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Useless Butlers

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  • ToreshinboToreshinbo Posts: 561 Member
    edited April 2017
    If you want butlers to go to bed, make sure you have a sim that has the piper trait. aquired with the music aspiration. I made him sleepy every night just by playing guitar, piano or violin. Make sure he's near though. I also closed off all doors of the bedrooms so he wouldn't swipe a million times of the computer desk and stare derply at his finger while my sims are asleep. I don't mind the autonomous cooking, I mean it's convenient because cooking takes time. I also put the globe bar in a bedroom so he wouldn't drink every few minutes.

    I don't have him anymore because i found it extremely annoying that if my sim came home from work with his GTW job, a NEW butler is there. And ofcourse the new butler is always a klepto... :(
  • sunman502sunman502 Posts: 18,325 Member
    My problem with butlers is that there's always a sim making a mess some where in the house, and these house are not small shacks. There are all huge mansions. Or there's always a plant or two that need watering or spraying for bugs or weeding at all hours of the day or night. So having a butler that goes to sleep isn't such a good idea in my game. But I can't keep the butlers awake 24/7 in my game because that would just lead them to walking around the houses like zombies. Just dead on their feet, and unaware of what's going on around them all the time.
  • pepperjax1230pepperjax1230 Posts: 7,953 Member
    edited April 2017
    sunman502 wrote: »
    You are just now realizing how incompetent they are?
    It's funny that you should say that because I had learned some time back that butlers are suppose to start their duty with all the basic skills maxed out. But that same butler that I was just talking about, the Crumlish family butler. That same butler nearly burned down the Crumlish family mansion while trying to cook something on the stove. That butler, I should've gotten rid of him a long time ago. Right after he had cost the Crumlish family nearly 15 k simoleons with that little fire in the kitchen that he had started with his incompetence.
    @sunman502 I say that because every hired help has been useless in the entire sims franchise. Like in TS3 babysitter were useless that was why I would take my sims kids where ever they went. I would add cribs in venues to help with that so that they were at least taken care of by my sim.

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  • AineAine Posts: 3,043 Member
    @LeGardePourpre
    They haven't fixed the 'same butler everywhere' bug, have they? :o
    Allons-y!

    ---> Afterlife Game Pack Idea - improved ghosts, cemeteries and funerals, psychics, new skills, new career and more! <---
    ---> Burglary Stuff Pack Idea - Burglars, alarm systems, and diamonds to steal!<---
  • AineAine Posts: 3,043 Member
    @LeGardePourpre Oh bugger. I figured.
    Allons-y!

    ---> Afterlife Game Pack Idea - improved ghosts, cemeteries and funerals, psychics, new skills, new career and more! <---
    ---> Burglary Stuff Pack Idea - Burglars, alarm systems, and diamonds to steal!<---
  • DKguruArtistDKguruArtist Posts: 292 Member
    edited August 2017
    Butler just buggy all over the behavior is weird and butler doesn't really add any usefulness beyond extra gameplay value through interactions, anything butler can do you will mostly be able to do as quick or faster. By time you ring bell to butler receive instructions and execute them you could done it yourself, butler just a waste of time for anything other than joy of ordering him or her around.

    Personally i wish you could assign a meal plan, example: Cross on/off Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and (dessert?) and the meal sizes, then he could automatically do those task at fixed time. Whole ringing bell for almost everything other than change orders or reprimand or praise feels like a time waste, that doesn't offer anything valuable to having a butler other than Aesthetic and ordering one around(feeling).

    P.S remember one time where butler just make a dozen dishes i never instructed butler to, then butler would only clean them up once they got spoiled. Was literally dishes everywhere there was a surface nearby, the dump AI doesn't even put dishes they make away in fridge just stands around getting spoiled.
  • LeGardePourpreLeGardePourpre Posts: 15,176 Member
    edited August 2017
    I let him do his job, he clean the dirty dishes, take care of the plant, cook, my teens ask him help for their homework, ...
    I ring the bell only when I want to congratulate him.
    By time you ring bell to butler receive instructions and execute them you could done it yourself, butler just a waste of time for anything other than joy of ordering him or her around.

    It's same in the restaurant, the NPC waiter makes you wait a long time.
    The NPC butler is like a maid, a gardener and a handyman, just let him do his job.


  • StormsviewStormsview Posts: 2,603 Member
    edited August 2017
    I had a Toddler that fired the Butler, (she had her reasons and her Daddy sided with his daughter)
    The only Butler in my game now belongs to my Vagrant.
    And Lobo married his Buttler.
    we'll give you a full refund. Just make sure you make your request within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from your date of purchase, or within seven days from the game's release date if you pre-ordered, whichever comes first.
    Who said EA doesn't have a sense of humor
  • BlkBarbiegalBlkBarbiegal Posts: 7,924 Member
    I change the butler's traits to neat, foodie and family oriented. I also change the way they look. Now, the butler in Wayne Manor took great care of the baby like clockwork. They seem to cook meals in all the households I have them in. They are glitchy in that when my sim comes back from another lot I may end up with a butler from the other household for a day or so before they switch back to the one I hired for the lot. Just like @LeGardePourpre said, I let them do their job. I think they do better with the right traits though.
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  • LeGardePourpreLeGardePourpre Posts: 15,176 Member
    @Aine

    Done ;) !
    Vintage Glamour
    • Butlers will remember who they are working for, even if you load a different household to play.
      • Jeeves?
        • No madam, my name is Binks madam.
      • I’m sorry madam, but there is this notification.
        • But he was taking care of the baby!
    • Butlers should no longer appear in your list to hire a butler if that butler was formerly fired.

  • AineAine Posts: 3,043 Member
    @LeGardePourpre I saw, but the patch notes are pretty vague, so I'm not sure what it means?

    Allons-y!

    ---> Afterlife Game Pack Idea - improved ghosts, cemeteries and funerals, psychics, new skills, new career and more! <---
    ---> Burglary Stuff Pack Idea - Burglars, alarm systems, and diamonds to steal!<---
  • LeGardePourpreLeGardePourpre Posts: 15,176 Member
    edited August 2017
  • CuteCoffeeGalCuteCoffeeGal Posts: 256 Member
    Ugh, yes! I used to love having butlers, but now they seem to be a waste of computer resources, LOL! They're also horrible about picking up my babies and toddlers, but not seeing to their needs, so I can't help them because the butler is holding them AND the butler's not helping either!
    #EAGameChanger on YouTube: Let's Plays, CAS, Speed Builds - I'm currently playing the Decades Challenge! https://www.youtube.com/c/CuteCoffeeGal
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  • AineAine Posts: 3,043 Member
    @LeGardePourpre Great news, I'll try it out once I eventually play again, not sure when that'll be.
    Allons-y!

    ---> Afterlife Game Pack Idea - improved ghosts, cemeteries and funerals, psychics, new skills, new career and more! <---
    ---> Burglary Stuff Pack Idea - Burglars, alarm systems, and diamonds to steal!<---
  • LeGardePourpreLeGardePourpre Posts: 15,176 Member
    edited August 2017
    Ugh, yes! I used to love having butlers, but now they seem to be a waste of computer resources, LOL! They're also horrible about picking up my babies and toddlers, but not seeing to their needs, so I can't help them because the butler is holding them AND the butler's not helping either!

    You need a nanny :p
  • LadyLuxLadyLux Posts: 34 Member
    I don't own Vintage Glamour for this reason -- I'd be interested to know (from those of you who own this and have tested it) if the Butler's uselessness has been completely fixed with the new update? If so I may take the plunge and buy it.
  • CuteCoffeeGalCuteCoffeeGal Posts: 256 Member
    > @LeGardePourpre said:
    > @CuteCoffeeGal wrote: »
    >
    > Ugh, yes! I used to love having butlers, but now they seem to be a waste of computer resources, LOL! They're also horrible about picking up my babies and toddlers, but not seeing to their needs, so I can't help them because the butler is holding them AND the butler's not helping either!
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > You need a nanny :p

    I find that I have the same problem with the nannies half the time! I've had a couple of houses with a butler AND a nanny, and nothing was taken care of!!!

    Though the last house I played with, my single mom hired a nanny for her two adopted children, fell in love with the nanny, he moved in, and they had three more children, LOL!
    #EAGameChanger on YouTube: Let's Plays, CAS, Speed Builds - I'm currently playing the Decades Challenge! https://www.youtube.com/c/CuteCoffeeGal
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  • MRSMEADOWBROOKMRSMEADOWBROOK Posts: 59 Member
    I 'interview' the butler (get to know) upon arrival. If he/she has qualities like lazy, evil, hates children, kleptomanic, etc, I fire him/her immediately and hire another one. If the butler has qualities like perfectionist, active, good, etc. I keep him/her and show them to their bed. It usually takes me at least three butlers before I decide to keep one. It's worth the trouble. Don't forget to praise them for their work, it keeps them motivated.
  • MRSMEADOWBROOKMRSMEADOWBROOK Posts: 59 Member
    > @sunman502 said:
    > I nearly gave my butler his walking papers today. All on the count of him nearly letting the plants in the garden die just so they can drink or read a book. And this garden was big and beautiful, and took Kate a long time to build. But Kate, Marc, and Trinity got to the plants in time to save them from dying from neglect. Then butler came to tend to the garden. I have dragged all the plants into household invent for safe keeping. But my butler came very close to losing their job over neglecting to tend to the plants. My sims really do need a gardener that won't quit after one week of serves.

    What are his traits? (introduce and 'get to know') Is he lazy? Hates outsdoors? Do you praise him when he does things well? If he's really not a good butler, fire him and get another one. 'Get to know' before you decide to keep him/her.
  • StormsviewStormsview Posts: 2,603 Member

    Who fired the Butler? a short But true Sims 4 Story:

    We are told a toddler cannot fire a Butler so, who fired the Butler?
    A Father and his baby girl. a True Story Sims 4
    This father was very close to his baby girl, she was a toddler. anytime she needed her daddy he seems to be there. But since his baby was adopted he did not feel he would be able to care for all her needs. the father decided to hire a nanny and a Butler. at great cost to him. This is Sims 4 where the babies behave very real to their trait. so she was an angelic baby. very sweet and loving, always giving and wanting hugs.

    The baby girl had just been potty train. by her father and also help from the nanny. Now she was used to her Butler and her nanny being around and there to help her. So sometimes the Butler would come in her room to perhaps watch her or do what he mostly did was sleep on her chair. She had a bathroom of her own off from her bedroom which had two doors one that leads to the hall that joins other rooms in their home.
    So now the baby girl is playing with her dollhouse, and I see the Butler is in the Toddlers' bathroom taking a bath in her tub. Butlers do take a bath in any tub they wish. Now the baby is playing with her dollhouse when she has to go potty. she does not want to wet her diaper. you can see her thought bubble has a diaper and no wet sign.
    her potty meter is in yellow she has to go now but if it goes to red means she is going to soon wet her diaper. so she is fast off to her bathroom to potty. also, her nanny comes in through the hall door to help. The Butler is out of the tub and dressed just as she comes into her bath to potty.
    Now at this point in the game, the babies did accept help for potty and were used to being helped by any of their care-giver's.
    But at this level of her potty training. the baby's wanted the caregivers to turn so that they can first sit on the potty. The baby looked at the nanny beckoning her to turn around to give baby privacy to sit first. Nanny did turn. The baby then looks at the Butler beckoning Butler to turn. Butler did not turn around. Butler just keeps looking at the baby.

    The baby is clearly getting upset and is now in red and about to wet her diaper.the baby did wait as long as she could.
    She yelled for her daddy as loud as she could. in a flash her daddy was in the bathroom. Then the baby shows her thoughts or talked to her daddy he understood she showed a picture of the Butler with a red circle around it, with a red line through his picture. was clear that the baby wanted her daddy to get the Butler out of her bathroom. So the father also clearly upset, gets in the Butlers face and then reprimands the Butler.
    Butler's true words were "I did not think it was a big deal." and he left out of the bathroom through the hall door. The nanny had already left the room fast seeing possible trouble.
    Now the baby is kind of shaking not to wet diaper but sits on the potty, in time.
    The daddy follows the Butler out of the bathroom and stops and stands outside the baby's bathroom door facing the butler. still having words with the Butler.
    Ok, Daddy is still waiting outside the baby's bathroom door. at this time, The baby girl again puts up the picture of the Butler with the red circle around it with the red line through his face.
    The Father then Fire the Butler. The Butler said fine and said to pay what he's owed for that day and left.
    Who Fired The Butler?
    we'll give you a full refund. Just make sure you make your request within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from your date of purchase, or within seven days from the game's release date if you pre-ordered, whichever comes first.
    Who said EA doesn't have a sense of humor
  • JadedJaneJadedJane Posts: 991 Member
    I found that praising them gives them a temporary boost to do a better job. And they keep putting the dog bowls in their inventory and I have to keep buying food bowls for them. My pets, not the butler. Although I do have to wonder if they like the pet food and that's why the bowls disappear! I had one that was a Klepto and they kept swiping my sims belongings. It would be interesting if we could catch a butler or maid swiping things and call the police on them. I miss the police in the game!
  • K8ePK8eP Posts: 4 New Member
    Theres an option to ask a butler to cook a group meal, i never click on it because I don’t want her to...
    Yet she keeps getting ingredients out, I’ve told her off, she still does it, I enclosed an oven in it’s own room, she still does it... she doesn’t have access to the fridge now, so I’ll prob have to keep an eye on her for starvation...

    I presume these group meals add to the expenditure of having a butler? I have her because she’s cheaper and more reliable, works everyday in comparison to gardeners and cleaners...

    My Sim isn’t rich, it’s just penny pinching
  • sunman502sunman502 Posts: 18,325 Member
    edited April 2018
    Just recently I had a butler that just sat around and read a book on how to be a butler while listening to the talk radio station. While there were lots of stuff that needed cleaning and plants needed tending to. And add salt to the wound of this butler not doing his job like he was hired to do. I had my sim switch the radio station to a Latin station so they can dance Rumbasim to Latin music. He would immediately turn the radio back to the talk radio station. And he gets mad when I have my sim discipline about him not doing the work that he was hired to do. I was strongly considering firing that sim for that because he's not the one that's running that household. But that butler acts like he's the one that's in charge of that house. But I didn't fire him though.
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