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My Time At StrangerVille
MidnightAura
Posts: 5,809 Member
That was the longest two and a half hours of my life. I had a dentist appointment after that was more enjoyable. Also the trip to the dentist and back was almost longer.
Oh yeah I finished Strangerville. Thanks to a dear friend who let me try it in exchange for babysitting her colicky baby.
Okay... Pro's.... erm... It looks pretty. Especially if you like set dressing.
Some of the new objects are nice. But way, way, way too many decor items. - Do we need 4 wall and floor stains that look remarkably similar? Likewise 1 one oil drum and then a separate set of three oil drums? Are we not capable of putting three together? Attempt to flesh out the build and buy section to make it look more substantial than it is ? You decide.
I didn't play the new career so I'm not in a position to comment on that, I just did the story.
Bad things:
(Take a seat and relax, this could go on for a while)
Before I get into the exciting game play of click, collect, load screen, repeat (and I will) the "Story" is so bad. As a writer I'm quite confident I could have written something better, hell my three year old niece could have knocked up something better.
*Where is the connection to Bella? Remember in the trailer there was references to the Mother in Red? Even referring to Bella by name? Yeah none of that is here. I can't help but think that was a cheap tactic to lure older sims fans into buying it. That is not a spoiler but more of a public service announcement. Don't buy this expecting to find out the truth about Bella Goth and what she really did in Strange Town.
But that major flaw aside; the story doesn't really make sense? Where did the
* There is no Mystery. Nothing is a mystery when you point out the glaringly obvious like this I know The Sims 4 LOVES checklists but there is nothing intriguing here, the aspiration spells it out for you and spoils it and if that doesn't the residents of town will.
In strangerville its a case of go and get 15 piles of evidence; (Roughly translated click on items 15 times) Go through a load screen; talk to someone briefly and they will tell you they won't give up the goods until they know you better. Chat some more, become aquaintances. (Yup you don't even need to be friends- the people in Strangerville will dish the dirt for nothing) and they give you what you need.
Go through load screen.
Talk to some more people.
Go through another load screen.
Get some stuff off the ground and use it on the science machine thingy to craft stuff.
Load screen
Talk to some more people.
Load screen
Fight the Mother and you are done.
Constant load screens are annoying. This kind of formula could work in an open world. But it doesn't work here. For example I have a sim in the Investigator career in the sims 3. Initially it felt a little similar as that career has you track down sims, talk to them, do what they ask if its confronting another sim, lock picking, rummaging through the mail or trash for clues or hacking a pc for information. But its not the same, the investigator career gives you a clear beginning and end and the tasks change frequently especially as you advance. I mention this because that to me is an example of how it can be done right, I do not want this to turn into a sims 4 vs sims 3 thread. We are discussing Strangerville.
Also (and this one I feel is important) how you treat people matters. If I choose to blackmail someone in the sims 3 the relationship not surprisingly will take a hit and make the case harder. Imagine my surprise when I put a bug on a sim in strangerville and blackmailed them and the relationship was as strong as ever. Seriously EA if you are going to give us tools like that, make them bloody work. A perfect opportunity to add in some much needed consequence and it does nothing. I was so disappointed.
In strangerville I just had to pay minimum lip service to get people to give me what I wanted. I can't help but compare that to my sim in the investigator career in the sims 3 who, if she chooses to blackmail someone, may not get the information she is looking for to complete her case. If she does blackmail someone the relationship will take a hit which is natural.
By the time I got to the lab I was bored. Like peel my own skin off bored. I only finished the story so I could say I drew it out to its bitter conclusion.
I'm playing a puzzle/ point and click adventure at the moment so perhaps I am biased in the sense I love story driven games and if the story is weak I lose interest very quick. A lot of story type games that I think they were trying to imitate are actually good though and even make the parts of the story where you have to go back and forth to move the story on interesting. But the Strangerville story is not interesting. I won't even insult the point and click adventure story genre by comparing it to that.
I was all for giving this experiment if you will a chance because I figured no matter what they are bringing out, its not as good as the previous games. But this is not a good experiment in my view. If you are going to tell a story, try and make it half decent. Story games work if they have a interesting story line, engage the person and make them eager to find out more. Let the person discover the story bit by bit and its not just repetitive "click here" "go here" "click here" And repeat. Story based/adventure games work because they aren't linear and they encourage multiple throughs. Strangerville does not. A dev himself even stated its linear with limited replay value. If you go through it twenty times you are still doing the same steps I mentioned above. Same crap, different sim.
I thought maybe it would be better to play it. Its not. I just don't think we have to accept that because its "just a game pack" we should accept the main selling point is weak. That would be like getting a meal in a restaurant and you not liking the food because its half cooked but saying nothing and eating it. If you are going to tell a story, make it a decent one. Don't make a story that so many players finish and go "Thank God for that!" or leaves them with more questions than answers.
I appreciate many will say "I've played a year in game and I haven't finished the story!" and yes if you incorporate the story into your regular game play I can see how you can drag it out. But if you do decide to explore the story in its entirety, it shouldn't feel like a chore, the story should keep you wanting more and be interesting and exciting enough that I want to rush through my sim days to see what happens next. But it doesn't.
The "mystery" is the selling point. People might buy it for the bathtub or whatever but the story is the USP and I personally hope the dev team never, ever try this again. Go back to making content that allows people to tell THEIR stories.
Oh yeah I finished Strangerville. Thanks to a dear friend who let me try it in exchange for babysitting her colicky baby.
Okay... Pro's.... erm... It looks pretty. Especially if you like set dressing.
Some of the new objects are nice. But way, way, way too many decor items. - Do we need 4 wall and floor stains that look remarkably similar? Likewise 1 one oil drum and then a separate set of three oil drums? Are we not capable of putting three together? Attempt to flesh out the build and buy section to make it look more substantial than it is ? You decide.
I didn't play the new career so I'm not in a position to comment on that, I just did the story.
Bad things:
(Take a seat and relax, this could go on for a while)
Before I get into the exciting game play of click, collect, load screen, repeat (and I will) the "Story" is so bad. As a writer I'm quite confident I could have written something better, hell my three year old niece could have knocked up something better.
*Where is the connection to Bella? Remember in the trailer there was references to the Mother in Red? Even referring to Bella by name? Yeah none of that is here. I can't help but think that was a cheap tactic to lure older sims fans into buying it. That is not a spoiler but more of a public service announcement. Don't buy this expecting to find out the truth about Bella Goth and what she really did in Strange Town.
But that major flaw aside; the story doesn't really make sense? Where did the
oversized cowplant
Mother come from? Wouldn't it have been nice to tell us that EA? Or are we meant to believe someone just got a bit carried away for their school Science project?* There is no Mystery. Nothing is a mystery when you point out the glaringly obvious like this I know The Sims 4 LOVES checklists but there is nothing intriguing here, the aspiration spells it out for you and spoils it and if that doesn't the residents of town will.
In strangerville its a case of go and get 15 piles of evidence; (Roughly translated click on items 15 times) Go through a load screen; talk to someone briefly and they will tell you they won't give up the goods until they know you better. Chat some more, become aquaintances. (Yup you don't even need to be friends- the people in Strangerville will dish the dirt for nothing) and they give you what you need.
Go through load screen.
Talk to some more people.
Go through another load screen.
Get some stuff off the ground and use it on the science machine thingy to craft stuff.
Load screen
Talk to some more people.
Load screen
Fight the Mother and you are done.
Constant load screens are annoying. This kind of formula could work in an open world. But it doesn't work here. For example I have a sim in the Investigator career in the sims 3. Initially it felt a little similar as that career has you track down sims, talk to them, do what they ask if its confronting another sim, lock picking, rummaging through the mail or trash for clues or hacking a pc for information. But its not the same, the investigator career gives you a clear beginning and end and the tasks change frequently especially as you advance. I mention this because that to me is an example of how it can be done right, I do not want this to turn into a sims 4 vs sims 3 thread. We are discussing Strangerville.
Also (and this one I feel is important) how you treat people matters. If I choose to blackmail someone in the sims 3 the relationship not surprisingly will take a hit and make the case harder. Imagine my surprise when I put a bug on a sim in strangerville and blackmailed them and the relationship was as strong as ever. Seriously EA if you are going to give us tools like that, make them bloody work. A perfect opportunity to add in some much needed consequence and it does nothing. I was so disappointed.
In strangerville I just had to pay minimum lip service to get people to give me what I wanted. I can't help but compare that to my sim in the investigator career in the sims 3 who, if she chooses to blackmail someone, may not get the information she is looking for to complete her case. If she does blackmail someone the relationship will take a hit which is natural.
By the time I got to the lab I was bored. Like peel my own skin off bored. I only finished the story so I could say I drew it out to its bitter conclusion.
I'm playing a puzzle/ point and click adventure at the moment so perhaps I am biased in the sense I love story driven games and if the story is weak I lose interest very quick. A lot of story type games that I think they were trying to imitate are actually good though and even make the parts of the story where you have to go back and forth to move the story on interesting. But the Strangerville story is not interesting. I won't even insult the point and click adventure story genre by comparing it to that.
I was all for giving this experiment if you will a chance because I figured no matter what they are bringing out, its not as good as the previous games. But this is not a good experiment in my view. If you are going to tell a story, try and make it half decent. Story games work if they have a interesting story line, engage the person and make them eager to find out more. Let the person discover the story bit by bit and its not just repetitive "click here" "go here" "click here" And repeat. Story based/adventure games work because they aren't linear and they encourage multiple throughs. Strangerville does not. A dev himself even stated its linear with limited replay value. If you go through it twenty times you are still doing the same steps I mentioned above. Same crap, different sim.
I thought maybe it would be better to play it. Its not. I just don't think we have to accept that because its "just a game pack" we should accept the main selling point is weak. That would be like getting a meal in a restaurant and you not liking the food because its half cooked but saying nothing and eating it. If you are going to tell a story, make it a decent one. Don't make a story that so many players finish and go "Thank God for that!" or leaves them with more questions than answers.
I appreciate many will say "I've played a year in game and I haven't finished the story!" and yes if you incorporate the story into your regular game play I can see how you can drag it out. But if you do decide to explore the story in its entirety, it shouldn't feel like a chore, the story should keep you wanting more and be interesting and exciting enough that I want to rush through my sim days to see what happens next. But it doesn't.
The "mystery" is the selling point. People might buy it for the bathtub or whatever but the story is the USP and I personally hope the dev team never, ever try this again. Go back to making content that allows people to tell THEIR stories.
14
Comments
You're so right, I hope they will never do that again. But I think we'll see this again, in the Maxis Monthly today a lot of people asked for more packs like that. The gurus were pretty enthusiasm...
I agree, however the neighborhood can also be looked at as an anchor or hook as well being what is some people asking for in Sims 4, it is Space which is premium in Sims 4, I think there would have been more backlash if there was no neighborhood Imo. I paid $4.99 for my copy and I am going to give it an shot even though I in an sense know what to expect as I was looking at the pack, I am also glad to pay what I paid as it may not be an lost.
Nevermind, I found it. Just had to click More Choices to see it.
I agree that too much of the mystery was revealed instead of letting us figure things out on our own. I still enjoyed it and will play the story out in various scenarios with different sims. At least you didn't waste any money buying the pack, since you didn't care for it much.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I second that. Although after today I’m ready to walk away from the game anyhow so I don’t really care.
Maybe because I got the pack only as a tool to tell my story, it was exactly what I needed. I think is because they didn't want to force too much their story on us that it comes out flat.
And I do think we should judge a game where it comes to that: does it work when I play it. It’s a game, not just a story tool. I remember people complaining about Sims 3 because it was so hard to manipulate the sims into doing exactly what they wanted, to get the right screenshot. And even though I understood that frustration (have been there many times, “noooooo, stáy where you are, what do you need that guitar for now, don’t turn around GOSH!”), at the end of the day it is a game and it should be enjoyable as a game. And I think it’s justified to judge this pack based on that. It’s a scripted story, there are many more games with scripted stories, does this pack hold a candle to games like that? If not, I understand how that won’t matter to some players because they’re not interested in playing the game like that, but that won’t be an argument for those who do want to be able to enjoy the game based on being a game and not a tool.
I totally agree. I would buy this for the world, hair, and items if I could turn off the story and get rid of those creepy looking people. I play families and so this isn't my game play. Yet, for those who like it--enjoy.
If u play that story, that world and everything turn in to a normal. But yeah, only if u play that story first. I wish too that it would turn off-turn on thing.
Don't invite the Welcome Wagon in and the story won't begin or progress any further. Delete the few infected sims from the game, and that keeps everything on pause unless you deliberaterly start the story by investigating.