@justnormalkorean oh boy if they think that's excessive or extreme wait until they see my mod list 
the news about EA potentially banning people for sims mods came around a couple years ago i think. it was heavily suggested by everyone that you should be playing your game offline if you didn't want your account banned.
i've bought a fair amount of sims stuff, probably about $100 worth all said and done. i do not feel bad in the slightest for pirating everything else, especially when newer releases lack in substance for the price (you STILL can't have cars for your sims in sims 4 even if they're only going to be displayed for small animations and decoration).
@susie @justnormalkorean maybe part of why it's taking so long is that they're trying to get a DRM solution like denuvo working while still letting players mod the game. or perhaps there are more online components that implicate multiple users and they're trying to figure out how to get mods working in that capacity.
i don't think ANYONE plays vanilla sims unless they're on console, if they launched sims 5 without mod support they'd be cooked instantly.
@susie @beardalaxy @justnormalkorean EA is afraid because if InZOI is remotely good The Sims is over, I agree the sims 5 will be "intrusive and inclusive" so it will only launch to lifelong fans.
@Solbera @susie @justnormalkorean haven't seen anything about this yet actually. I only know about Paralives and that one that Paradox is making (which is more sandbox-y and will probably heavily lean on mods).
@Solbera @susie @justnormalkorean it does look interesting, to say the least. frame rates are pretty crusty at times but it doesn't even have a release date yet it appears. i hope it doesn't end up being extremely complex. i like the sims for how simple it is and if this gets TOO deep into the simulation weeds it wouldn't be as appealing to me. think, difference between civilization and crusader kings.
Always pirate Sims. It isn't even a question. Thousands worth of DLC you don't need other than to make mods work. I'm waiting what cursed always online kernel anticheat they got cooked for Sims 5... There probably is a good reason it keeps being delayed while EA is fully aware of how successful pirating Sims is (it is trivial to just unlock DLCs too so can play "legit" with just the base game).
This post might be fake and gay, but they could be tightening their moderation guidelines to be ready for Sims 5. I wouldn't be surprised if it would nuke accounts if there are injected content/mods/hacks present.
@justnormalkorean