Mermaids a Disappointment, Fear for Realm of Magic «12...Next Go

vampirekim

As cool and beautiful as they are, I found that the mermaid occult is a little lacking. Granted I also found the expansion to be nothing but an over priced game pack but I digress. I overall enjoy the pack just find it lacking game play wise especially since mermaids just seem to swim around, call on dolphins, and change the weather. I suppose a power tree similar to vampires would be more fulfilling.

I am super excited for Realm of Magic, I cannot wait to have some witches/wizards in my game (assuming that's a new occult we'll get unless it will be a skill). However, I cannot help but to feel worried since our last occult was so lacking.

I'm sure since this will be a pack focusing on nothing but magical beings it will be more well rounded but how many occult's will we get? Sims 3 Supernatural gave us everything but no occult really felt complete at least not compared to Sims 4 Vampires that polished them up and felt whole.

I am craving information on this pack and would love to know how other Simmers feel! Do you want to see more than one occult or focus on magic? Think this will be similar to the beloved Sims Makin' Magic?

Simmingal

IL was not really called ''Mermaids'' so its rather understandable its not as deep as vampires is
but I like the things they did add though (at least they got some use unlike ts3 counterpart)

my biggest worry for realm of magic would be that they go too one genre with it
(would prefer some variety rather than making just witches pack)

But I don't think its going to be much like makin' magic with the overall theme (since they never revisited it)
I can always hope for some parts to be put in though like dragons or something
(really if there just is dragons that ain't just bird on shoulder im already fine with it)

this been found in concept art archives as early concepts too but not sure if it relates or nah

Gordy

I'm worried - I'm always worried with Sims 4 stuff, and I'll especially worry over my absolute favorite theme. But I don't think mermaids are that big of an indicator, since a) they were vying for content with everything else in the EP, b) mermaids have less potential than witches or vampires, and c) one of their biggest problems came from a lack of real ocean exploration, rather than how they themselves were handled. They got most of the things I've seen people ask for (control over weather, influencing emotions, songs, drowning sims, communicating with dolphins), it's just that they suffered from being in one of the most horribly-executed Expansion Packs of the franchise.

Witches are in a much better state than mermaids: they're getting an entire pack dedicated to introducing them and fleshing them out. All the content of the pack will revolve around them. Plus they would have learned more about developing a power tree from their work on Vampires, so this pack would have a more experienced team behind it.

Simmingal wrote: »

I can always hope for some parts to be put in though like dragons or something
(really if there just is dragons that ain't just bird on shoulder im already fine with it)

Eyyy. 👏

CAITLINX354

I mean besides Vampires, if you're an occult player, the TS4 has not been kind to you. Aliens were okay but not being able to stay on Sixam sucks, ghosts are meh, and the plant sims are garbage.

I really am trying to prepare for the worst but hope for the best when it comes to RoM. If they follow the vampire route it could be amazing but who knows.

Angellulu

I think mermaids were done better than sims 3, but they are still disappointing due to no underwater gameplay! It could have had SO MUCH potential. Island living was definitely a disappointment, and I do hope Realm of Magic is better because I've also been waiting for all these years to have witches in my game! I hope they add spiral staircases, cool and fun powers, dragons, broom flying, elemental spells, spellbook, secret bookcase door, cauldron, etc. And in depth spell system similar to vampire skill tree!

filipomel

I wouldn't worry about Realm of Magic, Game Packs usually do a good job at delivering a good amount of content for the theme.

nerdfashion

People compare Mermaids < Vampires, but vampires got 1 full pack to themselves, whereas mermaids were added with another pack that worked well with them.

What you should be comparing is Mermaids and Aliens. They both were added with an EP with loads (well, maybe not loads) of other content.

I wouldn't be too worried about Realm of Magic just because mermaids were lacking. Realm of Magic will be a GP with likely things ONLY focusing on the occult they include (like with Vampires).

Goosey

There is a bit to fear cause mermaids suck, there isn't a reason to make one at all. You can't even dive around and explore the ocean.

I hope they can learn from the well put together Vampires gamepack they had come out a couple years ago. If they release their realm of magic with that much gameplay content, it should keep us busy for a long time.

I think mermaids probably just got tossed into their expansion because they wanted to charge expansion price for it.

It was a scam. We previously got a good deal with vampires and a new area for the price of a gamepack, yet they tossed in less content with useless mermaids and a buggy new area for expansion pack price. You can't even build underwater basements unless you use a mod. Building underwater basements would have been a great thing to have in the game.

vampirekim

Thanks for all the feedback! I'm glad that others feel the same way. So many good points made, main one being mermaids should be compared to aliens which (to me) are also meh.

I can't wait for more information and I'm hoping it will be release around September, Realm of Magic will be perfect for my Halloween household lol

SimsBro

I believe the main source of disappointment with TS4 mermaids is the same as others have already pointed out - no underwater diving gameplay/exploration.

While I highly enjoy the customization and some of their powers, not having at least a SINGLE underwater lot for both mermaid and diver exploration/gameplay was a huge mistake to me. Diving being a rabbit hole is just really disappointing. Seems we are once again back to making underwater lots through the console...

I don't think this will be a problem for Realm of Magic though, mostly because it doesn't require something as big as diving/underwater mechanics, it's mostly just spells and potions/some magical interactions. Given that it's a GP fully focused on what seems to be Witches, I don't expect it to lack depth.
I will most certainly be 🐸🐸🐸🐸 if they don't include a flying broom interaction,mechanic that lets us at least hover around the lot.

LMcGE

I understand the worry @vampirekim I am so looking forward to RoM and truly hope it has more than one new life type and yet I am worried that there will be no depth. Vampires are so well done and the BB objects are amazing too, if the town were just that little bit bigger it would have been tremendous, but that's a small niggle in an otherwise great pack. As this is going to be a GP I also truly hope it adds some meaningful gameplay, everything is just so repetitive. There are so many routes and options within the theme of magic I fear too that it will be lacklustre and they won't take any of them. It's time for some information, absolutely.

vampirekim

LMcGE wrote: »

I understand the worry @vampirekim I am so looking forward to RoM and truly hope it has more than one new life type and yet I am worried that there will be no depth. Vampires are so well done and the BB objects are amazing too, if the town were just that little bit bigger it would have been tremendous, but that's a small niggle in an otherwise great pack. As this is going to be a GP I also truly hope it adds some meaningful gameplay, everything is just so repetitive. There are so many routes and options within the theme of magic I fear too that it will be lacklustre and they won't take any of them. It's time for some information, absolutely.

More than one new life state would be awesome as long as it doesn't take away from other life states. There is speculation (from a picture posted on twitter of a blurred out Sim) that werewolves will be in the pack. I don't consider werewolves to be very magical so it seems like an odd fit. However, I'm not sure if werewolves would be enough for that occult to have an entire pack themselves. If they are in RoM awesome! But I am really look forward to witches and magic focused objects.

drake_mccarty

Mermaids in IL were always intended to be bad. They are the first occult they’ve added through an Expansion since aliens in EP01, and they want to condition players to believe occult’s can only be good when they are their own DLC like Vampires.

Not saying the occult in the upcoming game pack will be awesome, but they will put work into it beyond what little they did when making mermaids for the expansion. IMHO they should be working overtime making RoM a game pack priced expansion since they got away with an EP priced game pack rip-off last month.

LeGardePourpre

Statistically Realm of Magic may be good

Ghosts (Patch) ... Good
Aliens (EP) ... Disappointing
Vampires (GP) ... Very good
Plantsims (Patch) ... Disappointing
Mermaids (EP) ... Good

SheriSim57

Goosey wrote: »

There is a bit to fear cause mermaids suck, there isn't a reason to make one at all. You can't even dive around and explore the ocean.

I hope they can learn from the well put together Vampires gamepack they had come out a couple years ago. If they release their realm of magic with that much gameplay content, it should keep us busy for a long time.

I think mermaids probably just got tossed into their expansion because they wanted to charge expansion price for it.

It was a scam. We previously got a good deal with vampires and a new area for the price of a gamepack, yet they tossed in less content with useless mermaids and a buggy new area for expansion pack price. You can't even build underwater basements unless you use a mod. Building underwater basements would have been a great thing to have in the game.

Well, if sims 4 is around long enough, maybe they will add the basements in a patch.

cheescaeks

i think it will be good since its a focused game pack, they tend to hit the mark better than the expansions and have been received pretty well by the community

drake_mccarty

I kind of expect another clone of the Vampire Skill system. Probably some reused effects from Vampires as well.

leo3487

No fear
Realm of Magic is a Game Pack, and I guess will be only witches or fairies
Then can be like Vampires GP

simfriend1968

LeGardePourpre wrote: »

Statistically Realm of Magic may be good

Ghosts... Good
Aliens... Disappointing
Vampires... Very good
Plantsims... Disappointing
Mermaids... Good

I agree with this list. I think ghosts are actually not bad in this game; they only suffer from the lack of a fear emotion and the ability to terrify sims, causing them to faint and in extreme cases die of fright. I’d love to have Coward and Brave traits back, as well as an active ghost hunting career. It would be nice to have cemeteries back too, and to see them haunting or hanging out there at night.

Aliens should have had more of their scary mental powers, like draining energy or even skill from other sims, abducting them live and using their saucers in scary ways, so they are diminished (but still fun to play). Aliens for me are saved in this game by having Sixam as an unlockable, visitable lot. I always use cheats to create a secret underground bunker/ lab/ shelter using the alien plants and deco etc from Debug. (A few aliens even show up there from time to time to deal with certain needs and so it feels like a natural environment for meeting them).

Vampires are truly amazingly well done and I love everything about them; they were well served by having their own game pack. They give me hope that Realm of Magic will be the best treatment of witches and magic ever.

PlantSims were poorly done, but they were part of a free patch/ challenge. So it is my hope that they could some day be revisited/ revamped, maybe with another free patch or as part of a Farming Expansion pack. To tell the truth, I am the least concerned about them since they are a made up being unique to the Sims franchise.

I too like the mermaids in Island Living, especially for their customization ability and features. I never wanted them to be like the vampires with a skill tree and all kinds of incredible or strange abilitiies. I think of them as natural creatures, part of the sea, so I love the aquatic lure and the ability to talk to fish.

They mainly suffer from not having their own secret underwater grotto or world, like the aliens have Sixam, and from not being able to interact with the sea more (such as being able to find things underwater that only they could use, like unique collectibles, or edibles, perhaps even a woohoo spot or cave for merfolk, or the ability to sleep under water). People complained at the time of IP in TS3 that the mermaids were tedious because they lost their abilities too easily, and it was hard to keep their hunger satisfied since they could really only eat kelp. In response, I think developers went a bit too far in the direction of ease. Still, I enjoy all their powers in TS4, especially their singing abilities.

I do think EA should not take away things we have had before, like the active career of lifeguarding and the Undersea lot with its collectibles, challenges and shark fights, of IP. So I hope we have even more from magic than in the past and that nothing has been removed.

SiliClone

I know I'm going to be disappointed because I bet that they will make so that you can't have a vampire or mermaid witch.

zoklio

> @SiliClone said:
> I know I'm going to be disappointed because I bet that they will make so that you can't have a vampire or mermaid witch.

I know right! I really want a hybrid sims :(

SERVERFRA

I personally make my sims mixed hybrids with TestingCheats on & Traits.equip_trait trait. Then I type: _OccultVampire
_OccultAlien_FakeAlien
_OccultMermaid then press Enter.

Karon

Mermaids for me are better than Sims 3, also... there is not a lot lore for them to cover. There's not much to do with a mermaid. The only thing that disappointed me was the thing that made the whole pack pointless, which was the non-existent underwater gameplay.

Karon

drake_mccarty wrote: »

I kind of expect another clone of the Vampire Skill system. Probably some reused effects from Vampires as well.

@drake_mccarty thats what worries me, i want new gameplay, not the same thing all over again.

Cinebar

What I fear is the GP just reuses buffs already in game. Since they seem to be on this kick to resell and reuse assets lately. A potion to make tense, a potion to remove tense? Ho hum. It would seem like overkill since there are dozens of ways already for Sims to be tense and to relieve that buff. It seems their special crystals and buff objects (basegame gameplay) has/ have actually defeated any reason to buy something new that can do the same thing. Overkill is never fun.

AHolyToilet

Cinebar wrote: »

What I fear is the GP just reuses buffs already in game. Since they seem to be on this kick to resell and reuse assets lately. A potion to make tense, a potion to remove tense? Ho hum. It would seem like overkill since there are dozens of ways already for Sims to be tense and to relieve that buff. It seems their special crystals and buff objects (basegame gameplay) has/ have actually defeated any reason to buy something new that can do the same thing. Overkill is never fun.

With how many things the expansions and game packs do that achieve the same result (changing your Sim's emotion), magic in the next GP doing mostly just that is a very likely possibility.