Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
What does university and it's hush-hush secret creation spell for family play?
Godleyjeans
Posts: 336 Member
They were right, we didn't see it coming.
Now we do, what does this mean for the future of family/legacy gameplay?
is the much-needed baby update? around the corner?
This is a hint that teenagers will soon become worthy of putting time into?
Are child sims going to have their own game pack/update eventually?
Will vehicles hold use for households now and be added into the game?
What does this pack mean for family gameplay and the sims overall if jobs are already so lacklustre?
Now we do, what does this mean for the future of family/legacy gameplay?
is the much-needed baby update? around the corner?
This is a hint that teenagers will soon become worthy of putting time into?
Are child sims going to have their own game pack/update eventually?
Will vehicles hold use for households now and be added into the game?
What does this pack mean for family gameplay and the sims overall if jobs are already so lacklustre?
2
Comments
Maybe a fix for any kind of sims relationships - a guess from the sims from the trailer reacting to each other.
who
(◡‿◡✿)
They should be somewhere building forts and paying hide and seek.
"Them"
🙈😂 sorry I had to.
Believe me I needed my parents way more when I was ready to go to University than I ever did when I was 2, or 10, or even 14. My whole future depended on University - it was far more important than toys and water slider when I was little. Talk about EA over looking tots and kids yet you all think it is okay for parent to over look their own flesh and blood be they turned college age? That is just wrong in my book - parent need to first look at what they are doing or not doing instead of what EA is doing. I have waited for ever it seems hoping to get my teens/yas into college so they can get on with their lives - I spent my real whole life waiting for my kids to complete high school so we could get them into a good college and a good future. It is what many parents strive for from the day their children are born - many seem to have forgotten this.
"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.....
When I did my Paralegal AAS, more than half the students were single mothers- they were able to qualify for grants. Loads of older people who have been displaced in the workforce are going back to school, or working on a degree for the first time. Retired people have a bit more time, and can major in things that aren't necessarily going to produce jobs. And many young people are working and going to school at the same time - that's how I got through school.
I don't think there's any sign from the reveal or write-up that indicates that seniors won't be able to go to university. (It would be pretty discriminatory if you tried to send your elder Sim to school and the game told you they were too old.) I only hope that for students who live off campus (mentioned in the official blog), there is a rabbit-hole option. That would allow my parent Sims to attend school without forcing me to leave the rest of the family on self-care. I'm really not interested in attending classes with my Sim, much less going to keg parties.
It would be a worthwhile addition to my game if my Sim can work toward a degree (and the new careers), and still raise kids. I wouldn't mind a 'semi-active' option - I've had fun with those careers, as they allow me to keep my Sim at home to help with homework and also have some work tasks to complete while the kids are at school. (Even more fun: the parent Sim has a project for school, and the kids can 'help'.)
It's possible though that Uni will add something extra to Teens: the need to be an A student to get into university, extra projects to qualify, maybe the need to do volunteering or scouting/drama to improve one's chances.
So yeah, in terms of that, Teens might be more worth putting time into when it comes to school.
I am curious about how families will work when a child is in Uni. I have a feeling it's going to be a case of forced rotational play: the YA who's going to university will move out & the rest of their family left behind as a separate household.
I hope adults can also become students & that it's not locked strictly to the YA stage. But that also poses questions: if they have a family, what will happen? Will they be able to live with the student or will we have to separate families for the duration of the studies? I hope that's not the case & that there's a provision for parents with young kids to study too.
I'm sure we'll get the answers soon, be it in the gameplay trailer or the livestream.
I do agree that babies would probably be good subjects for a stuff pack theme. More to do is needed across the whole game.
While the trailer had kind of a "party" orientation, I look forward to seeing more specifics about the content in the pack. It's true that university isn't really for younger kids but as someone pointed out, for a lot of players, those kids grow up and then they need more to do as well. It is also true that the trailer for this is surely marketed to teens and people just entering uni themselves, so the marketing approach is reflective of that compared to some of the other packs.
I'm not anti-family play because I actually play with a lot of families but that is just one aspect of the game and one style of play which does get some of its own packs or content. I'd argue that Seasons is heavily family play centric, for example.
Secret? A "University" pack was all but guaranteed, due to the theme's popularity. Anyone who's played TS2 or TS3 definitely saw it coming.
I don't think it means anything much for family play. So you get the pack, maybe a prompt appears when your Teen ages up or you start up on a file with YA sims that they can go to college, Teens and YA sims may get whims to go to college and/or a "College Bound" aspiration is added, working sims may get a whim to "Go Back to School"...nothing much will change. Ultimately, the only big thing will be going to college and the new jobs added with the pack.
ttps://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/the-quiet-struggle-of-college-students-with-kids/383636/
And back when I was a student many Universities did not even allow kids on campus period. Maybe your experience is because things have changed from what they used to be - but according to this article it still is not a good idea to go to college if you have young kids - as there is next to no support for these struggling parents. If colleges still do not support students with children any better than this - how can anyone think it is a good idea to even connect children with Uni. They do not even allow most students with kids to live on campus or even be on campuses - it was like that in the 60's and 70's where I attended New Haven (Connecticut) Arts and Science University. It's a private University - it can do that. You have kids they are just not welcome.
Also - Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also self-sustainability, as well as competitiveness and employ-ability.
In some contexts, the term "lifelong learning" evolved from the term "life-long learners", created by Leslie Watkins and used by Professor Clint Taylor (CSULA) and Superintendent for the Temple City Unified School District's mission statement in 1993, the term recognizes that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations.
In other contexts, the term "lifelong learning" evolved organically. The first lifelong learning institute began at The New School for Social Research (now New School University)" in 1962 "as an experiment in "learning in retirement". Later, after similar groups formed across the United States, many chose the name "lifelong learning institute" to be inclusive of non-retired persons in the same age range. See Lifelong learning institutes, or outside the USA, University of the Third Age.
"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.....
Less than 50% of students fall in the 18-24 age range except for Asians:
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cpb.asp
The demographics of single parents:
https://www.cappex.com/articles/blog/how-to-improve-college-success-for-single-students-with-children
So yes time has changed the statistics as you can see here:
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_302.60.asp
I think that real-life lack of support for students who have children doesn't mean we can't have something like that in the game. It would actually be rather nice to see it being a possibility.
I'm not sure how things are at the moment but I do remember one thing from the past where I grew up (Eastern Bloc in Europe): people with children and families were not at all discouraged from education, there were even dorms allocated for families. Normally, dorms didn't allow co-ed roommates but the family accommodation was specifically for couples (this was obviously back in the day when "families" were only traditional nuclear ones) with or without children.
Aside from the family support that was in the past and I'm pretty sure unfortunately hasn't survived the transition to capitalism in those countries, the vast majority of third level educational institutes accept what's referred to as "mature students" in any and all courses, provided they meet the admissions conditions. It's interesting to see that in the US, it seems to be a specific type of college or university only that supports older students.
I think it's precisely why it's a good idea to have it different in the game. Rather than excluding anyone but YA Sims from education, I'd love to see support for adults with families, or even just the ability for the family to live off-campus (obviously dorms would not be a good environment for children) and have, say, one parent work and the other attend university. Or have a single parent try to juggle both studies and a part-time or freelance job. It's no an easy ride for people with children but it's something that happens so it would be good to have included.
This.
If not, it will be just another "vacation" period for my Sims, which is not what I'm expecting it to be. I would love if the option to attend the Uni is open to all age groups and not only limited to the YA, because why not? After all, they can live off campus and still attending the classes to earn the degree.
I really, really wish that all of these things were going to be true! But alas I fear they probably wont be
I do think college education in my state is becoming more attainable for working class students, although it is not always a clear path. My younger daughter is getting her associate degree in nursing for the cost of her books. She is attending a community college. Should she decide she wants more education, her current employers will pay for her bachelor's program.
The Sims 4 version of University is idealistic. It is meant to let people play out their fantasies of college life. For some in the upper classes, it may be close to their actual experience. But I worked my way through with summer farm jobs and work/study programs. It didn't leave much time for beer pong. (Although there was one night I was out to five in the morning playing Dungeons and Dragons because I'm such a geek, lol.)