I hope you're doing well. Congratulations on the 15th year aniversary.
When will you be able to answer questions about Sims 4 Get to Work?
I just have a couple incase you can...
1. Will there be loading screens for lots in the new district?
2. Is it possible to add in a barista skill for the upcoming expansion?
3. Is it possible to create a home business?
I totally understand if you can't answer them!
Thank you! We will be talking a lot more about Get to Work in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for news and I think we'll address what you're asking
I do have one more question to ask, will toy making be possible in GTW and will those toys be available to use when toddlers are added in later for them to use?
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
Now that there's a new creative director, will there be any action taken against the pregnant teen and children sims that are regularly being uploaded to the Gallery? I loaded my game and searched on the Gallery for about two minutes to find this gem, and it wasn't the only one of its kind...
EDIT: picture removed by moderator
I heard that Lyndsay Pearson brought up how the SimGurus disapprove of simmers using anatomically correct skins in a recent interview... What is their position on this, and why are they allowing such negative content to take over their Gallery?
You know...as a player you can always flag the content or report it.
Hey also I wanted to ask one more question: are we able to share our businesses on the Gallery if we have Get To Work expansion installed? Thanks guys once again !
I also got in love with the build mode It wasn't easy at first, but thanks to some tutorials I got used to it and realized how wonderful it is I love the roof tool best of all. I was never able to make something like that in the Sims 2 or 3.
I just wish we had more roof décor, like that (photos of my country house)
Nice to see you guys here Just wanted to say thank you to all the Gurus who have been taking the time to post on the forum and being more visible, I know I find that reassuring and you guys deserve a big compliment for listening and showing us you care
Will we be able to run home businesses in GTW in the same way we could in TS2 OFB? Also, will be get to restock shelves or will this happen automatically?
Just two questions: In 'Get To Work', Is it possible for player Sims to shop from another business in the world, or is it strictly operate only? Part of the fun of having different shops around town was actually being able to use them, not just run them.
Just two questions: In 'Get To Work', Is it possible for player Sims to shop from another business in the world, or is it strictly operate only? Part of the fun of having different shops around town was actually being able to use them, not just run them.
Also, are we allowed to sell produce, fish, etc. or are we limited to build/buy, special objects, outfits and cooked/baked food?
Thank you for your time.
You can visit an NPCs shop. And we'll be talking more about what exactly you can sell (spoiler alert: A lot)
I hope we can sell cupcakes I really want to make a cupcake factory and sell those in my bakery, I know you can already sell them to the local bakery as an interaction but I hope we get to put our own price and sell them in displays.
2. Are the new profile images an indication of increased focus and resources being allocated toward The Sims franchise?
3. The Simulation Tech Talk thread was one of the best things to come out of your increased forum presence, thanks largely to @SimGuruMax and also @SimGuruMeatball and @SimGuruHouts. Can you start something up like that again? For other areas of interest as well?
4. If not, would you consider doing something like @Anavastia suggested in her thread on Educational Advertising. More departments doing something like the art department did with the Eary Concept Art for simulation, music, voices, making movies, programming, building worlds, and gameplay design.
5. Can you give an estimate of the retention rates for The Sims 4, i.e. what percentage have played another iteration of the game?
6. How far in advance of release do you start working on an EP?
9. Since you asked for it, I take it you monitored feedback from players who took advantage of the free 48-hour trial of The Sims 4. How has the feedback differed from that of players who had already bought or tried the game?
10. Has player reaction overall been what you expected?
11. The thread asking, “What Can We Do to Make Your The Sims 4 Worlds the Best Ever” was closed very shortly after opening and has remained stickied, but locked for months. Is this an indication that you have abandoned trying to significantly change how The Sims 4 worlds function?
12. So, I see the upcoming EP is to include police. Can we also expect to see a fire service and handyman service anytime soon? I was hoping that with the higher tax rates in the new game the municipalities would have enough funds for some basic civil services.
13. Congratulations on your 15 year anniversary! Are there any other EA games other than Madden and FIFA that have been running longer?
Hey @greenZen, thanks for the lengthy list of questions. I will tackle them in order:
1. We created the execs as a bit of fun for our anniversary celebrations, so they won't be downloadable in the game.
2. Not sure I get this question. The Sims is a major franchise within EA's portfolio with ongoing support from the organisation.
3. We will continue to make best efforts to be present on the Forums. But, remember, the Gurus first priority is making the game. We may have some drop ins and pop up style Q&A sessions but we can't say when they will happen.
4. As above, we will always talk with our players when we can but we focus on making the game first and foremost.
5. We don't talk about our numbers, but it's fair to say that a large number of TS4 players have played previous iterations of the game.
6. Making an EP can be a pretty lengthy process. We spend a lot of time in concept and pre-production stages before moving into full production. On TS3, we got pretty efficient over time, but EPs ranged from 6 months up to 2 years (*cough* Pets *cough*) depending on the theme and the complexity.
7. No, it's a surprise
8. Nothing to say at this time.
9. We are still reading all the feedback we received from players for The Sims 4 Game Time. There's a lot of it to get through.
10. When is player reaction ever what you expect before you release a game? It's not until software is out there in player's hands that you really can start to understand what resonates, what they like, what they wish they could have. Making this kind of game. making The Sims is a constant education.
11. I don't think I have seen the thread in question. I will go check it out. Threads get closed all the time. It does not imply anything about our development process.
12. Everyone loves a fireman
13. Thank you so much. Can't speak to other games but we are all so excited to celebrate 15 years of The Sims.
SimGuruBChick Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic
Now that there's a new creative director, will there be any action taken against the pregnant teen and children sims that are regularly being uploaded to the Gallery? I loaded my game and searched on the Gallery for about two minutes to find this gem, and it wasn't the only one of its kind...
I heard that Lyndsay Pearson brought up how the SimGurus disapprove of simmers using anatomically correct skins in a recent interview... What is their position on this, and why are they allowing such negative content to take over their Gallery?
You know...as a player you can always flag the content or report it.
I could spend my entire play time reporting inappropriate content like this and there would still be more of it to report. Furthermore, it isn't my job to keep the Gallery clean. My job as a simmer is to play the Sims 4 without needing to worry that I'll encounter triggering content while looking through the Gallery.
There is something that always bothered me with the roofing system : depanding of the roof style, we are sometime not able to adjust the eave size. Is this intended, or it is an error that will be corrected ?
Clothes, hairstyles, buildings, sims and objects available on my blog, Un Sims au Bout du Fil
Origin ID simsontherope
Also for the ambition careers have you considered using the wider area of public spaces for the problem with constant loading of lots to catch criminals. Such as things like stake outs etc. Or even exploring options where simmers can freeze time at home as i would hate for my house to continue play without me in case i miss something. There is a wide variety of careers to choose from but i am a bit of a collect and kind of like to play them all. I'm mentioning this as something to the team to consider the players experience when performing these careers. I think my main concern is breaking up player immersion where they can do a bit of everything and not have to constantly be jumping from lot to lot. yet not have to worry about at home. As honestly i get people like the whole notification thing telling them what's going on. I don't. If i can't play it i don't like it so i really have to have the option of playing my family and i rather the time freeze at home while im away than to keep going, since it's not open world.
I love the idea of the new ep i think sims 4 could explore a strong suite of hands on play through expansions. Especially with zoo's, aquariums, vacation spots, etc. I hope these are something you consider for the future, of offering new content that fit with an old theme of play that i think many simmers would enjoy.
I want to see us use the open spaces a lot more too - I think we have some pretty interesting ideas for that. I've been watching the conversations about freezing time & time options very closely, we understand how important it is to you. Thank you for your feedback on the careers too and your concern about immersion.
I'm glad you like the new EP idea. I do too I would LOVE to do a zoo someday. i've always always wanted my Sims to have a miniature giraffe. Even we gurus have our own little secret wishes
Will EPs and GPs work together? For example, vacation days for the new working careers and shop owners. And also, things like the potions from herbalism being sold? Will we be able to get more potions to make?
Good eye @fullspiral! We certainly want our content to play nice together. We'll be releasing more details about the new jobs & businesses in the next few weeks.
With the baking skill in the EP, why are some skills specific (like Cooking with Gourmet and Baking skills), while Handiness is one big umbrella and I can't learn electrical stuff until I learn plumbing stuff?
Also, why don't Programming activities also raise Logic or Gourmet cooking also raise regular Cooking skills?
Lastly, why not make the Child Skills shorter, say, five levels instead of ten? As of now, they seem to be big fat roadblocks. Lots of violin practice, only to end at Level 9 Child Creativity, and then aging up to Teen only to have zero Violin skill? Not fun!
Thanks for the feedback! There are so many different ways to break up skills that sometimes we end up broad and sometimes we end up specific. We try to make sure that there's enough content to progress through either way. and sometimes we change our mind - just because we might not have electrical skill now doesn't mean we couldn't down the line. I'll talk to design about your other feedback, thanks for sharing!
If in a new world or future expansionpack or gamepack is added and includes a new world i would so love to see a version of this house this was my grandmother former house if you need pictures of the inside and the floor plans i can send them to you via pm
Thank you
Edit: SimGuruLindsays check you private message you will see the floor plan of the house i just posted thank you
Sorry I have to duck out early folks - I have to go sooner than expected. I will try and answer things we didn't get to in the Q&A later today. Fear not though - more info about EP will be coming up in the next few weeks.
Do we have any progress on gurus spending time on the forums? I know it's unintentional but I think it would help soothe everyone if they felt you guys were popping in and taking note of some of the wonderful ideas the community come up with we aren't all able to access Facebook or twitter so it's frustrating being the last to know or hear anything. Perhaps a widget incorporating the various sim guru twitter accounts?
Hi Sparkfairy1, fancy meeting you here
Thanks for your question. As you know, the Gurus main job is making the game, working on new content, blitzing bugs and enhancing the gameplay. Coming on the Forums is something they do in their spare time. They don't have much spare time. Many of them do "lurk" in the background, reading the threads, gathering ideas and feedback and taking information back to the team to see how it can help us to make changes to the game.
Reading the Forums takes time. It's not quick. And it's probably more important for them to read the feedback and get it back to the right people on the team than it is to write posts. I know that's probably not the response you want but, as you know, I am always very open about our process and how we interact here on the Forums.
That Twitter widget idea is interesting. I'm going to investigate that further and see what's possible. Definitely intriguing...
I also love the curved things in building mode (can't remember the word sorry )
I wish we also got curved walls, windows - maybe even doors? - one day.
I also love that I was able to put lillies in the pool without using MOO. I hope we'll get curved pools one day
More curved options are definitely on our build mode wishlist.
Hello dear SimGurus! It's awesome that you announced the Get To Work expansion pack! I have some questions for it:
- Can our Sims now go to the open hospital venue to give birth to a baby? If not, why? (What I mean is that I hope that we will get some Story Progression features with this EP)
- Can we make our own hospitals and other workplaces? If not, why?
- Are there any cash register animations? Or are there shopping bags for Sims?
- Are there any new things for children in this EP?
And now some other things:
- Can you PLEASE check out my Hybrid EP ideas thread for The Sims 4? Thank you if you can it's this: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/13289911#Comment_13289911
- Are you planning some changes to the loading screens that we have now? They are so bright that they actually annoy some players/give them headache. I hope you understand that concern.
- My other concern is that we don't have a world editor or builder at the moment. Could you try to make something like those for The Sims 4?
- Also many players want to choose the color of the bedding separately, so more creativity options, please! (Color wheel for Create a Sim and some Build Mode features would be great)
- I don't know if this has been reported/fixed, but there has been a bug that causes wedding cake (+plate) to disappear from Sim's hand when a just married couple "feeds" each other with the wedding cake.
- Thank you for listening to our feedback!
Can't really discuss any specifics about the EP, but I did want to mention that we are looking into the brightness of the loading screens. We know it causes issues with some players and are trying to figure out to improve things.
You've highlighted The Legacy Challenge on one of your blogposts. I know have an issue related to that playstyle.
Part of the rules for a legacy challenge is that traits of the heirs and spares are random, but you took the randomize button for this away. It would be really nice if you put it back in, because it gets tedious to use tools outside of the game.
Randomizing traits for babies? We can look into it.
There is something that always bothered me with the roofing system : depanding of the roof style, we are sometime not able to adjust the eave size. Is this intended, or it is an error that will be corrected ?
Hey there, I asked SimGuruHouts about this and this is what he had to say: "This is semi-intended in that it’s not a bug, but we’re aware that it would be better if you could adjust eaves on all sides of all roof types. It's on my personal wish list to improve it at some point in the future but it's not top priority."
SimGuruBChick Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic
Hey Simmers, sorry for the late notice but we are cancelling Ask a Guru today. Don't know if you've noticed but we launched the Mac version this morning and the whole team is on Launch Day duty. We will be back as normal next week.
SimGuruBChick Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic
Comments
Thank you! We will be talking a lot more about Get to Work in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out for news and I think we'll address what you're asking
You know...as a player you can always flag the content or report it.
a HUGE THANK YOU
Thanks - and nice house!
*wave* hello! and thank you!
Hey @greenZen, thanks for the lengthy list of questions. I will tackle them in order:
1. We created the execs as a bit of fun for our anniversary celebrations, so they won't be downloadable in the game.
2. Not sure I get this question. The Sims is a major franchise within EA's portfolio with ongoing support from the organisation.
3. We will continue to make best efforts to be present on the Forums. But, remember, the Gurus first priority is making the game. We may have some drop ins and pop up style Q&A sessions but we can't say when they will happen.
4. As above, we will always talk with our players when we can but we focus on making the game first and foremost.
5. We don't talk about our numbers, but it's fair to say that a large number of TS4 players have played previous iterations of the game.
6. Making an EP can be a pretty lengthy process. We spend a lot of time in concept and pre-production stages before moving into full production. On TS3, we got pretty efficient over time, but EPs ranged from 6 months up to 2 years (*cough* Pets *cough*) depending on the theme and the complexity.
7. No, it's a surprise
8. Nothing to say at this time.
9. We are still reading all the feedback we received from players for The Sims 4 Game Time. There's a lot of it to get through.
10. When is player reaction ever what you expect before you release a game? It's not until software is out there in player's hands that you really can start to understand what resonates, what they like, what they wish they could have. Making this kind of game. making The Sims is a constant education.
11. I don't think I have seen the thread in question. I will go check it out. Threads get closed all the time. It does not imply anything about our development process.
12. Everyone loves a fireman
13. Thank you so much. Can't speak to other games but we are all so excited to celebrate 15 years of The Sims.
Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic
I could spend my entire play time reporting inappropriate content like this and there would still be more of it to report. Furthermore, it isn't my job to keep the Gallery clean. My job as a simmer is to play the Sims 4 without needing to worry that I'll encounter triggering content while looking through the Gallery.
Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic
There is something that always bothered me with the roofing system : depanding of the roof style, we are sometime not able to adjust the eave size. Is this intended, or it is an error that will be corrected ?
Clothes, hairstyles, buildings, sims and objects available on my blog, Un Sims au Bout du Fil
Origin ID simsontherope
I want to see us use the open spaces a lot more too - I think we have some pretty interesting ideas for that. I've been watching the conversations about freezing time & time options very closely, we understand how important it is to you. Thank you for your feedback on the careers too and your concern about immersion.
I'm glad you like the new EP idea. I do too
Good eye @fullspiral! We certainly want our content to play nice together. We'll be releasing more details about the new jobs & businesses in the next few weeks.
Thanks for the feedback! There are so many different ways to break up skills that sometimes we end up broad and sometimes we end up specific. We try to make sure that there's enough content to progress through either way. and sometimes we change our mind - just because we might not have electrical skill now doesn't mean we couldn't down the line. I'll talk to design about your other feedback, thanks for sharing!
lovely house memina!
More curved options are definitely on our build mode wishlist.
Can't really discuss any specifics about the EP, but I did want to mention that we are looking into the brightness of the loading screens. We know it causes issues with some players and are trying to figure out to improve things.
Randomizing traits for babies? We can look into it.
Hm, the timing would be good, wouldn't it?
Hey there, I asked SimGuruHouts about this and this is what he had to say: "This is semi-intended in that it’s not a bug, but we’re aware that it would be better if you could adjust eaves on all sides of all roof types. It's on my personal wish list to improve it at some point in the future but it's not top priority."
Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic
Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations
Thanks to 06bon06 for my lovely new signature pic