install it for you in the form of The Sims 2 Store Edition. For some people, having SecuROM sneakily installed like this (all The Sims 2 patches now have it) is upsetting. Not to mention that many simmers object to 3rd party pay sites, and feel as if Maxis is just going along with the pay site business plan. But it gets better.

500 SimPoints (would have been cuter if we were buying simoleons, right?) is $5, and that's the smallest amount you can buy. Most items are 100 SimPoints, so here's where the fun begins. An eager simmer added up everything in the store--to the tune of $1322.75. The irony is that the huge pay sites only charge $5-10 a month and give you access to thousands of NEW items--items NOT from any previously released stuff pack.

The new The Sims 2 Store content alone comes to $80. Some people have actually paid $80 for all the new content (about 80 items) and are having problems with the download and installation. Some of the new objects don't seem to be properly made. It also appears that you can't recolor the new objects. And will the objects be made available now (for money, in this case) and then be included in future stuff packs, as has happened before? Will we no longer get free items from Maxis? Check out this thread for more unanswered questions about the store.

Tip: If you really want these items, you can save hundreds of dollars just by buying the stuff packs they come in.

I'm afraid (really afraid) that micro-transactions like The Sims 2 Store are here to stay. But, personally, when things like this happen, so far removed from what actual players want from their games, it makes me feel as if EA decision makers don't even play their games or become members of their own communities--and don't even care. The store has a feedback link (shown only after you log in), so if you have any strong feelings about the store, you can make them known.