Farming: Would you be ok if you couldn't harvest animals for meat? «12345678...Next Go

simmietime

This topic has been playing in my mind for a long time. I’ve long wanted a farming EP like most simmers, but I get this feeling that whatever farm animals we get EA will not allow us to kill the animals for meat.

Let’s face it - The Sims 4 is very dumbed down compared to previous games and I’m not sure the gurus would want such a feature in the game, in order to appeal to children of all ages. Don’t get me wrong I love TS4 but I do wish slightly more adult themes can be included and not just all sunshine and rainbows.

My opinion? Yes, I really want to be able to harvest farm animals to eat. It’s realistic for most parts of the world. I'm not expecting (or want) graphic depictions or anything, but just a "harvest meat" interaction, followed by the animal vanishing with meat in Sim inventory will do. But I feel like even that is too "adult" for TS4.

What do you all think? I’d love to hear all your thoughts!

Gordy

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

It'd be a shame, but I'm way more interested in raising and bonding with animals than anything else.

logion

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

That really depends how well they do it. I think they should strive to make their packs realistic and not be shy of featuring things like where sims get their meat from.

If they choose not to do it, then I want good reasons why. Like that they wanted to focus on taking care of the animals instead.

Maybe they could solve it by having your animals age, then you could choose to sell them (for harvesting) or taking care of them until they grow old. Or you could give them pet treats so they will live forever.

ChadSims2

No - Harvesting meat is crucial to a farming pack

It would be pretty pointless if you could not farm animals for meat that alone would make it so I would not want a farming pack.

texxx78

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I'm ok with no meat. But i'ld like to harvest eggs, wool...

Chicklet453681

I see nothing wrong with "selling" your animals and then receiving meat if you choose or money from the sale. I don't want to see the process tho.

I'm a carnivore, I like meat! I like eggs and diary products too.

I feel like them limiting so much stuff to cater to vegans or vegetarians is not inclusive, actually it's extremely exclusive to those of us who eat foods from all foods groups, not just fake meat, dairy, and eggs.

I feel like as long there is nothing visual, that players that don't wish to "harvest" meat can choose not to.

I also want to be able to harvest wool for knitting, and gather eggs, cream, butter, and milk for recipes.

I want to be able to care for the animals, give them fresh water and feed and clean their stall/bedding area/coop.

I am not that interested in a bunch of plants tho, we have a ton already. My main focus for farming is for sure the animals.

Pamtastic72

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I’m fine with not harvesting for meat, but I guess a way it could be done is you sell the animals on to a rabbit hole stockyard and then maybe you take your payment in simoleans or meat, or a mix of the two, or you can choose to simply raise them until their natural death like a pet. Then there is no on screen animal harvesting to start yet another controversy.

ChocoSulSul

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

Yum, as a vegetarian, I can say that I wouldn't want EA to force me to sell the animal for meat. I would like it to be an option, so that it could satisfy people who seek that way of living as in the countryside and also those who simply want to have a relationship with their animals and live off what they harvest. We also have the vegetarian trait so the sim with that trait would not! or yes but feeling a terrible guilt for extinguishing a life (? although let's be honest! EA and Maxis will never put the option of getting meat through an animal I'm almost sure of it. It would create repercussion.

DaWaterRat

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

I won't be fussed either way. I highly doubt Maxis would do it anyway, but it is an actual normal part of farm life. Pick your level of realism, I guess.

Simmingal

Gordy wrote: »

It'd be a shame, but I'm way more interested in raising and bonding with animals than anything else.

this.
mostly I'm interested in animals i dont have to butcher to have use for like chickens and cows and sheep and horses

though i really wish we could have hunting even if it has to be toddlerfied like archery @ moving bushes

Loanet

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

It's hard to know. I mean, we already eat meat. We also have the Meatwall. And we have lots of meals with meat in them.

Milk? Eggs? Wool? I can totally believe in that coming in a farming pack. But does Maxis have the guts to have a chicken coop where we kill chickens, or a pig pen where we get our pork from? Would that even make a T rating?

Jewels20

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

I would still buy the pack even if we couldn’t butcher animals for meat if they can make up for that by giving us a lot of other farming and animal content. Also, there could be ways to make meat without it being gory or whatever. It could be an option to butcher or to just keep the animals as pets or for other livestock such as eggs, wool, milk etc. so no harm there) And if it is an option to butcher you don’t have to see the sims doing it. The sims can send the animals somewhere.

Darkshadow608

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

**don't hate me - it's only my opinion**

I personally don't care for a farming pack. There are so many farming simulation games out there that if I wanted to farm, I'd play those games.

However I'd be happy for the community when it eventually comes because I know a lot of people want it. That being said, if meat harvesting is a thing (which I don't think it would be) its probably going to be a rabbithole similar to the sims medieval where you click on a forest and return with venison.

But I believe there was a survey (I could be wrong, or it could have been a community survey and not the devs) in which raising and caring for farm animals won above the actual agricultural and economical aspects of farming.

KathMHughes

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I'm not in the farming pack lobby, I've been trying to figure out the appeal for a while. But today I actually just made a farm on the Windenburg 64x64 lot. I think it looks good!

I don't mind that my horse, donkey, rooster, chicken, pig, rabbit, and duck are decoration only. The absolute only thing I'd want for farming that I can't get already is hay bales, and the ability to plant lettuce, pumpkins, and cucumbers.

OutlawWoman

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

I'm remembering Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. In that game you could harvest wool from sheep, eggs from chickens, and get milk from cows. There were also machines you could buy that let you turn the wool into yarn balls, eggs into mayonnaise, and milk into cheese. Hopefully if TS4 does any of that it would be more fleshed out than just throwing product into a machine though. You could sell the products in either normal or refined form, refined being worth much more, of course.

You could not get meat from any of the animals, nor could you sell the animals (which could be an explanation for butchering them) but they could die from neglect, wild dogs or bad weather (if you left them out overnight, they were safe in the barn/coop/stable), and accidently hitting them with a farm tool (but it took more than one accidental hit for that to happen, at least). I did that on accident a few times, and none of my animals died. I think they could get sick if you did that? And you gave them medicine, and they were better (and producing again) in a few days? Sounds right. It was a long time ago though.

You could impregnate your cows and sheep using some kind of potion, and you could incubate an egg from a chicken. So you really only needed one animal of each to start. You also had a pony that eventually grew into a horse, and you could start riding him then. I think you had to brush and hug all your animals every day as well as feed them to keep them happy? It took a while once you were maxed on all your critters. But that was total bonding.

Otherwise it was about the (seasonal) crops you could plant and sell.

That was a fun little game, I played it a lot back in the day. And I wouldn't mind if TS4 went more that route with a Farming Expansion. And I guess that would explain the "bonding with nature" thing better than what I think of when I think of IRL farms. So maybe "Bond with nature in this charming new expansion pack." can mean farming after all.

But for real, we obviously need to be getting our wool from llamas rather than sheep, since this IS The Sims. Besides, alpaca wool is awesome.

Anyway, not saying that the new EP will be a farming, or that it will be anything like this if it is, OR that I necessarily would have to have any of this, but I'm using this as an example of how a totally, like, SUPER PG farming game was actually a lot of fun and immersive.

I AM standing by the llamas though. Fite me.

LenaDieters

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I mean...it is sims...it’s never going to be an ultra realistic farming simulator and I have to say, I am glad for it.. if they do it, it would be like in apps like hay day etc. None of them have the actual animal killing
Plus people freaked out over a meat wall....so based on that...doubt they will add that.
But who cares, there are other animal products like milk, eggs etc

IVXXXVI

No - Harvesting meat is crucial to a farming pack

Don't mind me about my vote I thought I chose the third one but chose the second ugh. I think it would be pretty weird to harvest animals for meat (not for me but maybe for other people) . But if there are animals like cows for example, maybe it will be given an option to milk the cow and get excellent quality milk or something, who knows.

GrumpyGlowfish

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I don't think they're ever going to let us butcher animals in a toddler-rated Sims game, but farming is about more than just that, so I can still see it working. As others have mentioned, farm animals produce things other than meat that can be harvested, such as milk and wool, and that alone can be used for new activities like making your own food and clothes. Horses could finally be added, too, opening up many new possibilities, so unless EA really screws this one up (provided it's even coming), I don't think a farming pack would suffer from a lack of content, even without the meat harvesting aspect.

Justin

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

When I think of farming I never think of butchering lol. I also think about having a chicken coop for eggs, milking a cow, making cheese, taking care of farm animals. simple things like that.

Calico45

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

On one hand, I would like to see meat as an ingredient again and the possible cooking overhaul it would need to make it work. However, for a number of reasons I listed in another thread, I do not think the Sims 4 will touch it. Which I think will affect the animals we could expect to see.

GirlFromIpanema

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I don't eat meat, so personally I wouldn't buy the EP if killing animals were apart of it. I'd be happier with a milk farm, crops, eggs, wool, etc.

I think there's many ways to do a farming pack without having your Sims killing animals. I understand and respect that others feel differently, and I really don't want to argue because everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if I don't agree with it. But if it was a feature in the pack, I think it would make me feel quite ill. I'd never be able to play it.

In saying that, Sims seems to be going down quite an eco friendly route recently, with living odd the grid, vegetarian Sims, a whole Eco Living pack etc. Do you think they would then turn around and allow us to farm animals in such a way?

VeeDub

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

I've never particularly wanted a farming pack, so I guess I don't really care. But it would seem a bit odd to me if there were no meat production if the pack includes animals commonly used for meat production. And if it's a fairy-tale style farm that has strictly fantasy-style farm activities, that makes me even less interested than before. I didn't even know that was possible.

crocobaura

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

My Sims don't die, they love their plant based cubes of meat, I don't think I would want to harvest any real meat from the farm animals. Would be nice to be able to collect eggs, milk, wool from them though.

JemmaTheSimmer

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

Yes, I feel like I need an option for yes and I that is actually my preference and it would dissuade me from getting the pack if killing animals was included. I would prefer to be able to milk cows, get eggs from chicken, wool from sheep, etc. but not meat. I'm a veggie irl and don't want that in my game. Just my personal preference though. If they included it I wouldn't get the pack unless I could disable it, via settings or a mod. Though I wonder if the teen rating may limit them anyway with what they can do here.

I'm not massively fussed on farming really, though I do really want horses and some rural worlds which is my main reason I'd want a farming pack.

AmeliaTodd

Yes - It is fine to not harvest animals for meat

I'm fine if they don't, not something I'm interested in or looking in the farming pack. I don't know if I should have picked "unbothered" option instead, but on the other hand, I don't think that it's a crucial element to have for me (in any form).

Darkshadow608

Mixed/Unbothered - Depends on the pack contents

GirlFromIpanema wrote: »

I don't eat meat, so personally I wouldn't buy the EP if killing animals were apart of it. I'd be happier with a milk farm, crops, eggs, wool, etc.

I think there's many ways to do a farming pack without having your Sims killing animals. I understand and respect that others feel differently, and I really don't want to argue because everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if I don't agree with it. But if it was a feature in the pack, I think it would make me feel quite ill. I'd never be able to play it.

In saying that, Sims seems to be going down quite an eco friendly route recently, with living odd the grid, vegetarian Sims, a whole Eco Living pack etc. Do you think they would then turn around and allow us to farm animals in such a way?

Also I'm sure there are vegan simmers, so meat farming is a big no-no. Curious about eggs and milk though. I mean, I'm not vegan, but from my understanding veganism is a belief against animal cruelty, so zero animal products are consumed. (I don't speak for anyone and I may be ignorant here, and I'm sorry!) Would egg farming or cow milking then be in the game since it could be offensive?