SimGuruKate took to Twitter last week to address issues that she states are weighing on her and the developers of The Sims 4. In a multi-tweet thread, she explains what the team expects when it comes to constructive feedback, and addresses speculation, recent news droughts, and a variety of other topics. We’ve compiled the tweets below.
Hi SimFam. I want to do a quick thread to address a few things I have been seeing in the Community the last few days. These are some things that are weighing on both myself and the Devs, and I want to do my best to address them head on and with as much transparency as I can. 1/?
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
Recently I have seen a number of folks harassing/attacking/insulting our SimGurus and Dev Team, saying that they aren't working hard enough, they don't care about the game, or that they shouldn't be working on this product. While we welcome constructive criticism, this is not ok.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
I have been in the Game Industry for over a decade now and worked with many different teams and on many different games, and I can tell you, from the bottom of my heart, this is one of the most passionate, hardworking Dev Teams that I have seen.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
The desire to create and deliver a quality product that people love and enjoy is so intense, that many of them could write volumes on this subject. For many of them they have worked almost their entire career at Maxis and on The Sims.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
For others, they are new and getting to work on this franchise is fulfilling a life long dream (myself included). Regardless of how long they've been here, the common theme is that they respect and love this product. And they often work long hard days to get things just right.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
Now, I know that many in the community are long time fans and have been around before the TS4 days. This is truly one of the most passionate communities I have worked with, and really across video games as a whole. And most days, this is absolutely wonderful. Passion is needed.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
But please do not let your passion for this product cause you to treat the Dev Team poorly when a decision is made that you don't necessarily agree with. Do not let it lead you to attack your fellow Simmers. Provide constructive criticism? Yes. Lively but polite debate? Yes.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
But attacking one another, insulting each other, harassing individuals, including our SimGurus, this is not acceptable and may result in you being blocked by that Guru, or may result in our Gurus being less likely to engage on the forums and Twitter, which I know no one wants.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
So please, be polite, be thoughtful, be constructive. Truly it is important to treat others as you want to be treated, always. Also as cheesy as it sounds, you catch more flies with honey….
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
Now onto my second thing I want to address. When and how we announce new content, what happens in between releases, and speculation. Starting at the top, when we decide when to announce there is a GREAT deal of thought that goes into this decision.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
It's a delicate balance of not announcing so early that we then go quiet for months before we can show off interesting content, to announcing early enough that you have enough to be excited and we can accurately educate the community on what the pack is all about.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
We don't want to leave you hanging and thinking that we aren't working on awesome content, but we also need to make sure we can accurately answer questions about said content when it is announced. We also need to make sure we can show the content in it's best possible state.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
We also know that some people like knowing far in advance, some don't, that some like teasers, and others don't. The greatest thing about this Community is truly how diverse it is, but this also means we are continually weighing options, pros and cons, and doing risk analysis.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
All that to say we are EXTREMELY thoughtful about when and how we announce new content (paid or free). It also means that there may be months where we can't answer any questions about content, because things may change or evolve, and then we will have given an inaccurate answer.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
This leads me to please put a request out there that, while I know often it is done in a joking manner, please resist tagging the SimGurus demanding to know when the next announcement is coming or if certain content is in development. 95% of the time they can not answer.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
And finally that leads to the topic of speculation. As a long time Simmer I know all about speculation. Searching for hints in everything that a SimGuru posts. Wondering if X, Y, or Z is coming. A lot of the time this is fun and innocent. But be careful.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
Sometimes it easy to get wrapped up in all the speculation that you can lose sight of everything else going on. And you don't want the speculation to lead to disappointment when you are sure that a particular thing is going to be announced, and then it isn't.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
I advise everyone (myself included) to manage your expectations. We acknowledge that not every pack or free update we release is going to appeal to everyone. But that's the great thing about The Sims, is how you can customize the experience to something specific to you.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
Try and not be the person who puts a damper on another's excitement, just because it's not the content that you would have preferred. Each pack/release appeals to a certain type of Simmer, and that's by design.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
And remember, just because it wasn't that particular feature or pack, doesn't mean we aren't thinking about that feature/pack, or even already developing it. And if we aren't developing it at that moment, I can assure you there is a very valid reason. Nothing is arbitrary.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
So in summation…
– Do not attack/harass/insult the Gurus or other Simmers
– Be careful with your speculation and searching for hints in everything
– Be polite and respectful to others alwaysWe all love this Community and Franchise so much. Remember that.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
I think you are very correct that even those who are disappointed in the product are allowed to do so, but yes, it can be done in a way that is respectful and doesn't lead to harassment or insulting. Constructive criticism is how we improve.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
Packs take various amounts of time to complete. There is no formula of an SP takes this long, a GP this long, an EP this long. A lot of it depends on what other things are being worked on simultaneously, how many systems in game something touches, what time of year it is.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) September 26, 2018
I want to put out a friendly reminder to everyone about how to appropriately interact with the Gurus on here. While I know it's common to call others "Daddy", "Babe", etc. on Twitter, please do not address our Gurus (including me) like this. It is inappropriate.
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) October 5, 2018
Let me make it explicitly clear right now, DO NOT SEND HARASSING TWEETS OR PRIVATE MESSAGES TO OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT THIS . It is never ok to harass others, no matter the situation. https://t.co/UdFSEli6Cw
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) October 5, 2018
Always make sure the person you are interacting with is comfortable with this kind of language and way of addressing them before doing so. I can tell you our Gurus, myself included, are not comfortable with this. Please be thoughtful of boundaries and appropriateness. https://t.co/UdFSEli6Cw
— 🎃 Kate The Pumpkin Queen 🎃 (@SimGuruKate) October 5, 2018
