The Sims 4’s latest update has fixed a few things and added a slight change to the Main Menu. I was looking around the Main Menu to see what the slight changes were, but as a player who has all The Sims 4 content I didn’t notice any “small visual and functional improvements to the Main Menu” – as the team stated in the Patch Notes. Turns out, the change that they’ve made were done only for players who don’t own certain packs.
If you’re a player who doesn’t have, let’s say, My First Pet Stuff Pack, you’ll probably be getting a “Pack Spotlight” prompt screen the moment you load up the Main Menu. It doesn’t feature anything new in particular nor does it give you an extra in-game discount or anything – it’s just there to remind you that you don’t own that pack and that you might be interested in getting it.
Screen via @simotional
Although it’s not made clear which packs are being recommended to which players, I’m guessing that these Pack spotlights will feature randomly selected Packs from the collection of Packs that a certain player doesn’t own yet. It’s also not known how often these Pack Spotlights will be popping out every time you open up the Main Menu but hopefully it’s not too often as this new system already seems a little bit…intrusive.
Screen via @Sim_Cookie
This is bad, really really bad. This is a low point even for EA.
It’s like everytime you unlock or boot up your iPhone and an ad appears bothering you to buy the next iPhone.
This is an intrusive ad and I hope EA turn this optional.
You don’t remember the forced integration of the sims 3 store, do you? It forced ads on the main menu, in world select, in both buld and buy mode and they never went away.
Like don’t get me wrong this sucks and need to be change or at least made optional, but this is no where near as bad as how they handled it in Sims 3.
you could disable it
how do you disable the pack spotlight in the sims 4 cause it was freezing my game and i have to sign out of my laptop
Hi Namenlos, how do you disable it? I can’t find any guide on the internet and I have looked at every option in the settings menu in my game. Thank you for any help you can provide!
Apple already kind of did that by slowing down phones already.
They don’t slow their phones down, with new updates means more features, which means more processing power is needed to use those features.
Apple was actually taken to court after admitting they deliberately slowed down phones prior to the release of new ones. When you study marketing you realise everything we see, watch and hear is programmed to make us act, feel, and think in a certain way. Consumers who have no self control may feel obligated to buy a pack they don’t have and didn’t want to begin with simply because of the advertisements that pop up. This is why it’s good to limit your screen time and clear your cache frequently.
They were taken to court for many stupid reasons (America tingz) but thing you’re talking about is they were slowing down phones with used battery that couldn’t provide high enough voltage during high intensity tasks. But media and folks who don’t bother to read full articles made it seem like they were slowing down every old phone.
BECAUSE THE BATTERY AFFECTS THE PERFORMANCE !!!!. THEY HAVE TO LOW THE PERFOMANCE TO MAKE THE BATTERY LAST.
Y’all in the comments saying this isn’t a big deal and there are more important things going on forget that your boot licking = more integration of shit like this. This is coming from someone who purchased every pack already and who still gets these obnoxious popups. If you’re not pressed about it then don’t talk so loud. Don’t pretend your ass isn’t sitting on the couch complaining about how long your takeout delivery time is and guilting people over their complaints in the same breath. Anyways pirate the game folks 🙂
This is why I’m playing Sims 2 and the legal complete version they gave me for free (had a rather large collection of Sims 2 discs bought full price pre-2007)
How do you get it for free? The download? I have all the sims 2 disks but no disk drive in my laptop
Arrrr! No need for Origin!
So I see you have yet to hear about how they massacred battlefront?
I own all the packs but this still pops up every time I load my game!!
Also nice to see people who don’t own them can get them at discount but those of us who paid full price on release for all of them don’t get anything new at this time.
I agree!! This was a terrible idea on EAs part.
This is really bad ecspally at these times when people are going though such hard times. Some people don’t even enough food to put on the table and when a sims player want a to try to escape from the madness of the world they are now remind basically of EA saying this. ” hey, we know that people are literally dying and some people probably are starving beabuse of them not having enough money but hey why don’t we bother you and try to milk out your last cent out instead of you buying food in these hard time. And EA if you are reading this you have dissoprnint thounsents if not all of you loyal consumers. Reply with a if you agree with me. Thank you and have a safe year
You cute but did you know that there are people dying everyday with no food on a table nor a table to put some food on it? Remember you have a computer and a table to put your computer on it. Just a friendly advice I suggest you don’t play with poor people like this. Don’t use them to give you a reason for this ridiculous comment of yours. Just click on the X when you get this window popping up and keep playing as usual. This needs no more drama. Keep things simple.
Well said. Just ignore the sales pitch and play. How hard is that? Do you even need to complain about something so trivial? Asif there aren’t better things to do with your time and energy.
Ikr
This is probably the dumbest comment I’ve read. Congrats.
He’s just informing players. I had no idea of this cuz i haven’t played in a while so I’m thankful to know. Not everything has to be about death or whats going on around the world. Everyone deserves some relaxation. I hate when people say that “WeLl tHiS iS sTuPiD cUz PeOpLe DiE” yeah we get it. I already see enough depressing bullshit on everyhing i open. Tons of pictures reminding me that my 86 year old grandmother that almost died last year could drop dead and me not even say a good bye. That eats at me already ok. I am thankful for anything else right now so please leave people that are just trying to be helpful alone.
I hope all stay safe and healthy
Stop being poor.
Sad!
A lot of the packs are not even worth buying. I’m already bored and need something new to do.
As one of the poor people I find this comment offencesive it is very easy to just click out of the add do not use us for your drama please delete this comment
It’s also super easy day to just scroll on past rather than commenting on something just to point out it’s upset you. ♀️
Are you serious?!
People have a choice! EA isn’t saying “buy these expansion packs instead of food to feed your children, or we’ll come to your house and murder your pet lizard!”
If people choose to buy an expansion pack instead of food, that’s on the person, not EA!
If people are too wear minded to not know that buying life essentials like good is more important that game content, they should NOT be playing a game where there’s options to buy things in the game!
*weak (not wear)
*food (not good)
Obviously I should take my own advice and not do something and that is not to be up super late.
Games just drop in price over time though, that’s normal?
Exactly! I own all of them, and I had to pay full price for all.
That was your mistake. These expansion packs are nothing more than glorified DLC. Nowhere close to the worth of a full game. I buy everything on discounts because that’s what it’s really worth
Yeah, except if you don’t buy the expansion packs and stuff packs, you can’t download the custom content either, which is 100% better than the EA provided content. That’s why I buy all the packs…
The fact is people are dying right now and cant put food of the table,and also EA is begging for money. This person is conserned about both, and if you have the luxury to only care about one or the other great, but it’s still true.
People are dying from lack of food all the time. Stop virtue signalling. Its hardly “begging for money” and is an update that was probably started before all this happened.
Is this in Android phone
That’s why you wait to buy the packs
I wonder if EA is broke. Think about it: the packs that we don’t need that sure come out quite fast, and they’re quite thrown together without much thinking. I wonder if this is an attempt of then trying to get money. I understand, but at the same time, this is bad for them. It’s showing how greedy (if they just want money) they are, and inconsiderate. Anyway, good try for them, but I don’t plan on buying any packs right now.
Hell no .. EA isn’t broke – in any shape or form. Remember that EA isn’t just The Sims 4. That’s just the title of the game, but the owners of MULTIPLE games are with EA. These people make so much money .. This isn’t EA’s doing this is all the creators of The Sims 4. Sad though isn’t it? But like a lot of people said, the smart thing to do is to buy their packs and stuff when they’re for sale.
that’s just your fault for paying full price and not waiting for a discount
Right. I hardly ever pay full price for any add ons. I usually wait for the discounted prices so I can get a couple of them at one time.
Right?! And even if you don’t buy them through EA there are websites were you can order disks and online codes that have never been used and it is a little bit cheaper anyway. When a new pack comes out and Christmas are the perfect times to buy packs.
I agree Babe . I waited two weeks after the University came out. Then the next week it was half price I was so upset. I wish they would inform us when they are gonna do this.
It’s not at discount, it’s just advertising them at full price
But wasn’t it your choice of free will to buy the packs full priced. I’ll usually wait until a sale to buy my packs however with university I decided that it was worthwhile to spend 30 odd quid on the game and I’ve not once complained in fact I’m happy with the purchase so I don’t understand why people make the decision to buy a game full price and then moan that they’ve not been given a discount as if they’re entitled to one just because they’ve bought everything full price. I don’t mean to be a hater or a troll… whatever it’s called these days but that’s seriously delusional and laughable. Y’all must have or must be on some reward system cos real life don’t work like that y’all. And if I took this comment out of context then I humbly apologize but that’s just how it’s been perceived in my mind.
Is on sale because of the origin spring sale. And you CHOSE to buy it at full price at launch so don’t complain about sales.
I have the same problem, so annoying…
It’s just too much! They already grey out the packs you don’t own. Overkill EA!
So? Are they supposed to create the illusion that you own them?
This is really bad ecspally at these times when people are going though such hard times. Some people don’t even enough food to put on the table and when a sims player want a to try to escape from the madness of the world they are now remind basically of EA saying this. ” hey, we know that people are literally dying and some people probably are starving beabuse of them not having enough money but hey why don’t we bother you and try to milk out your last cent out instead of you buying food in these hard time. And EA if you are reading this you have dissoprnint thounsents if not all of you loyal consumer.
Settle down drama queen, at the end of the day we all have the choice not to spend our money on things that aren’t essential. This pop up doesn’t take food off our tables or money out of our bank accounts
I always have said EA and the Sims were nothing more than gold diggers & not they made it crystal clear for the rest of you that were to blind to see .. The will never get a penny more from me ever .
It’s simple, you don’t have to buy anything that you don’t want to. This window doesn’t force me to buy it
Nobody is holding you at gunpoint and forcing you to buy anything. You can believe WHATEVER you want, but don’t shame people that don’t mind spending money.
I have all of the packs and it’s telling me that I don’t own the luxury stuff pack every time.
But you do own it still so what’s the problem?
I hope you all chronicle complainers remember that actual PEOPLE make this game you care so much about. That’s theirs jobs, that’s what puts food on theirs table. They need to keep selling otherwise they won’t have income for paychecks. I’m sorry kids, but it’s kinda obvious
Lots of people just don’t look at the big picture of things like games, all they want is more and more from the game almost as if they are owed it. And they forgot all the hard work and money that goes into it behind the scenes
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been seeing these for months already. I’m not going to defend EA here, but I don’t think this was part of the last update.
They just keep making their community mad huh?
Just because there is an ad for a pack doesn’t mean you are being forced to buy it. People calm down
Self control is all you need to not over spend on the Sims.
Plus closing the ad takes one click of the mouse.
This stops my game from responding. Really intrusive and annoying. Please remove.
I wonder if EA is broke. Think about it: the packs that we don’t need that sure come out quite fast, and they’re quite thrown together without much thinking. I wonder if this is an attempt of then trying to get money. I understand, but at the same time, this is bad for them. It’s showing how greedy (if they just want money) they are, and inconsiderate. Anyway, good try for them, but I don’t plan on buying any packs right now.
Cool, who cares just fix get famous already so I can play. It’s kind of unplayable when gigs don’t happen wouldn’t you say?
Really not sure why this is such a problem for some people! Seems you may have completely lost perspective. Here are some tips:
1. Advertising is everywhere, it’s not exclusive to EA. When was the last time you consumed any type of media without a pop-up ad? This is how the world works now, welcome to 2020.
2. Cool thing is there’s a little box in the corner where you can click on an X and it disappears!!!
3. If you are angry because you believe EA is encouraging you to spend your last cent on a expansion/stuff pack rather than put food on your table, perhaps you should reconsider your priorities. Hint: food comes before video games
4. The cost of SIMS content decreases over time, this has always been the case, so if you’d prefer not to pay full price then you could, I don’t know, be patient. I love playing the Sims and am excited about new content but choose to wait until the price comes down before I purchase it. You have a choice, no-one is forcing you to pay full price. Be a discerning consumer and take accountability for your choices. (For example: Camping overnight and queuing around the block to purchase the new iPhone on the day of release is unhinged and you can’t complain about being ripped off if you are creating the problem)
5. Lastly, aside from the current pandemic, people are starving and dying across the world all the time. If you really actually care about this then instead of being mad at a videogame company for promoting their product, why don’t you actually spend some time doing something to help. Here’s an idea, how about instead of rushing out to buy those expansion/stuff packs that you don’t have because OMG I NEED THEM NOW, instead use that money support a charity or to buy some groceries for your elderly neighbour who can’t go out to the shops and also get a life!
THANK YOU!
So what! Its a bloody company! It will do what it will do- try to make a sale. We on our part can just look at it, buy it or IGNORE it.
Why everything has to be a massive big deal….
Happy simming!!!
I think It’s not that bad, to be honest 😀
I can click on X and it’s gone or I maybe think about buying a missing pack.
I think its meant to say, “Hey remember this?” It is slightly intrusive but during these hard times, buying stuff will help the economy. So, buying the game packs help the economy stay stable. It isn’t as negative as you think. Shopping and keeping the economy stable is the only reason why people are bow getting stimulus checks in America.
This Sims4 is horrible I already paid about 90 dollars for sims packs I don’t mind but this is the worst game feels like your im not even playing just watching a screen nothing to really do in this game . Theres not much details at all. I lost interested a couple days playing . and I Used to go Months playing all day . now it’s boring and sucks theres nothing to keep me playing
I’m not even playing ^^^
When i was playing yesterday the sims that are in the actor career wont say they have work in an hour and then they don’t go to their gig. Did the last update affect that?
Yes the last update did this. I’m waiting for them to at least acknowledge it and fix it so I can play
Lately when I load the game, the middle is completely blank. No News or Updates or anything since they did this.
I normally play the game offline most of the time, so, this new feature is something that I could care less. However, I do understand how frustrating it can be. I would rather if they could actually work on the game features than this feature.
I don’t mind the sims reminding me as it just means that I’ll have to remember to by the other packs
Is are there a easier way to get the wickedwhimsmod cuz it’s a lot of steps and I’m looking for a better and easier way like why we just can’t download it and be done but no u have to do like 20 things before it’s over
Yeah i try to buy one that wouldnt load up so i could just the other day how amazing u mention that
I just want the old UI back. I miss seeing all of the art for each pack I have, but now we’re being bombarded with unnecessary features. What if people don’t want every single pack they make, what if people don’t care about updates and news. I swear EA is in dire need of some competition, this is exactly why I can’t wait for Paralives.
They aren’t begging for money. Just move on, it’s really not a big deal. Geez, people seriously have nothing better to do these days but complain. Chill
Mine is showing me packs I already own when I open my game!
Hi bn
This is why I downloaded a cracked complete version 😀
I already own all of them so I guess I am off the hook for now.
I am not about to buy pet stuff or that moschino one. Don’t bug me EA
I owned almost every single pack on computer until my computer has crashed and now I am playing sims 4 on my playstation 4 and I don’t even have half of the packs because I am on ssi and can afford those packs and I can’t transfer all the packs I had from my computer to my playstation and I owned every pack up to the magic pack was my last one and now only got maybe one forth of the packs and if your computer crashes oh well can’t get those packages on my playstation 4 so I wasted over thousands of dollars on sims packages and a computer just for it to not being able to use those packages. That is the only thing I hate about ea is no way to transfer packs from computer to game systems if your computer crashes, but you can transfer accounts. Will never buy another ea game because they ruined there opportunity with poor people like me years ago.
is it to do with the new update that my sims 4 doesnt work anymore?? i go on it like normal and it loads for a minute and the screen just goes black?
I would gladly love to buy “My First Pet Pack” for PS4, however the icon does not come up in the Menu, the ads don’t advertise it, and when I go to the PS4 store it tells me I need to have the “Cats and Dogs” expansion pack, which I already have.
simsgurus can you guys please try and get cc for ps4 users
There was literally no need like I know what pack I don’t have because some of them aren’t necessary or don’t appeal to me. PACKS ARE OPTIONAL AND EXPENSIVE EA
So far all the pop ups I’ve had are for packs I DO own
Way to expensive thats why I stop playing
They’re just highlighting it. How is different from when the pack logos weren’t coloured if you hadn’t purchased them? Don’t get butthurt. It’s just a suggestion. I’d understand if it was a big message saying “BUY THIS PACK TO CONTINUE PLAYING!”
I love the Sims but the expansion packs are ridiculously expensive, your paying 50 dollars for some virtual hair clothes and furniture?? Like wtf! It’s so hard to play the game with only a few packs, the Sims have become money hungry greedy people
I want you guys to play with real time like on sims free play please please can we have real time on the sims 4 play by real time not that fast shit please
On pc
It is annoying but not a big deal.
What I am curious about is the timer. There is a count down but the price is full price (I only miss stuff packs). What are they counting down for?
I hope this doesn’t mean they become more expensive in the future if you ignore this message.
Haha, thanks EA! Can’t believe it! The Sims now guilt trips me for being poor! I love the game, I buy packs when I can, but I can’t just shovel money into it and buy all the packs at once.
April’s fools?
Welp im just getting sims 4 so im new but that really sucks, i mean we already paid 40 dollars for the actual game. let us enjoy that and if we want to buy a new pack we will. you dont have to keep pushing us to do so.
I keep getting these spotlights for packs that I already own. Not only that, but every time I try to x out of the spotlight ad, it makes my game go unresponsive. I have to Ctrl+Alt+Del to shut the game down and reboot it. Every. Single. Time. I wouldn’t even care that much about the ads if they didn’t consistently crash my game.
Does anyone know if it can be disabled in some way?
This pack spotlight mess freezes up my game every time it loads. I don’t want the pack and don’t need EA reminding me why I didn’t buy it in the first place. Please turn this off – it’s very annoying.
well that didnt happen to me for some reason prob bc im on xbox 1
Thankfully that legacy edition i played doesn’t have a pop-up, just because it cannot goes online.