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My Feedback on July 16th 2019 Patch and Rebrand
rjssim
Posts: 1,339 Member
As a big fan of TS4 and someone who always pre-orders and buys everything for TS4, I just wanted to share my personal feedback on the July 16th 2019 patch and the rebrand. First of all, thank you for the new features and content such as the new way to create a sim and new items that have been placed into the game. Also, unlocking all those items to be used in other worlds is also a nice perk.
In regards, to the rebrand. I'm sorry and I don't mean to be rude, but it just doesn't fit. I can deal with the main menu and the blue loading screen which is not as good as the old background, but that plumblob, I'm sorry but it is just awful. It's glaring, it doesn't match the the rest of the graphics in the game, and it's irritating to look at. Sadly, I will have to be playing with the plumblob invisible now. This also goes to the new intro video. The first thing we see is a big version of that plumblob. It's just not good guys... Can you please give us an option to use the old backgrounds and plumblob? Giving us an option to choose will benefit everyone.
Now, this is where I'm really disappointed... While there are some serious issues in the game that came with Island Living and the release of the last patch, hardly any bug fixes have been done in this update. We still can't invite sims from worlds other than Sulani without them disappearing when visiting lots in Sulani (https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/OPEN-IL-Out-of-world-invited-NPCs-leave-lot-in-Sulani-don-t-show/td-p/7960959). What about all of the other bugs? As much as I like new features, I feel that bug fixing is way more important and should take priority, and especially much more priority than a rebrand. What good is a rebrand anyways if you guys don't fix the bugs? Your idea for a rebrand is to refresh TS4. There is no refresh when it's just a game with new paint that contains all the same bugs.
Anyways, that's my feedback. I'm still gonna buy everything because I love TS4 and it's my favorite game, but please just give us an option to change back to the old theme and please spend more time fixing bugs than adding features. There are some serious bugs out there that are affecting game play in a very negative way.
In regards, to the rebrand. I'm sorry and I don't mean to be rude, but it just doesn't fit. I can deal with the main menu and the blue loading screen which is not as good as the old background, but that plumblob, I'm sorry but it is just awful. It's glaring, it doesn't match the the rest of the graphics in the game, and it's irritating to look at. Sadly, I will have to be playing with the plumblob invisible now. This also goes to the new intro video. The first thing we see is a big version of that plumblob. It's just not good guys... Can you please give us an option to use the old backgrounds and plumblob? Giving us an option to choose will benefit everyone.
Now, this is where I'm really disappointed... While there are some serious issues in the game that came with Island Living and the release of the last patch, hardly any bug fixes have been done in this update. We still can't invite sims from worlds other than Sulani without them disappearing when visiting lots in Sulani (https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/OPEN-IL-Out-of-world-invited-NPCs-leave-lot-in-Sulani-don-t-show/td-p/7960959). What about all of the other bugs? As much as I like new features, I feel that bug fixing is way more important and should take priority, and especially much more priority than a rebrand. What good is a rebrand anyways if you guys don't fix the bugs? Your idea for a rebrand is to refresh TS4. There is no refresh when it's just a game with new paint that contains all the same bugs.
Anyways, that's my feedback. I'm still gonna buy everything because I love TS4 and it's my favorite game, but please just give us an option to change back to the old theme and please spend more time fixing bugs than adding features. There are some serious bugs out there that are affecting game play in a very negative way.
Post edited by rjssim on
6
Comments
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
That's good to know. I had it set to invisible after seeing the loading screen in the screenshots, so I figured they did the same thing for the in-game one too.
So did what we got today. It was probably already being worked on from before the June 18 patch and Island Living launch. They didn't do this "instead of" fixing bugs. They do both, and more, at once.
I actually really like the new plumbob on the load screen, and don't find it glaring at all. I actually find it interesting, and was thinking good things about whoever designed it's colors and animations. Abstract? Sure. But it looks good.
Another plus for me, in the post-Pride-month lull: other companies only do inclusion for June. With Maxis, they are improving it all the time. I can't say how cheered I am, in a quiet way, to have a same-sex couple as a part of the headline art on this page. It's subtle, but present. And a salient reminder that I could romance a same-sex Sim for as long as the franchise has been around. BioWare gets a lot of praise in that department, but their Austin studio blew it with SWTOR's release, and mis-handling the issue since. Maxis does it right.
Just curious - City Living was released October 1, 2016 - since then, we have had the bug that all new sims spawned in our worlds have names that come from the handful of names created for that pack (this is why I have 6 families in my game, non-related, with the same first and last names that I did not create). This has been addressed and documented on the bug fix list as many are dealing with this issue. Now, it's almost up to 3 years with this bug - just how much time should we assume that the developers need to squash just this one bug....one that the mod community handled in less than a week? Sorry, but I don't see how this should EVER be acceptable for a game that many of us have spent our hard-earned money on....money that I can assure you has never failed to reach their pockets because that bug would be squashed instantly.
Bug fixes may take time but as has been shown time and time again, there is no accountability. Need I remind anyone of how these same developers left the Sims 3? The responses were "we're looking into it".....does that sound familiar?
Bug fixes take time? No, bug fixes take effort and commitment - these are the things that most of us are frustrated with because we aren't seeing either, and more than enough time has been allowed for so many of these bugs to be addresses and resolved. Just look at what the mod community has done with NO resources, team, or income to navigate the areas of neglect that we see. And no one should ever expect to have to resort to 3rd party mods to correct any issues within the game that they have paid for. These should be handled by the developer in a timely manner....29 months and counting is NOT a timely manner.
Also, @Sindocat, please don't think that I am coming down on you - I've actually enjoyed seeing some of your posts of your sims and don't want to sound like I am trying to provoke you - I'm just not sold on the 'give them time' argument. For many, frustration is really setting in for this game as we all want it to be the best it can be - it's just missing the mark in so many areas that it really shouldn't have to be.
I was specifically addressing the raft of glitches that came in late June, as that was what (perhaps mistakenly) I believed the OP was referencing. And they did patch in some bug fixes just before.
As for older content? I don't know how this studio does it. I know in others, there is a severity scale, depending on how much function is impaired, and worse bugs are prioritized, and some issues do get bumped down the to-do list for years. But I do also believe that Maxis wants to fix them, if and when they can.
Unless they come out and say "we cannot/will not fix this", then yes, I give them the benefit of the doubt, and while I don't think 3+ years is an ideal wait, I can see how it can take that long, or longer.
I also get impatient with some of the anti-developer rhetoric, and that sharpens my tone in response. Thank you for clarifying your own reply to me. That was helpful in tempering my own.
I don’t get this idea that the developers haven’t had time to fix bugs. In some cases they have had years to work on finding fixes for the various bugs present in this game.
Times up. 5 years is a lot of time, and if they still haven’t made headway on fixing some of the serious bugs in the game then I think it’s a pretty good sign they aren’t going to bother. The same studio did the same song and dance for Sims 3 before abruptly ending support for the game. I choose not to ignore their track record, because it is still very relevant to how they operate today.
I don't know if you were referring to me in that comment, but I am not anti-developer rhetoric. I have been nothing but supportive towards TS4 since it came out including on happily pre-ordering and buying everything. If you like the new design, that is cool. However, I don't, and that doesn't mean I'm anti-developer rhetoric. I'm just voicing my concern, and I also said that having an option for both themes would be beneficial for all. I respect that others like it, but it's just not my cup of tea.
In regards to bug fixes, there is much to be concerned about given the past track record as others have already said, unfortunately. It took months just to get non-interactive sims being interactive again, and that was kind of a game breaker. As others have said, there are still bugs in TS4 that have yet to be resolved years later. Just because I wanted to voice my opinion what should take priority doesn't mean I don't like the DEVs, the Gurus, or the Sims team... I love these guys! We wouldn't have TS4 without them. Everything I say is constructive criticism and I mean no rudness or anything like that towards the DEVs. I just wanted to make that clear.
Also, I am not trying to be rude to you, I just wanted to make sure you understood the tone in my context. Anyways, happy simming.