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Do they really ‘listen’?
Godleyjeans
Posts: 336 Member
Hold your rants and negativity! This isn’t an attack against th Gurus and EA, as angry and upset as I am with the recent Maxis Monthly, I’m here to ask what’s on everyone’s mind following the news of a new career and packs on the way to the sims 4.
For years, since the games release, we have asked for so much and as much as I respect and understand the team only have so little time on their hands...where is the content we actually asked for? Where is the content we actually need?
The sims 4 is 4 years old just about....babies are still objects.
We still lack firefighters and police and burglars! We lack story progression and cars and decent services and jobs....
Do you see what I’m saying?
They listen....but do they LISTEN?
Are they giving us what we want or what THEY WANT?
Toddlers only appeared after constant backlash.
We have had to fight for a shelf!
We have had to fight for so much and what we received in return was so lacking it felt more like a middle finger than actual content!
Vampires...that’s all I’m gonna say because what else is there to say?
Again! They’re working, day in, day out, having to deal with us, their employers, their own personal lives and so much more.
But! Their job is to deliver content.
They are paid to release and create quality content for a game many of us have invested hundreds of pounds on.
Yet, we receive content so lacklustre and poor, they might as well have thrown us a cheap looking toaster that constantly catches fire.
I am not here to hate the gurus or insult the company, or the sims itself.
But what happened to the sims? What happened to lead us here?
Why do we have to come here and demand quality content as well as content which actually makes a difference to our games! Nobody wants the same stuff, I understand that very well.
But when we receive content, do not deny that a good amount is incredibly lacking!
I am going to leave this here for you to continue on via the comments.
At this moment I am utterly let down and seething that nothing I say feels enough to express my outrage and hurt.
I have been a simmer since I could just about walk, blame my dad (biggest financial mistake he ever made), and having been there for the rise and fall....I just...need to put this out there and hope someone at the company listens.
All I want is someone to reach out and say “hey we’re currently doing this, no idea when it’s going to be finished but it’s coming so don’t worry”
I would happily wait another two years for story progression or burglars or even free mobile babies.
I would simply appreciate being kept in the loop and knowing that someone is hearing us and actively listening.
My apologies for rocking the boat, however things like this need to be said sometimes,
I’m gonna go, have a nice day and keep simming.
Sul Sul
For years, since the games release, we have asked for so much and as much as I respect and understand the team only have so little time on their hands...where is the content we actually asked for? Where is the content we actually need?
The sims 4 is 4 years old just about....babies are still objects.
We still lack firefighters and police and burglars! We lack story progression and cars and decent services and jobs....
Do you see what I’m saying?
They listen....but do they LISTEN?
Are they giving us what we want or what THEY WANT?
Toddlers only appeared after constant backlash.
We have had to fight for a shelf!
We have had to fight for so much and what we received in return was so lacking it felt more like a middle finger than actual content!
Vampires...that’s all I’m gonna say because what else is there to say?
Again! They’re working, day in, day out, having to deal with us, their employers, their own personal lives and so much more.
But! Their job is to deliver content.
They are paid to release and create quality content for a game many of us have invested hundreds of pounds on.
Yet, we receive content so lacklustre and poor, they might as well have thrown us a cheap looking toaster that constantly catches fire.
I am not here to hate the gurus or insult the company, or the sims itself.
But what happened to the sims? What happened to lead us here?
Why do we have to come here and demand quality content as well as content which actually makes a difference to our games! Nobody wants the same stuff, I understand that very well.
But when we receive content, do not deny that a good amount is incredibly lacking!
I am going to leave this here for you to continue on via the comments.
At this moment I am utterly let down and seething that nothing I say feels enough to express my outrage and hurt.
I have been a simmer since I could just about walk, blame my dad (biggest financial mistake he ever made), and having been there for the rise and fall....I just...need to put this out there and hope someone at the company listens.
All I want is someone to reach out and say “hey we’re currently doing this, no idea when it’s going to be finished but it’s coming so don’t worry”
I would happily wait another two years for story progression or burglars or even free mobile babies.
I would simply appreciate being kept in the loop and knowing that someone is hearing us and actively listening.
My apologies for rocking the boat, however things like this need to be said sometimes,
I’m gonna go, have a nice day and keep simming.
Sul Sul
38
Comments
I wouldn't be surprised if they would pay more attention to Feedback or Ideas if they consisted of hundred, thousands with just one word and not a long post.
ie: Burglars
Free babies
Witches
Horses
Story Progression
I, personally wouldn't mind
Plumbing
Engineering
Farmer
Painter and decorator
Those that need the Sims actually to get their hands dirty.
But as someone who could not care less about updated babies for example, I am very glad that they spent their resources on new, more flexible career options. And I am always happy about free CAS and BB items. As someone who did not even notice the "fight for a shelf", I was pleasently surprised by this addition and do hope that positive feedback will lead to more basic color variations being added to existing items. I just like the overall theme of this little free pack and I do think they take community feedback into account while still trying to deliver content that is new to the franchise.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/956513/netz-a-porter-outfits-ready-to-wear-for-your-sims-no-cc-required
Twitter: NetzspannungTS
we all try ...
EA don't mind where the money comes from, dollars, pounds, euros it's all the same to them! Our rants probably are more arguable as you Americans even get your PC's, Macs cheaper as well!
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/924539/features-that-needs-depth-and-ways-to-improve
About paying content, I just wish things were a bit cheaper. I really wish I could have more of the packs but it's just too expensive.
We can only hope they'll improve in the next few years to come, but I have my doubts. Let's wait and see.
Ok, but how do we know that they are not working on some or all of this stuff and it is just taking a while to implement? I am not talking about you specifically, because this is a common complaint/comment, but just because they haven't added something to the game you asked for, it does not mean they didn't hear you. It may very well not be possible at this point, not possible at all or requiring more resources than are currently available.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/956513/netz-a-porter-outfits-ready-to-wear-for-your-sims-no-cc-required
Twitter: NetzspannungTS
we all try ...
But yeah... no matter what... TS4 will never be my favourite of the franshise and as I am concerned right now it will be my least favourite of the four games because being really honesty, I've been playing The Sims (1) again and It's so fun to play even nowadays.
1) Some of the employees on the sims team are probably in agreement with you on some features (or lack thereof). They just have little to no say in how or when or if it gets implemented.
2) Sometimes a feature is desired, but the people with the most veto power aren't convinced it will sell. For example, some comment Grant made at one point w/ regards to somebody asking about more diverse trash cans. I think the general gist of the comment was that he thought it would be hard to market such a thing. (Not saying people should run with this and assume it about every 'missing' feature; the point is just that it can be a factor.)
3) Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, as the saying goes. Yeah, it seems like on occasion that the stuff that is brought up most vocally by the community gets attention it may not have otherwise gotten. The sims team is not prescient and I would guess it's hard to keep track of all the different things people want, along with various marketing and sales goals being thrust upon them.
Should they be excused for missing a lot of features people feel are essential? Should people take it for granted that they are listening? That's up to each person. I think it's clear they do some listening, but listening doesn't always mean "doing what you want" either. Listening can also mean "hearing what you have to say and giving it some thought." I can say that in my time as a modder, there have been periods where if I did everything people asked for, I'd never have time to do anything else; which isn't exactly fun for me and I have to consider that sometimes people are going to ask for things that are in direct contradiction to one another, or that sometimes what someone asks for is something that five people will use and find interesting. Then again, sometimes what one person is asking for is something that a huge amount of people are silently wishing for.
Best thing you can probably do as a fan is just voice what is it you're looking for persistently, with some gaps in-between, to give them time to digest it. It sucks to feel like you aren't being heard though. I pretty much always feel that way in one way or another when I'm following a 'live service' game. I think I've just gotten used to it at this point. Which I'm not sure is a good thing, but that's how it is for me.
I'd love to see them throw out new towns maybe twice a year in a patch (the ones they give us are incredibly small. I like to make huge games of hundreds of sims and just intertwine their lives.) I'd like to see more cities with apartments personally. One city with a whole new way of living is so annoying. If they were only going to put out one city with the new feature of apartments, they should have let us build our own in other towns. I'd have them all over the place.
I will be happy if they throw out a University ep but not if it's just the same ol University of the past ep's. They can do an old ep and make it new, like say by making a school ep and adding interactive high school & elementary like GTW. Then it's not just University game play we get that is possible to get boring after a short period, it's all ages of school. You know how much more game time that would give players.
A careers pack, like maybe a stuff pack. I'd rather see more careers at this point than stuff. There's a lot of stuff in the game but the game isn't about stuff, it's about our sims. It's nice to have stuff to decorate a house with but if there's nothing for the sim to do then idk who cares about the house. I mean I know there's a decent amount of careers but I dislike more than half of them.
There's a lot more and maybe I'll feel up to talking about it further, that's enough for now.
And to just put it out there, no this is not just another “omg they didn’t deliver what I wanted, I’m so furious about the lack of content I personally asked for” plum no! This is about content many simmers have asked for and noticed issues with involving depth and the like.
Speaking of depth, that is one of the biggest topics on this post, depth and the lackthereof installed into various packs, not just content wise, but the whole span of releases over the last few years have lacked it in various ways: when I talk about this, yes I do want to bring attention to dogs with the cats and dogs pack, also just the title itself, cats and dogs, nothing else, we had to have a pack released introducing hamsters and that was it, no birds, no turtles, no small pets we could have wander around the house or let escape, it’s just “you get cat, and you get dog, you can have both, or neither, but nothing else unless you buy this small stuff pack that comes with a hamster. Also said hamster comes in different swatches”
Plus, dogs are just as lacking, cats can do a fair amount more and yes that’s how they are in life itself, but dogs have a multitude of skills depending on their personality, and as we dog owners can admit, we’ve had pets who can open dogs, feed themselves, sneak around, trick you for treats and so much more. Pets itself for me is lacking, but again, that’s just me, I’m not speaking for everyone else on this topic but feel free to speak up with your dislikes about this pack.
Moving into vampires....yes, the system is far better than it used to be, I do enjoy certain aspects of the pack, but as a creature...they don’t interact much with the world, they come with too few items, a tiny world and not enough ways to impact it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Vlad, he’s actually the highlight of the pack, but that’s all it is and I know this sounds like I want a lot more for vampires but in all honesty, I do, vampires should have been an expansion on its own with a bigger world and more interactions and powers, more things for them to do and a real storyline. Throwback to the sims 2/3 days which I know are long gone but that’s what made the games so good, they had depth regardless of the bugs and computer killing storage space.
Now to seasons: snows lack of...literal depth, and hail, now I understand that obviously some content was a system no no, they didn’t have the ability or the time and I’m not angry about that, I know too many people in tech and computer design and software so this is simply a “I don’t like the lack of such and such, but I understand you guys have a plum ton to do”.
With seasons, it could have been more, seasons themselves could have been more as could holidays and content, we could’ve had new occult and animal characters, better Halloween, a decent working father winter, hail could have come as a form of hard rain, or slush, it’s a complicated pack so I don’t want to disrespect the staff by insulting this.
I love the pack, but I also don’t love certain things about it.
Get together.
Get to work.
You can fill in the issues there because at this point I’ve been trying to work on this for an hour and my brain is starting to melt faster than the snow at spring time.
Comment below what packs irk you with their lacking of detail and depth, along with how you feel about what the gurus and staff are doing.
All I ask is no fighting, no negativity, please try to understand each other as well as myself and don’t make this an off topic argument about cheese sandwiches.
I will come back with further posts on this later, but as of right now...I need a drink and a long nap.
Sul Sul
Something like improved story progression (because it does exist in Sims 4, it's just less invasive and more subtle than Sims 3's version) is tricky because if they decided to do it, they would have to make sure that it wouldn't interfere with rotational players' games, so it would have to affect only townies, or offer a way for players to select which households to "opt in" so that their played households remain untouched. I, for one, definitely do not want the game to start making more changes to my Sims that I didn't want. I already hate when they show up in random job positions.
I do agree overall that there are still many basic features that we desperately need, like a Fear emotion, more NPCs, and a traits vs emotions overhaul or deeper personality system. Because without these things, no matter what content is added, the game will continue to feel incomplete and shallow.
That being said, I believe the biggest thing sims 4 lacks is depth and personality for the sims. Without completely changing the engineering of the game or how it runs, I think the sims should be given more options for interactions. I have seen many complain about how empty each interaction or personality is and I will agree with that. I think more time needs to be spent adding to the Sims themselves. I have seen a lot of people ask for more romantic gestures and I do agree. It seems after awhile the interactions among families goes stale. I feel bored having them interact because it is the same over and over and I'm more just doing it to fill their social need. More Sim traits would add to the interaction variety, I feel. I agree that throwing in more towns with patches is a good idea as well, it gives us more options to expand the world.
I still love the game and still will continue to play it. I do appreciate them giving us free content and freelance careers. To me that gives me hope they are continuing to improve upon the game. It does seem they are either slow or don't always give us what we ask but as I would imagine, it may not always be as easy as it sounds.
I appreciate this post and the positive responses everyone is giving. Again, this is just my opinion on the matter and I usually agree with most other simmers on their opinions. Everyone has valid arguments which I think almost always would be a good idea for the game, in theory.
I still think they should drop a new pack every other month. Maybe this will be the start of that?
It might be that we haven't had any more supernatural/occult types since vampires and that was now over 2 years ago.
I think they do listen -- but that everyone is asking for different things. Some people want to free the babies, others are just fine with them the way they are. Some want more supernaturals, others want nothing to do with them because they want "realistic" play. Some people want "new" concepts while others prefer the old standbys. There are those who want the return of burglars, firefighters, newspapers etc. and others who are just fine without them (remember that for every NPC added to the game you'll have more Sims in ughly outfits generated
Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
> The game is surely lacking. I don't hate it by any means. I still play the game and I do have every pack they've put out. There are things that are missing and for me it's not even stuff like ep's of the past. For me it's problems with relationships and personalities. I have to wonder which content is harder to produce. There is really no depth to our sims and it is quite frustrating. I'd like to see a lot more traits put into the game. I think the traits actually need an overhaul and need to matter. I'd like to marry two incompatible sims and just have their whole relationship be a challenge. I'd like to be able to confess to cheating with a sim and get some consequences. The sims are all the same though and they just don't have the feeling of the "so much work" the devs claimed to be put into them.
>
> I'd love to see them throw out new towns maybe twice a year in a patch (the ones they give us are incredibly small. I like to make huge games of hundreds of sims and just intertwine their lives.) I'd like to see more cities with apartments personally. One city with a whole new way of living is so annoying. If they were only going to put out one city with the new feature of apartments, they should have let us build our own in other towns. I'd have them all over the place.
>
> I will be happy if they throw out a University ep but not if it's just the same ol University of the past ep's. They can do an old ep and make it new, like say by making a school ep and adding interactive high school & elementary like GTW. Then it's not just University game play we get that is possible to get boring after a short period, it's all ages of school. You know how much more game time that would give players.
>
> A careers pack, like maybe a stuff pack. I'd rather see more careers at this point than stuff. There's a lot of stuff in the game but the game isn't about stuff, it's about our sims. It's nice to have stuff to decorate a house with but if there's nothing for the sim to do then idk who cares about the house. I mean I know there's a decent amount of careers but I dislike more than half of them.
>
> There's a lot more and maybe I'll feel up to talking about it further, that's enough for now.
I completely agree with everything you said. I believe it is the lack of personalities and shallow relationships the sims have, that make the game feel empty. The game, over everything, is about the Sims and I believe that is what is the most disappointing. But like you said, I still play the game because there are elements that I do like and appreciate.