Everything I mention in this video is based on my own experiences, views, feelings, ideas etc. I do not represent anyone else in the EACN, nor do I speak for anyone but myself.
I am grateful for my time in the EACN, for the opportunities I've been given and for the wonderful people I've met. However, my time to leave the program has come.
I still love the Sims, will always love the Sims and will continue to create videos and tell stories with my beloved characters.
music: Girl on Top by Amy Lynn & the Honeymen
I am sorry about the stress that you went through, I hope this decision will help with relieving stress from your already busy life. I am looking forward to your future videos as always!
Thanks, Nicolle!!❤️
As an older simmer (+40), I feel the same. For the last five years all the marketing was exclusively targeted towards teens and young twenty somethings. I first felt this with the 2018 rebrand. The game got a new cover with only young adults, only one single lifestage. The middle aged man and the old lady were erased. No hint at children or parents either. People like me who are old enough to have started with sims 1 don't seem to matter. If it weren't for the interaction with other simmers I would have felt too old and out of place to play the game. I am surprised about the (new?) disclaimer rules. Having to add this to every single video feels like they say 'we gave you a present, now you owe us a favor forever'. I can understand if people leave the program for this change. I hope you can enjoy making content more without the stress of releasing content quickly. The time frame to cover new DLC is insane. Just a couple of days to post everything about an entire EP? I don't know how people in the EACN do it.
Thanks for your comment! I will certainly enjoy making more content with any restrictions!! 😃
I'm an older Simmer too (+40) and I agree with you completely. The game is just geared towards the younger audience now and we "oldies" who have played the game for over 20 years have been forgotten.
A class act! Thanks for sharing your story with us and for doing it in such a lovely tactful way. I am a day 1 Simmer (not an online creator though) and I fully understand and definitely would share in your sentiments if I was in the same position. Sending wishes of great success and a bounty of creative ideas! This community is blessed to have you in it! 💙
Thank you so much❤️
Hi Diana I understand why u left I agree the guru's have seem to disappear I barely see them at all anymore. It's ashame what EA has turned into. But I'm looking forward to more of ur quirky videos and u keep being u.
Thanks, Jessica!❤
I shall keep on watching your videos, if you choose to make them. As an older player, I whole-heartedly agree with your statements.
Thanks, darling! And I will definitely continue creating videos. 😃
can't agree more... I am so disappointed by EA. I don't feel our voices have been respected as players and customers.
No, it's all about the money. They're also talking about laying off about 60 % of their employees because of AI in the future, so they're probably talking about the artists. As an artist myself I find this very worrisome.
I understand completely. I have been a tester for other games. Its not just The Sims. I promise. I am just so so glad your not quitting making content. I absolutely love your videos. As an older creator myself I understand your frustration with elders as well. I admire you so much for being strong enough to speak out about your expectations and how they failed those long time loyal players. The game is so different then it used to be. I have felt it also. I promise you are not alone.For them to force you to put those disclaimers on all of your videos is so wrong.
Thanks so much! It's all just become to business-like and that just doesn't suit me.
Thank you for sharing that with us and being transparent about the situation. Clearly something EA hasn’t been. I’m sad that you were placed in a situation where you had no choice but to make the decision you did. There has definitely been a big change in the way EA treats and communicates with the community. We’ve all become part of their advertising campaign. I’m so proud of you for being brave and standing up with integrity for what you need for yourself health-wise, and believe is right. Thank you for all your attempts in getting equity and representation for us ‘older’ simmers (and the elders on the game!). I look forward to watching your amazing content for many more years to come, Diana. I hugely respect you and am blessed to call you a friend. Much love and hugs.
Big hug to you too, darling!❤️
💯 agree about how the elder life stage is 💩on by lazy programming. If a sim reached level 10 fitness, they shouldn't be hunched over & exhausted all the time / treadmills & woohoo shouldn't kill them as easily. Besides that, if it wasn't for mods, the game would be boring & unplayable.
Yes, the death by woohoo is a bit much, isn't it! I don't play with mods and fortunately my game runs quite smoothly, but I certainly understand why others use mods.
This is a very good explanation, thankyou for taking the time too. To me, specially that part of it where they basically own you channel from now on (with the all videos belong to them idea) and as you say, one big commercial for EA and the sims. I also 100% agree with you on the elderly sims, I refused to ever play with them when I played the game, and its one of many reason I quit. And yes, the program felt to me on the outside also felt like it was changed a lot after is became EA creator thingy. Before that it felt more like you guys had a say and input, now its basically we use the big ones to promote our game to get more younger players. I wish you all the luck with the simming going forwards, you can hopefully just have fun with it.
Thanks so much!! And yes, I agree with you on them using big simmers and young simmers to showcase new stuff. The rest of us are 'foot soldiers' if you will 😉
As someone who has never been in the program but always wanted to be, this was interesting. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Hopefully the program will change for the better again.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I agree EA has really let the Sims franchise steer away from what made me want to play it in the first place. It's become very much a kid safe doll house simulation with no dimension and has lost a lot of the quirky and adult humor it used to have. I understand bringing in new customers, but at the expense of losing your tried and true fan base, it is not how they should be doing it. I don't see any other franchise doing this to their games. If anything, I see them leaning into their old clients with the nostalgia bait.😅 I was wondering why a lot of the EA creators I follow started having weird disclaimers before EVERY video they were doing even if it wasn't a let's play or build video and now I know why. Keep your peace and good luck. P.S. where did you get those pictures in your thumbnail?! I need those in my game lol
Those pictures are cc I created from my own art. You can download them for free at my website www.dprart.com
Thank you for sticking up for older simmers. I am in group that grew up as a kid with these games but I always appreciated and thought it was cool it’s when I see older simmers or gamers do this, because so many older ppl aren’t like you or think gaming isn’t a waste of time and don’t get it all. I’m in the program but I agree with a lot of points that you said. I feel like they alienated us within the recent months too. I think it’s wonderful they do add more people to the program but it does make me wonder will they stop it all together if they just add ppl more and more and don’t really do anything with us as a resource. I hope this doesn’t mean you’ll stop posting. I don’t know if knew her but Bellaguru left a while back and now she just doesn’t post anymore. I still talk to her time to time but it makes me sad bc she isn’t the only one I feel like that has left the community lately. So many ppl left durning the pandemic and I even feel like twitter now is so boring because the community as a whole has changed so much. Hope you’re well ❤ Ps I don’t even see anyone doing the disclosure thing anymore on KZhead in the program so I am still confused 😂 I feel like so many ppl just ignored it.
Hi Rosebud! Iactually know a lot pf older people who like gaming. Many people forget that we, the gen X, were the frst to actually play games and many of us still do. And you're right about not many people adding the disclaimers, it's confusing! I will definitely continue to create houses and videos, so I'm not really going anywhere 😉
Thank you for sharing your story Diana. EA was lucky to have you as a contributing member for so long as you were especially with the state of the game as it is. Your completely right of course about your channel, it's yours and gaming should be fun not stressful.
Thank you!!
Totally agree, i feel like that ea had forgot our time where we play the game since sims 1 through out . Our suggestions doesnt get listened anymore but i think it just the company ea for profit 😞
Yes, unfortunately.
For Every EA “Game Changer” or “creator network” member that makes a video on a free pack EA makes thousands of dollars if not more, so its insane they think a few free packs here and there allow them to be branded on ALL of your content moving forward. I’ve also noticed creator codes all over KZhead now and for awhile I liked ‘helping my favorite creators’ then my eyes cleared and I saw the scam of it all. EA is making BANK on these creator codes while throwing crumbs to the creators themselves and then telling them ‘be thankful for our crumbs if you want to stay in our exclusive club’. I have stopped buying packs period, happy to play just with what I have. I am in the 40 plus club of Simmers and I have played the game iterations on and off over the years since sims 1. And the level of money grubbing greed in Sims 4 makes me cheer even harder for other developers entering the life simulation space. Even if I am still enjoying the Sims 4 I have (without all the packs).
And only the 'bigger simmer' get these discount codes and many of them don't even use all the disclaimers, while my content got flagged. Oh well... 😉
@@anchesenamonsims5356 what!!! Oh wow, that should be a default benefit of the program. EA has gone mad with greed and has basically consumed Maxis to the point its unique identity barely exists. anymore.
Not all of us get a discount code either. If you aren’t a lilsimse (not a dig at her, I think she’s lovely) ea unfortunately just doesn’t see you worthy.
Thank you for sharing your courage
❤
Thank you for sharing your insights and perspective. I now despise EA as a company even more (if that's even possible) :D
I only like them for making the Sims 😉😂
Lots of very valid points here. The program has changed a great deal over the years and has definitely left some members disappointed. The new disclosure requirements feel like gross overkill and to boot are a little blurry as far as implementation goes. Oh, and preach- elderly sims in the game are apparently 103 years old and limping with a broken back toward the nearest grave, lol. It's a very stereotypical view and clear example of ageism. I doubt it'll change but maybe in the Sims 5, lol. I'll miss you in the program but I'll watch for you on other social platforms.
Thanks so much, Jason!! I'm so glad you recognise the points I was trying to make; it means I'm not crazy! Well...I might be a bit, but that's a different story 😂😂😂
I appreciate everything you said. I can see frustration with the game changers like James turner I’m noticing he’s getting tired of promoting content that doesn’t work he’s made 2 challenges now because 4 rent has given him so many mechanical problems. I wonder this is my opinion but I wonder if he feels like he’s promoting half finished content and it goes far beyond ea he makes his living off playing this game particularly and it’s business in a since how can I promote something that doesn’t work for me people are buying packs based off the content I show and it’s ultimately a bad look cause you have good genuine people that actually love the what they but aren’t being supported by ea do but ea really needs to look into quality control and test their future content with the full game dlc is added content how do you know your product will work with the entire game but using base game to say oh base game works so everything will be fine. That’s my biggest issue people have spent money on this game for the love of the franchise and for what it’s worth I don’t see a $1,400 dollars worth of gameplay graphics dlc quality I see $200 dollars worth of effort and a geeedy company. The Original players that made this game what it is feel betrayed (life by you) comes out very soon for betta and hands downs it’s already winning with basic features. and we’ve already seen shorts on how the game will work and so much more This franchise will loose the fans that have always rooted for them because another company accomplished what they have refused to. Imagine being a sims guru on Ts4 and the only thing you’re remembered for is failure. That’s a huge blow to you as individual your name is on the project that ruined the franchise imagine that cause I couldn’t. Ea doesn’t care about their employees or their customers
I personally still love the Sims and my game is running quite smoothly, fortunately. I'm just glad not be in EA's pocket anymore. And I don't think the game is a failure; there are certainly issues that need to be fixed, but I still think the Sim gurus have created a great game. However, it could be better if EA only allowed the creators more time and resources to address the issues. I'm not sure if Life of You is going to be better than the Sims. The promotional videos obviously only show the things that work and I personally don't like the look of the game. It tries so hard to be realistic that it actually looks anything but realistic. But that's just my opinion. With that game we"ll just have to wait and see 😉
@@anchesenamonsims5356 Watch NotMalcom's latest video! I don't like the way that LBY looks either but he said something about what they're doing graphically wise and I can see how it made sense lol. I'm excited for the upcoming life sims though, we deserve more choices. Although I'm not sure I'll love anything more than Sims 3 lol
@@anchesenamonsims5356 I get it’s just pure frustration of putting over 1,000 dollars into a game that could better I like the content but Ea doesn’t not appreciate their customers or the fan base I feel bad for the gurus cause they don’t have the support of their to make this game alive like 1,2,and 3 I understand we can’t simulate every aspect of life but I do understand multi lot functions for example would help the packs yeah it be nice to live on your lot and sell on your cause it’s a real working from not just being a free lancer it’s the simple things that would make players happy since we got infants how come we don’t have a stuff pack for them not everyone plays on pc so cc isn’t an option but when you see the cc of toddlers drawing or infants playing with those toy stackable rings those are small simple things to improve the game and it shows you’re listening to your fans but it’s EA watch they will sell us multi lot functions and just like everything else it will cause an issue I feel bad for this cause I know they fight for the game but the company that owns the game only sees money 💰
I have been playing since Sims 1 and agree with everything you said. Recently, EA has been disappointing to me and their money grabbing attitude is off-putting. I would rather wait for quality programming than be aggravated by the endless bugs.
I think a lot of people like us are very disappointed. Personally, I still love the game, but not the company 😉
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about EACN Diana it made me think about it more if I wanted to join the group . I'm 33 I hope i count in the age bracket you mentioned lol i know you said 35 but I count as old lol . I'll still enjoy your videos Creator Network. Or Not your still an awesome builder and looking forward to the videos in the future . titles such as EACN didn't really matter to me really I looked for the content and story telling not if they are in the the creator network . decisions are hard to make but we got to do what's best some times!💖💖
Thanks, Hannah!❤️
wow yeah this is outrageous. in this day and age especially, thinking a few packs pay for this kind of advertisement is unhinged. its peoples entire jobs now to be influencers and they think some packs are due payments for advertising on every single video? absolutely not. im so sorry youve got caught in that situation, and i respect you a lot for making this decision.
Thank you!!
thank u so much for video!!
You're welcome 😊
Thoughtful of you to explain why you didn't want to continue in the EACN. I totally understand your reasons, I think you were bought, quite simply to say. To be tied slowly takes away the desire to build and play ... I enjoy your videos very much and wish you all good things in the future! Hugs! 🥰
Thanks! I don't think we were bought at first, but it all gradually changed and not for the better, I think. 😉
I really hope that some of the “bigger” simmers address stuff like this and leave the CN. I mean, I haven’t seen any recent videos of theirs that are labeled creator network. Surely they will receive warnings too? Or are they exempt from rules due to being too valuable to EA or something
No idea, but I certainly noticed that they don't add the disclaimers to all their videos. However, maybe they've made some changes to the rules by now, although I doubt it. I not getting any inside information anymore of course, but it does feel like different rules apply to them. Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about it anymore 😉
I totally see now why you and so many are leaving the programme, and say how stressful it is. To expect every video photo to have a disclaimer on it is madness, hard work for the game changers, but just free advertising for EA Keep doing what your doing, and more importantly create things because you are enjoying creating, and not because you feel pressured into doing that. Like you i am an older Simmer (53 next month ) and feel a lot is targetted to younger players. Played from 2001. I will continue to play Sims (not sure about Project Rene though :P) Good for you to say enough is enough and leave Sending so much love and support to you Diana 🤗💖💖
Thanks so much!!😘
I would love dynamic aging and just…more creativity and personalization. Every sim is the same height in the same life stages. Every life stage is just…the same type of person
A height difference in male and female sims would be great too as men are generally a bit (or a lot, depending on where you live in the world) taller. But yes, ajustable heights would be amazing!
Sorry can someone explain me what eacn is... I play the game and this popped up in my dash and am confused thank youu
The EACN is the EA Creator Network. It is a program people can apply for and once you're in the program you can join opportunities and whatnot for all EA games. I was in the program for the Sims. Google it 😉
Also formerly known as EA “Game Changers”
Sounds like "Game Changer" was more like Playtesters. I do occassional playtesting for different companies, Ubisoft..EA. And that's a lot of back and forth of what you think about the actual gameplay.. I often add things about representation (I'm a sociologist so I've been educated in that) as well. And don't worry. I'll be in your "old" category later this year at 35+ and will def take into account the ageism in games from now on as well if I see it. I find it a bit odd that they changed "the program" to be something else and just automatically kept people. It might have been better if they did an official sunset of that program before they made a more typical creator program. In regards to the "rules", they're just updating them since laws in different countries have been updated. So doing the disclaimers is protecting both the company and yourself. In my country influencers have started getting pretty high fees for not making really obvious disclaimers about sponsored content. And it's also country laws that state "given from company* for free=paid". But personally I solve this by trying to make content for as many hours as I'd like to pay myself (needless so say I don't edit and do YT videos like this due to the sheer time it would take). I can totally understand why you chose to leave(especially the chronic illness-stress. I'm also chronically ill). I'm not sure what I would have done myself if The Sims was my main content. And thanks for the well wishes! I am personally not too worried about my creativity, sometimes I get less hype over creating content, but it always come back :D
Yeah, I understand that some laws have changed in different countries, but what they want people to do now totally blurs the lines between people who only get a code to create content and people who actually get paid to create content. They see giving a code as payment, and in a way it is, but there's a big difference between getting the occasional code and actually getting money. When influences promote a product they either get the product for free or they get paid and then agree on making content about it. After that they can use the product in other videos without having to add the disclaimers, because they have fulfilled the agreement (I see this all the time in art supplies videos) So it's weird that EA creators are now being asked to add the disclaimers to all their content. When I create Sims videos, I don't set out to get people to buy the game or certain packs (it is implied I do in videos on early access and new packs, but I never tell people to buy a pack or offer a discount when they want to buy it), I just want to tell stories. But adding just a hashtag to each video is fine and that is what most laws require, adding an audible disclaimer for every video is a bit much and is something EA wants us to do, it's not a law. They see the Sims as one big product and that is why they want us to add the disclaimers to each video, but seeing the game as one product isn't fair. If it really was one product, all the expansion, game and stuff packs should be free, as it is part of 'the same product'. And many people, like me, have actually spend a lot of money on the game and packs before we got into the program. But like I said, they might change that last requirement. And thank for wanting to spread the messages for us 'oldies' 😂