I originally bought it for the alien life state to be honest, but aside from the obviously hard time getting them in your game other than the CAS option, I find that the sims are rampant speciests (racists I guess is the right word, but they seem to be fine with cultural stuff provided that you are sim and not alien) at heart and the joy of playing them is dampened so much by the fact that they are instantly hated by most of the sims in town.
Loving yourself is the most simple and complicated thing you can do for you.
As someone who thought OFB and GTW were both just OK, I think that the biggest problem with the retail system in both is that without an open world it's hard to juggle a business with everything else you have to do. In OFB you can kind of solve this problem by having your business on the home lot. In GTW you don't have this option, but you do have the care-for-self/skill-up options for Sims not with you on the lot, plus there's no time discrepancies like in TS2.
Things I like about GTW: Baking skill, Photography skill, expanded community lot variety, fun new careers (but low replay value). So I rank the pack as just OK: it adds some nice new elements to gameplay but is not crucial for game-enjoyment. Of course, if you consider a perfect retail system to be essential for game-enjoyment then TS4 might not be for you. But I think that TS4 has enough good stuff to make it worth exploring, even if there are some things about it I wish were implemented differently. YMMV
I like GTW retail, but only for bakeries and art galleries. I don't care for it when it's just a store selling build/buy objects in the game. ( although I do like creating those types of npc-run stores for my sims to visit)
Yes, I do. I use what we gained (active careers) more than what we lost (ticket machine). I prefer the bonus you could unlock in OFB more than the ones in GTW though, I don't like that it's a list and you can buy anything from the get go.
I love OFB and i do like GTW but not for the retail part, i honestly think every career should have been playable like those in GTW, i myself made sugestions to something like what GTW became, i love it for what it is, but it is surely nothing like OFB, if anything it is better than Ambitions.
Yes and No I like GTW. I don't stick to the 'lists' in GTW so it's a little more interesting than going thru the motions of working at hospital or being a detective. It did add to my game play in other ways beyond the to do lists. So, yes, I played it often when it was first released for many different reasons. Yes, I like GTW owning a business in regards now I can create almost any type of business...without GTW I wouldn't be able to have my NPC grocery stores, (where my Sim buy their fruits and veggies done by hard work of one Sim and then set to NPC store) Nor would I be able to have my movie theater who sells drinks (oh that bar is from GT, tiny takes up less space). GTW adds the ability to own restaurants so yes, that's a plus.
I wasn't thrilled with the running of a business, but it was interesting enough I could build a NPC mall, NPC theater, NPC hardware store, (want commode parts?) NPC drug store (free meds!), NPC etc. etc.
As far as running one I learned don't put any seats in the building. Don't expect them to buy right away even if you do interact with them but it was great for bakeries as those fly off shelves like hotcakes. lol
ETA: In GTW you can live above the store, keep a vacant lot as the home lot but just stay at your store. It made a lot of good urban stores with apartments (before apartments) above them. It has advantages to it in many ways for expanding gameplay and limits in others...so worth it, if you like TS4? yes.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
What about GTW with mods? Maybe there is a mod that improves GTW.
Edit: I mean to improve retail.
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
^OFB added own-able restraunts, you could only visit them in Nightlife.
It's okay... OFB was much better and much more involved. The retail system in GTW is kind of boring if I'm being honest. If you were to get it, get it for the active careers instead. Though, even those get kind of old pretty fast.
GTW's retail equivalent to OFB was botched. Once again, they focus on "more for less" kind of thing. There's all these little cute features to businesses that weren't in 2 (advertisements, the lot appearance, signage etc, separate accounts etc) seem like great add ons, till you realize the the bulk of it is missing, and it's very "bare bones", superficial, just to say it's there really. I haven't seen anyone really giving GTW's retail a good review. Which stinks. I hope they pull a fast one on us and release "update to retail system" patch sometime this year. That would be great. I mean, here's the thing, they have game pack and stuff pack options if base coding/animation for sims using a register are added into the game. I don't get why "Retail" wasn't it's own EP.
Sometimes, I wonder if there's some sacred "EA Rule" that a "remake" ***HAS*** to be different in some way, at times forcing the developers to make these off the wall choices. Like don't fix what's not broken! It's so odd how things end up at times. In Sims 2, you couldn't sell craftables or paintings in retail stores. Now you can in 4, but Sims don't use a register. Dine out - can't be a chef, waiter or hostess. Mind you, "restaurants" were just "part" of an EP and all those options were available. Then, when OFB came out, you could own and run the restaurants. So IDK. So, the focus still needs to be re-directed. Just because toddlers came back doesn't erase all the madness.. but the way they were implemented, says to me this team has reworked a lot of their direction on whats important -
Toddlers are well done. So, I imagine they are going to be improving the game even more. Even people are saying vampires are looking best ever too. (I never paid much attention to them, so I wouldn't know off hand. I'd have to compare)
I like Open For Business, don't get me wrong, but I find OFB gets frustrating due to poor routing.
Sims will leave angrily for no reason, because something gets in their way. Starting a business is hard, because early Cashiers take too long, and Customers leave. You have to end up in debt before Customers start liking the service. It's kind of flawed.
That said OFB is superior, but it has programming issues that I find frustrating. Running a restaurant suffers the same issues.
Get To Work isn't as fleshed out, but it is less frustrating to play
OMG I am so stupid, how did I not realize making a game realistic = flaw. >.> Seriously stop sucking up to the game
GTW's retail equivalent to OFB was botched. Once again, they focus on "more for less" kind of thing. There's all these little cute features to businesses that weren't in 2 (advertisements, the lot appearance, signage etc, separate accounts etc) seem like great add ons, till you realize the the bulk of it is missing, and it's very "bare bones", superficial, just to say it's there really. I haven't seen anyone really giving GTW's retail a good review. Which stinks. I hope they pull a fast one on us and release "update to retail system" patch sometime this year. That would be great. I mean, here's the thing, they have game pack and stuff pack options if base coding/animation for sims using a register are added into the game. I don't get why "Retail" wasn't it's own EP.
Sometimes, I wonder if there's some sacred "EA Rule" that a "remake" ***HAS*** to be different in some way, at times forcing the developers to make these off the wall choices. Like don't fix what's not broken! It's so odd how things end up at times. In Sims 2, you couldn't sell craftables or paintings in retail stores. Now you can in 4, but Sims don't use a register. Dine out - can't be a chef, waiter or hostess. Mind you, "restaurants" were just "part" of an EP and all those options were available. Then, when OFB came out, you could own and run the restaurants. So IDK. So, the focus still needs to be re-directed. Just because toddlers came back doesn't erase all the madness.. but the way they were implemented, says to me this team has reworked a lot of their direction on whats important -
Toddlers are well done. So, I imagine they are going to be improving the game even more. Even people are saying vampires are looking best ever too. (I never paid much attention to them, so I wouldn't know off hand. I'd have to compare)
I made a family and played the other day, and just like before the emotions are overwhelming. There aren't any unique Sims in TS4. They all
act the same! If this is true, that TS4 might be heading in the right direction, I still worry because they have so much to fix and how long it will take to finish the core of the game. I knew when they announced GTW as the first EP it wasn't going to be good, because of how they rushed out TS4. I do want the retail fixed, but so many things need to be fixed in the game. I don't want them to hurry, as that might mean half-baked content. But, I also don't want to wait forever. I'm trying to give TS4 another chance (it's hard).
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
@DeKay I give up trying to play TS4 the way I want. I'll just play it the way they want me to play it... I'll just make a Stepford family.There aren't many options with TS4, so I'll just go with the flow I guess.
I give up. I really do lol. Maybe youre right, maybe the packs will get better, but I'm done wondering. It is either that I play TS4 or I don't.
OFB and NL's restaurants is a treasure, thats for sure.
Aw well, okay then. You'll find something to do eventually. Sometimes you also have to just play it way out of the box but you just gotta use a bit more of your imagination. Like, I've gotten my sim to match make a couple and plan their wedding, etc and these are all things that were not directly in the game.
I feel like I don't have an imagination anymore. lol Or maybe I want to be wowed now when it comes to TS. It has been 17 years now. I'm ready to be completely amazed by a super duper Sims game.
(I'm sorry for the corniness and bad sentence structure. I'm not the best writer. lol)
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
In true I find GTW to be kind of lackluster.
there are only 3 real jobs and for retail/restaurant you can't register as an owner so you are unemployed and don't get any benefits from your work other then money.
The 3 jobs are more of a hassle then great content.
As for the retail/restaurant owner path it doesn't seem to matter how skilled you crew is you will have to show-up everyday or you start losing money.
The amount of work you have to do to move the bar is ridiculous, and 1/2 the tasks are just busy work.
When you have task like eat something from the vending machine/ microwave you have to ask what they were thinking.
Add to this that we have restaurant to go to, why was the chef career to lifted to a active job.
Now don't get me wrong I love most of what they did with sims 4 but this one was just meh.
I like Open For Business, don't get me wrong, but I find OFB gets frustrating due to poor routing.
Sims will leave angrily for no reason, because something gets in their way. Starting a business is hard, because early Cashiers take too long, and Customers leave. You have to end up in debt before Customers start liking the service. It's kind of flawed.
That said OFB is superior, but it has programming issues that I find frustrating. Running a restaurant suffers the same issues.
Get To Work isn't as fleshed out, but it is less frustrating to play
OMG I am so plum, how did I not realize making a game realistic = flaw. >.> Seriously stop plum to the game
Also "I prefer GTW"
some lines later
"OFB is superior"? Wut
There's nothing realistic about a Customer throwing a tantrum because they are sick of waiting to be served when there's a register available right next to the one they are queuing for. Sims 2 sims will walk to the nearest register, for example, rather than realise there's one available.
They also will go to buy something, end up not being able to get to the register when someone walks In the way, and the item they went to buy will be taken but not paid for.
And there's nothing wrong with what I said Wulfsimmer.
You act like it's impossible to prefer something, even if it's a weaker product....
Open For Business has more depth and is better built, Get To Work is more shallow and isn't as well refined. However, Get To Work has less bugs and routing issues.
For some, routing issues doesn't bother people in The Sims 2. Lots of people are used to it. But for me, it's frustrating. I hate when games have glitches that either make something too easy or make it impossible to win.
Even small things like the Sim at the Welcome Wagon outing the Fruit Cake in their inventory.
For me, I hate when my business gets to into debt because of faults I cannot control. I don't mind when it's by design.
@Goodywood I am a huge fan of OFB & one of my fav EP's in TS2. & I was a bit concerned when I bought GTW if the retail portion would be better or if I would enjoy it just as much. To be honest, I think OFB gave us more customization like running your own restaurant (where you could be the chef, etc), having a home business, & running a store while not on the lot. I think there was a lot of details that you mentioned like shopping bags as well, impatient customers, etc.
But what I always disliked with OFB was that there was only pot of money; there was never a separate business account from your household funds and every thing you crafted took away from that. I think TS4 did a great job with that. You have separate accounts from all of your stores and can transfer back and forth as needed. I might be in the minority here, but I enjoy Retail in GTW. I played it all the time when it first came out. I don't play it as much anymore as when you move your Sims out, they can lose their store and all the progress they've made. So I focus on DO...and owning restaurants, which doesn't have the moving out issue like in GTW & is much more fun IMO.
Well that plum! Makes me not want to play this game (AGAIN!). I had some inspiration for TS4 due to toddlers being added, but they really didn't due a good job with these packs. TS2 EPs were done so well. The packs complimented each other. I guess that is because TS2 was planned out thoroughly.
Well, is there anything good about GTW?
if you like OFB you might not like GTW
personally I hated the whole retail side of the pack tho I loved all the baked goods you get with the pack but sims don't even sit to eat them in your bakery's . nor is there much variety of shops in the pack.
you only get three active careers, however personally those are the best part of the pack for me.
if you like the sound of careers like
hospital
police
science
then you might like it but for me both ambitions and open for business did a better job than get to work
I actually liked Get to Work. I definitely liked it more than Ambitions, though, admittedly, less than Open for Business.
I do think that OfB has the benefit of nostalgia though. OfB was the first time careers and retail had really been opened up. It was this grand, new exciting thing. It felt innovative in a way the Sims franchise rarely does these days (we've come to expect certain packs, certain features). There are features in both Ambitions and Get to Work that OfB never even tried to touch, but because they follow on its heels, they feel less original.
In GtW itself, the active careers are easily the most fleshed out bits of content. They are quite fun, but I do feel that we ought to have more of them, and the ones we do have could certainly benefit from a few extra features that were present in other games (burglars, for instance). GtW would have made a perfect time to introduce Firefighters. I'm honestly not sure why they didn't, it would have rounded out the emergency services nicely.
Contivursal opinion, but i do like get to work. Open for buisness out does it of course. BUT GTW was mainly focused on the careers (which are great fun in my opinion). I like setting up a business. I'm going to set up a vampire themed one this weekend that sells coffins and is run out of midnight hollow and only opens at night.
GtW does not add restaurant dine out game pack does.
neither did OFB, Nightlife EP did.
OFB alone does add them, even if you don't have nightlife.
No, the stove that brings the NPC cook and other objects/podium etc. came in NL..you won't be able to run a restaurant in OFB, if you don't have NL because those objects only came in NL.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
Comments
Things I like about GTW: Baking skill, Photography skill, expanded community lot variety, fun new careers (but low replay value). So I rank the pack as just OK: it adds some nice new elements to gameplay but is not crucial for game-enjoyment. Of course, if you consider a perfect retail system to be essential for game-enjoyment then TS4 might not be for you. But I think that TS4 has enough good stuff to make it worth exploring, even if there are some things about it I wish were implemented differently. YMMV
I wasn't thrilled with the running of a business, but it was interesting enough I could build a NPC mall, NPC theater, NPC hardware store, (want commode parts?)
As far as running one I learned don't put any seats in the building. Don't expect them to buy right away even if you do interact with them but it was great for bakeries as those fly off shelves like hotcakes. lol
ETA: In GTW you can live above the store, keep a vacant lot as the home lot but just stay at your store. It made a lot of good urban stores with apartments (before apartments) above them. It has advantages to it in many ways for expanding gameplay and limits in others...so worth it, if you like TS4? yes.
What about GTW with mods? Maybe there is a mod that improves GTW.
Edit: I mean to improve retail.
neither did OFB, Nightlife EP did.
It's okay... OFB was much better and much more involved. The retail system in GTW is kind of boring if I'm being honest. If you were to get it, get it for the active careers instead. Though, even those get kind of old pretty fast.
Sometimes, I wonder if there's some sacred "EA Rule" that a "remake" ***HAS*** to be different in some way, at times forcing the developers to make these off the wall choices. Like don't fix what's not broken! It's so odd how things end up at times. In Sims 2, you couldn't sell craftables or paintings in retail stores. Now you can in 4, but Sims don't use a register. Dine out - can't be a chef, waiter or hostess. Mind you, "restaurants" were just "part" of an EP and all those options were available. Then, when OFB came out, you could own and run the restaurants. So IDK. So, the focus still needs to be re-directed. Just because toddlers came back doesn't erase all the madness.. but the way they were implemented, says to me this team has reworked a lot of their direction on whats important -
Toddlers are well done. So, I imagine they are going to be improving the game even more. Even people are saying vampires are looking best ever too. (I never paid much attention to them, so I wouldn't know off hand. I'd have to compare)
OFB alone does add them, even if you don't have nightlife.
OMG I am so stupid, how did I not realize making a game realistic = flaw. >.> Seriously stop sucking up to the game
Also "I prefer GTW"
some lines later
"OFB is superior"? Wut
WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
I made a family and played the other day, and just like before the emotions are overwhelming. There aren't any unique Sims in TS4. They all
act the same! If this is true, that TS4 might be heading in the right direction, I still worry because they have so much to fix and how long it will take to finish the core of the game. I knew when they announced GTW as the first EP it wasn't going to be good, because of how they rushed out TS4. I do want the retail fixed, but so many things need to be fixed in the game. I don't want them to hurry, as that might mean half-baked content. But, I also don't want to wait forever. I'm trying to give TS4 another chance (it's hard).
I feel like I don't have an imagination anymore. lol Or maybe I want to be wowed now when it comes to TS. It has been 17 years now. I'm ready to be completely amazed by a super duper Sims game.
(I'm sorry for the corniness and bad sentence structure. I'm not the best writer. lol)
there are only 3 real jobs and for retail/restaurant you can't register as an owner so you are unemployed and don't get any benefits from your work other then money.
The 3 jobs are more of a hassle then great content.
As for the retail/restaurant owner path it doesn't seem to matter how skilled you crew is you will have to show-up everyday or you start losing money.
The amount of work you have to do to move the bar is ridiculous, and 1/2 the tasks are just busy work.
When you have task like eat something from the vending machine/ microwave you have to ask what they were thinking.
Add to this that we have restaurant to go to, why was the chef career to lifted to a active job.
Now don't get me wrong I love most of what they did with sims 4 but this one was just meh.
There's nothing realistic about a Customer throwing a tantrum because they are sick of waiting to be served when there's a register available right next to the one they are queuing for. Sims 2 sims will walk to the nearest register, for example, rather than realise there's one available.
They also will go to buy something, end up not being able to get to the register when someone walks In the way, and the item they went to buy will be taken but not paid for.
And there's nothing wrong with what I said Wulfsimmer.
You act like it's impossible to prefer something, even if it's a weaker product....
Open For Business has more depth and is better built, Get To Work is more shallow and isn't as well refined. However, Get To Work has less bugs and routing issues.
For some, routing issues doesn't bother people in The Sims 2. Lots of people are used to it. But for me, it's frustrating. I hate when games have glitches that either make something too easy or make it impossible to win.
Even small things like the Sim at the Welcome Wagon outing the Fruit Cake in their inventory.
For me, I hate when my business gets to into debt because of faults I cannot control. I don't mind when it's by design.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
But what I always disliked with OFB was that there was only pot of money; there was never a separate business account from your household funds and every thing you crafted took away from that. I think TS4 did a great job with that. You have separate accounts from all of your stores and can transfer back and forth as needed. I might be in the minority here, but I enjoy Retail in GTW. I played it all the time when it first came out. I don't play it as much anymore as when you move your Sims out, they can lose their store and all the progress they've made. So I focus on DO...and owning restaurants, which doesn't have the moving out issue like in GTW & is much more fun IMO.
if you like OFB you might not like GTW
personally I hated the whole retail side of the pack tho I loved all the baked goods you get with the pack but sims don't even sit to eat them in your bakery's . nor is there much variety of shops in the pack.
you only get three active careers, however personally those are the best part of the pack for me.
if you like the sound of careers like
hospital
police
science
then you might like it but for me both ambitions and open for business did a better job than get to work
I do think that OfB has the benefit of nostalgia though. OfB was the first time careers and retail had really been opened up. It was this grand, new exciting thing. It felt innovative in a way the Sims franchise rarely does these days (we've come to expect certain packs, certain features). There are features in both Ambitions and Get to Work that OfB never even tried to touch, but because they follow on its heels, they feel less original.
In GtW itself, the active careers are easily the most fleshed out bits of content. They are quite fun, but I do feel that we ought to have more of them, and the ones we do have could certainly benefit from a few extra features that were present in other games (burglars, for instance). GtW would have made a perfect time to introduce Firefighters. I'm honestly not sure why they didn't, it would have rounded out the emergency services nicely.
//Sims Tumblr Here-MoonPhase Simblr//Berry Sims Here- MoonBerry Sims//
No, the stove that brings the NPC cook and other objects/podium etc. came in NL..you won't be able to run a restaurant in OFB, if you don't have NL because those objects only came in NL.