How Can EA Get Away With It? The Answer: IKEA Effect

There is a theory that, according to some people, isn't very scientific, but it presents the right paradigm. This theory – a construct with a catchy name: the IKEA effect – is quite easy to prove. After all, millions of people have at least once in their lives assembled a piece of furniture from the Swedish queen of furnishings (simultaneously testing the endurance of millions of relationships).

One way or another, the point is: once you get a single thing from IKEA, the only way to keep the house decor consistent is getting more stuff from IKEA. And don't forget accessories.

The creators of The Sims certainly know that. And for that reason, we get sets of accessories such as Nifty Knitting Stuff. A more-than-average extension to The Sims 4 – not the first, nor the last – and we quickly accepted it with all its charms. Because, hey: what's to complain about? We finally got designer flowerbeds, which we can weave ourselves for Christ's sake! If it's not worth ten bucks, I don't know what is!

But I can also make laundry...

Cats can play with a ball of yarn? 10/10.

"Wait just a second!" some will certainly say. "These are accessories! What did you expect? A full-blown extension?" You're right – accessories are just accessories; there’s no miracles. But let's recall the Tiny Living Stuff. It was a set of accessories. But at the same time, it was much, much... much more. It brought some great furniture: designer, with a large color palette to choose from, adapted for small spaces – the kind that quickly becomes the cornerstone of house decor in most of the homes you build, regardless of their size.

This is an interesting approach to the community's dissatisfaction with the growing bills; a catchy and consistent idea for an entire add-on, matching past and (as it turned out) future packs; engaging mechanics and capabilities; refined content and, in general, add-ons that will consume several hours and permanently change your approach to building or developing the simish life. And as the icing on the cake – one of the more imaginative ways to kill sims in the series. Possible? Possible.

Enter: Laundry Day or Nifty Knitting Stuff. I called these two on purpose – both kept in a rustic, kitschy style, they fit together quite well. Sims are made for comfy home birds, the packs really do not add much to the gameplay and – most importantly – both were created after community vote. They perfectly illustrate the decline in the quality of accessories.

Not great, not terrible

The community mentioned above is a very important aspect here. Like any gaming one – with all due respect – it's a bit off-kilter, often far too radical in its judgements, sometimes too uptight, and certainly dangerous once it becomes angry. EA knows that. That's why they get out of their way, fulfill their desires every once in a while. Not so long ago, for example, the community marveled at a (fake) leak about a farm-themed expansion: animals, farmland, that sort of thing. It quickly turned out, however, it wasn't FarmVille, but Eco Lifestyle; farming was replaced by freeganism, and cowsheds by rats running along the streets. Part of the community was furious, but then they came to the rescue... the ladders! That's it.

A worm farm to wipe away the tears of the community.

In reviews of new content, on Youtube or on social media, my attention is always drawn to the statements "The community has long asked for this", "The community has long waited for this", "This is something the community has long wanted." EA listens to your requests and realizes them. I'm not saying they don't. I'm not saying it's a bad thing either. But, you know, I'm sure you'd be much happier with a rural addition than with the ladders, which may take up deliciously little space, but which you can't walk down carrying dirty dishes, clothes or bags of rubbish. Still, the outrage over unwanted content died down (quite rightly, because Eco Lifestyle is great). Prayers were answered, disperse.

So we slowly (finally) get to the bottom of the problem. For a long time, I can't help feeling that EA has found the perfect way to keep the community happy with relatively limited effort. A way of understanding a group of the fiercest critics, even in face of the biggest defeat. A way to keep millions of players with you while constantly expanding their base. And to make dough. Yes, of course, it's...

The IKEA effect

If you put something together, you value it more. So you've put together an expansion. You've chosen the theme, title, various elements of content. You've been involved in the creative process, you've watched groups of developers implement your whims. Votes don't always go your way, but they do eventually. Creators get excited about the whole process, and you and them, because you are also the creators – it's partly your work.

Then comes the release day – you buy the add-on at full price because you've worked on it for so long that the price seems reasonable; creators or not, you have to pay. You get exactly what you voted for, and even more, because you see this beautiful, detailed animation of a piece of clothing growing on the knitting as the work progresses. You see the mailbox heaters – isn't that cute? You can knit panda hats from the very beginning, and it was the best item of the whole pack! The size of the content to create on your own is unprecedented – so many colors, so many possibilities! Is this finally the expansion that effortlessly makes us more interested in playing older sims? (The answer is yes, definitely – and it's a huge plus for the developers). You see, of course, it's not perfect, but then what is? There are a lot of flaws, though.

In the chair, you can reminisce about embarrassing life events.

The content you don't produce with your sims is just ugly. You will not combine furniture with modern or even eclectic interiors, no matter what you do with the color palette. They don't even fit the furniture of from Laundry Day Stuff. Content created with older sims in mind is more suited to a children's room, but not one you'd like to have in your home. The recreational part – armchairs and couches – ironically looks like one taken from IKEA catalogues from the early 2000s. But you get four almost identical rocking chairs!

The clothes seem to again skip the male sims and the female ones... well. The prettiest two pieces – a floral crop top and trousers with beaded detailing – are quire appealing, but it's a rather juvenile outfit. Feminine hairstyle a la the sixties, which was praised in the materials by the creators, eschews the whole atmosphere, visually depriving sims of serenity. Unlocking the next things to knitting will be very quick and of course very rewarding because you will explore all the possibilities. Unfortunately, at the same time, the addition won't keep you engaged for long.

New skill: knitting! Rocking chairs are available in four versions: with armrest, without armrest, with pillow, and without pillow. God damn!

Despite obvious flaws, weak and impossibly truncated content, the phenomenon of this supplement is not only that the players conceptualized it; they still create elements and accessories inside the game. And I still get the feeling that this should be an argument in favor of the content – it seems poor, because you have to do it all yourself! But that's not enough. Surely all this will make the loudest part of the community dare not criticize their own work; they may even overestimate it. Some sites will refrain from harsh criticism to avoid a wave of hateful comments (reading this sucks the energy and joy of life out of a person) – the community is a very fragile tissue, which far too often takes criticism personally. But was it worth it?

Plumbella, one of simish YouTubers, reviewing Nifty Knitting Stuff, said that these accessories could easily be part of one larger addition along with Eco Lifestyle and Tiny Living. And I kind of agree. Knitting is eco, reduces waste and definitely lowers bills. If you think about how small a diversion knitting your socks is, I think you'll agree. Nifty Knitting with Plopsy would be a great diversification of Eco Lifestyle – but it's simply not enough for a separate pack. If it wasn't for the "IKEA effect," EA wouldn't have gotten away with it.