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Small Pets can die of starvation, but Cats and Dogs can only die of old age?
bixters
Posts: 2,299 Member
I find it quite hypocritical that in the EP Cats and Dogs, the developers made a huge fuss about how your animals can only die of old age, so we won't treat them "cruelly." In this pack, it appears that if you stop feeding your pets or stop taking care of them, they will die. In the guide for the Sims 4 My First Pets Stuff it states:
"Caring for rodents is fairly simple, but if you don’t want to end up with dead rodents, it is best to make sure you use the proper interactions to keep them in good overall health."
&
"Old age is one of the ways rodents can die in the game."
So, according to EA, cats and dogs lives are more important than hamsters, chinchillas or rats? This makes me feel like they put no thought into this pack. What do you think?
"Caring for rodents is fairly simple, but if you don’t want to end up with dead rodents, it is best to make sure you use the proper interactions to keep them in good overall health."
&
"Old age is one of the ways rodents can die in the game."
So, according to EA, cats and dogs lives are more important than hamsters, chinchillas or rats? This makes me feel like they put no thought into this pack. What do you think?
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Comments
Actually, they didn't really make a fuss about it all....players made a fuss about it. Also, they never said it was "so we won't treat them 'cruelly'". They said, when testing, they found cat and dog deaths for other reasons in-game to be too morbid and disturbing...basically, they felt that the majority of players would be disturbed by that happening.
But, yeah, I don't think this is an issue at all.....you don't even see the hamster or rat even die from starvation...they just disappear out of the cage and you get a pop up. Compare that to a puppy burning up in a fire in-game? It's not even close to being an equal comparison and I totally get why they felt the limited hamster/rat starvation disappearance was okay but not opening up cats and dogs to all of the in-game types of death.
I see your point.
I don’t really want to see cats and dogs die of illness. Not really keen on rodents starving either. But considering that sims will not react to a pet rodent dying because it’s too negative, I think it is kind of sending the message that the life of a cat or dog is more valuable than that of a rodents.
That's what really gets me... No moodlet? Even if it gets buried behind all the happy moodlets, it should still be there.... The closer to release, the more disappointing this pack seems/is.
(Or maybe they figured "why bother!? Itll get buried behind happiness moodlets anyway!")
That is disappointing to hear, the pet can die, but the sims don't even care? At least in Cats & Dogs they were sad if the pet got taken away or died. These small pets seem little more like babies with a few extra animations.
Half my household doesn't even care when Grandma dies, to be fair...
The lack of reaction of small pet death is disappointing, though.
I was thinking this too. I don't have cats and dogs yet, but seeing how my sims wont even feed themselves or their toddlers/babies when food is present, its probably for the best that non-controllable pets can't starve to death.
maybe its because different people are working on the sp and they don't feel the same about it as the people on the eps
Hahaha! I don't know why in this context I found that so funny. But back to the topic; I have seven guinea pigs at home in real life and they're like my seven furry, funny shaped, little children and I'd be devastated if they died (or will be, rather.)
Have to agree. Pet AI is abysmal in Sims 4. Im not particularly bothered that pets can’t die of starvation, that is a little morbid. That would be like starving a toddler.
A simple sad moodlet honestly isn’t asking for much, but apparently it’s not in line with their vision.
This is more what I'm thinking. Cats and Dogs also run off and there are strays. I don't want to see strays starving and dying in the streets. I think they had to make a choice.. and they did.
I do think there should be a sad moodlet for a rodent death though. Heck I wanted a box funeral.. I know I wouldn't get that.
Maybe it's just me, but I find it pretty easy to notice that my pet's miniature background is red when they feel uncomfortable. Then you can ask "what's wrong?" and it tells you exactly what's happening. I don't know, I may be just particulary responsive to that. Also, they could turn off needs decay for the strays (there's even mod for that, so I don't see why the devs couldn't do that).
It's not that I would like cats and dogs to be able to die of starvation (I'm glad is not the case, as with toddlers and children), but it is bizarre that they get such a completely different treatment.
All my creations are CC free.
Man, the Sims 4 really is becoming like a Disney/Pixar film. It would be rated PG if it were a movie, and I only rate it that high because it contains Woohoo and Vampires who actually behave like vampires.
I kind of wish that for the next Sims series (or even this one if I thought there was time to incorporate it), they would do a side series of DLC content with a higher ESRB rating for those who want darker things in their game. The deaths could be less cartoony, Fear would be a thing, there could be more "happy" debuffs, Sims would be free to feel appropriate sadness and anxiety, burglars would break into home again, there could be crime and police, scarier supernaturals, like Werewolves in a big, ugly hybrid form, Ghosts that scare sims to death and have some gruesome appearances from their deaths....
I'm telling you, it would be GLORIOUS.
This is an excellent idea. I would love that so much!
good to know they're reading what people have said about it. my lil guys mean the world outta game and I'd like the game to reflect that better.
The thing about Disney/Pixar movies is that there is plenty of sadness displayed in many parts of the movies! Toy Story, for example, covers the whole emotional gamut. Sims 4 has a balance issue that I feel would be EASILY fixed. Simply get rid of happy environmental moodlets and increase intensity of sad/anger in proportion to a sim's relationship with the other sim or the severity of the life event. Of course they also need to properly give different emotional reactions to certain traits. The traits are FAR TOO TAME in this game!