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Island Living is a good “Expansion Pack”
jackjack_k
Posts: 8,601 Member
I see very 50/50 opinions on Island Living.
A lot of people who are unhappy feel there’s isn’t enough new gameplay avenues.
For me, Island Living is perfect for what an Expansion Pack originally was. I feel like The Sims 2 Expansions were focused on Expanding the base game experiences.
A lot of The Sims 3 Expansions were focused on adding very specific gameplay that often worked best in the worlds and areas that EA provided and required a lot of hard work to get them to work elsewhere by players.
This pack kind of reminds me of Free Time or Apartment Life, in the sense those packs are designed to enhance and expand the way you play the base game. Giving you new experiences while ultimately making the base game more rich.
Packs like Island Paradise, while very similar, set out to do something very different (kind of like World Adventures).
In the sense that Island Paradise wasn’t built to enhance the base game, but to provide a very specific gameplay experience that isn’t really the same outside of the world it came with.
If you installed Island Paradise and then played in Sunset Valley, without heavy player modification, it’s like you would never have installed the expansion at all.
However, Island Living is different. A lot of the games new content, is designed to be accessible no matter how you play the base game. You can experience the content just by visting, or choosing the Odd Jobs.
I feel like EA are leaving the specific experiences to Game Packs, but Expansions are designed to make the base game richer and they’re trying to make content that’s only used if you play that Expansions (eg like how Get To Work is useless if you don’t want to play with Active Careers).
Get Together and onwards, all the EPs seem to be designed to expand the base game experience.
The Game Packs all seem very specific except for Parenthood.
I feel like that’s why there’s such a 50/50 about why people prefer Game Packs or Expansions.
Expansion Packs will appeal to people who want a richer base game experience.
Game Packs will appeal to people who almost want a game within a game, or offer content that sits outside how you would normally play.
I hope this makes sense but I feel like I finally understand after the stark contrast from Strangerville to Island Living, I can see what they want the packs to do.
What do you guys think?
A lot of people who are unhappy feel there’s isn’t enough new gameplay avenues.
For me, Island Living is perfect for what an Expansion Pack originally was. I feel like The Sims 2 Expansions were focused on Expanding the base game experiences.
A lot of The Sims 3 Expansions were focused on adding very specific gameplay that often worked best in the worlds and areas that EA provided and required a lot of hard work to get them to work elsewhere by players.
This pack kind of reminds me of Free Time or Apartment Life, in the sense those packs are designed to enhance and expand the way you play the base game. Giving you new experiences while ultimately making the base game more rich.
Packs like Island Paradise, while very similar, set out to do something very different (kind of like World Adventures).
In the sense that Island Paradise wasn’t built to enhance the base game, but to provide a very specific gameplay experience that isn’t really the same outside of the world it came with.
If you installed Island Paradise and then played in Sunset Valley, without heavy player modification, it’s like you would never have installed the expansion at all.
However, Island Living is different. A lot of the games new content, is designed to be accessible no matter how you play the base game. You can experience the content just by visting, or choosing the Odd Jobs.
I feel like EA are leaving the specific experiences to Game Packs, but Expansions are designed to make the base game richer and they’re trying to make content that’s only used if you play that Expansions (eg like how Get To Work is useless if you don’t want to play with Active Careers).
Get Together and onwards, all the EPs seem to be designed to expand the base game experience.
The Game Packs all seem very specific except for Parenthood.
I feel like that’s why there’s such a 50/50 about why people prefer Game Packs or Expansions.
Expansion Packs will appeal to people who want a richer base game experience.
Game Packs will appeal to people who almost want a game within a game, or offer content that sits outside how you would normally play.
I hope this makes sense but I feel like I finally understand after the stark contrast from Strangerville to Island Living, I can see what they want the packs to do.
What do you guys think?
Jackeline. She/Her.
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26
Comments
Feature-wise, this pack has none and what fun stuff it adds can be consumed in a few hours if even that long. My recommendation is to save your $40 and get this one on a sale of some sort. It’s not worth the $40 price tag. EP’s for this version rarely are, but this one especially is not. $20 seems like a fair price for what you ultimately get.
I’m not sure I agree that this falls under that category when every CAS item of clothing is tropical themed as is every build objects. They are clearly meant for the new expansion and use in that world. I can believe this was meant to be a game pack. The main features of this pack is limited to the world. Unlike in sims 3 where you could swim, snorkel, windsurf, boat in any of the worlds and Apartment life where you could build apartments in any world. Those features opened up your worlds and gave you new ways to play everywhere as opposed to the features being heavily tied to one world. Perhaps they will unlock ocean swimming for all worlds.
I don’t personally feel unlocking rabbit hole jobs for all worlds is cause for celebration if I’m honest. Had we gotten ocean swimming for all or a conservation career that wasn’t focused on one world as well as giving us new gameplay, skills and traits with depth I could agree but as it stands I feel we paid expansion pack prices just to unlock ocean swimming. Very little of it is useful outside of Sulani besides suntanning and the way it works in 4, being limited to the beach towel or the lounger is restrictive.
It could have and should have had more game play for its price tag but as per usual with sims 4, it delivers less for more money.
(Shang Simla, can’t imagine this doesn’t happen when you play in Sunset Valley; all I did here was click the Dragon’s Maw and say ‘go there’)
Mermaids are in every Sims 3 world (can’t avoid them), I played a life guard in Dragon Valley, I don’t quite see how what you say is true. I love being able to modify the game by the way, that’s part of the fun. You present it as a con, but for me it’s a pro.
Genuinely curious by the way, would it be possible for you to praise the pack without comparing it to the Sims 3 version? Can it stand on its own ‘feet’? Can you explain what’s great about it if IP wouldn’t exist?
as for game packs... dine out and parenthood enriched the base game imo. for me, vampires actually did too since i play with occults in almost every save.
The conservation career can impact every other world though, if you’re an environment manager you can consult on global policies. I think we need to give the devs credit on nailing that career.
I still believe this pack lacks gameplay though, rabbit holes with texts aren’t gameplay... This pack, as opposed to op, is quite self-centered in my opinion.
packs are designed to enhance and expand the way you play the base game. Giving you new experiences while ultimately making the base game more rich.
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This doesn’t expand on base game experiences though ??? You cannot swim in any other world, whereas TS3, you could. The conservationist career needs specific tasks to be completed in sulani. Mermaids have a hard time keeping hydration up outside sulani (since, y’know, they’re sea creatures) That’s about the whole pack gameplay wise, none of it adds to the base game. You’re essentially paying for the world and a heap of re-used animations. This isn’t an expansion on base game at all.
To me it seems like a larger version of Strangerville, in that it's very world-specific.
I did go through the other worlds making a few edits after I bought it, but this was basically adding loungers and towels around pools and building sand pits in parks.
Again I honestly don't understand any of this criticism. It just doesn't make sense since I look what's in the pack vs the criticism and it seems like the criticism is of another pack than what I bought.
I never quite understand those who buy the DLC and then rant because it's not big enough/complex enough/doesn't have the same features as those in TS3/yadda yadda yadda. Caveat emptor ('buyer beware') - its on us to figure out before we buy anything if we're going to get value for money from it or not, and there were literally 100s of game changer videos and reviews available before it released covering all aspects of gameplay, so there's no reason for not educating yourself about what the EP does/does not include and then making an informed decision to purchase or not. For me, I was really disappointed when we learned that we couldn't follow our Sims underwater but the other features outweighed this, imo, so I bought it anyway and I don't regret my purchase one bit
Because some people buy without watching YouTube videos as they don’t want spoilers. Also many of the game changer videos didn’t cover everything. Many of them said that.
If people buy something and find it disappointing, they have the right to express that opinion. I don’t really agree with the school of thought that it’s the consumers fault for feeling disappointed. Of course people can see reviews and decide for themselves. I bought it knowing the limitations because the tropical theme up until this point has always been a strong iteration. Even knowing the limitations I still feel disappointed because the beauty of the world doesn’t make up for lack of game play, lack of new skills to learn and all the freaking rabbit holes.
OK but if you (and I don't mean you personally, but the general 'you') are the type of person that doesn't want spoilers (and I get that - I only watched a few videos through my fingers
That is how I feel, I would be happy to get the pack at an greatly reduced price and then I would feel that I paid for it what I really feel it is worth.
To each their own I guess, not sure what you want me to tell you. This pack adds a handful of new gameplay content, and the remainder is either borrowed and given a face lift or is a text based off-screen thing.
What is the big feature with this pack? For me it doesn’t cut it as an expansion because it doesn’t expand on anything and really doesn’t add much to do in the game especially outside of the new world. That’s what game packs do. Feel free to disagree, but it’s not like you not understanding my take on it makes my take any less of a valid opinion.
That is exactly the criticism about this EP, that it does not enrich/expand the base game and that it is very specific.
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Jeeze can players make any valid criticism without being called uneducated and blamed??
Seriously. Don’t buy the pack, and your criticism isn’t valid. Buy the pack, and you should have educated yourself instead of buying it. It’s like a lose-lose for anyone who has any valid critique of this game. That culture is toxic, and it’s prevalent around this forum. I never understand those who are so tightly wound that they can’t handle criticism about this game.
I disagree. This pack very much changes my game play where as Sims IP just added activity to the sims that already existed. This game makes me feel I am in a new place not formerly on the Sims map - a new culture with an ancient history and a different way of life. So it very much expands my game play with a whole different community and sims that live very different than other sims in the game. I enjoy the differences very much and my expanded game play by not playing in these islands like I play in rest of my sims worlds. Like I am not the least bit interested in my other sims needing this place as a vacation spot seeing they do not really belong here and to turn it into a resort or vacation spot wipes out it's design and beautiful differences.
So yes - my game play has been way further expanded by this EP than any other ep outside of Vamps. Vamps expanded my gameplay too as they were different sims of a different culture as well. I try not to have all my sims like all the other sims and this pack does that well. I guess it depends on how one looks at their game. It's in the eye of the beholder - and not the game as the game provides what is needed to make it different than the rest but if players play it the same as all the rest or try to - then they will see it as lacking in my view - when it is not at all.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
EXACTLY this! I 100 percent agree.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
The Game Changer videos I saw all had the same message: “There doesn’t APPEAR to be a lot of gameplay here, but I have only played it for a few hours so maybe I just haven’t come across it yet”. Again, it’s about us trusting that there was more to find when we had the game in hand.
So yeah, I am disappointed.
Well OK, but you still bought it even though game changers said there didn't look like much content...
And this is you putting words in my mouth, by the way. I don't even know what that sentence means.
Just expressing my opinion - which I believe I'm entitled to do, right? - even though I have the temerity to disagree with you.
I don’t wish I hadn’t bought it. I wish it was better.
When a game pack does culture, new skills, game play and adds more game play to your game (and rabbit holes arent game play) then I think that says a lot.
I'm not comparing it to the sims 1-3. I'm comparing it to itself. It feels like a good game pack. A change of aesthetic and sims with island wear on to me does not feel different enough and fleshed out enough to call itself an expansion. There is too much of what little new activities we got that is confined to one location. I am trying hard to see how this expansion has changed my sims core world and I just can not see it. It has changed my sims core world in the sense that restaurants are now broken, toddlers are broken, beds are broken, some lots seem plagued by stuck sims. Those aspects have changed my sims worlds but as for new game play? Not really. We have paid for beauty, cas items, ocean swimming and sun tanning.
Jungle adventure actually added more.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....