In France, hats are forbidden inside the high school because it's bad manners.
It's the same where I live in the U.S. students are not allowed to wear hats in the classroom or really anywhere inside the school. They can wear them if doing outdoor activities.
After watching the live stream the actual attendance of school seems boring. I had also watched Plumbella's review and she said there isn't much interaction while in class.
I also would've liked an option for school uniforms. To be able to set it for the entire school not just individual sims.
And no actual football game. I think they could've made it at the very least a rabbithole event. I mean you have soccer games at the university stadium but you can't so the same for a football game.
I am having more negative feelings about this pack than I expected. I like the CAS, the B/B and I like the world. But I am very worried about graduation. It doesn't seem to be working in the version the game changers have. I am afraid it will break my rotation system.
There should have been more options for schools. We should have been able to create schools on our own and assign students to those schools. I would have preferred more options to the current rabbit hole system. If there is going to be one school, let us at least pick who attends. What's it going to be like when I play Copperdale and teens from everywhere show up, but your next door neighbor does not?
Why do the after school clubs not meet in real life? Football, I understand, but all the others should be possible. Can I have clubs meet at the school?
Why can't children pillow fights with teens!
Why is prom every week? I heard it's so everyone gets a chance to go, but couldn't we have just been allowed to schedule it?
Hopefully, it will be better than I expect, or
modders will fix some of the issues, but I'm on the fence right now.
I'm starting to have more negative feelings about the pack too, it's the limitations of the sims4 that is starting to frustrate me. They said that they wanted to focus on teens forming relationships and hanging out, but after school activities are rabbit holes? The world is so small so Kevin, the main sim in the trailer doesn't even have parents? He is living with another family? The fair looks kinda...dull? We can't build high schools anywhere else or choose who attends them so it's going to be a bunch of random teens?
It really feels like many have mentioned here that they want you to play their story. You should play as a trendy teen who is socially awkward and sells clothes, streams videogames, sneaks out at night and hangs out at the pier and looks forward to prom. Want to play as a teen who likes to to do different activities? Too bad, those are just rabbit holes, not enough budget for that.
I think the main issue is that they decided to make the pack focused on the high school, and as expected, there is very little variable gameplay in it, however, that took the bulk of the dev time. In every thread I've seen over the years asking for a school pack, pretty much everyone in those threads wanted everything school except the actual school itself - what they wanted was prom, and pretty much only prom, and maybe graduation, classrooms and locker lined hallways to take pictures of their Sims in. It's one of the areas I really wished EA continued to ignore the community on.
I really wish instead of wasting all that effort into making the whole interactive school system, they instead focused more on out of school activities. Think the Boba/thrift shop, but in addition, skateparks and skate shops, video arcades and comic book stores, that sort of thing.
I actually made a thread about Highschool or an Education pack awhile I did ask for prom and the like I guess I had to be more specific when it came to the classroom but I thought at the time they would at least implicate what they did in Sims 3 gameplay like fall asleep in class, raise hand to ask or answer questions, pass notes, and take notes. I was clearly wrong.
In France, hats are forbidden inside the high school because it's bad manners.
It's the same where I live in the U.S. students are not allowed to wear hats in the classroom or really anywhere inside the school. They can wear them if doing outdoor activities.
After watching the live stream the actual attendance of school seems boring. I had also watched Plumbella's review and she said there isn't much interaction while in class.
I also would've liked an option for school uniforms. To be able to set it for the entire school not just individual sims.
And no actual football game. I think they could've made it at the very least a rabbithole event. I mean you have soccer games at the university stadium but you can't so the same for a football game.
About the big football game right It could've been a rabbit hole game I mean the Sims go to a rabbit hole practice only to compete in a football throwing competition? Where is the game? I would much rather have my sim upset or ecstatic about winning or losing the game like in DU, same thing with the cheerleaders since they are part of the game. Also since they want to use social media they could've post about winning or losing the game on social bunny and have others react to it, it's a missed opportunity imo.
Hi All, I've never posted on this or any forum before so if I say/do something wrong then please let me know gently. I wrote this letter to organise my thoughts around the high school years pack. It's addressed to the sims team and all fellow simmers to make it read like a letter. As I said this was to organise my thoughts and is highly edited to negate giving offense to anyone, atleast I tried my best to do so and if I failed then I genuinely apologise. Lastly these are my own personal thoughts and opinions that I've formed from all information I have gathered and I suppose I just wanted to offer a perspective you may not have thought of. Okay so here goes nothing but I warn you, it's rather long. Thanks.
Dear Sims Team and Fellow Simmers,
I would like to state that I am not a part of the EA Creator Network, I’m simply a woman who has been playing the sims for most of my life. This means I do not have access to the early version of the Sims 4 High School Years Expansion pack however I’ve watched a lot of videos released by EA Creators in the last 24hrs including LilSimsie, MsGryphi, James Turner, Deligracy, Plumbella, SimLicy and Fantayzia to name a few and I was tuned into the Livestream. After the Live steam I was a bit bored if I’m being honest, though George’s pants were classic, and after viewing reviews and related content, I’m still let down. So, I’m writing this rather informal letter to just express my concerns about the pack and I’ve never done anything like this so I’m not sure how it works or if anyone will even deign to read this, but I figured why not try.
First, I am so impressed with the CAS and Build/Buy content of this pack. I think the pieces that were created were done so well and they are just beautiful, I’m particularly in love with the BoHo/Macrame/Dream Catcher furniture sets. It’s right up my alley. The body hair was done well, though underarm hair is absent, and the sexual orientation feature is brilliant if a bit simple, but I understand that’s a work in progress. I feel that a big thing missing in CAS was additional piercings and by that, I mean Helix, Tragus, Daith and extra lobe piercings as these are things that a lot of teenager’s experiment with. I mean, think belly button and tongue piercings which are common in teenagers especially in the Y2K era of which I was a part of (I graduated secondary school in 2013). Also new nails wouldn’t go amiss. And thank you for bringing back the curved walls. BUT I have a big issue with the fact there is only one reward trait that is the same for every single teen aspiration. Children have four aspirations each with there own individual reward trait specific to each aspiration and I feel that an expansion pack based on teen lives should have had at least equal this. The teen aspirations you’ve given us are decently varied and I can think of at least 2 other potential reward traits that would’ve worked so well with them.
Second, the world is beautiful, very detailed and so well done. My only gripe with it is the school and considering its an expansion pack based on high school game play, it’s a pretty big gripe. It can only be placed on the one lot in this one world. Having only one school that is playable in a game is completely understandable and is enough, however that one school should be able to be placed in any world you choose. For example, a school would be appropriate in Willow Creek, Newcrest, and even Windenburg. Also, I personally cannot wait to bulldoze it and build it anew. I think the school is missing a lot of depth, especially in gameplay. I like that the bus is back, and the car park is essentially confirmation that cars will be coming soon which you guys have been teasing for quite a while. BUT why aren’t cars in this pack? This is the perfect pack to reintroduce cars because learning to drive is a right of passage in most teenagers’ lives. It could have been an elective (I will talk about this black hole in a bit) or something for parents to teach their teens. Also, I think that school uniforms should have been selectable. You gave us all the CAS items we’d need to create school uniforms but left us without the tools to force teens to actually wear them. I’m Irish and in our school system, essentially every single public school has a school uniform. This would have been an easy thing to include as the system is already there from setting work uniforms. And to be able to choose the school colours? Why give us all the matching swatches for the school items and then not be able to choose the school colours so that the uniforms, cheerleading and sports outfits could all work cohesively. Don’t forget the matching pompoms. Or the letterman jackets.
Finally, the Gameplay. So Disappointing. There is no depth with this pack, and everything just feels flat. Where is the customization with school gameplay? The only bit I can see is from the afterschool activities and they’re not fleshed out either. Every student takes the SAME classes at the SAME time on the SAME day, ALL THE TIME. You’re essentially playing a week on repeat. There should have been a progression system in high school similar to university where each term gets you closer to the end and Graduation, which is probably the most anticipated and worked for momentous occasion of a teens life, which apparently doesn’t work (wedding stories flashbacks). Why weren’t there electives included? And by that, I mean school newspaper (writing), Drivers Ed (Driving), Debate, Wood shop etc., which could happen during that free time in the school day or before school or after school, literally there was so many possibilities here. In most school systems I’ve ever seen there is some choice with regards to what subjects you decide to take. Obviously, there was the core subjects like Maths, English and another language but then you got to choose between specific subjects such as History, Art, Business, Science (Biology, Physics and Chemistry individually), Geography and Home Economics (think cooking/baking/sowing). This could have tied in with university so well, where the subjects you chose and how well you did could influence your university application acceptances, as it does in real life. That system is also already in place from how skill levels influence the university application process or is like it. Also, there is no interactions available in class. There’s more interactive choice in school when you don’t actively go with your sims which defeats the whole point of this pack. I feel that term papers and presentations could have easily been worked in also. And SATs anyone?
The afterschool activities are just not done well. I’m so delighted that cheerleading is here and team sports, except there is no actual team sport happening here. Where are the Friday night football games and the school spirit? I mean you gave us the pitch, the scoreboard and the bleachers and none of them function in gameplay really. There is an athletic track around the pitch that your sims can’t even run laps on. I mean case and point right there. I also feel like there is a lack of them when you look back at the sims 3 afterschool options and it’s a shame that they all conflict with each other schedule wise, you should be able to pick more than one. We have pools so why wasn’t there a swim team? An athletics team for the athletic track? Even school band/choir? I have my suspicions here about why especially since you guys have been teasing bands for quite a while, I’d wager there is also a team element in the works. But that’s just one woman’s interpretation of the signs, I could be wrong, and I have been before. I also don’t understand why there wasn’t a teacher career included, I mean how did Ms. Prescott get to be the principal and how can we oust her? Having a career fair is very realistic but I would have loved to have seen university tables here as well with the rival mascots talking to students and such. Prom is a great idea and to be honest it seems the only truly fleshed out aspect of this entire pack. I find no faults with it which is great, but it’s only supposed to be one part of this pack, as it is generally only one, very meaningful mind you, experience in a teen’s life.
In short, this is a game pack that’s been labelled as an expansion pack and in my opinion pales in comparison to the previously released Werewolves game pack, and what’s worse is that it’s reminiscent of the My Wedding Stories pack. It lacks depth in the majority of the gameplay features but more importantly, it lacks variation in it’s replayability. It’s a pack that will be used time and again for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe even for Boba Tea, but I can see this pack getting very boring for a lot of sims players very quickly. I myself will probably buy it solely for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe to rebuild the school but only when it goes on sale as this is not worth the price of an expansion pack in my eyes. The last expansion pack released was Cottage Living which is, in my opinion, the best pack you’ve ever done in terms of building and gameplay and then Werewolves came which I absolutely loved and that is shocking in itself because I’ve always been more of a witch lover. But University is my most played pack purely because I love the element of going to school and building a life from scratch with my sims and it’s got so much variation that I can literally play it again and again. There is a massive amount of self-discovery and individual personalization features coming alongside this pack that are fantastic, however they are coming in a base game update free to all players regardless of whether they buy the pack or not and I feel that these new features have been used to bolster a pack that is underdeveloped and lacking in its most fundamental elements. The fact is the base game update coming offers more variation and personalization than the new pack release. Body Hair? Wants and Fears? Sexual Attractions and Preferences? ALL coming in the base game update.
I’m writing this because I was genuinely so excited for this pack and given the fantastic content the sims team has put out in the last few years; my expectations were justifiably high. Unfortunately, it seems the Sims 4 High School Years has fallen short of hitting the mark. I genuinely feel that if this pack had more time to be developed and was properly fleshed out, it truly could have been the best pack you ever released. I sincerely hope that in the future we see a return of the absolutely amazing standard of content that was previously released. It has given us a taste of really good gameplay and I’m afraid, also a taste FOR it. Lastly, I just want to say thank you to All, The Sims Team/Gurus, Mod and Custom Content Creators and anyone who reads this, for all the hard and amazing work you lot have done, honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without the Sims as a creative outlet and you all are responsible for making it happen, so really, thank you.
I'm not happy that the school is locked to Copperdale (although not surprised either). Does anyone know if this will replace the base game rabbit hole school, or if we'll have the option of both? If my sims in Sulani, Mt Komorebi, Henford on Bagley and Oasis Springs are all forced to attend the Copperdale school together, that is a deal-breaker for me.
They said it wasn't supposed to replace it, we can still send them to rabbit hole school.
I am having more negative feelings about this pack than I expected. I like the CAS, the B/B and I like the world. But I am very worried about graduation. It doesn't seem to be working in the version the game changers have. I am afraid it will break my rotation system.
There should have been more options for schools. We should have been able to create schools on our own and assign students to those schools. I would have preferred more options to the current rabbit hole system. If there is going to be one school, let us at least pick who attends. What's it going to be like when I play Copperdale and teens from everywhere show up, but your next door neighbor does not?
Why do the after school clubs not meet in real life? Football, I understand, but all the others should be possible. Can I have clubs meet at the school?
Why can't children pillow fights with teens!
Why is prom every week? I heard it's so everyone gets a chance to go, but couldn't we have just been allowed to schedule it?
Hopefully, it will be better than I expect, or
modders will fix some of the issues, but I'm on the fence right now.
I'm starting to have more negative feelings about the pack too, it's the limitations of the sims4 that is starting to frustrate me. They said that they wanted to focus on teens forming relationships and hanging out, but after school activities are rabbit holes? The world is so small so Kevin, the main sim in the trailer doesn't even have parents? He is living with another family? The fair looks kinda...dull? We can't build high schools anywhere else or choose who attends them so it's going to be a bunch of random teens?
It really feels like many have mentioned here that they want you to play their story. You should play as a trendy teen who is socially awkward and sells clothes, streams videogames, sneaks out at night and hangs out at the pier and looks forward to prom. Want to play as a teen who likes to to do different activities? Too bad, those are just rabbit holes, not enough budget for that.
I think the main issue is that they decided to make the pack focused on the high school, and as expected, there is very little variable gameplay in it, however, that took the bulk of the dev time. In every thread I've seen over the years asking for a school pack, pretty much everyone in those threads wanted everything school except the actual school itself - what they wanted was prom, and pretty much only prom, and maybe graduation, classrooms and locker lined hallways to take pictures of their Sims in. It's one of the areas I really wished EA continued to ignore the community on.
I really wish instead of wasting all that effort into making the whole interactive school system, they instead focused more on out of school activities. Think the Boba/thrift shop, but in addition, skateparks and skate shops, video arcades and comic book stores, that sort of thing.
I really wanted a High School Pack but I had also hoped that they would create variety by adding more new gameplay to it. The pack does add more things for teens to do and I am grateful that the high school is not just Discovery University with teens, but it still feels so limited when it comes to gameplay, they could have added physics experiments, assignments, group activities etc.
But they chose to focus on other things instead, like selling clothes and that's what's bothering me, it feels like the sims team can only focus on specific areas in these packs. The other areas get the rabbit hole treatment.
I'm not sure I am even going to bother with the after school activities when playing the pack, I think I will just focus on playing a trendy livestreamer who makes clothes instead.
So I thought I would need to uninstall my school mods but being in school doesn't allow me to tell my sim to focus on doing anything (study hard, socialize, sleep in class, etc) in fact there is literally nothing to do during class. lol
I really do hope that this pack allows clubs from get together to meet in the schools. If it does I will create different club rooms there this way I have a reason to use the school. Please EA for once in your life make a pack that actually expands on the content players have for the many other packs they have.
Hi All,
I've never posted on this or any forum before so if I say/do something wrong then please let me know gently. I wrote this letter to organise my thoughts around the high school years pack. It's addressed to the sims team and all fellow simmers to make it read like a letter. As I said this was to organise my thoughts and is highly edited to negate giving offense to anyone, atleast I tried my best to do so and if I failed then I genuinely apologise. Lastly these are my own personal thoughts and opinions that I've formed from all information I have gathered and I suppose I just wanted to offer a perspective you may not have thought of. Okay so here goes nothing but I warn you, it's rather long. Thanks.
Dear Sims Team and Fellow Simmers,
I would like to state that I am not a part of the EA Creator Network, I’m simply a woman who has been playing the sims for most of my life. This means I do not have access to the early version of the Sims 4 High School Years Expansion pack however I’ve watched a lot of videos released by EA Creators in the last 24hrs including LilSimsie, MsGryphi, James Turner, Deligracy, Plumbella, SimLicy and Fantayzia to name a few and I was tuned into the Livestream. After the Live steam I was a bit bored if I’m being honest, though George’s pants were classic, and after viewing reviews and related content, I’m still let down. So, I’m writing this rather informal letter to just express my concerns about the pack and I’ve never done anything like this so I’m not sure how it works or if anyone will even deign to read this, but I figured why not try.
First, I am so impressed with the CAS and Build/Buy content of this pack. I think the pieces that were created were done so well and they are just beautiful, I’m particularly in love with the BoHo/Macrame/Dream Catcher furniture sets. It’s right up my alley. The body hair was done well, though underarm hair is absent, and the sexual orientation feature is brilliant if a bit simple, but I understand that’s a work in progress. I feel that a big thing missing in CAS was additional piercings and by that, I mean Helix, Tragus, Daith and extra lobe piercings as these are things that a lot of teenager’s experiment with. I mean, think belly button and tongue piercings which are common in teenagers especially in the Y2K era of which I was a part of (I graduated secondary school in 2013). Also new nails wouldn’t go amiss. And thank you for bringing back the curved walls. BUT I have a big issue with the fact there is only one reward trait that is the same for every single teen aspiration. Children have four aspirations each with there own individual reward trait specific to each aspiration and I feel that an expansion pack based on teen lives should have had at least equal this. The teen aspirations you’ve given us are decently varied and I can think of at least 2 other potential reward traits that would’ve worked so well with them.
Second, the world is beautiful, very detailed and so well done. My only gripe with it is the school and considering its an expansion pack based on high school game play, it’s a pretty big gripe. It can only be placed on the one lot in this one world. Having only one school that is playable in a game is completely understandable and is enough, however that one school should be able to be placed in any world you choose. For example, a school would be appropriate in Willow Creek, Newcrest, and even Windenburg. Also, I personally cannot wait to bulldoze it and build it anew. I think the school is missing a lot of depth, especially in gameplay. I like that the bus is back, and the car park is essentially confirmation that cars will be coming soon which you guys have been teasing for quite a while. BUT why aren’t cars in this pack? This is the perfect pack to reintroduce cars because learning to drive is a right of passage in most teenagers’ lives. It could have been an elective (I will talk about this black hole in a bit) or something for parents to teach their teens. Also, I think that school uniforms should have been selectable. You gave us all the CAS items we’d need to create school uniforms but left us without the tools to force teens to actually wear them. I’m Irish and in our school system, essentially every single public school has a school uniform. This would have been an easy thing to include as the system is already there from setting work uniforms. And to be able to choose the school colours? Why give us all the matching swatches for the school items and then not be able to choose the school colours so that the uniforms, cheerleading and sports outfits could all work cohesively. Don’t forget the matching pompoms. Or the letterman jackets.
Finally, the Gameplay. So Disappointing. There is no depth with this pack, and everything just feels flat. Where is the customization with school gameplay? The only bit I can see is from the afterschool activities and they’re not fleshed out either. Every student takes the SAME classes at the SAME time on the SAME day, ALL THE TIME. You’re essentially playing a week on repeat. There should have been a progression system in high school similar to university where each term gets you closer to the end and Graduation, which is probably the most anticipated and worked for momentous occasion of a teens life, which apparently doesn’t work (wedding stories flashbacks). Why weren’t there electives included? And by that, I mean school newspaper (writing), Drivers Ed (Driving), Debate, Wood shop etc., which could happen during that free time in the school day or before school or after school, literally there was so many possibilities here. In most school systems I’ve ever seen there is some choice with regards to what subjects you decide to take. Obviously, there was the core subjects like Maths, English and another language but then you got to choose between specific subjects such as History, Art, Business, Science (Biology, Physics and Chemistry individually), Geography and Home Economics (think cooking/baking/sowing). This could have tied in with university so well, where the subjects you chose and how well you did could influence your university application acceptances, as it does in real life. That system is also already in place from how skill levels influence the university application process or is like it. Also, there is no interactions available in class. There’s more interactive choice in school when you don’t actively go with your sims which defeats the whole point of this pack. I feel that term papers and presentations could have easily been worked in also. And SATs anyone?
The afterschool activities are just not done well. I’m so delighted that cheerleading is here and team sports, except there is no actual team sport happening here. Where are the Friday night football games and the school spirit? I mean you gave us the pitch, the scoreboard and the bleachers and none of them function in gameplay really. There is an athletic track around the pitch that your sims can’t even run laps on. I mean case and point right there. I also feel like there is a lack of them when you look back at the sims 3 afterschool options and it’s a shame that they all conflict with each other schedule wise, you should be able to pick more than one. We have pools so why wasn’t there a swim team? An athletics team for the athletic track? Even school band/choir? I have my suspicions here about why especially since you guys have been teasing bands for quite a while, I’d wager there is also a team element in the works. But that’s just one woman’s interpretation of the signs, I could be wrong, and I have been before. I also don’t understand why there wasn’t a teacher career included, I mean how did Ms. Prescott get to be the principal and how can we oust her? Having a career fair is very realistic but I would have loved to have seen university tables here as well with the rival mascots talking to students and such. Prom is a great idea and to be honest it seems the only truly fleshed out aspect of this entire pack. I find no faults with it which is great, but it’s only supposed to be one part of this pack, as it is generally only one, very meaningful mind you, experience in a teen’s life.
In short, this is a game pack that’s been labelled as an expansion pack and in my opinion pales in comparison to the previously released Werewolves game pack, and what’s worse is that it’s reminiscent of the My Wedding Stories pack. It lacks depth in the majority of the gameplay features but more importantly, it lacks variation in it’s replayability. It’s a pack that will be used time and again for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe even for Boba Tea, but I can see this pack getting very boring for a lot of sims players very quickly. I myself will probably buy it solely for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe to rebuild the school but only when it goes on sale as this is not worth the price of an expansion pack in my eyes. The last expansion pack released was Cottage Living which is, in my opinion, the best pack you’ve ever done in terms of building and gameplay and then Werewolves came which I absolutely loved and that is shocking in itself because I’ve always been more of a witch lover. But University is my most played pack purely because I love the element of going to school and building a life from scratch with my sims and it’s got so much variation that I can literally play it again and again. There is a massive amount of self-discovery and individual personalization features coming alongside this pack that are fantastic, however they are coming in a base game update free to all players regardless of whether they buy the pack or not and I feel that these new features have been used to bolster a pack that is underdeveloped and lacking in its most fundamental elements. The fact is the base game update coming offers more variation and personalization than the new pack release. Body Hair? Wants and Fears? Sexual Attractions and Preferences? ALL coming in the base game update.
I’m writing this because I was genuinely so excited for this pack and given the fantastic content the sims team has put out in the last few years; my expectations were justifiably high. Unfortunately, it seems the Sims 4 High School Years has fallen short of hitting the mark. I genuinely feel that if this pack had more time to be developed and was properly fleshed out, it truly could have been the best pack you ever released. I sincerely hope that in the future we see a return of the absolutely amazing standard of content that was previously released. It has given us a taste of really good gameplay and I’m afraid, also a taste FOR it. Lastly, I just want to say thank you to All, The Sims Team/Gurus, Mod and Custom Content Creators and anyone who reads this, for all the hard and amazing work you lot have done, honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without the Sims as a creative outlet and you all are responsible for making it happen, so really, thank you.
A Faithful Fellow Simmer,
M
Exactly this I mean I do like some of the things they brought in it's just the highschool "The School." Part is what's triggering me "How do the teens learn?" Is my question also someone else Brought up the parenthood projects how are they implemented in this pack? Also what's so silly to me is we have rabbit hole practice but we're throwing a football for a competition like really??? I understand the cheerleading part that's great but going to a rabbit hole for football just to throw a football is beyond dumb I would much rather have the game as a rabbit hole as well like in DU and get moodlet of what happened in game. We have game in Sims 3 and in Sims 4 DU but can't have one in the Sims 4 Highschool? Are you kidding me??? I asked for a Wedding Pack? That turned into a complete trainwreck now Highschool but no actual gameplay about the school? What will homework do for the class? I don't know. Detention what are the consequences? I don't know that either. In class gameplay? Sleep in class, do late homework, pass notes, take notes, ask and answer questions, write on desk, chest on exam when it's exam time. No we have none of these???
I just watched a video by MsGryphi. Ash is a barista at Thriftee, and her mom is the lunch lady. Admittedly those jobs aren't as important or built up as the principal, but we still can't play those Sims and keep them in those roles. I imagine Ash would still be a barista, but probably not show up at Thriftee.
In France, hats are forbidden inside the high school because it's bad manners.
It's the same where I live in the U.S. students are not allowed to wear hats in the classroom or really anywhere inside the school. They can wear them if doing outdoor activities.
After watching the live stream the actual attendance of school seems boring. I had also watched Plumbella's review and she said there isn't much interaction while in class.
I also would've liked an option for school uniforms. To be able to set it for the entire school not just individual sims.
And no actual football game. I think they could've made it at the very least a rabbit hole event. I mean you have soccer games at the university stadium but you can't so the same for a football game.
Yes to all of this. I was so upset we couldn't assign uniforms. It would have been neat if you could get in trouble for not wearing a uniform as well.
I watched the live steam and when we were almost 1 hour into the stream and they STILL had not started talking about the actual content in the high school... it was then I knew there wasn't going to be much going on in there.
I also watched Plumbella's review too and was sad to see we can't do anything in classes. I sometimes wonder if the sims team before creating a lot, do they ask themselves: "Why should a player endure a loading screen just to go to school? What can we give players to encourage them to use this lot?"
Why should anyone go to the high school?
To meet sims? - But the sims at school are randomized and I can meet sims at the pier.
To join a club? - I can do that on the phone.
I have been hearing detention isn't really anything either. I really do hope that this pack just needs parenthood attached to help enhance it, I really do.
Oddly enough having a rabbit hole football game and a cheer squad contest would have been fine if they required you to actually have to train and practice in order to win. The live stream said they wanted to focus on the socializing of youth. Fine, then flush out the clubs and have players stay after school for the club activities. Have sims need to meet, build relationships with club members, form rivalries, use the phone chat to talk to club members and encourage one another for the next tournament. Maybe even require that the teams morale be high and your sim with the best possible mood in order to boost your chances of winning. This literally accomplishes the same socializing goal they wanted to capture but keeps the focus on the high school.
Also the career day is a missed opportunity for sims to be worrying about their careers, seeking advice for the future, and being allowed to follow an adult sim to a rabbit hole career. Teens could have come back turned off by some careers and impressed with some based off of their traits. Maybe to keep things simple, career day could have had a sim from not all careers but just one for each category (Media could cover streaming and acting. While government could have covered politician, secret agent and teachers.) these sims would give you a flier and as long as we have the flier we can click on it to choose what rabbit hole to visit.
For example: My sim gets the media flier. I can now choose to visit an acting career or a streamer career rabbit hole. If my sim is socially awkward and dislikes the lime light they return with a mood that says they didn't really like the job. This could make a sim scared about the future.
If my sims is a party animal who loves to socialize, then my sim could return with a mood that says how exciting the job seemed and this could be their dream job. This could make a sim excited about the future.
I'm not sure I am even going to bother with the after school activities when playing the pack, I think I will just focus on playing a trendy livestreamer who makes clothes instead.
This is a really good point. Like, I get that kids are more interested in being famous and taking part in trendy internet-related activities. But the game is already so heavily geared towards trendy fame stuff. Instead of improving the class experience - something all teens at school are going to take part in - they worked on made more content for a niche subsection of sims.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
I'm not sure I am even going to bother with the after school activities when playing the pack, I think I will just focus on playing a trendy livestreamer who makes clothes instead.
This is a really good point. Like, I get that kids are more interested in being famous and taking part in trendy internet-related activities. But the game is already so heavily geared towards trendy fame stuff. Instead of improving the class experience - something all teens at school are going to take part in - they worked on made more content for a niche subsection of sims.
I had a question though, how is this trend setter job any different from the adult trend setter career we already have? Isn't this just a more flushed out version of that career?
As much as I like the new world, Plumbite Pier really drags it down in my opinion. There's so much potential there, but there's no lot we can edit even though it looks like there could easily be space for it. It's also disappointing that the carnival rides are rabbit holes. I can understand it more for the haunted house and tunnel of love, but it doesn't make sense at all for the ferris wheel.
According to James Turner, there can only be 20 Sims on a single lot at any given time, including Sims that are passing by. If it's possible, I definitely think there should be some adjustment made to make sure that there are plenty of teens attending the school each day. It didn't look like there were many there during James' gameplay.
There's no reason to have prom every week, it just seems silly. We should be able to schedule the prom season manually.
There's a whole sports field, complete with goal posts, a running track and bleachers and it's all just set dressing. Surely it wouldn't have been that difficult to add the existing jogging animation to the track? Or allow Sims to sit, chat and hang out at the bleachers?
It's disappointing that there's no option to choose or create uniforms for students and faculty.
The T-pose challenge is weird. I get that it's supposed to be a Gen Z thing, but it's kind of embarrassing when the game is often ridiculed for the amount of bugs it has, and lack of patch updates to fix said bugs.
I don't understand why we can't have our Sims do certain things during classes, like working hard, slacking off or chatting with other students. We can select options like this for the rabbit hole school but not for this pack? Seems like an oversight.
Speaking of classes, it would be nice if some of them were more interactable. Sims should be able to use an easel during art class, or play an instrument during music class. The animations are already there, and it would have given classes a little bit more depth.
I wish they'd stop focusing so much on livestreaming or becoming an influencer of some kind, it's nothing new and it's getting repetitive.
While I do like the idea of having interactable social media, they could have fleshed out existing social media features, or merged it all together if you have the corresponding DLC instead of having a few different options to choose from.
Sims 4 Wish List:
> Option to toggle on/off random townie generation.
> Turn vacation worlds into residential worlds.
> Option to purchase separate worlds or a world pack.
I had a question though, how is this trend setter job any different from the adult trend setter career we already have? Isn't this just a more flushed out version of that career?
Hmm yeah, pretty much.
And we already had multiple forms of livestreaming, and playing video games for cash. They should have just removed livestreaming as a job and made it a casual hobby, like painting. Or making videos and livestreaming in Get Famous.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
I'm just trying to tell myself over and over what the game creators say it's only the software version to the full version well in the full version can you please add gameplay in the classes like sleep in class, take notes, pass notes, throw paper ball, write on desk, ask and answer questions. Also can we please have a big football game day like y'all did in DU with moodlets??? Also can we implement the parenthood school project to the school thanks.
Also I hope we get actual consequences when getting detention and not just sit there as well.
Hi All,
I've never posted on this or any forum before so if I say/do something wrong then please let me know gently. I wrote this letter to organise my thoughts around the high school years pack. It's addressed to the sims team and all fellow simmers to make it read like a letter. As I said this was to organise my thoughts and is highly edited to negate giving offense to anyone, atleast I tried my best to do so and if I failed then I genuinely apologise. Lastly these are my own personal thoughts and opinions that I've formed from all information I have gathered and I suppose I just wanted to offer a perspective you may not have thought of. Okay so here goes nothing but I warn you, it's rather long. Thanks.
Dear Sims Team and Fellow Simmers,
I would like to state that I am not a part of the EA Creator Network, I’m simply a woman who has been playing the sims for most of my life. This means I do not have access to the early version of the Sims 4 High School Years Expansion pack however I’ve watched a lot of videos released by EA Creators in the last 24hrs including LilSimsie, MsGryphi, James Turner, Deligracy, Plumbella, SimLicy and Fantayzia to name a few and I was tuned into the Livestream. After the Live steam I was a bit bored if I’m being honest, though George’s pants were classic, and after viewing reviews and related content, I’m still let down. So, I’m writing this rather informal letter to just express my concerns about the pack and I’ve never done anything like this so I’m not sure how it works or if anyone will even deign to read this, but I figured why not try.
First, I am so impressed with the CAS and Build/Buy content of this pack. I think the pieces that were created were done so well and they are just beautiful, I’m particularly in love with the BoHo/Macrame/Dream Catcher furniture sets. It’s right up my alley. The body hair was done well, though underarm hair is absent, and the sexual orientation feature is brilliant if a bit simple, but I understand that’s a work in progress. I feel that a big thing missing in CAS was additional piercings and by that, I mean Helix, Tragus, Daith and extra lobe piercings as these are things that a lot of teenager’s experiment with. I mean, think belly button and tongue piercings which are common in teenagers especially in the Y2K era of which I was a part of (I graduated secondary school in 2013). Also new nails wouldn’t go amiss. And thank you for bringing back the curved walls. BUT I have a big issue with the fact there is only one reward trait that is the same for every single teen aspiration. Children have four aspirations each with there own individual reward trait specific to each aspiration and I feel that an expansion pack based on teen lives should have had at least equal this. The teen aspirations you’ve given us are decently varied and I can think of at least 2 other potential reward traits that would’ve worked so well with them.
Second, the world is beautiful, very detailed and so well done. My only gripe with it is the school and considering its an expansion pack based on high school game play, it’s a pretty big gripe. It can only be placed on the one lot in this one world. Having only one school that is playable in a game is completely understandable and is enough, however that one school should be able to be placed in any world you choose. For example, a school would be appropriate in Willow Creek, Newcrest, and even Windenburg. Also, I personally cannot wait to bulldoze it and build it anew. I think the school is missing a lot of depth, especially in gameplay. I like that the bus is back, and the car park is essentially confirmation that cars will be coming soon which you guys have been teasing for quite a while. BUT why aren’t cars in this pack? This is the perfect pack to reintroduce cars because learning to drive is a right of passage in most teenagers’ lives. It could have been an elective (I will talk about this black hole in a bit) or something for parents to teach their teens. Also, I think that school uniforms should have been selectable. You gave us all the CAS items we’d need to create school uniforms but left us without the tools to force teens to actually wear them. I’m Irish and in our school system, essentially every single public school has a school uniform. This would have been an easy thing to include as the system is already there from setting work uniforms. And to be able to choose the school colours? Why give us all the matching swatches for the school items and then not be able to choose the school colours so that the uniforms, cheerleading and sports outfits could all work cohesively. Don’t forget the matching pompoms. Or the letterman jackets.
Finally, the Gameplay. So Disappointing. There is no depth with this pack, and everything just feels flat. Where is the customization with school gameplay? The only bit I can see is from the afterschool activities and they’re not fleshed out either. Every student takes the SAME classes at the SAME time on the SAME day, ALL THE TIME. You’re essentially playing a week on repeat. There should have been a progression system in high school similar to university where each term gets you closer to the end and Graduation, which is probably the most anticipated and worked for momentous occasion of a teens life, which apparently doesn’t work (wedding stories flashbacks). Why weren’t there electives included? And by that, I mean school newspaper (writing), Drivers Ed (Driving), Debate, Wood shop etc., which could happen during that free time in the school day or before school or after school, literally there was so many possibilities here. In most school systems I’ve ever seen there is some choice with regards to what subjects you decide to take. Obviously, there was the core subjects like Maths, English and another language but then you got to choose between specific subjects such as History, Art, Business, Science (Biology, Physics and Chemistry individually), Geography and Home Economics (think cooking/baking/sowing). This could have tied in with university so well, where the subjects you chose and how well you did could influence your university application acceptances, as it does in real life. That system is also already in place from how skill levels influence the university application process or is like it. Also, there is no interactions available in class. There’s more interactive choice in school when you don’t actively go with your sims which defeats the whole point of this pack. I feel that term papers and presentations could have easily been worked in also. And SATs anyone?
The afterschool activities are just not done well. I’m so delighted that cheerleading is here and team sports, except there is no actual team sport happening here. Where are the Friday night football games and the school spirit? I mean you gave us the pitch, the scoreboard and the bleachers and none of them function in gameplay really. There is an athletic track around the pitch that your sims can’t even run laps on. I mean case and point right there. I also feel like there is a lack of them when you look back at the sims 3 afterschool options and it’s a shame that they all conflict with each other schedule wise, you should be able to pick more than one. We have pools so why wasn’t there a swim team? An athletics team for the athletic track? Even school band/choir? I have my suspicions here about why especially since you guys have been teasing bands for quite a while, I’d wager there is also a team element in the works. But that’s just one woman’s interpretation of the signs, I could be wrong, and I have been before. I also don’t understand why there wasn’t a teacher career included, I mean how did Ms. Prescott get to be the principal and how can we oust her? Having a career fair is very realistic but I would have loved to have seen university tables here as well with the rival mascots talking to students and such. Prom is a great idea and to be honest it seems the only truly fleshed out aspect of this entire pack. I find no faults with it which is great, but it’s only supposed to be one part of this pack, as it is generally only one, very meaningful mind you, experience in a teen’s life.
In short, this is a game pack that’s been labelled as an expansion pack and in my opinion pales in comparison to the previously released Werewolves game pack, and what’s worse is that it’s reminiscent of the My Wedding Stories pack. It lacks depth in the majority of the gameplay features but more importantly, it lacks variation in it’s replayability. It’s a pack that will be used time and again for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe even for Boba Tea, but I can see this pack getting very boring for a lot of sims players very quickly. I myself will probably buy it solely for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe to rebuild the school but only when it goes on sale as this is not worth the price of an expansion pack in my eyes. The last expansion pack released was Cottage Living which is, in my opinion, the best pack you’ve ever done in terms of building and gameplay and then Werewolves came which I absolutely loved and that is shocking in itself because I’ve always been more of a witch lover. But University is my most played pack purely because I love the element of going to school and building a life from scratch with my sims and it’s got so much variation that I can literally play it again and again. There is a massive amount of self-discovery and individual personalization features coming alongside this pack that are fantastic, however they are coming in a base game update free to all players regardless of whether they buy the pack or not and I feel that these new features have been used to bolster a pack that is underdeveloped and lacking in its most fundamental elements. The fact is the base game update coming offers more variation and personalization than the new pack release. Body Hair? Wants and Fears? Sexual Attractions and Preferences? ALL coming in the base game update.
I’m writing this because I was genuinely so excited for this pack and given the fantastic content the sims team has put out in the last few years; my expectations were justifiably high. Unfortunately, it seems the Sims 4 High School Years has fallen short of hitting the mark. I genuinely feel that if this pack had more time to be developed and was properly fleshed out, it truly could have been the best pack you ever released. I sincerely hope that in the future we see a return of the absolutely amazing standard of content that was previously released. It has given us a taste of really good gameplay and I’m afraid, also a taste FOR it. Lastly, I just want to say thank you to All, The Sims Team/Gurus, Mod and Custom Content Creators and anyone who reads this, for all the hard and amazing work you lot have done, honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without the Sims as a creative outlet and you all are responsible for making it happen, so really, thank you.
A Faithful Fellow Simmer,
M
Exactly this I mean I do like some of the things they brought in it's just the highschool "The School." Part is what's triggering me "How do the teens learn?" Is my question also someone else Brought up the parenthood projects how are they implemented in this pack? Also what's so silly to me is we have rabbit hole practice but we're throwing a football for a competition like really??? I understand the cheerleading part that's great but going to a rabbit hole for football just to throw a football is beyond dumb I would much rather have the game as a rabbit hole as well like in DU and get moodlet of what happened in game. We have game in Sims 3 and in Sims 4 DU but can't have one in the Sims 4 Highschool? Are you kidding me??? I asked for a Wedding Pack? That turned into a complete trainwreck now Highschool but no actual gameplay about the school? What will homework do for the class? I don't know. Detention what are the consequences? I don't know that either. In class gameplay? Sleep in class, do late homework, pass notes, take notes, ask and answer questions, write on desk, chest on exam when it's exam time. No we have none of these???
Well, it's obvious that they're still not interested in quality game-play. Of all the stuff included in this pack, what feature is being hyped in the General Discussion section? I can understand why they'd steer clear of things like the shallow gameplay, lackluster clothing options, or missed opportunities with various activities. Are they addressing the continued gender bias against male Sims? Nope. The only "game-play" they're interested in is (in all caps no less) ... "SEXUAL ORIENTATION." I'm sure it will benefit my Sims immensely. /s
The promo video indicated that one of the male teens was a football player even though there is nothing in the pack related to sports activities. Not even a PE class. I saw in the stream that teens get to do a T-Pose Challenge. I can hardly wait to see what other game glitches the team uses for future challenges.
While I've been waiting for teen content for ages, and I can't wait to get HSY, there are things I find disappointing.
- Not being able to do anything else than sit during classes. I thought we'd be able to have our sims take notes, ask questions, maybe sneak notes to their friends....
- Not being able to place High Schools elsewhere.
- The pier attractions look super fake with their non see-through windows.
- I wish there were actual football games played at the stadium that spectators could attend.
Curfew was a Parenthood feature and in fully the hands of the parents, now it looks like it's getting reintroduced as a default state. Curfew and hall pass are two concepts that are abit "too american" for my taste.
I hope the curfews are player customisable still. I don't really get the hall pass thing though, I hope I can choose to opt out of it if I want to.
What— you didn't have hall passes when you were in school? We did. You weren't just allowed to leave class and wander about. If you were caught and didn't have a hall pass, or a viable reason, such as I had, hobbling on my crutches to see the school nurse, you risked getting Detention. Thankfully, I never was sent there.
I’m still excited about this pack. Because there is a lot that I like.
But I feel like even though I like the stuff that comes with the depop collaboration. I just don’t think that this was the pack for it. I just feel like a lot of that time could’ve been spent on fleshing out after school activities and teen hangouts. There should’ve been another teen lot. Or a way to have teens hang out together that just doesn’t rely on get to together clubs, a teen specific event.
I find it weird that there’s not more after school activities especially if they’re just rabbit holes. I feel like they could have made the fields work better with existing animation that is already in the game.
Really annoyed that they didn’t incorporate parenthood class projects. It would’ve been so easy to just have a couple added that are exclusive to this pack and then just have that be a science fair. Maybe have Sims assigned to do a project together.
What— you didn't have hall passes when you were in school? We did. You weren't just allowed to leave class and wander about. If you were caught and didn't have a hall pass, or a viable reason, such as I had, hobbling on my crutches to see the school nurse, you risked getting Detention. Thankfully, I never was sent there.
That again is a (mostly?) American thing. In other countries, mine included, hall passes do not exist even as concept and no one is patrolling the halls either.
What I find strange is that football being even less fleshed out than soccer in DU.
Here I am wishing they spent more time on school game play less time on online streaming for what the third time another online store when we have one boba tea and rabbit hole carnivals. The development time should have been spent creating new systems for high school such as a system to select principal teachers and students you want to see more active school activities clubs and more to do inside classrooms instead of just waiting for it to finish.
Sims 4 went from "You Rule" to "One of the stories we want you to tell"
What— you didn't have hall passes when you were in school? We did. You weren't just allowed to leave class and wander about. If you were caught and didn't have a hall pass, or a viable reason, such as I had, hobbling on my crutches to see the school nurse, you risked getting Detention. Thankfully, I never was sent there.
That again is a (mostly?) American thing. In other countries, mine included, hall passes do not exist even as concept and no one is patrolling the halls either.
What I find strange is that football being even less fleshed out than soccer in DU.
Yeah, I'm from the UK. You weren't allowed to leave class without permission but I don’t think it was ever monitored. Then again, I was scared to do anything wrong. One thing I remember from middle school was naughty/disruptive kids being made to stand outside the classroom as a punishment. I think there were consequences if they were spotted by senior staff, but it never happened to me so I can't be sure.
Comments
It's the same where I live in the U.S. students are not allowed to wear hats in the classroom or really anywhere inside the school. They can wear them if doing outdoor activities.
After watching the live stream the actual attendance of school seems boring. I had also watched Plumbella's review and she said there isn't much interaction while in class.
I also would've liked an option for school uniforms. To be able to set it for the entire school not just individual sims.
And no actual football game. I think they could've made it at the very least a rabbithole event. I mean you have soccer games at the university stadium but you can't so the same for a football game.
I actually made a thread about Highschool or an Education pack awhile I did ask for prom and the like I guess I had to be more specific when it came to the classroom but I thought at the time they would at least implicate what they did in Sims 3 gameplay like fall asleep in class, raise hand to ask or answer questions, pass notes, and take notes. I was clearly wrong.
About the big football game right It could've been a rabbit hole game I mean the Sims go to a rabbit hole practice only to compete in a football throwing competition? Where is the game? I would much rather have my sim upset or ecstatic about winning or losing the game like in DU, same thing with the cheerleaders since they are part of the game. Also since they want to use social media they could've post about winning or losing the game on social bunny and have others react to it, it's a missed opportunity imo.
I've never posted on this or any forum before so if I say/do something wrong then please let me know gently. I wrote this letter to organise my thoughts around the high school years pack. It's addressed to the sims team and all fellow simmers to make it read like a letter. As I said this was to organise my thoughts and is highly edited to negate giving offense to anyone, atleast I tried my best to do so and if I failed then I genuinely apologise. Lastly these are my own personal thoughts and opinions that I've formed from all information I have gathered and I suppose I just wanted to offer a perspective you may not have thought of. Okay so here goes nothing but I warn you, it's rather long. Thanks.
Dear Sims Team and Fellow Simmers,
I would like to state that I am not a part of the EA Creator Network, I’m simply a woman who has been playing the sims for most of my life. This means I do not have access to the early version of the Sims 4 High School Years Expansion pack however I’ve watched a lot of videos released by EA Creators in the last 24hrs including LilSimsie, MsGryphi, James Turner, Deligracy, Plumbella, SimLicy and Fantayzia to name a few and I was tuned into the Livestream. After the Live steam I was a bit bored if I’m being honest, though George’s pants were classic, and after viewing reviews and related content, I’m still let down. So, I’m writing this rather informal letter to just express my concerns about the pack and I’ve never done anything like this so I’m not sure how it works or if anyone will even deign to read this, but I figured why not try.
First, I am so impressed with the CAS and Build/Buy content of this pack. I think the pieces that were created were done so well and they are just beautiful, I’m particularly in love with the BoHo/Macrame/Dream Catcher furniture sets. It’s right up my alley. The body hair was done well, though underarm hair is absent, and the sexual orientation feature is brilliant if a bit simple, but I understand that’s a work in progress. I feel that a big thing missing in CAS was additional piercings and by that, I mean Helix, Tragus, Daith and extra lobe piercings as these are things that a lot of teenager’s experiment with. I mean, think belly button and tongue piercings which are common in teenagers especially in the Y2K era of which I was a part of (I graduated secondary school in 2013). Also new nails wouldn’t go amiss. And thank you for bringing back the curved walls. BUT I have a big issue with the fact there is only one reward trait that is the same for every single teen aspiration. Children have four aspirations each with there own individual reward trait specific to each aspiration and I feel that an expansion pack based on teen lives should have had at least equal this. The teen aspirations you’ve given us are decently varied and I can think of at least 2 other potential reward traits that would’ve worked so well with them.
Second, the world is beautiful, very detailed and so well done. My only gripe with it is the school and considering its an expansion pack based on high school game play, it’s a pretty big gripe. It can only be placed on the one lot in this one world. Having only one school that is playable in a game is completely understandable and is enough, however that one school should be able to be placed in any world you choose. For example, a school would be appropriate in Willow Creek, Newcrest, and even Windenburg. Also, I personally cannot wait to bulldoze it and build it anew. I think the school is missing a lot of depth, especially in gameplay. I like that the bus is back, and the car park is essentially confirmation that cars will be coming soon which you guys have been teasing for quite a while. BUT why aren’t cars in this pack? This is the perfect pack to reintroduce cars because learning to drive is a right of passage in most teenagers’ lives. It could have been an elective (I will talk about this black hole in a bit) or something for parents to teach their teens. Also, I think that school uniforms should have been selectable. You gave us all the CAS items we’d need to create school uniforms but left us without the tools to force teens to actually wear them. I’m Irish and in our school system, essentially every single public school has a school uniform. This would have been an easy thing to include as the system is already there from setting work uniforms. And to be able to choose the school colours? Why give us all the matching swatches for the school items and then not be able to choose the school colours so that the uniforms, cheerleading and sports outfits could all work cohesively. Don’t forget the matching pompoms. Or the letterman jackets.
Finally, the Gameplay. So Disappointing. There is no depth with this pack, and everything just feels flat. Where is the customization with school gameplay? The only bit I can see is from the afterschool activities and they’re not fleshed out either. Every student takes the SAME classes at the SAME time on the SAME day, ALL THE TIME. You’re essentially playing a week on repeat. There should have been a progression system in high school similar to university where each term gets you closer to the end and Graduation, which is probably the most anticipated and worked for momentous occasion of a teens life, which apparently doesn’t work (wedding stories flashbacks). Why weren’t there electives included? And by that, I mean school newspaper (writing), Drivers Ed (Driving), Debate, Wood shop etc., which could happen during that free time in the school day or before school or after school, literally there was so many possibilities here. In most school systems I’ve ever seen there is some choice with regards to what subjects you decide to take. Obviously, there was the core subjects like Maths, English and another language but then you got to choose between specific subjects such as History, Art, Business, Science (Biology, Physics and Chemistry individually), Geography and Home Economics (think cooking/baking/sowing). This could have tied in with university so well, where the subjects you chose and how well you did could influence your university application acceptances, as it does in real life. That system is also already in place from how skill levels influence the university application process or is like it. Also, there is no interactions available in class. There’s more interactive choice in school when you don’t actively go with your sims which defeats the whole point of this pack. I feel that term papers and presentations could have easily been worked in also. And SATs anyone?
The afterschool activities are just not done well. I’m so delighted that cheerleading is here and team sports, except there is no actual team sport happening here. Where are the Friday night football games and the school spirit? I mean you gave us the pitch, the scoreboard and the bleachers and none of them function in gameplay really. There is an athletic track around the pitch that your sims can’t even run laps on. I mean case and point right there. I also feel like there is a lack of them when you look back at the sims 3 afterschool options and it’s a shame that they all conflict with each other schedule wise, you should be able to pick more than one. We have pools so why wasn’t there a swim team? An athletics team for the athletic track? Even school band/choir? I have my suspicions here about why especially since you guys have been teasing bands for quite a while, I’d wager there is also a team element in the works. But that’s just one woman’s interpretation of the signs, I could be wrong, and I have been before. I also don’t understand why there wasn’t a teacher career included, I mean how did Ms. Prescott get to be the principal and how can we oust her? Having a career fair is very realistic but I would have loved to have seen university tables here as well with the rival mascots talking to students and such. Prom is a great idea and to be honest it seems the only truly fleshed out aspect of this entire pack. I find no faults with it which is great, but it’s only supposed to be one part of this pack, as it is generally only one, very meaningful mind you, experience in a teen’s life.
In short, this is a game pack that’s been labelled as an expansion pack and in my opinion pales in comparison to the previously released Werewolves game pack, and what’s worse is that it’s reminiscent of the My Wedding Stories pack. It lacks depth in the majority of the gameplay features but more importantly, it lacks variation in it’s replayability. It’s a pack that will be used time and again for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe even for Boba Tea, but I can see this pack getting very boring for a lot of sims players very quickly. I myself will probably buy it solely for the CAS and Build/Buy items and maybe to rebuild the school but only when it goes on sale as this is not worth the price of an expansion pack in my eyes. The last expansion pack released was Cottage Living which is, in my opinion, the best pack you’ve ever done in terms of building and gameplay and then Werewolves came which I absolutely loved and that is shocking in itself because I’ve always been more of a witch lover. But University is my most played pack purely because I love the element of going to school and building a life from scratch with my sims and it’s got so much variation that I can literally play it again and again. There is a massive amount of self-discovery and individual personalization features coming alongside this pack that are fantastic, however they are coming in a base game update free to all players regardless of whether they buy the pack or not and I feel that these new features have been used to bolster a pack that is underdeveloped and lacking in its most fundamental elements. The fact is the base game update coming offers more variation and personalization than the new pack release. Body Hair? Wants and Fears? Sexual Attractions and Preferences? ALL coming in the base game update.
I’m writing this because I was genuinely so excited for this pack and given the fantastic content the sims team has put out in the last few years; my expectations were justifiably high. Unfortunately, it seems the Sims 4 High School Years has fallen short of hitting the mark. I genuinely feel that if this pack had more time to be developed and was properly fleshed out, it truly could have been the best pack you ever released. I sincerely hope that in the future we see a return of the absolutely amazing standard of content that was previously released. It has given us a taste of really good gameplay and I’m afraid, also a taste FOR it. Lastly, I just want to say thank you to All, The Sims Team/Gurus, Mod and Custom Content Creators and anyone who reads this, for all the hard and amazing work you lot have done, honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without the Sims as a creative outlet and you all are responsible for making it happen, so really, thank you.
A Faithful Fellow Simmer,
M
They said it wasn't supposed to replace it, we can still send them to rabbit hole school.
I really wanted a High School Pack but I had also hoped that they would create variety by adding more new gameplay to it. The pack does add more things for teens to do and I am grateful that the high school is not just Discovery University with teens, but it still feels so limited when it comes to gameplay, they could have added physics experiments, assignments, group activities etc.
But they chose to focus on other things instead, like selling clothes and that's what's bothering me, it feels like the sims team can only focus on specific areas in these packs. The other areas get the rabbit hole treatment.
I'm not sure I am even going to bother with the after school activities when playing the pack, I think I will just focus on playing a trendy livestreamer who makes clothes instead.
I really do hope that this pack allows clubs from get together to meet in the schools. If it does I will create different club rooms there this way I have a reason to use the school. Please EA for once in your life make a pack that actually expands on the content players have for the many other packs they have.
Exactly this I mean I do like some of the things they brought in it's just the highschool "The School." Part is what's triggering me "How do the teens learn?" Is my question also someone else Brought up the parenthood projects how are they implemented in this pack? Also what's so silly to me is we have rabbit hole practice but we're throwing a football for a competition like really??? I understand the cheerleading part that's great but going to a rabbit hole for football just to throw a football is beyond dumb I would much rather have the game as a rabbit hole as well like in DU and get moodlet of what happened in game. We have game in Sims 3 and in Sims 4 DU but can't have one in the Sims 4 Highschool? Are you kidding me??? I asked for a Wedding Pack? That turned into a complete trainwreck now Highschool but no actual gameplay about the school? What will homework do for the class? I don't know. Detention what are the consequences? I don't know that either. In class gameplay? Sleep in class, do late homework, pass notes, take notes, ask and answer questions, write on desk, chest on exam when it's exam time. No we have none of these???
Yes to all of this. I was so upset we couldn't assign uniforms. It would have been neat if you could get in trouble for not wearing a uniform as well.
I watched the live steam and when we were almost 1 hour into the stream and they STILL had not started talking about the actual content in the high school... it was then I knew there wasn't going to be much going on in there.
I also watched Plumbella's review too and was sad to see we can't do anything in classes. I sometimes wonder if the sims team before creating a lot, do they ask themselves: "Why should a player endure a loading screen just to go to school? What can we give players to encourage them to use this lot?"
Why should anyone go to the high school?
- To meet sims? - But the sims at school are randomized and I can meet sims at the pier.
- To join a club? - I can do that on the phone.
I have been hearing detention isn't really anything either. I really do hope that this pack just needs parenthood attached to help enhance it, I really do.Oddly enough having a rabbit hole football game and a cheer squad contest would have been fine if they required you to actually have to train and practice in order to win. The live stream said they wanted to focus on the socializing of youth. Fine, then flush out the clubs and have players stay after school for the club activities. Have sims need to meet, build relationships with club members, form rivalries, use the phone chat to talk to club members and encourage one another for the next tournament. Maybe even require that the teams morale be high and your sim with the best possible mood in order to boost your chances of winning. This literally accomplishes the same socializing goal they wanted to capture but keeps the focus on the high school.
Also the career day is a missed opportunity for sims to be worrying about their careers, seeking advice for the future, and being allowed to follow an adult sim to a rabbit hole career. Teens could have come back turned off by some careers and impressed with some based off of their traits. Maybe to keep things simple, career day could have had a sim from not all careers but just one for each category (Media could cover streaming and acting. While government could have covered politician, secret agent and teachers.) these sims would give you a flier and as long as we have the flier we can click on it to choose what rabbit hole to visit.
For example: My sim gets the media flier. I can now choose to visit an acting career or a streamer career rabbit hole. If my sim is socially awkward and dislikes the lime light they return with a mood that says they didn't really like the job. This could make a sim scared about the future.
If my sims is a party animal who loves to socialize, then my sim could return with a mood that says how exciting the job seemed and this could be their dream job. This could make a sim excited about the future.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
I had a question though, how is this trend setter job any different from the adult trend setter career we already have? Isn't this just a more flushed out version of that career?
And we already had multiple forms of livestreaming, and playing video games for cash. They should have just removed livestreaming as a job and made it a casual hobby, like painting. Or making videos and livestreaming in Get Famous.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
Also I hope we get actual consequences when getting detention and not just sit there as well.
The mini trailer showed a sim sleeping in class.
The promo video indicated that one of the male teens was a football player even though there is nothing in the pack related to sports activities. Not even a PE class. I saw in the stream that teens get to do a T-Pose Challenge. I can hardly wait to see what other game glitches the team uses for future challenges.
- Not being able to do anything else than sit during classes. I thought we'd be able to have our sims take notes, ask questions, maybe sneak notes to their friends....
- Not being able to place High Schools elsewhere.
- The pier attractions look super fake with their non see-through windows.
- I wish there were actual football games played at the stadium that spectators could attend.
What— you didn't have hall passes when you were in school? We did. You weren't just allowed to leave class and wander about. If you were caught and didn't have a hall pass, or a viable reason, such as I had, hobbling on my crutches to see the school nurse, you risked getting Detention. Thankfully, I never was sent there.
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But I feel like even though I like the stuff that comes with the depop collaboration. I just don’t think that this was the pack for it. I just feel like a lot of that time could’ve been spent on fleshing out after school activities and teen hangouts. There should’ve been another teen lot. Or a way to have teens hang out together that just doesn’t rely on get to together clubs, a teen specific event.
I find it weird that there’s not more after school activities especially if they’re just rabbit holes. I feel like they could have made the fields work better with existing animation that is already in the game.
Really annoyed that they didn’t incorporate parenthood class projects. It would’ve been so easy to just have a couple added that are exclusive to this pack and then just have that be a science fair. Maybe have Sims assigned to do a project together.
That again is a (mostly?) American thing. In other countries, mine included, hall passes do not exist even as concept and no one is patrolling the halls either.
What I find strange is that football being even less fleshed out than soccer in DU.
Yeah, I'm from the UK. You weren't allowed to leave class without permission but I don’t think it was ever monitored. Then again, I was scared to do anything wrong. One thing I remember from middle school was naughty/disruptive kids being made to stand outside the classroom as a punishment. I think there were consequences if they were spotted by senior staff, but it never happened to me so I can't be sure.