Dear Sims I would of you put more diversity in the game such as Native American we’re tend to be forgotten and disabled people we need those as well I think making it open world would also be better we know you got the tools you did it with sims 3 also school buses and going to school with our kids simmers tend to get bored after an hour there’s not much gameplay with family as of right now we need that more then ever since you got parenthood and the cottage living update for family cooking and picnics we need more then that we need family activities for festivals like sims 3 and carnivals also with pets we need more then what u gave us we gotta have horses and deers etc we want different from the sims 3 we do but we also want you to do stuff like you did in past sims games so we still feel like we aren’t missing out on those and feel nostalgic towards them while playing I know you guys have had bumpy times with sims 4 such as Star Wars And My first pet stuff pack etc it’s because you guys aren’t putting a lot furniture or cas items for us to pay the $20-$10 we wanna get moneys worth you put a lot of stuff in the newer stuff packs but not a-lot to be worth $10 we need tad bit more and specially stuff for babies there just objects would love to see them be a sim not a object and more furniture such as a changing table sims freeplay puts a lot of stuff for baby’s maybe take sone inspiration off of them they are going great with furniture and kids stuff and with kits we would love to see a little bit more stuff in it i know it’s a lot of money to use for cabinets but we would like to a little bit more in them wouldn’t matter with money cause you will be making it back and with culture love to see more holidays and celebrations and festivals and etc for them and you guys are doing great with lgbtq+ Thank u for that as a member of the community! With Some more stuff everyone that plays this game would for you to put the color wheel back in so we can make our own swatches for furniture and outfits and hair not just skin we know you can do it you did with cats and dogs and could you guys atleast try having cc come to console I’m a console player I’d love to get cc on my game please. Thank you for trying your hardest I know you will do great just try hearing us out way more you be surprised what you could do for your community and how much more it can grow
I think it would be very useful to [i]update[/i] the [b]games genetics[/b] system. Right now, "vibrant" and custom-like hair colors break the genetics system so sims only have black hair. I would like to see more depth here. Maybe certain eye colors are more dominant or likely to occur within the game. The same could be set for hair colors.
Right now, the genetics systems result in very clone-like families in my experience as a player. I would like to see a chance for more diverse looking worlds and sims generations down the like.
Another request I have is how sims have it pretty [i]easy[/i]. I'd like to see [b]sick sims[/b] stay home from work [i]autonomously[/i], and it's up to the player to ensure the sim has called in sick appropriately so as they do not get fired. This adds some consequence and meaning to illness. Maybe illnesses get worse if the player sends sims to work and they have to go to see a doctor for treatment.
I think an added [b]attraction/chemistry system[/b] could fit easily with the sims' likes and dislikes. I think this would add some neat unique qualities to make each sim different. Maybe they like [b]traits [/b]another sim might exhibit, such as Vegetarians could be attracted to or like other Vegetarians. Maybe family-oriented sims might dislike sims with the hates children trait. This could add depth and more meaning to relationships as sims have something in common or something to overcome.
Thank you for opening up this forum to give players an opportunity to have their voices heard, I think it's a really great thing to do. I would like to preface this very long comment by saying that I understand that changes and features take time and funds, and the team has both in limited quantities. I don't expect instantaneous changes, and I don't want rushed content. I love this game and I respect the people who work on it, and I just want to see it be the best it can be. Also, any and all references to DLC and other Sims games are just for example/reference to help me explain certain points.
When it comes to depth, relationships between Sims come to mind. Almost every relationship feels the same. Befriending and romancing other Sims it's so easy that it can make your Sims relationships feel replaceable, which makes them feel less meaningful. I'm not sure how that could be changed for friendship, or even if it's entirely necessary to change it for friendship, but for romance I wish there was an attraction system in the game that could potentially work the same way as likes and dislikes do. You could select a variety of "Turn Ons and Turn Offs" similar to Sims 2, but let us choose more than one or two options like you guys did when bringing over favorites from Sims 3. It could include gender preferences, hair color, eye color, certain traits, occult status, level of wealth, etc. With that system it could be more difficult, even impossible in some cases, for Sims with conflicting turn-ons and turn-offs to romance each other. I understand that you don't want to limit players' options, so you could add a reward trait called "irresistible" or something like that that would make it so that romance interactions are always successful for players who don't want to deal with that type of challenge. I think this would make Sims relationships more meaningful, because my sim wouldn't have married just some random person off the street, it would be somebody that they're genuinely compatible with, which would make their relationship more meaningful to me as a player. I also think a system like this would really flesh out our Sims' personalities as well.
Another thing with depth is how fleshed out certain systems and features are. For instance, the emotions system. The emotion system doesn't feel balanced, and Sims almost seem to default to happy or uncomfortable. I think that removing, or at least decreasing, environmental buffs would help with this. Also, consequences! If a sim is angry and they probably shouldn't respond well to friendly interactions, and that should make the sim they're talking to feel sad, and if that sim is sad, they won't perform as well at work or while doing activities. I think other comments in this thread have good feedback on the emotions system, and I'm not sure I can explain it as well as them.
I really love that you guys added sentiments and likes and dislikes! They help so much with fleshing out Sims' personalities, relationships, and adding depth in general. That said, I still think they can be improved! I'd really love to see the sentiments system continue to be expanded, with sentiments for every pack and even some more for basegame. Likes and dislikes are awesome, but there's activities (not necessarily all of them are skills) from both packs and the base game missing that feel like they should be included (pet training, knitting, cross stitching, reading, archeology, juice fizzing, magic/medium/Paranormal, playing chess, void critters (for kids!), watching TV, traveling, etc.).
A small feature that I think could be expanded is parties. It doesn't really make sense to me that we can't invite any Sims that anyone in the household knows. For example, toddler parties are kind of hard to throw. Toddlers can't throw parties, so the parent has to, but if the parent has no relationship with any toddlers their toddler knows, then they can't throw the party. Also, there's too many goals that require getting Sims to all do the same thing at once when the player may not have control of every sim at the event. This isn't a fun or engaging challenge, this is just frustrating and discourages me from throwing events at all, because it's so likely that I'll get a goal required for a successful event that demands I get 3 Sims I don't control to all drink or dance at the same time, and they don't always listen to me when I use a group interaction, and there's a good chance they'll take too long and the event will end.
A lot of players want more depth for toddlers, kids, and teens, and I agree! One thing that I think could help kids and teens is expanding the after school activity system. There's scouts with with Seasons, and drama club with Get Famous, but that's it. I'd love to have more after school clubs and stuff to send my kids and teens to (examples: book club, Science Olympiad, swim/soccer/track team, gardening club, choir/music/band club, art club, ballet class, etc. I really wish that children could gain at least a little bit of violin skill from using the child sized violin, especially now that they can have adult skills like knitting. Maybe it would cap off at level 5 and only progress once they aged up, but it doesn't make sense for there to be zero skil therel after playing violin every day of their childhood. Here are some examples of what kind of activities and unique interactions I'd like to see for those life stages:
•••TEENS••• -I think it would be interesting if teens could autonomously run away from home, maybe after fighting with their parents or something like that. If a parent upsets a teen, the teen would leave, and parents could post something to help find them faster (like you can do with pets that run away) or maybe you could introduce police NPCs that would bring the teens back. Oh, and teens with the good or family oriented traits wouldn't run away! (And teens with high emotional control, responsibility, and/or conflict resolution from Parenthood wouldn't either) -throw sleepover events with other Sims their age (they could even have sleeping bags and pillow fights! I think it would be really fun, this one actually goes for kids too) –It'd be fun if there was a random chance of an after school field trip to museum and park lots that teens (and children) would have to ask for their parents' permission for before going on, it doesn't even have to be an interactive event, it would still be fun to have as a rabbit hole! -etc.
•••CHILDREN••• -sleepovers and field trips (see teens) -learning nursery rhymes from older Sims (maybe this could help with certain child skills?) -run a lemonade stand or a bake sale -play tag (so could older Sims with childish trait) -play catch -Mary Mack from Sims 2 -etc.
•••TODDLERS••• -more things for them to play with (an activity table for them to scribble at, a xylophone to play with, one of those toys where you match the shapes of the pegs to shaped holes, etc.) -learning nursery rhymes from older Sims (maybe this could help with certain toddler skills?) -toddlers are pretty busy, it would be cute to see them hide in toy boxes like they did in past games, I like how they mess around with kitchen cupboards and stuff and I'd like to see more of that -etc.
These life stages really just need more to do, because right now they honestly feel a little bit boring. I think adding things that are at least similar to what I suggested would make those life stages feel more unique and lively.
Another feature that I think needs more depth is the base game occults. Plant sims are base game and they don't feel like plant sims, they feel like they're just regular Sims that have green skin. I'd really like to see a proper plant Sim outfit and hair added, and the ability to make them from CAS as more than just a temporary life state. Maybe you guys could even add a few more abilities for them. I think ghosts are great! I love that ghosts look different depending on how they died and have corresponding effects, that's really well done! The problem I have with them is that I can't make them from CAS, even though that was an option in Sims 3. If I want to play with a ghost Sim in The Sims 4 I have to first kill a sim, specifically I have to kill them in whichever way I want them to appear as a ghost, then I have to wait for them to show up as a ghost, and then I have to add them to my household, and if I don't have cheats on then I have to gain enough relationship to ask them to join my household. It's just inconvenient enough that I don't use ghosts as much as I would because of it. I'd love to just make a ghost straight from CAS, pick how they died in CAS, and get right into gameplay when I'm setting up a storyline where I want a ghost. Oh and, this is just a quality of life thing that really bothers me in CAS, I wish we could change the occult type of a Sim from CAS instead of just having to make a whole new sim. I'm so sorry to keep bringing up the Sims 3, but it's the only example I have. In The Sims 3, when making a new household you didn't need to start off with a normal sim, then make a new occult sim, and then delete the normal Sim. You could just change the normal Sim you start off with into an occult Sim by selecting the option. I love occult sims, I love making them and I love playing them, but I would use them so much more if it wasn't such a hassle to make them in CAS. That hassle includes the constant animations that make it hard to dress them and adjust things, and that part actually extends to all Sims, not just occult Sims. I just wish there was a setting or something where I could pause or turn off constant animations in CAS. They're fun at first but they get old fast when they're getting in the way. (Oh and this isn't base game, but please, please, PLEASE give mermaids their own unique bassinet, urn, and gravestone like every other pack occult has, it feels like they weren't thought through at all when they lack those basic things that vampires, spellcasters, and aliens have.)
Speaking of CAS systems that need to be more fleshed out, I absolutely love to play in CAS but there are so many little things that make it really frustrating sometimes. One thing is that we keep getting more and more packs, and by extension more and more CAS assets, yet we still only have two columns to scroll through everything. It takes forever to scroll and I can overlook things really easily because I'm just trying to scroll to where I think something is and I end up overlooking stuff. I think that stuff like that needs to be revisited as the game expands, because it feels clunky and like it hasn't been fully thought out when it isn't. Speaking of things that need to be revisited in CAS, while dragging your Sims features is great in some ways, it's a system that heavily depends on presets. I know that you guys have recently added more eye presets, and that's fantastic, but I would really like to see more presets for every category for every type of sim. I'd really love more options and presets for masculine sims in particular, it can be very difficult to get softer looking features and the shading is kinda weird on some of the current options. Other people get rid of that shading with CC skin overlays, but as a console player, I can't do that. I don't even necessarily think that those presets are bad to have, I just think that there need to be more options. I wish there was an eyelashes version for every eye shape for both genders, men have eyelashes too and I'm really really tired of not being able to find a good eye preset to work with for certain Sims. I understand why you guys went for the eyelashes style you did with the Sims 4's more cartoony look, and while I know that a lot of people don't like them, they're all I have as a console player and I prefer my Sims to have cartoony eyelashes over none. Besides, I actually think they're pretty cute, I just need them to be available for any Sim I want to make. Also, and I don't know how difficult this would be to do, but I really think that the sliders that you drag should be retuned. With the lip sliders you don't have nearly as much freedom to move the mouth as with other facial features, I can move the eyes and mouth way up high on a Sim's face, and the mouth can barely go a fraction of that. A huge issue with most of the presets for large lips is that if you select the upper lip just to alter the lip shape, the lip immediately shrinks, and it's impossible to make it big again because you just get a red outline indicating it's as much as it can go. Again, you are entirely dependent upon there being enough presets to cover all the shapes that you want/need, and there just aren't. Plus, different presets have different limitations. I don't understand why they can't all go the same amount of thick or thin. If possible, I would really like to see the shading around Sims ribs to be less defined. On the weight slider, if you have it set in the middle, Sims look REALLY skinny unless you pull out all of their features, and even then there's really defined shading on the rib area. If you raise the slider any more than that the Sims' faces start getting pudgy and you don't always want that, and it doesn't always make sense, and in general it just freaks me out as somebody who's actually trying to gain weight. So I'd really like to see you guys retune that slider, or at least lighten the shading. The gender settings in CAS are lovely to have, but it doesn't feel fully fleshed out when clothing items warp so badly on different framed Sims. Big, loose, masculine sweaters clip and cling to feminine frames in this really weird clunky way that just looks bad honestly. High-waisted feminine bottoms are never high-waisted on a masculine frame. The headscarf was added an update a while back, but the game is severely lacking in clothing that's modest enough to make a variety of hijabi Sims. There is only one dress in the entire game that I can use for formal wear, because it is the only dress that fully covers the sim. I love that we have the headscarf in the game, but it feels like it was added with very little thought as to how easily it can actually be used, and it doesn't feel like it's really been thought of since. I'd love to see a wider variety of clothing come to the game through updates and/or DLC, including styles that could be used to represent people who wear hijab. One thing that would make it infinitely easier to use every CAS item for Sims who are even just modest would be a undershirt accessory. Just a long sleeved shirt with a close neckline that tucks into bottoms and could go underneath any top or full body outfit. I feel like that could make pretty much every CAS item more versatile, I think that would be a very good solution at least in the short term. Last thing for CAS quality of life improvements, please go through what's tagged for cold and hot weather wear, there are so many sweaters and jackets that aren't in cold weather for some reason, and skirts and things that would be perfectly fine for hot weather. There are probably things that should be tagged as sleep and athletic wear that aren't as well. Sims 4 Create-A-Sim has a lot of very useful tools, but there are just enough little quality of life things that can make the experience a slog, and make it feel like not every tool or feature was fully thought out.
When it comes to challenge, or lack thereof, one of the things I think of is that bad things don't usually happen to Sims. For instance, I really like that in Jungle Adventure, if your sim gets poisoned you have to find an antidote for them in just a few days or else they'll die. I think that's great, but that challenge of finding an antidote is hardly present because, at least when I've played it, Sims rarely, if ever, get poisoned. Volcanic activity from Island living sounds like it should be potentially dangerous, but other than maybe destroying a few objects, it doesn't seem to have a very negative effect. Once the rock cools, your sim can get really awesome minerals from it and sell them for money. That last part is perfectly fine, but I do wish there were more negative consequences to living on a lot with volcanic activity. Maybe big fires or the potential of the rock hitting your sim like the meteor from Sims 3? It would be great to bring back the burglar NPC randomly appearing, and getting away with stealing your stuff if you don't have a burglar alarm or if you don't call police NPCs fast enough. That would be a fun challenge for your Sims every now and again. If you're worried about it upsetting players, you could also add a setting that turns off burglars in the gameplay settings, or add burglars as a type of sim you can block from trespassing from the door like you can with the Welcome Wagon and vampires. I wish that ideal emotions for careers would come back. It's a nice challenge and it makes good use out of the emotions system, as well as giving it an interesting purpose. If you're in the most ideal type of mood for your job, you'll get bonus career gains, if you're not in the most ideal mood but you're still in a good one you'll get normal career gains, and if you're in a bad mood your work performance will suffer. I'd also like to see more Spark'd challenges on the Gallery, they were fun for inspiration and stuff and I think it's kind of sad that they fell off.
Another big part of adding challenge is adding long term goals. Since aspirations aren't a lifelong thing (usually), and there aren't many in most of the categories, they don't make for good long term goals. I'd really love to see lifelong aspirations, or at least more short term ones in every category. Also, monetary goals are lacking. Many players find it easy enough to make money, but difficult to spend it. There aren't many expensive items in the game that a lot of players would actually want to purchase. I think it would be great if players could own multiple homes or something like that. It would be nice if there were just more things that were both expensive and desirable for Sims who have/make a lot of money. On a similar note, the game's whole economy is honestly pretty weird, and it might be worth looking at changing the prices of some items. It seems bizarre that I can get a decent area rug for cheaper than a roll of toilet paper, y'know? Anyway, more long term goals and things to work towards would make the game more engaging, offer more depth and challenge, and just offer a lot of longevity to gameplay in general. I think the biggest thing with challenge is adding more negative consequences both in the base game and in DLC, events or situations in the game that encourage the player to think creatively or outside of the box, and also just more long-term goals.
I think the types of things I've brought up on this huge comment would make for more meaningful stories and engaging gameplay. It would offer more avenues to players rather than less, make features feel more cohesive and fun, offer more unique gameplay experiences, and encourage creativity. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I'm sorry it was so long.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I've literally NEVER played just the base game so I have a hard time knowing what is even in just that - I bought the game on sale with multiple packs when I began to play in Jan. 2019).
I know this is about base game, and some of the thoughts I have are specific to certain packs. However, I think they could be applied to the base game in other ways. For example, I wish more aspirations linked to careers, like the freelance botanist one, which works great with the gardening career. I'd love that for the archaeologist aspiration (which is obviously pack specific), but I'm sure there are base game aspirations where this concept could still be applicable.
I know it's been said by many, but more interactive babies! That would be so lovely. I love playing family games. I've done the 100 Baby Challenge twice, so yeah.
I also would love if the kids/teens could get some new school projects, particularly ones that help to build some of the newer skills that have been added. But I'm not even sure the school projects are base game (though they totally should be). Also more options for after school activities could be fun for the kids and teens.
One thing I very, very badly want is an option to "lock" draggable objects. I am forever losing things inside of walls because I drag them, and some of my favorite things were made draggable with various packs and updates and I've just stopped using them. I have seen other Simmers mention they are prone to accidental draggage, too, so I suspect I am not alone in wishing for that!
I love the new lot challenges. I think it would be neat to do something similar with the sims themselves. I don't necessarily love using one of only 3 traits for vegetarian sims or for a lactose intolerant sim, for example. But to turn it into an added challenge like the lot traits would be neat. Or just let us have some more traits for each sim!
Also, I've always felt like sims' traits should influence how they feel about other sims. There are definitely some mods that do this sort of thing, like the First Impressions mod. But it would be neat if that impacted how they build relationships, too. Like how good sims don't like to be around evil sims (but as far as I've seen, it doesn't seem that evil sims get any moodlets about good sims, though to be fair, I rarely play as an evil sim lol). Same with family oriented vs. child hating sims.
It would also be cool if things like desires for a family could be built into the game, with options to change that over time. Again, I know of mods that do this, but that isn't helpful to those who are console players (I'm not, but I'm fighting for them lol). Since teen pregnancy happens in RL, it would be a nice option to have in the base game (and with the option to turn it off for gameplay so those who don't want it, don't have to have it). It also can add an entire element of challenge, like it does with some mods I've seen... where the teen is upset and struggling (or maybe excited, because they don't know what they're in for yet lol). That is one of those "bound to be controversial" ideas, but it is realistic, and as I said, if you have an option to disable it, I don't see why it needs to be a problem for those who do not want it.
Alternative pregnancy options (not just adoption) could be nice, too... for same sex couples or single parents or just because. Also, teen adoptions! Right now, you can only adopt up to a child without mods, but I think it would be great to add teens to that.
A larger household size would be really cool, where full CAS will still work. Even just 10, instead of 8. I am always so torn between big family or smaller family and lots of pets (and yes, pets again, not base game, but even without pets I can easily fill a house lol). Plus, this would really enhance intergenerational play, because if you want to have a larger family, you could still have grandparents, kids, grandkids in one house without having to sacrifice that.
I was going to type something longer, in fact I had earlier today when I somehow deleted it instead of posting it . But what will say is this, this thread is presenting you an overarching theme.
Consequences - need to be more meaningful, have an impact on gameplay, and largely come as a surprise. Chance cards don't present a "chance" when the outcome of our choice is printed right at the bottom, and they mean nothing if we can make a selection that has very little to no impact on out sims and our game play. Small/medium performance loss/gain...so what? Getting fired, demoted, losing a days pay, losing a lot or all of my money, getting hurt, dying, getting suspended from school, dropping a grade point...Now you have my attention. Lot traits are great, but it's not really random chance. I am again forcing a scenario. We want to have a "bolt from the blue" sometimes. The volcanic trait has a zero percent chance your sim will die, or have expensive property damage, same with quake zone, lightning strikes don't even seem to cause much property damage anymore either, and both they and volcanic eruptions give you valuable rewards. There's no real challenge there at all. Give me reasons to change my stories, strategize a bit, and have a mild amount of apprehension when I open my game.
Traits - make them mean something! My mean, mischievous, erratic, and hot headed sims should struggle to maintain relationships, jobs, grades etc. Romantic sims should flirt autonomously and when combined in a relationship with a jealous sim should be a recipe for drama. Traits should affect job/school performance, & career suitability. Like will a goofball sim really thrive as an attorney or in the business world? Traits should impact compatibility and relationships too, romantic, friendship, and familial. I should feel like I need to take time and really decide what traits to pick, and feel a bit nervous when I decide to randomize. Which brings me to the third theme I see...
Emotions - should impact the game. If I pair aforementioned romantic sim with a jealous sim and the jealous sim gets angry that their significant other has betrayed their trust, jealous sim should remain angry for maybe days not minutes, or hours. The sentiments are good, but still largely lack impact. Sims often go right back to happy happy joy jpy despite a festering grudge. The relationship should take a hit, it should be difficult to build back up. It should make me have to decide if maybe either sim is better off looking someplace else for someone more compatible. Gloomy sims should be way more impacted by sadness, you started down this road with a few of the traits, DON'T STOP. I want to feel bad for my sims, empathize with them, even if eventually I might end up sending them to their doom.
Death - and injury, needs to be more of a thing. It's part of life, it's universal. As my grandpa used to say "ain't none of us getting out of here alive". Stop watering this down and stop giving us like 32 chances that something has to happen before our sims die. If my unskilled sim fixes the fridge in a puddle and gets electrocuted, maybe he ends up dazed, maybe he dies...but don't make it mandatory that he get shocked twice. That's not at all random or unexpected. The same goes for cowplants and lightning, sometimes you survive first happenstance, sometimes you don't. Surprise me pleeeeeeeeeease! You don't have to go all deep and serious, I mean it's The Sims. This franchise is famous for addressing some serious issues in a sardonic, satirical, and humorous way, embrace your brand!
The game is rated T for teen, not E for everyone it's past time it reflects that. Also some more story driven game play ala Strangerville wouldn't at all be terrible. Sometimes it's nice to have help getting the ball rolling. That's why I also think you guys are on the right track with the improved lore. It's a sandbox game and I get that, but you know they have molds you can take into a sandbox/beach to help inspire you as to what it is you want to build. I appreciate you guys and all you hard work. I love this game, and I want to see it be all that I am sure it can be.
I really liked how in previous Sims games, there were unexpected inconveniences that happened, such as a burglar showing up or a raccoon getting into the garbage. Sometimes it's nice to have your gameplay shaken up. Although there are a couple examples of this in the current game (fox's getting your chickens, Vlad showing up, and the lot challenges that come with City Living) all of them come with expansion packs rather than in the base game.
I also liked the idea of the in-game challenges. The sugar skull challenge happened before I got the Sims 4 and I'm sad that I missed it. I don't think I've seen another challenge like that since.
There are also a couple of features that are cool, but kind of lose their entertainment value after you play them once. Examples are going to space in the rocket or climbing the beanstalk. The same thing tends to happen each time. I think it would be really cool if different possibilities happened each time, rather than just bringing back a space rock or a cool fruit. It might even be cool to increase the risk factor and perhaps have the sim held hostage in the location (i.e. held hostage by aliens or trapped by the giants on top of the beanstalk). Just something to add variety.
I also find myself wishing there were more jobs included with the base game. I remember liking the military career and the firefighter careers in previous games. Singing, dancing, and modeling, and film careers could be cool, too. Some of the jobs in the base game coincide too closely to the freelance activities (i.e. painting and writing), and I feel like it's just two of the same job. I'd rather see a bigger variety of jobs rather than the same job in different forms.
I'm really happy with the updates the Sims team has been making recently! Keep up the good work and thank you for taking the time to listen to our thoughts!
1) Sims should not forget family ties, friends, and acquaintances. 2) More negative effects in the family - irritation. lack of sleep and so on ... 3) Thieves, there is a lack of stronger emotions - fear, courage. Defeat the thief and handcuff him. Or wet yourself with fear. 4) More tropical cities.
I think skills should go down if they haven't been practiced for some time. Its unrealistic for an adult or elder sim to have level 10 fitness skill if they haven't exercised since they were a young adult. All skills should deplete over time so we have to keep doing the activity that builds the skill. It's too easy to max out every skill in the game because once you max one skill, you can just move to the next and focus solely on that.
Hey Sims Team! I'm a longtime Sims 4 player who has seen many changes throughout the game's lifespan.
For me: depth is heavily tied to emotions, relationships, and occurrences within the world. The reason I say this is because when one of these aspects of the game is off-balance, everything else ends up following suit. As I've played throughout the years, I've noticed that the reason why I become so uninterested is because I feel like there is no purpose to things like relationships, emotions, or world occurrences. Yes, they are there, and they do impact some smaller elements of my play style. However, it isn't enough for me to be engaged. For example, I can get my sim married and give them children, but what about the resurgence of feelings for an old lover? Or, what about the spouse's parents having a secret hatred for my sim which derails the marriage? There are so many little things that the game doesn't take into account, and I feel like so many other players would also understand this too.
Most importantly, the game lacks story progression (active household & NPC). Without it, I feel like I am doing more work creating the story than actually playing it. This makes me more quick to cheat relationships and promotions, mainly because I feel like that's what I should be doing. The game doesn't allow me to sit back sometimes and let the world advance, which is how it is in real life. With this being a life simulation game, I'd really want to see it following that path.
Lastly, emotions are very shallow in The Sims 4. Each time my sim gets embarrassed or tense, it's the same exact interaction or reaction across the board. The reason this sometimes frustrates me is that, with people, we don't all react the same way when we're embarrassed. We also don't do the same actions when we're tense. I think the game lacks that sense of diversity when it comes to emotions and the way they are represented.
In the end, I hope my feedback/viewpoint was helpful!
# 1 I would honestly just like the base game and all packs to be updated to be mostly bug-free as that does ruin my gameplay.
#2 More Family-tree depth and relationships. I would love to see step-parents, adopted siblings, cousins, and just better relationship progression for them in the familial aspect.
#3 More autonomy for NPC's because it seems like they never progress. It just seems so out of place that sims marry and then don't have kids or they live in this huge house, but can't actually afford that with the job that they have.
#4 More baby gameplay! I mean what more needs to be said. Changing tables, real daycare centers, baby food. Baby doctor appointments.
#5 Private schools, sports teams, and after-school activities for CHILDREN. I want to be able to do more with my sims when they are kids to progress their storylines into adulthood. Like how a sim was so smart they got a scholarship into Simson Private School for their hard efforts!
#6 Would love to keep seeing base-game and pack updates that continue to make it exciting!
All in all, I love the sims and always recommend it to friends and family and I certainly appreciate the Sims teamwork behind the scenes to give us this beautiful game we all can enjoy. I hope the team and EA continue to listen to our concerns and requests!
1) Sims should not forget family ties, friends, and acquaintances. 2) More negative effects in the family - irritation. lack of sleep and so on ... 3) Thieves, there is a lack of stronger emotions - fear, courage. Defeat the thief and handcuff him. Or wet yourself with fear. 4) More tropical cities.
It's great to see such well thought comments from the Sims 4 community. There have been some common themes to the posts I have read so far. So I thought I would explore some of the less thought of aspects of the game that would add significantly to the game play experience.
Currently we have character "Age" progression without "Time" progression. A system of "Decades" could be introduced so that characters can start in the Stone Age and allow progress through several levels of technological development and clothing styles progression. This would include changing the world background art to reflect the time period being represented. Past, present & future! The possibilities for story development and legacy challenges would be amazing. Sims could even potentially "Time Travel".
When an NPC shows up at the door, there needs to be a reason given. So the player can choose how to interact for the circumstance. Neighbor wants to borrow a cup of sugar and chat. Kid selling cookies for school or scouts. Gardner asks if you need extra help on weekends. Neighbor complains about your pet and you get into a fight. Random life stuff.
We need the ability to "Un-friend" NPC's so they will stop being friends. Neutral. (Currently the only option is to fight them and become enemies.)
Eating meals should always include food and drink that coincide with each other. Not drinking liquids should ultimately result in Sim death.
Rebalance the economic system. Expensive items are too cheap. Big lots are way too cheap. There need to be ways to loose money in the Sims via a bad deal, natural disaster or economic turmoil. Rare items values are too low. (Frogs, Fossils and Time Capsules)
Game lighting needs work. Inside lights/candles do not illuminate until 9;20pm each night leaving the inside spaces darkened in contrast to exterior day lighting. All lights should have different Power Consumption levels currently everything not Off-Grid is set to Level 10 each.
If a Sim eats spoiled food, they should get sick or worse!
What's with "Thank you Ra! For what you do!" being sung in the shower? Who is Ra? What does Ra do?
Lastly, but most importantly, please, please fix the BUGS!
I have a few things I would like for the base game and some of them are influenced by the simmers I watch (LilSimsie, EnglishSimmer, James Turner, Deligracy, Vixella, Plumbella and Steph0Sims). 1. BABIES! Why are babies objects? I don't understand and I know this is such a cliche thing to talk about but in all honesty, it doesn't even have to be a big system. I know some things are harder to do than others obviously but I guess I would just like my babies to have more character than they currently do. They have like 5 rotating skin tones, for one. They wear the same onesies all the time, except if you have Nifty Knitting but not everyone has that. I just think it would be really awesome to have an actual nursery with actual baby items. I'm talking a changing table, better cribs, mobiles. I wish we could also take them out of the bassinet that they are basically trapped to and take them for a walk in a stroller. An idea I has if say a sim has a stroller in their inventory, you could click on the baby and say go on a walk or a jog, similar to how it works when you walk the dogs in Cats and Dogs. To keep it short, I would just really like them to have more depth, I hate that they feel like they aren't actual sims.
2. Another popular opinion I have is that we need more lore! The sims themselves feel really stale. I know the sims team said they are working on them and I truly hope they do fix it. I have never personally played The Sims 2 but I hear great things about their 'memory' system. I want that in The Sims 4! Why are all the Calientes and Don Lothario just acquaintances? Why is there no romance between Don and Katrina? If Johnny Zest is the Landgraabs disowned son why are they not actually related? Sure they don't claim him as their son but that doesn't mean they aren't still blood! We just need more lore to make sims behave and interact differently with each other? Why can I divorce my sims, they hate each other for 5 minutes and they 10 minutes later they're BFFs? That wouldn't happen in real life in most cases! I understand the game is directed toward a younger audience but that doesn't mean that the game has to lack depth.
3. I have a few issues with CAS because let's be honest, CAS is where it all begins, right? - We need more body differentiation and I'm not talking body types (we have sliders for body fat and muscle, so that's cool). I'm talking body hair, birthmarks, vitiligo, heterochromia, scars and acne (These should be base game not in various packs!). We should also be able to pick if our sim is right or left handed and not have it be assigned randomly in live mode. -We should be able to have a bunch more relationship options: Grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, nieces/nephews, step-parent, boyfriend/girlfriend, ex-spouse or ex-partner, even best friends. -Babies should be able to be added into your household through CAS when making a sim. This also goes along with being able to set a sim as pregnant in CAS. In City Living, Jasmine and Arun Bheeda are expecting a child and Jasmine is pregnant. How did you do that? I'm almost certain you either cheated for it or you went in game to do that but it shouldn't have to be so many work arounds! Let's be able to do it CAS. - This kinda goes along with CAS and also in-game but I had heard LilSimsie talk about this and it makes sense. We have 2 traits in the game that are 'dietary' restrictions- Lactose Intolerant and Vegetarian. I know Lactose Intolerant comes with Cottage Living but I'm almost certain that Vegetarian was made base game (Super sorry if that's wrong!) but we should have a diet section in CAS so that these options don't take up one of the 3 traits slots. I don't think being a Vegetarian necessarily defines a person. It shouldn't have a limit on how many but you could add more like, Vegan, Can't eat gluten, even certain allergies (allergic to dairy, nuts, etc). -MORE TRAIT SLOTS PLEASEEEEE. Why do we only have 3?!?!??!?!? The Sims 3 had 5! I think we have a lot of awesome traits in The Sims 4 but it makes me sad that we can only have 3! I think we should be able to assign 1 to a child, another 2 to a teen and then the last 3 as an adult. It would just give them a bit more personality! -I'm not sure how possible this is, but I would really love if we could have non-binary sim option and if they were given proper pronouns. -More likes/dislikes options: We could have one for favorite foods/drinks, favorite animals (this one is bit far-fetched, I know!) favorite TV shows.
These changes are more quality of life. I would like to note that I love the game regardless and play it everyday but it would be really fun to see some minor changes! Best wishes <3
My biggest draw back with the sims 4 is how flat the relationships between sims feel. I would love if we could have more types of relationships - right now relationships only really depend on the friendship bar and romance bar and while sentiments really helped provide history to a relationship I think more could be done. e.g. if two sims keep being romantic then fighting then being romantic you might get a pop asking if they are in an 'on-again-off-again' relationship, and if you click yes this could impact their actions autonomously, like they're more likely to start a fight but quicker to forgive. Or if two friends haven't seen each other since childhood they have a 'drifted apart' relationship and get an awkward buff around the other person because they feel bad for loosing touch. Things like that, where the type of relationship one sim has with another really matter to how they interact.
I'd also love more random elements to game play. Right now you really have to try to kill a sim early - e.g. in snowy escape you have to get crushed by the vending machine more than once to die. Kinda takes the risk and the fun out of shaking the vending machine imo. I understand though that some people want more control over their game so maybe there could be a toggle turning on random deaths or events where your sim is more likely to die randomly or have something bad happen to them if you select that option.
For me there are various places where gameplay has potential for improvement.
One certainly is money. It is ridiculously easy to make money and in comparison there is little to actually spend it on. The game totally lacks any long-term-goals like super expensive items or similar things. Also, the whole build-buy catalogue seriously needs an overhaul. There are tons of examples of little knickknacks that cost way more than doors, windows, stairs, you name it.
Then in general, the game needs more depth and also more challenges / negative outcomes.
For character development I see various topics that offer potential for improvement: better and more meaningful traits that truly have an impact on the sim's life, especially the ones that just throw a random moodlet your way that gets flooded in the sheer mass of mood-stuff and never has any impact feels totally meaningless. Especially big events like the death of a loved one or similar things should have moodlets that carry more weight and cannot be "cleansed" or overridden by other moodlets.
A better memory system would also be really great and offer a lot of options for more meaningful gameplay.
To me, the sentiment system is a good addition, but it too lacks true impact and is often illogical. Even if you play two sims who are in love and keep having romantic interactions, the sentiments will go away after a while, no matter whether they have romantic interactions or not.
Overall the topic is certainly, that there is little that has lasting impact or far reaching implications. Every mood can just be cleansed away or changed quickly, which is sad. And if you fear people might be scared away it could still be like with many challenges, that you can just deactivate stuff you don't like.
I have to start by saying thank you for doing this and taking the time to listen to our concerns and wants for the future of this game!
MEMORY SYSTEM As many others have already pointed out, we NEED some form of memory system in the sims 4 like we did in previous games. Not saying it has to be the exact same as those because they weren't perfect, but at this point I write down everything that happens to my sims in a notebook so that big events don't get forgotten immedietly after they happen... Ex. milestones while growing up, relationships bad/good, weddings, births, deaths, work related etc etc. It would add so much to my (and many others) gameplay if this could be implemented! It was one of my favourite features from the sims 2 alongside the Wants & Fears feature which is my next point actually.
WANTS & FEARS Once again something from the sims 2 that was an amazing feature that made gameplay so much more enriching and fun! It also gave your sims a sense of personality that we lack in the sims 4. Basically what needs to be done is revisit and REMAKE the Whims system because right now it's really bad, and has also been abandoned completly for years after Seasons came out... Sims with different traits would obviously have different Wants & Fears, it needs to have some consequenses too for it to feel meaningful! (Look at how the sims 2 worked) It can't be things that are too easy to complete, a few ever now and then is fine, but this is a great place to impliment bigger things like having a child or maybe several children! Meeting aliens, become a mermaid, wanting to break up a relationship/ initiate one, accomplish something big like owning a 5 star restaurant. Some of these examples are of course pack related, but this would have to expande over the excisting packs to add more layers to it, and that would add more value to those packs!
RELATIONSHIPS The fact that the relationship bars are the same for both sims involved is just dumb (sorry but it is). It makes way more sense for sims to feel differently about one another, for example I had a sim that hated her mother because of something that happened in game, but now the mother also hated her child which didn't make sense in the situation! One sided crushes, friendships, grudges etc. would add so much more depth to the game as a whole! Once again, we had this in the sims 2 so I don't understand why you didn't keep it in the sims 4? Such a "small" thing that adds soo much gameplay and storytelling wise.
TRAITS & PREFERENCES I know you revised some traits a while ago (which I really appriciated) but I would love for that to continue and for you to find more ways to make traits more impactful on our sims personalities! Which ties into preferences; more of those please! Some traits that we have I feel more suited to being a preference rather than a personality trait (ex. vegetarian and lactose intolerant). I'd love to see food related preferences/allergies, clothing style preferences, ATTRACTION PREFERENCES IN OTHER SIMS, even more activity preferences etc etc.
Basically, preferences is a GREAT place to add more things to that would impact gameplay and storytelling imo :)
WORLD CONTROL I don't know how possible this one is, but it would be such a welcomed update to the game honestly. Being able to control which worlds are "connected" to each other, like I doubt Oasis Springs and Willow Creek are realisticly very close to each other distance wise... Of course this feature should be optional for players that don't care about this part, but it would add another layer to the worlds that would actually make them seem like different worlds. Maybe you would have to pay a certain fee to travel to worlds outside your close neighbourhoods? It would be like paying for a plane or train ticket essentially. Also it would prevent certain NPC's from following you wherever you go no matter how far from their home world they are (I'm looking at you Nancy and Vlad).
There's many more good suggestions from other players, but these are the ones I'm contributing with this time! I love this game dearly and I play almost everyday so I really really want the it become the best it can be :') I hope we can see at least some of the wishes that we have put out here come true in the near future!
Better babies
When sims are supposed to be dancing together on a date , then they actually dance togetehr not facing away from each other , or miles apart
Stop sims hogging the dance floor doing that dance in the middle which everyone thinks they have to watch
Sims able to slow dance
Have an actual romantic meal together where they can share food with each other and cuddle in the booths
Stop the stupid gifts they get at xmas like coloured poop
Stop any visitors in the house heading for that games mat and staying there till they go home
Stop the animation where they stand and gawp at the ceiling every time they come into a room
Faster food making ( no more 2 sim hours to fry an egg
Change out of outdoor clothes when they come indoors
No more constant drinking water and washing of hands
BETTER PLANTSIMS and bring back the way to get the tree stump and collection
My name is Paula and I have been a Sims player from the beginning and miss some of the small things from the other games like more consequences for when your sim cheats or flirts and a Updated on the aspirations to make it more challenging. 🙂
I find that relationships and their interactions are very shallow. For example, if my sim is married and having an affair, their side relationship romance level should not be affected by them seeing me with my spouse if they know I'm married. There's an option to ask about relationship, so it doesn't make sense to me. I could understand if they didn't know. Im not sure if this should affect jealousy however, as this should depend on the sim I think but maybe there could be a reward trait to not be jealous of others instead of others not be jealous of you? I hope I'm communicating myself well. I want my sims to get upset if we date our best friends ex without talking about it first. Things like that.
I feel like there is very little risk to any of my actions. I can swim far out to sea with no fitness level and make it back to shore just fine. I can repair my tv with no skill for it and not get electrocuted. I can cook and only burn my food, rarely start a fire. It's just too easy. I can spam actions with a ton of lot and personality buffs and be at level 10 in no time.
Also kids being able to cook should build the cooking skill, not logic. Same for all the other new actions, it doesn't make sense.
We need more expansive relationship types. Aunt/uncle/cousin/and so on, and to able to choose these in CAS.
Id also love to see a challenge mode, where you start with nothing. No money, locked CAS items that are just too fancy for a homeless person to reasonably have, no designated lot, etc. We could have goals we'd have to meet before we could get a job and eventually buy a lot. Something along those lines. It's a very common "rags to riches" play style that should be implemented into the game I believe.
Current careers are easy. They do not offer any challenge. It is easy to get promotion and earn so much money you will never use during Sim's life. There are so many ways how could be careers remade.
1. Add new normal careers - current issue with BG careers is that we need more normal careers.
2. Edit salary - as said, our sims earn so much money. Salaries should be lower and depend on factors like work experience, university, activity in work, field, position. Salary also ties to finance system - if you edit salaries, you should edit everything related to money
3. Getting a job - new interesting aspect to the game could be job applications. Your sims would have to fill a job apply and wait for job interview in most cases. Careers would have either specific requirements and/or optional requirements - such as degree, skills, traits, reputation, experience... Job interview could have addition of chance cards - you could directly affect the result of your interview. You could also apply for a various positions in job.
4. Same but different job - it would be interesting to have multiple same jobs that offers something different. What does this mean? You could become a salesman in either bookstore, jewelry store or groceries - the difference could be salary, work hours, job benefits. The work hours could be also flexible in some cases.
5. Promotions and demotions - progress in careers should be much harder. You would have to do casual and special tasks, level up skills, gain experiences, work on relationships. You would also get more different chance cards, each having some interesting outcomes that could even lead to demotions and or getting fired.
6. Certificates and courses - some careers would be only possible after your sims goes through specific course and gets certificate - for example music therapist or masseur
7. Work experience - as mentioned before, you would be gaining a work experience during your career. It would be specific to each field. The more experience you have, the higher chance you have for promotions or to get financial bonus. Work experience together with some other factors would also allow your sim to get job on special positions - e.g. teacher could become educational consultant.
8. Complex careers - mentioned before, careers could be more complex. Again, if your sim is teacher, they could not only teach, but also be consultants and even couches at the same time. They would have more responsibilites and goals, but also new bonuses, opportunities and interactions. This would all depend on sims work experience and skills
9. More interactive careers - even rabbithole careers can be really interactive outside of the job - as a painter or writer, you could organize a charity night, or as chef, you would be invited to cooking competitions as judge.
10. More jobs - Your sims would be able to have more jobs at the same time. Maybe they work as salesman in bookstore from monday to friday and on the weekend they have job as librarian in library. Or your athlete works as personal trainer as well. Or doctor works in hospital but has own ambulance they manage
11. Retirement - the retirement system could be better. First, your entire career path should be somewhere saved in journal so you can see your sim's rich career. Money you get in retirement would depend on work experience and job positions.
I appreciate the sims team wanting more input from the players, I hope it does help improve the game. Sims 4 is the game I play the most and here are my ideas on how to give more depth and difficulty to the game.
1.) If there was a way for us to control our sims movements by using our keyboard/controller instead of simply clicking on an area to go there but actually have your controls move the sims I believe the game would be a lot more immersive. The first person view is a cool feature that helps me feel even more like I am in the game but I believe being able to control the sims (example GTA V character control) will allow players to explore the worlds a lot more in depth and feel more involved. Currently you click on multiple things to put in the sims queue and then you watch them do it, this distances the player from feeling part of the task, makes it repetitive, and by adding this feature I believe this would improve gameplay and help the game not feel as repetitive and encourage players to explore more and feel part of the sims lives. I believe adding this feature would be a game changer. If this is something that you can’t in any way add to sims 4 because of it is all scripted I really hope the sims team considers this for future sims franchise games. The pandemic really opened up to how much people want to escape and feel part of another world, this would be incredible addition to gameplay.
2.) Declining skills over time if the sims do not use. If it is a skill that the sim would utilize at their job then maybe the skill would not decline. This would encourage players to practice the skill more or obtain jobs that match their skills.
3) Speaking of skills if different skills took longer to develop for different sims based on their traits, schooling and the grades they received in school and their job history that would make each sim feel more unique and add more challenge.
4.) Jobs should be harder to get. To make it more realistic and challenging having only certain jobs available each day your sim has to job hunt. Having an interview process where you get asked questions and based on what you select on the pop up question it will lower or raise your chance of getting the job. Having past jobs such as a life guard/barista can increase your chances of getting your next job you apply for because you have work history. Maybe part time jobs are always available while the careers are only available every so often. Traits could also lower or raise your chances of getting the job. There could be an interview for some that you have to appease the sim interviewing you. Potentially there could be an option on how competitive you want the job market to be.
5.) it would be great if your sims could get arrested or go to the hospital and interact with the detective/doctor career.
6.) Dine out - owning a restaurant if you could hire your other household members that would give more challenge on managing the restaurant. Adding features where you have to read the orders and cook for the sims, ordering groceries for the day to cover what you expect to serve based on menu etc, could add a lot more depth when owning a restaurant.
7.) Division of your lot. Having a feature to divide your lot to “separate” houses would allow different stories. For example you could still be limited to 8 sims on a lot but you could build separate living quarters and assign each sim to their respective house. This could allow multigenerational house holds on one land, retirement homes, apartment style story.
8.) Relationships I think need to be more challenging. Your sims should need to have romantic interactions to maintain their romantic level. Having the other sims ask to be significant other or to marry would make it more random and unexpected. Having an attraction system also could improve relationships. For example if your sim is attracted to red hair then when flirting with a sims with brown hair could make the romantic bar move up slower than if they flirted with someone with red hair etc. If your sims has the neat trait but the sim they are dating has slob trait it should be harder to get their romantic bar up.
9.) I think that your sims life choices should impact them when elderly. If your sim works out and eats healthy then when elderly they should live a little longer and be able to be more active without consequences, on the flip side if your sim does not workout and eats bad then when they get elderly they are more likely to get sore or die earlier.
10.) Chance cards, having more of them with more options of consequences would help with story progression. For example a chance card could be a house is up for auction do you want to move at a discount for x dollars. If you choose yes your sim moves, you have no idea what world or lot until you move and then it may have been a big discount or perhaps you paid too much. This is just a random example but having chance cards that creates more surprises and could change storyline and create more unique gameplay.
11.) adding the hiking trails in snowy escape was awesome, I hope to see it in other worlds in the future. This allows us to more easily interact in a group of sims.
Thank you for listening to the community. I have been a Sims fanatic since 2004. I enjoy the sims 4 but there is certainly a level of depth, challenge and attachment that is missing in comparison to Sims 2.
Sorry my feedback is just bullet pointed and quite brief. I’ve had to rush this a bit due to time but I still wanted to chip in my two cents:
- Chance cards with actual consequences like in sims 2 - get fired, demoted, fined £20000. I actually get scared answering the chance cards in Sims 2 and that makes it so fun.
- More random deaths - electrocution, fixing things, attacked by llama
- Attraction system in game - to make finding the right romantic partner more interesting and challenging
- Hugely improved whims - basically the Wants and Fears system from sims 2 was pure perfection
- Memories (like in sims 2) to give our sims depth and make us feel attached to them
- Gender preferences… please!
- Natural disasters - to add risk e.g deaths, insurance payout, forced to move etc
- Building further upon likes and dislikes (an amazing recent addition by the way), with other things such as running, swimming, guitar
- Improved family tree so we can really see the extended family (see sims 2)
Again thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback. It is much appreciated.
I got my first the sims game in 2007, instantly fell in love with it, and have regularly been playing it ever since. I find the sims 4 flawed but love it anyways and am only looking forward to seeing it improve in the future. Below is my short list of suggestions that I believe could significantly enhance the gameplay:
1) It would be nice if you refreshed the freelancer careers and the work from home option by adding a few more, more diverse, less repetitive, and more challenging tasks
2) New freelancing careers that wouldn’t necessarily rely on skills solely from the base game: e.g., modeling, DJ-ing, creating a personal brand, etc..
3) This one is going to be hard to attain, but possible, as you proved recently with adding new skin and hair colors, and painting swatches; please, separate the bed frames’ wooden swatches from those of the beddings (same thing with chairs and sofas)
4) I am afraid this one is unattainable as it would probably require recoding the entire system of emotions and sentiments, but it would be nice if two sims could have different feelings about each other ( like in TS2), the enemies actually despised and avoided each other, and sims with opposite traits did not get along easily, e.g., active and lazy, slob and neat, family-oriented and hates children, etc.. At the moment, two sims can be best friends without knowing any traits of each other. Also, it would be nice if sims remembered likes and dislikes of their friends and relatives.
5) Personality system like in TS2. As an astrology fan, I would love the come back of the zediac signs that determine sims' levels of cleanliness, outgoingness, activeness, romanticness, mental stability, ambitiousness, empathy, rudeness, etc.. Do not resign from the whole traits system; perhaps, only from some particular traits that are already included in one's horoscope, but keep the extra ones that make our sims actually stand out, like: vegeterian, animal lover, loves art/music/reading/cooking, etc.. Add several general aspirations like: romance, family, knowledge, creativity, fame, professionnal success. Since aspirations are obligatory to begin a gameplay, please make it easier for us to choose. Do not delete the old ones; just add some general ones.
6) Music: singers, bands, new instruments, new music-related career, where a sim can become a rock-star, a rapper, a pop/s-pop singer, not only a classical musician
7) More hairstyles and clothes for men and children
8) I miss reading my sims' gossips and jokes. Please, bring them back.
9) Finally, would it possible for you to resign from the randomly-generated townies and stationing them in empty lots, and to instead create nice permanent NPCs with assigned functions like in the previous games or in cottage living? Also, we need burglars.
Comments
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Right now, the genetics systems result in very clone-like families in my experience as a player. I would like to see a chance for more diverse looking worlds and sims generations down the like.
Another request I have is how sims have it pretty [i]easy[/i]. I'd like to see [b]sick sims[/b] stay home from work [i]autonomously[/i], and it's up to the player to ensure the sim has called in sick appropriately so as they do not get fired. This adds some consequence and meaning to illness. Maybe illnesses get worse if the player sends sims to work and they have to go to see a doctor for treatment.
I think an added [b]attraction/chemistry system[/b] could fit easily with the sims' likes and dislikes. I think this would add some neat unique qualities to make each sim different. Maybe they like [b]traits [/b]another sim might exhibit, such as Vegetarians could be attracted to or like other Vegetarians. Maybe family-oriented sims might dislike sims with the hates children trait. This could add depth and more meaning to relationships as sims have something in common or something to overcome.
When it comes to depth, relationships between Sims come to mind. Almost every relationship feels the same. Befriending and romancing other Sims it's so easy that it can make your Sims relationships feel replaceable, which makes them feel less meaningful. I'm not sure how that could be changed for friendship, or even if it's entirely necessary to change it for friendship, but for romance I wish there was an attraction system in the game that could potentially work the same way as likes and dislikes do.
You could select a variety of "Turn Ons and Turn Offs" similar to Sims 2, but let us choose more than one or two options like you guys did when bringing over favorites from Sims 3. It could include gender preferences, hair color, eye color, certain traits, occult status, level of wealth, etc. With that system it could be more difficult, even impossible in some cases, for Sims with conflicting turn-ons and turn-offs to romance each other.
I understand that you don't want to limit players' options, so you could add a reward trait called "irresistible" or something like that that would make it so that romance interactions are always successful for players who don't want to deal with that type of challenge.
I think this would make Sims relationships more meaningful, because my sim wouldn't have married just some random person off the street, it would be somebody that they're genuinely compatible with, which would make their relationship more meaningful to me as a player. I also think a system like this would really flesh out our Sims' personalities as well.
Another thing with depth is how fleshed out certain systems and features are. For instance, the emotions system. The emotion system doesn't feel balanced, and Sims almost seem to default to happy or uncomfortable. I think that removing, or at least decreasing, environmental buffs would help with this. Also, consequences! If a sim is angry and they probably shouldn't respond well to friendly interactions, and that should make the sim they're talking to feel sad, and if that sim is sad, they won't perform as well at work or while doing activities. I think other comments in this thread have good feedback on the emotions system, and I'm not sure I can explain it as well as them.
I really love that you guys added sentiments and likes and dislikes! They help so much with fleshing out Sims' personalities, relationships, and adding depth in general. That said, I still think they can be improved! I'd really love to see the sentiments system continue to be expanded, with sentiments for every pack and even some more for basegame. Likes and dislikes are awesome, but there's activities (not necessarily all of them are skills) from both packs and the base game missing that feel like they should be included (pet training, knitting, cross stitching, reading, archeology, juice fizzing, magic/medium/Paranormal, playing chess, void critters (for kids!), watching TV, traveling, etc.).
A small feature that I think could be expanded is parties. It doesn't really make sense to me that we can't invite any Sims that anyone in the household knows. For example, toddler parties are kind of hard to throw. Toddlers can't throw parties, so the parent has to, but if the parent has no relationship with any toddlers their toddler knows, then they can't throw the party. Also, there's too many goals that require getting Sims to all do the same thing at once when the player may not have control of every sim at the event. This isn't a fun or engaging challenge, this is just frustrating and discourages me from throwing events at all, because it's so likely that I'll get a goal required for a successful event that demands I get 3 Sims I don't control to all drink or dance at the same time, and they don't always listen to me when I use a group interaction, and there's a good chance they'll take too long and the event will end.
A lot of players want more depth for toddlers, kids, and teens, and I agree! One thing that I think could help kids and teens is expanding the after school activity system. There's scouts with with Seasons, and drama club with Get Famous, but that's it. I'd love to have more after school clubs and stuff to send my kids and teens to (examples: book club, Science Olympiad, swim/soccer/track team, gardening club, choir/music/band club, art club, ballet class, etc. I really wish that children could gain at least a little bit of violin skill from using the child sized violin, especially now that they can have adult skills like knitting. Maybe it would cap off at level 5 and only progress once they aged up, but it doesn't make sense for there to be zero skil therel after playing violin every day of their childhood. Here are some examples of what kind of activities and unique interactions I'd like to see for those life stages:
•••TEENS•••
-I think it would be interesting if teens could autonomously run away from home, maybe after fighting with their parents or something like that. If a parent upsets a teen, the teen would leave, and parents could post something to help find them faster (like you can do with pets that run away) or maybe you could introduce police NPCs that would bring the teens back. Oh, and teens with the good or family oriented traits wouldn't run away! (And teens with high emotional control, responsibility, and/or conflict resolution from Parenthood wouldn't either)
-throw sleepover events with other Sims their age (they could even have sleeping bags and pillow fights! I think it would be really fun, this one actually goes for kids too)
–It'd be fun if there was a random chance of an after school field trip to museum and park lots that teens (and children) would have to ask for their parents' permission for before going on, it doesn't even have to be an interactive event, it would still be fun to have as a rabbit hole!
-etc.
•••CHILDREN•••
-sleepovers and field trips (see teens)
-learning nursery rhymes from older Sims (maybe this could help with certain child skills?)
-run a lemonade stand or a bake sale
-play tag (so could older Sims with childish trait)
-play catch
-Mary Mack from Sims 2
-etc.
•••TODDLERS•••
-more things for them to play with (an activity table for them to scribble at, a xylophone to play with, one of those toys where you match the shapes of the pegs to shaped holes, etc.)
-learning nursery rhymes from older Sims (maybe this could help with certain toddler skills?)
-toddlers are pretty busy, it would be cute to see them hide in toy boxes like they did in past games, I like how they mess around with kitchen cupboards and stuff and I'd like to see more of that
-etc.
These life stages really just need more to do, because right now they honestly feel a little bit boring. I think adding things that are at least similar to what I suggested would make those life stages feel more unique and lively.
Another feature that I think needs more depth is the base game occults. Plant sims are base game and they don't feel like plant sims, they feel like they're just regular Sims that have green skin. I'd really like to see a proper plant Sim outfit and hair added, and the ability to make them from CAS as more than just a temporary life state. Maybe you guys could even add a few more abilities for them.
I think ghosts are great! I love that ghosts look different depending on how they died and have corresponding effects, that's really well done! The problem I have with them is that I can't make them from CAS, even though that was an option in Sims 3. If I want to play with a ghost Sim in The Sims 4 I have to first kill a sim, specifically I have to kill them in whichever way I want them to appear as a ghost, then I have to wait for them to show up as a ghost, and then I have to add them to my household, and if I don't have cheats on then I have to gain enough relationship to ask them to join my household. It's just inconvenient enough that I don't use ghosts as much as I would because of it. I'd love to just make a ghost straight from CAS, pick how they died in CAS, and get right into gameplay when I'm setting up a storyline where I want a ghost.
Oh and, this is just a quality of life thing that really bothers me in CAS, I wish we could change the occult type of a Sim from CAS instead of just having to make a whole new sim. I'm so sorry to keep bringing up the Sims 3, but it's the only example I have. In The Sims 3, when making a new household you didn't need to start off with a normal sim, then make a new occult sim, and then delete the normal Sim. You could just change the normal Sim you start off with into an occult Sim by selecting the option. I love occult sims, I love making them and I love playing them, but I would use them so much more if it wasn't such a hassle to make them in CAS.
That hassle includes the constant animations that make it hard to dress them and adjust things, and that part actually extends to all Sims, not just occult Sims. I just wish there was a setting or something where I could pause or turn off constant animations in CAS. They're fun at first but they get old fast when they're getting in the way. (Oh and this isn't base game, but please, please, PLEASE give mermaids their own unique bassinet, urn, and gravestone like every other pack occult has, it feels like they weren't thought through at all when they lack those basic things that vampires, spellcasters, and aliens have.)
Speaking of CAS systems that need to be more fleshed out, I absolutely love to play in CAS but there are so many little things that make it really frustrating sometimes.
One thing is that we keep getting more and more packs, and by extension more and more CAS assets, yet we still only have two columns to scroll through everything. It takes forever to scroll and I can overlook things really easily because I'm just trying to scroll to where I think something is and I end up overlooking stuff. I think that stuff like that needs to be revisited as the game expands, because it feels clunky and like it hasn't been fully thought out when it isn't.
Speaking of things that need to be revisited in CAS, while dragging your Sims features is great in some ways, it's a system that heavily depends on presets. I know that you guys have recently added more eye presets, and that's fantastic, but I would really like to see more presets for every category for every type of sim.
I'd really love more options and presets for masculine sims in particular, it can be very difficult to get softer looking features and the shading is kinda weird on some of the current options. Other people get rid of that shading with CC skin overlays, but as a console player, I can't do that. I don't even necessarily think that those presets are bad to have, I just think that there need to be more options.
I wish there was an eyelashes version for every eye shape for both genders, men have eyelashes too and I'm really really tired of not being able to find a good eye preset to work with for certain Sims. I understand why you guys went for the eyelashes style you did with the Sims 4's more cartoony look, and while I know that a lot of people don't like them, they're all I have as a console player and I prefer my Sims to have cartoony eyelashes over none. Besides, I actually think they're pretty cute, I just need them to be available for any Sim I want to make.
Also, and I don't know how difficult this would be to do, but I really think that the sliders that you drag should be retuned. With the lip sliders you don't have nearly as much freedom to move the mouth as with other facial features, I can move the eyes and mouth way up high on a Sim's face, and the mouth can barely go a fraction of that. A huge issue with most of the presets for large lips is that if you select the upper lip just to alter the lip shape, the lip immediately shrinks, and it's impossible to make it big again because you just get a red outline indicating it's as much as it can go. Again, you are entirely dependent upon there being enough presets to cover all the shapes that you want/need, and there just aren't. Plus, different presets have different limitations. I don't understand why they can't all go the same amount of thick or thin.
If possible, I would really like to see the shading around Sims ribs to be less defined. On the weight slider, if you have it set in the middle, Sims look REALLY skinny unless you pull out all of their features, and even then there's really defined shading on the rib area. If you raise the slider any more than that the Sims' faces start getting pudgy and you don't always want that, and it doesn't always make sense, and in general it just freaks me out as somebody who's actually trying to gain weight. So I'd really like to see you guys retune that slider, or at least lighten the shading.
The gender settings in CAS are lovely to have, but it doesn't feel fully fleshed out when clothing items warp so badly on different framed Sims. Big, loose, masculine sweaters clip and cling to feminine frames in this really weird clunky way that just looks bad honestly. High-waisted feminine bottoms are never high-waisted on a masculine frame.
The headscarf was added an update a while back, but the game is severely lacking in clothing that's modest enough to make a variety of hijabi Sims. There is only one dress in the entire game that I can use for formal wear, because it is the only dress that fully covers the sim. I love that we have the headscarf in the game, but it feels like it was added with very little thought as to how easily it can actually be used, and it doesn't feel like it's really been thought of since. I'd love to see a wider variety of clothing come to the game through updates and/or DLC, including styles that could be used to represent people who wear hijab. One thing that would make it infinitely easier to use every CAS item for Sims who are even just modest would be a undershirt accessory. Just a long sleeved shirt with a close neckline that tucks into bottoms and could go underneath any top or full body outfit. I feel like that could make pretty much every CAS item more versatile, I think that would be a very good solution at least in the short term.
Last thing for CAS quality of life improvements, please go through what's tagged for cold and hot weather wear, there are so many sweaters and jackets that aren't in cold weather for some reason, and skirts and things that would be perfectly fine for hot weather. There are probably things that should be tagged as sleep and athletic wear that aren't as well.
Sims 4 Create-A-Sim has a lot of very useful tools, but there are just enough little quality of life things that can make the experience a slog, and make it feel like not every tool or feature was fully thought out.
When it comes to challenge, or lack thereof, one of the things I think of is that bad things don't usually happen to Sims. For instance, I really like that in Jungle Adventure, if your sim gets poisoned you have to find an antidote for them in just a few days or else they'll die. I think that's great, but that challenge of finding an antidote is hardly present because, at least when I've played it, Sims rarely, if ever, get poisoned.
Volcanic activity from Island living sounds like it should be potentially dangerous, but other than maybe destroying a few objects, it doesn't seem to have a very negative effect. Once the rock cools, your sim can get really awesome minerals from it and sell them for money. That last part is perfectly fine, but I do wish there were more negative consequences to living on a lot with volcanic activity. Maybe big fires or the potential of the rock hitting your sim like the meteor from Sims 3?
It would be great to bring back the burglar NPC randomly appearing, and getting away with stealing your stuff if you don't have a burglar alarm or if you don't call police NPCs fast enough. That would be a fun challenge for your Sims every now and again. If you're worried about it upsetting players, you could also add a setting that turns off burglars in the gameplay settings, or add burglars as a type of sim you can block from trespassing from the door like you can with the Welcome Wagon and vampires.
I wish that ideal emotions for careers would come back. It's a nice challenge and it makes good use out of the emotions system, as well as giving it an interesting purpose. If you're in the most ideal type of mood for your job, you'll get bonus career gains, if you're not in the most ideal mood but you're still in a good one you'll get normal career gains, and if you're in a bad mood your work performance will suffer.
I'd also like to see more Spark'd challenges on the Gallery, they were fun for inspiration and stuff and I think it's kind of sad that they fell off.
Another big part of adding challenge is adding long term goals. Since aspirations aren't a lifelong thing (usually), and there aren't many in most of the categories, they don't make for good long term goals. I'd really love to see lifelong aspirations, or at least more short term ones in every category. Also, monetary goals are lacking. Many players find it easy enough to make money, but difficult to spend it. There aren't many expensive items in the game that a lot of players would actually want to purchase. I think it would be great if players could own multiple homes or something like that. It would be nice if there were just more things that were both expensive and desirable for Sims who have/make a lot of money. On a similar note, the game's whole economy is honestly pretty weird, and it might be worth looking at changing the prices of some items. It seems bizarre that I can get a decent area rug for cheaper than a roll of toilet paper, y'know? Anyway, more long term goals and things to work towards would make the game more engaging, offer more depth and challenge, and just offer a lot of longevity to gameplay in general.
I think the biggest thing with challenge is adding more negative consequences both in the base game and in DLC, events or situations in the game that encourage the player to think creatively or outside of the box, and also just more long-term goals.
I think the types of things I've brought up on this huge comment would make for more meaningful stories and engaging gameplay. It would offer more avenues to players rather than less, make features feel more cohesive and fun, offer more unique gameplay experiences, and encourage creativity. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I'm sorry it was so long.
I know this is about base game, and some of the thoughts I have are specific to certain packs. However, I think they could be applied to the base game in other ways. For example, I wish more aspirations linked to careers, like the freelance botanist one, which works great with the gardening career. I'd love that for the archaeologist aspiration (which is obviously pack specific), but I'm sure there are base game aspirations where this concept could still be applicable.
I know it's been said by many, but more interactive babies! That would be so lovely. I love playing family games. I've done the 100 Baby Challenge twice, so yeah.
I also would love if the kids/teens could get some new school projects, particularly ones that help to build some of the newer skills that have been added. But I'm not even sure the school projects are base game (though they totally should be). Also more options for after school activities could be fun for the kids and teens.
One thing I very, very badly want is an option to "lock" draggable objects. I am forever losing things inside of walls because I drag them, and some of my favorite things were made draggable with various packs and updates and I've just stopped using them. I have seen other Simmers mention they are prone to accidental draggage, too, so I suspect I am not alone in wishing for that!
I love the new lot challenges. I think it would be neat to do something similar with the sims themselves. I don't necessarily love using one of only 3 traits for vegetarian sims or for a lactose intolerant sim, for example. But to turn it into an added challenge like the lot traits would be neat. Or just let us have some more traits for each sim!
Also, I've always felt like sims' traits should influence how they feel about other sims. There are definitely some mods that do this sort of thing, like the First Impressions mod. But it would be neat if that impacted how they build relationships, too. Like how good sims don't like to be around evil sims (but as far as I've seen, it doesn't seem that evil sims get any moodlets about good sims, though to be fair, I rarely play as an evil sim lol). Same with family oriented vs. child hating sims.
It would also be cool if things like desires for a family could be built into the game, with options to change that over time. Again, I know of mods that do this, but that isn't helpful to those who are console players (I'm not, but I'm fighting for them lol). Since teen pregnancy happens in RL, it would be a nice option to have in the base game (and with the option to turn it off for gameplay so those who don't want it, don't have to have it). It also can add an entire element of challenge, like it does with some mods I've seen... where the teen is upset and struggling (or maybe excited, because they don't know what they're in for yet lol). That is one of those "bound to be controversial" ideas, but it is realistic, and as I said, if you have an option to disable it, I don't see why it needs to be a problem for those who do not want it.
Alternative pregnancy options (not just adoption) could be nice, too... for same sex couples or single parents or just because. Also, teen adoptions! Right now, you can only adopt up to a child without mods, but I think it would be great to add teens to that.
A larger household size would be really cool, where full CAS will still work. Even just 10, instead of 8. I am always so torn between big family or smaller family and lots of pets (and yes, pets again, not base game, but even without pets I can easily fill a house lol). Plus, this would really enhance intergenerational play, because if you want to have a larger family, you could still have grandparents, kids, grandkids in one house without having to sacrifice that.
The game is rated T for teen, not E for everyone it's past time it reflects that. Also some more story driven game play ala Strangerville wouldn't at all be terrible. Sometimes it's nice to have help getting the ball rolling. That's why I also think you guys are on the right track with the improved lore. It's a sandbox game and I get that, but you know they have molds you can take into a sandbox/beach to help inspire you as to what it is you want to build.
I also liked the idea of the in-game challenges. The sugar skull challenge happened before I got the Sims 4 and I'm sad that I missed it. I don't think I've seen another challenge like that since.
There are also a couple of features that are cool, but kind of lose their entertainment value after you play them once. Examples are going to space in the rocket or climbing the beanstalk. The same thing tends to happen each time. I think it would be really cool if different possibilities happened each time, rather than just bringing back a space rock or a cool fruit. It might even be cool to increase the risk factor and perhaps have the sim held hostage in the location (i.e. held hostage by aliens or trapped by the giants on top of the beanstalk). Just something to add variety.
I also find myself wishing there were more jobs included with the base game. I remember liking the military career and the firefighter careers in previous games. Singing, dancing, and modeling, and film careers could be cool, too. Some of the jobs in the base game coincide too closely to the freelance activities (i.e. painting and writing), and I feel like it's just two of the same job. I'd rather see a bigger variety of jobs rather than the same job in different forms.
I'm really happy with the updates the Sims team has been making recently! Keep up the good work and thank you for taking the time to listen to our thoughts!
2) More negative effects in the family - irritation. lack of sleep and so on ...
3) Thieves, there is a lack of stronger emotions - fear, courage. Defeat the thief and handcuff him. Or wet yourself with fear.
4) More tropical cities.
For me: depth is heavily tied to emotions, relationships, and occurrences within the world. The reason I say this is because when one of these aspects of the game is off-balance, everything else ends up following suit. As I've played throughout the years, I've noticed that the reason why I become so uninterested is because I feel like there is no purpose to things like relationships, emotions, or world occurrences. Yes, they are there, and they do impact some smaller elements of my play style. However, it isn't enough for me to be engaged. For example, I can get my sim married and give them children, but what about the resurgence of feelings for an old lover? Or, what about the spouse's parents having a secret hatred for my sim which derails the marriage? There are so many little things that the game doesn't take into account, and I feel like so many other players would also understand this too.
Most importantly, the game lacks story progression (active household & NPC). Without it, I feel like I am doing more work creating the story than actually playing it. This makes me more quick to cheat relationships and promotions, mainly because I feel like that's what I should be doing. The game doesn't allow me to sit back sometimes and let the world advance, which is how it is in real life. With this being a life simulation game, I'd really want to see it following that path.
Lastly, emotions are very shallow in The Sims 4. Each time my sim gets embarrassed or tense, it's the same exact interaction or reaction across the board. The reason this sometimes frustrates me is that, with people, we don't all react the same way when we're embarrassed. We also don't do the same actions when we're tense. I think the game lacks that sense of diversity when it comes to emotions and the way they are represented.
In the end, I hope my feedback/viewpoint was helpful!
#2 More Family-tree depth and relationships. I would love to see step-parents, adopted siblings, cousins, and just better relationship progression for them in the familial aspect.
#3 More autonomy for NPC's because it seems like they never progress. It just seems so out of place that sims marry and then don't have kids or they live in this huge house, but can't actually afford that with the job that they have.
#4 More baby gameplay! I mean what more needs to be said. Changing tables, real daycare centers, baby food. Baby doctor appointments.
#5 Private schools, sports teams, and after-school activities for CHILDREN. I want to be able to do more with my sims when they are kids to progress their storylines into adulthood. Like how a sim was so smart they got a scholarship into Simson Private School for their hard efforts!
#6 Would love to keep seeing base-game and pack updates that continue to make it exciting!
All in all, I love the sims and always recommend it to friends and family and I certainly appreciate the Sims teamwork behind the scenes to give us this beautiful game we all can enjoy. I hope the team and EA continue to listen to our concerns and requests!
2) More negative effects in the family - irritation. lack of sleep and so on ...
3) Thieves, there is a lack of stronger emotions - fear, courage. Defeat the thief and handcuff him. Or wet yourself with fear.
4) More tropical cities.
Currently we have character "Age" progression without "Time" progression. A system of "Decades" could be introduced so that characters can start in the Stone Age and allow progress through several levels of technological development and clothing styles progression. This would include changing the world background art to reflect the time period being represented. Past, present & future! The possibilities for story development and legacy challenges would be amazing. Sims could even potentially "Time Travel".
When an NPC shows up at the door, there needs to be a reason given. So the player can choose how to interact for the circumstance. Neighbor wants to borrow a cup of sugar and chat. Kid selling cookies for school or scouts. Gardner asks if you need extra help on weekends. Neighbor complains about your pet and you get into a fight. Random life stuff.
We need the ability to "Un-friend" NPC's so they will stop being friends. Neutral. (Currently the only option is to fight them and become enemies.)
Eating meals should always include food and drink that coincide with each other. Not drinking liquids should ultimately result in Sim death.
Rebalance the economic system. Expensive items are too cheap. Big lots are way too cheap. There need to be ways to loose money in the Sims via a bad deal, natural disaster or economic turmoil. Rare items values are too low. (Frogs, Fossils and Time Capsules)
Game lighting needs work. Inside lights/candles do not illuminate until 9;20pm each night leaving the inside spaces darkened in contrast to exterior day lighting. All lights should have different Power Consumption levels currently everything not Off-Grid is set to Level 10 each.
If a Sim eats spoiled food, they should get sick or worse!
What's with "Thank you Ra! For what you do!" being sung in the shower? Who is Ra? What does Ra do?
Lastly, but most importantly, please, please fix the BUGS!
1. BABIES! Why are babies objects? I don't understand and I know this is such a cliche thing to talk about but in all honesty, it doesn't even have to be a big system. I know some things are harder to do than others obviously but I guess I would just like my babies to have more character than they currently do. They have like 5 rotating skin tones, for one. They wear the same onesies all the time, except if you have Nifty Knitting but not everyone has that. I just think it would be really awesome to have an actual nursery with actual baby items. I'm talking a changing table, better cribs, mobiles. I wish we could also take them out of the bassinet that they are basically trapped to and take them for a walk in a stroller. An idea I has if say a sim has a stroller in their inventory, you could click on the baby and say go on a walk or a jog, similar to how it works when you walk the dogs in Cats and Dogs. To keep it short, I would just really like them to have more depth, I hate that they feel like they aren't actual sims.
2. Another popular opinion I have is that we need more lore! The sims themselves feel really stale. I know the sims team said they are working on them and I truly hope they do fix it. I have never personally played The Sims 2 but I hear great things about their 'memory' system. I want that in The Sims 4! Why are all the Calientes and Don Lothario just acquaintances? Why is there no romance between Don and Katrina? If Johnny Zest is the Landgraabs disowned son why are they not actually related? Sure they don't claim him as their son but that doesn't mean they aren't still blood! We just need more lore to make sims behave and interact differently with each other? Why can I divorce my sims, they hate each other for 5 minutes and they 10 minutes later they're BFFs? That wouldn't happen in real life in most cases! I understand the game is directed toward a younger audience but that doesn't mean that the game has to lack depth.
3. I have a few issues with CAS because let's be honest, CAS is where it all begins, right?
- We need more body differentiation and I'm not talking body types (we have sliders for body fat and muscle, so that's cool). I'm talking body hair, birthmarks, vitiligo, heterochromia, scars and acne (These should be base game not in various packs!). We should also be able to pick if our sim is right or left handed and not have it be assigned randomly in live mode.
-We should be able to have a bunch more relationship options: Grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, nieces/nephews, step-parent, boyfriend/girlfriend, ex-spouse or ex-partner, even best friends.
-Babies should be able to be added into your household through CAS when making a sim. This also goes along with being able to set a sim as pregnant in CAS. In City Living, Jasmine and Arun Bheeda are expecting a child and Jasmine is pregnant. How did you do that? I'm almost certain you either cheated for it or you went in game to do that but it shouldn't have to be so many work arounds! Let's be able to do it CAS.
- This kinda goes along with CAS and also in-game but I had heard LilSimsie talk about this and it makes sense. We have 2 traits in the game that are 'dietary' restrictions- Lactose Intolerant and Vegetarian. I know Lactose Intolerant comes with Cottage Living but I'm almost certain that Vegetarian was made base game (Super sorry if that's wrong!) but we should have a diet section in CAS so that these options don't take up one of the 3 traits slots. I don't think being a Vegetarian necessarily defines a person. It shouldn't have a limit on how many but you could add more like, Vegan, Can't eat gluten, even certain allergies (allergic to dairy, nuts, etc).
-MORE TRAIT SLOTS PLEASEEEEE. Why do we only have 3?!?!??!?!? The Sims 3 had 5! I think we have a lot of awesome traits in The Sims 4 but it makes me sad that we can only have 3! I think we should be able to assign 1 to a child, another 2 to a teen and then the last 3 as an adult. It would just give them a bit more personality!
-I'm not sure how possible this is, but I would really love if we could have non-binary sim option and if they were given proper pronouns.
-More likes/dislikes options: We could have one for favorite foods/drinks, favorite animals (this one is bit far-fetched, I know!) favorite TV shows.
These changes are more quality of life. I would like to note that I love the game regardless and play it everyday but it would be really fun to see some minor changes! Best wishes <3
I'd also love more random elements to game play. Right now you really have to try to kill a sim early - e.g. in snowy escape you have to get crushed by the vending machine more than once to die. Kinda takes the risk and the fun out of shaking the vending machine imo. I understand though that some people want more control over their game so maybe there could be a toggle turning on random deaths or events where your sim is more likely to die randomly or have something bad happen to them if you select that option.
One certainly is money. It is ridiculously easy to make money and in comparison there is little to actually spend it on. The game totally lacks any long-term-goals like super expensive items or similar things. Also, the whole build-buy catalogue seriously needs an overhaul. There are tons of examples of little knickknacks that cost way more than doors, windows, stairs, you name it.
Then in general, the game needs more depth and also more challenges / negative outcomes.
For character development I see various topics that offer potential for improvement: better and more meaningful traits that truly have an impact on the sim's life, especially the ones that just throw a random moodlet your way that gets flooded in the sheer mass of mood-stuff and never has any impact feels totally meaningless. Especially big events like the death of a loved one or similar things should have moodlets that carry more weight and cannot be "cleansed" or overridden by other moodlets.
A better memory system would also be really great and offer a lot of options for more meaningful gameplay.
To me, the sentiment system is a good addition, but it too lacks true impact and is often illogical. Even if you play two sims who are in love and keep having romantic interactions, the sentiments will go away after a while, no matter whether they have romantic interactions or not.
Overall the topic is certainly, that there is little that has lasting impact or far reaching implications. Every mood can just be cleansed away or changed quickly, which is sad. And if you fear people might be scared away it could still be like with many challenges, that you can just deactivate stuff you don't like.
MEMORY SYSTEM
As many others have already pointed out, we NEED some form of memory system in the sims 4 like we did in previous games. Not saying it has to be the exact same as those because they weren't perfect, but at this point I write down everything that happens to my sims in a notebook so that big events don't get forgotten immedietly after they happen... Ex. milestones while growing up, relationships bad/good, weddings, births, deaths, work related etc etc. It would add so much to my (and many others) gameplay if this could be implemented! It was one of my favourite features from the sims 2 alongside the Wants & Fears feature which is my next point actually.
WANTS & FEARS
Once again something from the sims 2 that was an amazing feature that made gameplay so much more enriching and fun! It also gave your sims a sense of personality that we lack in the sims 4. Basically what needs to be done is revisit and REMAKE the Whims system because right now it's really bad, and has also been abandoned completly for years after Seasons came out... Sims with different traits would obviously have different Wants & Fears, it needs to have some consequenses too for it to feel meaningful! (Look at how the sims 2 worked) It can't be things that are too easy to complete, a few ever now and then is fine, but this is a great place to impliment bigger things like having a child or maybe several children! Meeting aliens, become a mermaid, wanting to break up a relationship/ initiate one, accomplish something big like owning a 5 star restaurant. Some of these examples are of course pack related, but this would have to expande over the excisting packs to add more layers to it, and that would add more value to those packs!
RELATIONSHIPS
The fact that the relationship bars are the same for both sims involved is just dumb (sorry but it is). It makes way more sense for sims to feel differently about one another, for example I had a sim that hated her mother because of something that happened in game, but now the mother also hated her child which didn't make sense in the situation! One sided crushes, friendships, grudges etc. would add so much more depth to the game as a whole! Once again, we had this in the sims 2 so I don't understand why you didn't keep it in the sims 4? Such a "small" thing that adds soo much gameplay and storytelling wise.
TRAITS & PREFERENCES
I know you revised some traits a while ago (which I really appriciated) but I would love for that to continue and for you to find more ways to make traits more impactful on our sims personalities! Which ties into preferences; more of those please! Some traits that we have I feel more suited to being a preference rather than a personality trait (ex. vegetarian and lactose intolerant). I'd love to see food related preferences/allergies, clothing style preferences, ATTRACTION PREFERENCES IN OTHER SIMS, even more activity preferences etc etc.
Basically, preferences is a GREAT place to add more things to that would impact gameplay and storytelling imo :)
WORLD CONTROL
I don't know how possible this one is, but it would be such a welcomed update to the game honestly.
Being able to control which worlds are "connected" to each other, like I doubt Oasis Springs and Willow Creek are realisticly very close to each other distance wise... Of course this feature should be optional for players that don't care about this part, but it would add another layer to the worlds that would actually make them seem like different worlds. Maybe you would have to pay a certain fee to travel to worlds outside your close neighbourhoods? It would be like paying for a plane or train ticket essentially. Also it would prevent certain NPC's from following you wherever you go no matter how far from their home world they are (I'm looking at you Nancy and Vlad).
There's many more good suggestions from other players, but these are the ones I'm contributing with this time! I love this game dearly and I play almost everyday so I really really want the it become the best it can be :') I hope we can see at least some of the wishes that we have put out here come true in the near future!
Thank you once again for reading.
Better babies
When sims are supposed to be dancing together on a date , then they actually dance togetehr not facing away from each other , or miles apart
Stop sims hogging the dance floor doing that dance in the middle which everyone thinks they have to watch
Sims able to slow dance
Have an actual romantic meal together where they can share food with each other and cuddle in the booths
Stop the stupid gifts they get at xmas like coloured poop
Stop any visitors in the house heading for that games mat and staying there till they go home
Stop the animation where they stand and gawp at the ceiling every time they come into a room
Faster food making ( no more 2 sim hours to fry an egg
Change out of outdoor clothes when they come indoors
No more constant drinking water and washing of hands
BETTER PLANTSIMS and bring back the way to get the tree stump and collection
My name is Paula and I have been a Sims player from the beginning and miss some of the small things from the other games like more consequences for when your sim cheats or flirts and a Updated on the aspirations to make it more challenging. 🙂
I feel like there is very little risk to any of my actions. I can swim far out to sea with no fitness level and make it back to shore just fine. I can repair my tv with no skill for it and not get electrocuted. I can cook and only burn my food, rarely start a fire. It's just too easy. I can spam actions with a ton of lot and personality buffs and be at level 10 in no time.
Also kids being able to cook should build the cooking skill, not logic. Same for all the other new actions, it doesn't make sense.
We need more expansive relationship types. Aunt/uncle/cousin/and so on, and to able to choose these in CAS.
Id also love to see a challenge mode, where you start with nothing. No money, locked CAS items that are just too fancy for a homeless person to reasonably have, no designated lot, etc. We could have goals we'd have to meet before we could get a job and eventually buy a lot. Something along those lines. It's a very common "rags to riches" play style that should be implemented into the game I believe.
Current careers are easy. They do not offer any challenge. It is easy to get promotion and earn so much money you will never use during Sim's life. There are so many ways how could be careers remade.
1. Add new normal careers - current issue with BG careers is that we need more normal careers.
2. Edit salary - as said, our sims earn so much money. Salaries should be lower and depend on factors like work experience, university, activity in work, field, position. Salary also ties to finance system - if you edit salaries, you should edit everything related to money
3. Getting a job - new interesting aspect to the game could be job applications. Your sims would have to fill a job apply and wait for job interview in most cases. Careers would have either specific requirements and/or optional requirements - such as degree, skills, traits, reputation, experience... Job interview could have addition of chance cards - you could directly affect the result of your interview. You could also apply for a various positions in job.
4. Same but different job - it would be interesting to have multiple same jobs that offers something different. What does this mean? You could become a salesman in either bookstore, jewelry store or groceries - the difference could be salary, work hours, job benefits. The work hours could be also flexible in some cases.
5. Promotions and demotions - progress in careers should be much harder. You would have to do casual and special tasks, level up skills, gain experiences, work on relationships. You would also get more different chance cards, each having some interesting outcomes that could even lead to demotions and or getting fired.
6. Certificates and courses - some careers would be only possible after your sims goes through specific course and gets certificate - for example music therapist or masseur
7. Work experience - as mentioned before, you would be gaining a work experience during your career. It would be specific to each field. The more experience you have, the higher chance you have for promotions or to get financial bonus. Work experience together with some other factors would also allow your sim to get job on special positions - e.g. teacher could become educational consultant.
8. Complex careers - mentioned before, careers could be more complex. Again, if your sim is teacher, they could not only teach, but also be consultants and even couches at the same time. They would have more responsibilites and goals, but also new bonuses, opportunities and interactions. This would all depend on sims work experience and skills
9. More interactive careers - even rabbithole careers can be really interactive outside of the job - as a painter or writer, you could organize a charity night, or as chef, you would be invited to cooking competitions as judge.
10. More jobs - Your sims would be able to have more jobs at the same time. Maybe they work as salesman in bookstore from monday to friday and on the weekend they have job as librarian in library. Or your athlete works as personal trainer as well. Or doctor works in hospital but has own ambulance they manage
11. Retirement - the retirement system could be better. First, your entire career path should be somewhere saved in journal so you can see your sim's rich career. Money you get in retirement would depend on work experience and job positions.
Ways to spend more money（For example: buying luxury goods, debt）
Man-made and natural disasters
1.) If there was a way for us to control our sims movements by using our keyboard/controller instead of simply clicking on an area to go there but actually have your controls move the sims I believe the game would be a lot more immersive. The first person view is a cool feature that helps me feel even more like I am in the game but I believe being able to control the sims (example GTA V character control) will allow players to explore the worlds a lot more in depth and feel more involved. Currently you click on multiple things to put in the sims queue and then you watch them do it, this distances the player from feeling part of the task, makes it repetitive, and by adding this feature I believe this would improve gameplay and help the game not feel as repetitive and encourage players to explore more and feel part of the sims lives. I believe adding this feature would be a game changer. If this is something that you can’t in any way add to sims 4 because of it is all scripted I really hope the sims team considers this for future sims franchise games. The pandemic really opened up to how much people want to escape and feel part of another world, this would be incredible addition to gameplay.
2.) Declining skills over time if the sims do not use. If it is a skill that the sim would utilize at their job then maybe the skill would not decline. This would encourage players to practice the skill more or obtain jobs that match their skills.
3) Speaking of skills if different skills took longer to develop for different sims based on their traits, schooling and the grades they received in school and their job history that would make each sim feel more unique and add more challenge.
4.) Jobs should be harder to get. To make it more realistic and challenging having only certain jobs available each day your sim has to job hunt. Having an interview process where you get asked questions and based on what you select on the pop up question it will lower or raise your chance of getting the job. Having past jobs such as a life guard/barista can increase your chances of getting your next job you apply for because you have work history. Maybe part time jobs are always available while the careers are only available every so often. Traits could also lower or raise your chances of getting the job. There could be an interview for some that you have to appease the sim interviewing you. Potentially there could be an option on how competitive you want the job market to be.
5.) it would be great if your sims could get arrested or go to the hospital and interact with the detective/doctor career.
6.) Dine out - owning a restaurant if you could hire your other household members that would give more challenge on managing the restaurant. Adding features where you have to read the orders and cook for the sims, ordering groceries for the day to cover what you expect to serve based on menu etc, could add a lot more depth when owning a restaurant.
7.) Division of your lot. Having a feature to divide your lot to “separate” houses would allow different stories. For example you could still be limited to 8 sims on a lot but you could build separate living quarters and assign each sim to their respective house. This could allow multigenerational house holds on one land, retirement homes, apartment style story.
8.) Relationships I think need to be more challenging. Your sims should need to have romantic interactions to maintain their romantic level. Having the other sims ask to be significant other or to marry would make it more random and unexpected. Having an attraction system also could improve relationships. For example if your sim is attracted to red hair then when flirting with a sims with brown hair could make the romantic bar move up slower than if they flirted with someone with red hair etc. If your sims has the neat trait but the sim they are dating has slob trait it should be harder to get their romantic bar up.
9.) I think that your sims life choices should impact them when elderly. If your sim works out and eats healthy then when elderly they should live a little longer and be able to be more active without consequences, on the flip side if your sim does not workout and eats bad then when they get elderly they are more likely to get sore or die earlier.
10.) Chance cards, having more of them with more options of consequences would help with story progression. For example a chance card could be a house is up for auction do you want to move at a discount for x dollars. If you choose yes your sim moves, you have no idea what world or lot until you move and then it may have been a big discount or perhaps you paid too much. This is just a random example but having chance cards that creates more surprises and could change storyline and create more unique gameplay.
11.) adding the hiking trails in snowy escape was awesome, I hope to see it in other worlds in the future. This allows us to more easily interact in a group of sims.
Thanks for listening!
Thank you for listening to the community. I have been a Sims fanatic since 2004. I enjoy the sims 4 but there is certainly a level of depth, challenge and attachment that is missing in comparison to Sims 2.
Sorry my feedback is just bullet pointed and quite brief. I’ve had to rush this a bit due to time but I still wanted to chip in my two cents:
- Chance cards with actual consequences like in sims 2 - get fired, demoted, fined £20000. I actually get scared answering the chance cards in Sims 2 and that makes it so fun.
- More random deaths - electrocution, fixing things, attacked by llama
- Attraction system in game - to make finding the right romantic partner more interesting and challenging
- Hugely improved whims - basically the Wants and Fears system from sims 2 was pure perfection
- Memories (like in sims 2) to give our sims depth and make us feel attached to them
- Gender preferences… please!
- Natural disasters - to add risk e.g deaths, insurance payout, forced to move etc
- Building further upon likes and dislikes (an amazing recent addition by the way), with other things such as running, swimming, guitar
- Improved family tree so we can really see the extended family (see sims 2)
Again thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback. It is much appreciated.
Tom
1) It would be nice if you refreshed the freelancer careers and the work from home option by adding a few more, more diverse, less repetitive, and more challenging tasks
2) New freelancing careers that wouldn’t necessarily rely on skills solely from the base game: e.g., modeling, DJ-ing, creating a personal brand, etc..
3) This one is going to be hard to attain, but possible, as you proved recently with adding new skin and hair colors, and painting swatches; please, separate the bed frames’ wooden swatches from those of the beddings (same thing with chairs and sofas)
4) I am afraid this one is unattainable as it would probably require recoding the entire system of emotions and sentiments, but it would be nice if two sims could have different feelings about each other ( like in TS2), the enemies actually despised and avoided each other, and sims with opposite traits did not get along easily, e.g., active and lazy, slob and neat, family-oriented and hates children, etc.. At the moment, two sims can be best friends without knowing any traits of each other. Also, it would be nice if sims remembered likes and dislikes of their friends and relatives.
5) Personality system like in TS2. As an astrology fan, I would love the come back of the zediac signs that determine sims' levels of cleanliness, outgoingness, activeness, romanticness, mental stability, ambitiousness, empathy, rudeness, etc.. Do not resign from the whole traits system; perhaps, only from some particular traits that are already included in one's horoscope, but keep the extra ones that make our sims actually stand out, like: vegeterian, animal lover, loves art/music/reading/cooking, etc.. Add several general aspirations like: romance, family, knowledge, creativity, fame, professionnal success. Since aspirations are obligatory to begin a gameplay, please make it easier for us to choose. Do not delete the old ones; just add some general ones.
6) Music: singers, bands, new instruments, new music-related career, where a sim can become a rock-star, a rapper, a pop/s-pop singer, not only a classical musician
7) More hairstyles and clothes for men and children
8) I miss reading my sims' gossips and jokes. Please, bring them back.
9) Finally, would it possible for you to resign from the randomly-generated townies and stationing them in empty lots, and to instead create nice permanent NPCs with assigned functions like in the previous games or in cottage living? Also, we need burglars.
Thank you for listening to us!