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Why we have no "burglars", the EA internal rumor.
TOLKIEN
Posts: 1,594 Member
So my buddy at EA sports in burnaby is a talker, type who loves talking about work rumors, people and just about anything in his field of vision. We meet for beers usually when he's got a new EA game for me and the conversations can be rather entertaining. Now sometimes he drops Sim nuggets that I can share here with the community (that doesn't involve somebody specific) but rather game related.
The nugget I received today involves why there's no burglars in the Sims 4. Like most of you, I assumed we'd get burglars in "get to work". Sure there's an icon, but there's also an icon for a woohoo skill in the base game - neither of which ever materialized in the Sims 4.
Well now we might know why, as the rumor goes that "burglars" aren't in the Sims 4 - because they might "trigger" sensitive players.
I of course was like, "give me a break" but he was like "no, no no listen!" as apparently somebody during design felt that due to the nature of the Sims 4's focus on the "home space lot", that a burglar invading said space could feel like a violation to players, including inducing anxiety and possible trigger players who have experienced similar experiences.
Now I pointed out this seemed like a stretch considering previous Sims games had burglars, but my friend pointed out the Sims 4 was made for a new generation, with a team of producers surrounded by people OF that generation who would point out that the invasion of their home or safe place could create feelings of discomfort or possible even triggering. Indirectly I can see his point, I've been playing games for a long time and a lot of the stuff in earlier games I've played a decade ago would certainly NEVER make the cut in todays politically charged gaming environment.
This feedback would certainly go into such a decision as to cut them or not.
My friend also pointed out that in "get to work" you investigate crimes, but that's not the same as "BEING the victim of a crime".
They've certainly had a lot of opportunity to add burglars with various expansions and patches (and who knows we might still get them!) However if you look at the overall goofy nature of much of the Sims 4, I could certainly see some truth in creating a safer, happy experience for sims players. Certainly being the victim of a burglary would be the opposite.
Now HOW much of this was embellishment on my friends part is hard to say, he LOVES to make a point - but still the basics of the rumor are believable - that "burglars" are simply no longer appropriate in a game like the Sims 4 targeting a new generation of players.
That might explain a lot more about the Sims 4 overall, if you think of it being created to target a new generation of gamers rather then the last.
EDIT: I'm not passing judgement here, stating an opinion or alike - just passing on a rumor. Take from it what you will.
The nugget I received today involves why there's no burglars in the Sims 4. Like most of you, I assumed we'd get burglars in "get to work". Sure there's an icon, but there's also an icon for a woohoo skill in the base game - neither of which ever materialized in the Sims 4.
Well now we might know why, as the rumor goes that "burglars" aren't in the Sims 4 - because they might "trigger" sensitive players.
I of course was like, "give me a break" but he was like "no, no no listen!" as apparently somebody during design felt that due to the nature of the Sims 4's focus on the "home space lot", that a burglar invading said space could feel like a violation to players, including inducing anxiety and possible trigger players who have experienced similar experiences.
Now I pointed out this seemed like a stretch considering previous Sims games had burglars, but my friend pointed out the Sims 4 was made for a new generation, with a team of producers surrounded by people OF that generation who would point out that the invasion of their home or safe place could create feelings of discomfort or possible even triggering. Indirectly I can see his point, I've been playing games for a long time and a lot of the stuff in earlier games I've played a decade ago would certainly NEVER make the cut in todays politically charged gaming environment.
This feedback would certainly go into such a decision as to cut them or not.
My friend also pointed out that in "get to work" you investigate crimes, but that's not the same as "BEING the victim of a crime".
They've certainly had a lot of opportunity to add burglars with various expansions and patches (and who knows we might still get them!) However if you look at the overall goofy nature of much of the Sims 4, I could certainly see some truth in creating a safer, happy experience for sims players. Certainly being the victim of a burglary would be the opposite.
Now HOW much of this was embellishment on my friends part is hard to say, he LOVES to make a point - but still the basics of the rumor are believable - that "burglars" are simply no longer appropriate in a game like the Sims 4 targeting a new generation of players.
That might explain a lot more about the Sims 4 overall, if you think of it being created to target a new generation of gamers rather then the last.
EDIT: I'm not passing judgement here, stating an opinion or alike - just passing on a rumor. Take from it what you will.
Post edited by TOLKIEN on
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Comments
Race Against the Clock: Can your elder sim turn back the clock before their time runs out?
All they have to do, is include a "Neighborhood Watch" trait to disable burglars if they're enabled by default, or a "Bad Part of Town" trait to enable burglars if they're initially disabled. Maxis could choose whichever trait they prefer, and the end result would be the same.
Maybe this would've flied back on release (even if it's a stupid, stupid, stupid reason), but Maxis has since released something functionally identical to burglars, and nobody's kicking up (much of) a fuss. People complained for a bit, then they learned to adapt, either by deleting Vlad or by growing garlic.
And Lot Traits were practically designed for this.
True but vampires are optional and I know a lot of people who wouldn't bother with that pack in general. If the base game is to represent a foundation and that foundation is meant to be what is defined as socially "normal" then packs are to allow players the choice of what "other" type of content they want in their game. On the flip side one would think a expansion that focuses on crime and punishment would include burglars too. Food for thought.
But Lot Traits allow for optional burglars, as well.
And, I repeat. It's a stupid, stupid, stupid rumour. I wouldn't be surprised if your friend is basing this 99% on his own opinion, and 1% on what he heard. It's a classic game of Chinese Whispers.
All totally true, who really knows with rumors but he's not into the Sims games himself so whenever he has something to tell me about them its usually already made the rounds at his work for people who care. Work rumors usually start from some form of truth...or the CIA lol.
Yeah, this. Sims burglars are freakin' cartoon characters. Big stripey prison shirts, sacks with simoleon signs drawn on... they're not even in the same galaxy as a real burglar.
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So my thoughts were that the burglars simply didn't work right and they opted not to add them.
Oh and that the anonymous dude's friend also gives him free download codes for EA games. Saves me lots of money!
Yep, pretty much. And this anonymous dude (Tolkien) heard it from an anonymous dude (his friend) who heard it from another anonymous dude (ie. water cooler chit-chat) who heard it from another anonymous dude, who probably doesn't even work at Maxis.
That's if it's even true at all. Tolkien could just be trying to stir the pot.
Just give us the lot-traits and we will sort it out for ourselves
Meaning no offense, but I don't buy this.
I don't buy it because of all the other stuff the base game lacked. Pools, Toddlers, Ghosts, etc.
And we're still missing police men (besides gtw), firemen, burglars etc.
The reason isn't that it triggered someone. The reason is because the Sims 4 was an unfinished mess at launch, and just like everything else they had to cut it due to lack of time.
We already know Toddlers ghosts and pools were all planned to be in the game from the start.
The only thing now is for them to decide if making burglars are a good use of resources that could go to something else.
If you want burglars back we need to make some noise.
Also could be that maybe they don't work as someone said. Repair men seem broken, maids aren't much better and no one wants a situation where the burglar refuses to go lol
Right now there's no point in the burglar, we have no police to catch them.
Yep and it isn't the first time he has been on here talking about his buddy and his wealth of information. Surly it wont be the last either.
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I mean, there is nothing wrong with that. But games, shows and movies, even commercials and news have become much more violent and are often viewed by younger audiences. Let's not pretend teens nowadays are more fragile.