Oh my God this looks so fun. We need more survey topics like this! Awesome post.
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
No. Although I just started building a magic and crystal shop for the first time.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
No. I never did this.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Yes. This is still pretty much the only park I go to lol. That's my favourite fishing, chess, BBQ and kids playground spot.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
No. I disable fame. Paparazzi stalk my gyms. I like the acting career though.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
Yes. I love this pack. I stopped playing it because I heard it caught a bug and you couldn't eat the fruit. But since it just got fixed I have been making over the townies today in my new save and will start playing it again ... like in 10 minutes.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
Yes and No. I love the science career and the rocket ship. I'm always playing those. Aliens are not something I play with much. Sometimes I have to when they invade the science lot.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Yes. I love both those careers.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
Yes. I love my vampires.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
No. I've never done this. I want to do this, but I keep forgetting.
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Yes. I sometimes send the Sim for a day or weekend. I like weekend camping trips and I like the jungle pack.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? (gameplay feature)
No. Huh? In the bushes? Never done that. Doesn't sound very romantic.
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids?
No. The what? What's a Critter? The Voidcritter video games? I give them the video game machine if I have two child Sims and they play it together.
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
No. That thing is ridiculously huge. It's the second most banned item from my lot after the Cupcake Factory.
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol)
No. What's a formal party? My Sims watch TV at home in their Pj's.
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
No and Yes. I disable NAPS. I love that off-the-grid lot trait though. I'm always using that.
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Yes. All my Sims knit. My game is like a giant knitting circle. Even my vampires knit.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Yes. I love the apartments. The bugs and rats don't bother me.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
Yes. All of them. I love all four of the festivals.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
No. My Sims rarely date unless I'm doing an aspiration. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a ... cradle.
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
No. I don't seem to get those invites.
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Yes. I love the mermaids. I made Disney's Ariel and I love her so much. She starts off all my new Saves.
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
Yes. You mean the cleanups and Conservation career? Yes I do those a lot.
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Yes. I love this pack. I haven't fully climbed the mountain yet though.
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
Yes. I love the Spellcasters. I've just levelled up my ghost detective with magic.
I’m a new-ish Simmer; I’ve been playing TS4 for several months, rather than for several years. I own all 11 expansion packs, seven game packs, 10 stuff packs, and four kits. I was able to take advantage of bundles and sales.
For that reason, most aspects of the game are also still new-ish to me.
I haven’t had a Sim run a business yet. I’ve had Sims practice medicine, and I’m planning to have a Sim become a veterinarian. While I haven’t had a Sim scientist, I’ve had run-ins with aliens, including an abduction that resulted in my male Sim getting pregnant.
I don’t have the vampire pack, and while I’ve never played a merperson Sim, I’ve had Sims become friends with them. In one save, my Sim was dating a mermaid.
Realm of Magic is a fairly new addition to my collection, so I’m definitely still exploring the possibilities of Spellcasting.
My Sims love interacting with pets. My real household does, too. My main characters usually adopt a dog, a cat, or both.
Most of my Sims visit Granite Falls, Mt. Komorebi, and Sulani for vacations. They’ll ski, snowboard, and climb at Mt. K fairly often. Two of my Sims called Mt. K their home. My current “main character” has grandparents who have retired to Sulani, so I experience island life fairly often. As I write this, my current Sim is hanging out at the park in Willow Creek, playing chess and grilling dinner for the gang. It's a remodeled park, but those kinds of lots are still essential to my Simming style.
San Myshuno remains one of my favorite worlds. My Sims often attend the festivals; student Sims do so less frequently because they're often studying or enjoying campus life. While I don’t often have my main characters live in apartments, I usually create supporting actors who do. San Myshuno is often an important setting for the stories my Sims and I create.
My single Sims almost always accept invitations for dates, and they often ask other Sims out. Married couples often go on dates together. Only one of my Sims chose the bushes for their first Woohoo, but I’ve had more established couples sneak into the bushes for intimate reasons. (Incidentally, my Sims have solved their issues with Bladder needs there, too…which makes them much less attractive trysting places.) Some Sims party all night in Windenburg, while others don’t; it depends on the character I’ve created. I do tend to create Sims who can sing well, and many pick up a guitar. That §500 prize for winning a karaoke contest can make life much easier for a Sim of modest means, and busking for tips is a decent side hustle.
I haven’t played many Child Sims, because many of my main characters are young singles or couples. They also tend to be less affluent, so they’re not throwing lavish parties. Right now, they’re more likely to be scratching out a living on a small farm in Henford-on-Bagley, considering an evening at the Gnome’s Arms to be a big night out. Some knit and cross stitch, if it seems like they would enjoy that activity. One of my Doctors found it very relaxing to knit after he finished a tough shift. He became a legendary Plopsy creator.
Get Famous and Eco Lifestyle are the packs I find myself using the least. I like and use a lot of Build/Buy items and CAS stuff from those packs, but I haven’t done much more with them. On the other hand, I can’t imagine playing without Seasons or Cats & Dogs. Those were also the first two packs I bought. City Living and Discover University are almost as essential to my usual playstyle.
This is basically questions for those who bought into all EPs, GPs, SPs, Kits, etc.
Are you still really playing the game in it's entirety?
For instance if you have all or almost everything for TS4 how has the game aged in your opinion? By that I mean, are you still playing 'Play Features' from all the previous packs? Break it down. Set aside CAS, Build/Buy Assets/Worlds are you still really playing older packs or do you barely play any of those anymore?
Examples:
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? (gameplay feature)
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
There are over forty packs I would be here all day, but you get the point. Are you still using on a daily routine all the packs' features and or have you long since or from time to time forgotten all the older packs and don't have time or interest in most of the older content anymore?
You don't have to answer the points but it would be interesting to see how well TS4's 'gameplay' is aging.
If it's missing, I never bothered with it. As for the survivors:
Still take sims to the park in Willow Creek
Strangerville scenario is rare, but still do it on occasion, just finished 2 runs in different stories
OR world, not frequently but still do
Bushes - traditional place for marriage consummations and in general quite popular with romance minded sims
water slide is in nearly every build so long as there's room, my sims love the thing
I don't bother with the apartments, but not because of the bugs, rats, etc. They are just not worth the expense.
If there's a festival, my sims are there. For their own reasons. Romance and spice are essential because of the harvestables
dates - depends on whether the sim is single and looking, recently had a sim marry the one they went on a blind date with
Raves? WB?
Mermaids - via the kelp, never have, but do have a CC pack that provides tails and proper movements so several sims at least have the look
Sulani - just a place to visit on occasion
Snowy Escape - it's in the installation that's been abandoned due to bugs & EA foul-ups that make the game too frustrating to play
magic - depends on mood/story plan, some sims do, some don't
university - too busy with the real thing to do it with sims, but some of them visit, attend lectures, and try things out
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
No, only tried it once, got frustrated and quit. It was hecka boring anyway.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
Heck no! Did it a couple of times and compared to pets in Sims3 that you can actually control and see their needs and all, pets in Sims4 are just annoying.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Have never bulldozed it. It's dull, but it's useful. I go there to socialize sometimes because it has a bathroom, some ways to get food (bbq), chess tables, playground equipment, and a place to fish, all in close proximity. Fishing elsewhere means you're far away from toilets, food, etc. usually.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
No, did it once and lost interest after. It doesn't have replay value.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again? I never played the scenario to its conclusion because I already know the secret, realize it's not going to have replay value, and just use Strangerville for ambiance and the music.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
I still love aliens! Love going to Sixam, wish it were bigger, wish aliens had more powers and more interactions unique to them. Love making hybrid families and everything else. Never put my aliens in human disguises. In fact I have made alien nightclubs before with alien dancers and staff and owners. It was great. I also love aliens in Sims3 especially being able to hijack a UFO and "kidnap" the alien driving it and befriend them, then marry them and start having hybrid alien kids.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective? Not in Sims4, they were soooo borrrrringggggg I couldn't even complete either one.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps? Yes, with loads of mods to make them interesting as vampires instead of just pale emo people with digestive disorders who like to go knock politely on doors at night, wait outside all night and leave, or if invited inside, watch TV or play computer games til 4, and then leave. Without mods they are pointless, but with mods they can be exciting and fun.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?Never have, and likely never will, after visiting the vet way too many times with the permanently ill pet my sims had. That got old fast and I no longer have pets in Sims 4 families.
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Not sure I understand the question. But I do still enjoy the vacation worlds from time to time. There are mods to make them livable and I like that idea the most.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? (gameplay feature)
Of course!
Are you still making kids play with the Critter thing?
Trading and battling Voidcritters/ Sim Pokemon? meh, only if I'm playing a family with a child in it and I want to dive deep into the child's life for some reason. But they play more with the doctor set, and other skill building things, or do scouting activities. I didn't have a Pokemon-filled childhood so I don't care that much about them.
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore? the waterslide? Yeah, I like it in summer.
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol)
I didn't buy it when it was new so have no idea what you mean.
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
I have liked shipping container builds (how ironic, if we had but known to buy shipping containers in real life before prices on them went astronimical) and I also get a kick out of living rustic sometimes. I really like the idea of living off grid in a tiny hunting cabin.
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Never did that, but have had Sims enjoy knitting casually a little. It's okay now and then, never got obsessed with it but it adds some nice things to the game once in a while.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Yea, I still love the apartments. It's a real part of my own life experience and I feel nostalgic for the apartment life, even though I have lived in crappy ones and it's not that quaint at the time.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL? On a whim, I do. Other times I don't feel like it or my sim is busy, so I don't. I do like the Spice festival as a way to get my Sim acquainted with the Bubble Blower with friends, and get used to eating hot spicy food.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim? That hasn't happened in so long I can't recall. If it won't wreck a good relationship they already have, I often will out of curiosity, but if I'm busy doing something more interesting with my Sim, I just say no.
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
Those are still happening? I sure do miss them. Loved them and then they got buggy, like I'd get an invite and arrive and it would be raining and there was no rave going on. Then the invites stopped too. Maybe they are back now?
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people? Never have, and maybe never will. I have never been less interested in a fictional life form, than mermaids, not only here but in stories elsewhere. They just bore me to death for some reason.
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
I've never yet done almost any of the things in the island pack aside from windsurfing (AWESOME) and living there off the grid, without the need for money because I was making solar and wind energy, collecting water, crafting and selling things, fishing for my food. I've never tried out the career opportunities there.
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Have never climbed yet. Do enjoy SE sometimes, for festivals, and have played sims who live there, too.
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
I have done that a few times and it was fun, but it's boring in gameplay after the initial training at the magic HQ. It feels like a rushed, incomplete pack that could have and should have been so much more.
I have all the expansion packs, all the game packs, all the stuff packs, but not all the kits.
I play with most all the features from the packs still, but not in one family. I play with generations of families and each generation normally concentrates on a few of the different main aspects of the packs, for example, I started my most recent save file having the founders of my generation be farmers, living on a farm with chickens, cows and a garden. Their kids moved to the big city and live in apartments, one becoming a celebrity. Their children will be something else, maybe a jungle adventurer, ect. Most of my households have pets, and sometimes the kids do have a hamster or rat. I don't just play per pack, I incorporate the gameplay within my saves, using what seems to fit with whatever Sim I am playing at the moment. I do use vacations with all my households, and since we can make any world a vacation world now I use the worlds from Island Living and Snowy Escape for vacations and honeymoons almost explicitly. The activities there are used as vacation activities. As for occults, I hardly ever use mermaids or aliens, but vampires and spell casters are plentiful in my game.
I appreciate everyone's answers. Thank you for taking the time to tell all of us (the community and others) what you still play and or don't play anymore as TS4 gets new packs and ages. And more importantly why.
I know there are several who still play just about every thing in all the packs (looking at you simgirl), but many in this thread don't play a lot of the main features of a pack anymore if anyone spends some time reading everyone's entire answers.
I couldn't ask all the questions like the obvious such as Do you still incorporate clubs into new packs with new activites? Which of course was a main selling feature of GT. The list would be way too long for me to ask every pack's main features since there are more than 40 and all the stuff packs had gameplay objects.
The aging of TS4 seems to be that things like 'clubs' don't actually get each and every thing added to that system (just as an example of TS4's aging) with each new pack though at one time they did say they would add any new gameplay of other packs to that system. I have read that many things in newer packs aren't possible in the club's system on here.
That would help with aging if Maxis would do that more often than they have been doing over the past few years. And or add new whims for each and every pack and or aspiration and or interaction etc. Though some never played whims and glad they are hidden, new whims would help TS4's main gameplay features such as 'whims' remain fresh and more interesting diminishing how that feature has aged into oblivion.
It's interesting to see many don't play with many of the main features anymore but wait for a new experience and though many say they 'don't play packs' it seems many do because they aren't playing the main features of the older packs. I felt the university pack and Cottage Living were too new to list in this survey since they probably were the last biggest updates in packs and why I didn't mention them.
At some point I feel TS4 will have too much content (packs) for someone to actually enjoy every thing in every pack and though Maxis believes all this would keep a game 'fresh' and 'new' it's more like code upon code and people not really enjoying what they already have. And or no room or time to refresh the main features of the older packs and add new experiences to those features. Such as the club system may get some updates from other packs but not as much as was promised and or expected.
As others in this thread stated they can't find or don't have the time to actually play all that TS4 sold to them, so, all that really does matter when it comes to thinking about what ages well in this game and what didn't if it's jump from one pack to another. Yes, we all love new content, new packs and new experiences but if a player can't even get to a feature or it's so old news (years later) that their excitement is met with 'oh, that' 'yeah I played that years ago, ho hum' then it doesn't bode well for the aging of TS4 when main features are just swept to the side to be replaced with a new shiny but a new player sitting there thinking but I just got GTW etc. tell me about the pack! and are met with things like
I don't play that pack anymore...lol....I'm waiting on the new shiny.
Thank you everyone. I hope Maxis will revisit older packs and enhance some of the main features of all those packs but not change their core features only add more to those features that would greatly help the aging of TS4 as it goes on it's ninth year.
Here's a crazy idea instead of building more new packs why not add to features such as you know the Cottage Living pack would have been a great way to incorporate selling farm animals (your own business) to others who might have needed a cow or chicken. That way owning a business could also include a farm business (not just crops) and or updating old features like the Doctor career to be able to work from their own home office and go out and treat patients out in the community (like TS3) instead of having to wait on a house call while at the hospital which was/is one of it's features.
Like why not update GTW and it's hands on careers with 'at home' experiences like opening a home office for the detective where clients (TS3) show up to ask you to solve a problem. Make that a lot trait for that pack . Hang a shingle outside the door.
I know many people here have many great ideas that's just a few of mine of how to freshen up old features in older packs.
And I know other people have even better ideas of how to improve the redundancy of TS4 because let's face it, it's eight years old and some older features could use updates. Maybe people would go back and buy older packs if they don't already have them.
Or here's another idea for Maxis, why not create special patches (for pay) to add special features to older packs? It could be something like $5 (same as those kits, uh) to add new features to what people already have and help them go back and enjoy the older packs more since they have probably done those things fifty thousand times by now and they need refreshed. That would (I think) add to the gameplay and make some nice change (money) for Maxis. Sell new features for older packs....innovative. Don't want the 'new patch' for pay..no problem.
Such as Cafes how many actually use one on a daily basis in their Sim's life now? Especially since there was DO and other newer kiosks of foods? I would guess not many. Update cafes to be able to run your own with just those foods and have to hire employees and or run one from your own backyard etc. Or do something with it to freshen it up to be used again as often as it was before we all got DO.
An actual grocery store (though many of us found a great way to get around not having one in the game by making our Sims grow all the veggies and putting them in a community grocery store) with the actual bins and stuff updates should add to the game not just CAS assets, I think. A patch for money to update all those features would add new excitement to this game though I think many would call it microtransactions. lol
A patch for 'pet shows' TS1 style..or ok..a kit to add to the pet pack...new ways to make old content relevant again.
Post edited by Cinebar on
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
My main takeaway from this thread is that I'm thrilled we have an extensive selection of activities and features to choose from. No one is able to 'play' every feature every day. Doesn't mean they're no longer interested in those features.
At some point I feel TS4 will have too much content (packs) for someone to actually enjoy every thing in every pack and though Maxis believes all this would keep a game 'fresh' and 'new' it's more like code upon code and people not really enjoying what they already have. And or no room or time to refresh the main features of the older packs and add new experiences to those features. Such as the club system may get some updates from other packs but not as much as was promised and or expected.
I personally think the game has aged particularly well as compared to it's predecessors, especially visually, due to the stylized art style, but also the gameplay. I'm a lot like Simgirl1010 in that regard, in that I do just still use the majority of the gameplay features from all the packs on and off.
But that said, I agree with this bit quoted above 110%. They have done far too little to fully mesh the packs. They haven't taken enough steps to not just add content, but integrate them with each other. Your example of club activities is a really good one. So much new stuff has been added in new packs without them making club activities for those things.
The same goes for Holidays and not making traditions that make sense from new game elements. And so many missed opportunities for adding aspirations that utilize elements of multiple game/expansion packs with elements that just would go well together for an aspiration.
I could go on and on and on listing all of the missed opportunities for better pack integration and combination.
I have mods, lots and lots of mods, that do a lot of those things, but I shouldn't need to use mods for them.
At some point I feel TS4 will have too much content (packs) for someone to actually enjoy every thing in every pack and though Maxis believes all this would keep a game 'fresh' and 'new' it's more like code upon code and people not really enjoying what they already have. And or no room or time to refresh the main features of the older packs and add new experiences to those features. Such as the club system may get some updates from other packs but not as much as was promised and or expected.
I personally think the game has aged particularly well as compared to it's predecessors, especially visually, due to the stylized art style, but also the gameplay. I'm a lot like Simgirl1010 in that regard, in that I do just still use the majority of the gameplay features from all the packs on and off.
But that said, I agree with this bit quoted above 110%. They have done far too little to fully mesh the packs. They haven't taken enough steps to not just add content, but integrate them with each other. Your example of club activities is a really good one. So much new stuff has been added in new packs without them making club activities for those things.
The same goes for Holidays and not making traditions that make sense from new game elements. And so many missed opportunities for adding aspirations that utilize elements of multiple game/expansion packs with elements that just would go well together for an aspiration.
I could go on and on and on listing all of the missed opportunities for better pack integration and combination.
I have mods, lots and lots of mods, that do a lot of those things, but I shouldn't need to use mods for them.
It's really sad to me that TS4 requires so many mods by the player base who may have forgotten just how simpleton TS4 really is in the vanilla game. It also saddens me that when I played TS1 I never used any mods, at all, ever. I knew nothing about them and or cheats until many years later. lol (No internet or off and on back then). I didn't use any mods in TS2 for the first three years at all. I may have used the available cheats and enhancements in the game for particular things like hybrids and or turning toddlers into vampires, lol etc. however I was very happy with gameplay in a vanilla game. I rarely used any script mods in TS3 not even the major ones, and I liked that game, too, for the obvious reasons.
However, the more people who play TS4 are probably using mods to 'enhance' and fix what Maxis doesn't care about which is deeper gameplay they seem to miss all the time or at least some opportunities as you say.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
It's really sad to me that TS4 requires so many mods by the player base who may have forgotten just how simpleton TS4 really is in the vanilla game. It also saddens me that when I played TS1 I never used any mods, at all, ever. I knew nothing about them and or cheats until many years later. lol (No internet or off and on back then). I didn't use any mods in TS2 for the first three years at all. I may have used the available cheats and enhancements in the game for particular things like hybrids and or turning toddlers into vampires, lol etc. however I was very happy with gameplay in a vanilla game. I rarely used any script mods in TS3 not even the major ones, and I liked that game, too, for the obvious reasons.
However, the more people who play TS4 are probably using mods to 'enhance' and fix what Maxis doesn't care about which is deeper gameplay they seem to miss all the time or at least some opportunities as you say.
I can honestly say that 99% of my mods for TS4 are for exactly that. Mods that tone down obsessive behavior, mods that make sims do what they're supposed to do (like actually sitting down at the table when eating, washing dishes in the kitchen sink, etc), mods that actually add personality and traits that actually work, and so on.
For TS3, I only use the major mods (Master Controller, Overwatch, and Error Trap) .... that's it, no other mods at all, and those are just to improve game performance and I do have the "fixed" worlds installed to fix the lag.
For TS2, I have absolutely no mods, just CC. Well I take that back, unless there's a mod that gets rid of the black square shadow under the feet (Can't remember if that was fixed with a mod or a setting).
But for TS4 ...... there is absolutely no way I could personally play without mods. No way!
This is basically questions for those who bought into all EPs, GPs, SPs, Kits, etc.
Are you still really playing the game in it's entirety?
For instance if you have all or almost everything for TS4 how has the game aged in your opinion? By that I mean, are you still playing 'Play Features' from all the previous packs? Break it down. Set aside CAS, Build/Buy Assets/Worlds are you still really playing older packs or do you barely play any of those anymore?
Examples:
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? (gameplay feature)
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids?
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol)
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
There are over forty packs I would be here all day, but you get the point. Are you still using on a daily routine all the packs' features and or have you long since or from time to time forgotten all the older packs and don't have time or interest in most of the older content anymore?
You don't have to answer the points but it would be interesting to see how well TS4's 'gameplay' is aging.
It depends on the game I'm playing at the time. Some saves yes. Some saves no.
Playtesting - not just tabletop games and card games any more. Really that should have been playtested in Beta and not [img]just with accounting and marketing but actual players. https://i.imgur.com/t48COW6.jpg[/img]
I would say I know better how to use the "old" packs than the new packs.
Since EP05 Seasons I have tested the new gameplay but haven't included it in my current game yet.
I'm still looking for a smart way to use these features together with the old ones.
I will give short answer. Yes I still play with most features that comes with all addons in themed saves. I have one rotational save where I play with all the neighborhoods and multiple families by rotating between them. My current Legacy heir is a Vet, so yes to that too. Maybe 50 percent of my households have some kind of pets. And I actually love the fact that I havent tried or played with everytying yet, because there is still something left to explore and do in the game. My sims also have restaurants and businesses so yeah those are very good addons for me. I suppose it totally depens on the household theme what I do.
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
No, I don't do it very often. I would do it more if there was an aspiration tied to it. I'm planning to do it in this save but haven't decided on the type of store.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
It depends on the save.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Yes, frequently.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
Now and then, yes.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
I rarely do this.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
I did it recently but I rarely play with aliens, so I tend to avoid the science career unless I'm playing with an appropriate theme.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Now and then, yes.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
Occasionally.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
Rarely
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
I do this now and then but usually I replace some of the vacation homes with communal lots so there's somewhere to go when it rains. I usually add a pub and a spa.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? (gameplay feature)
All the time!
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Frequently.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Rarely, because I'm not keen on that world. I like lot traits but usually go for the positive ones.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
Rarely.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
It depends on the sim
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Occasionally
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
I occasionally send sims to live there but mostly they just visit in the summer
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
Frequently. I love spellcasters.
__________
In my current save the plan is to play an expanded dynasty and go through each of the aspirations, which will force me to change my play style a little because I rarely do some of the aspirations. I also want to have another crack at running businesses and a veterinary practice, but it depends on whether that fits with the aspirations.
I'll drift in and out of features. I'd say the only mainstays are witches and restaurants, I play with them almost all the time.
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
No, retail is a total mess.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
Nope. Honestly, I use farm animals more than the pets because they're less obtrusive and needy.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
I never bother with Willow Creek at all, outside of using it for community lots. But I often use the park in Oasis Springs for collecting and frog-catching.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
Nope. My sims are usually blue collar or part of regular families. I use the fame system a lot though, for once-in-a-generation artists and writers, magical royalty, etc.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
Maybe like once a save file.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career?
Yes. I carry a family from my original save file, over to all future save files. It consists of a husband and wife who are scientists, their daughter, and their lab experiments.
Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
I almost never play or make aliens. Since I don't let my sims marry or interact with townies, I rarely deal with them. I never visit Sixam because there's nothing to do there.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Once in a while, but usually no.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
I play and make my own vampires. They're the most fun occult, though I don't play them too often because my game leans heavily towards witch families.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
Sometimes.
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Nah, that place is abandoned.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? (gameplay feature)
Only after they fertilized them, so they're miserable.
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids?
Many of my kids will play and collect Voidcritter cards and merch. I don't use the Battle Station all that much though; since the whole system is based on type advantages, training your Voidcritters is completely pointless. Since you have to choose what card your opponent uses, there's no suspense because you'll know exactly who will win.
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
No, but only because I forgot it exists. I'll probably use it now that you reminded me about it.
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
Sometimes I'll play sims that live Off the Grid, while my regular homes will always try and upgrade their tech to help lower bills. I don't touch the environment system. I don't touch NAPS at all, aside from using cheats to activate the Free Love NAP in Windenberg, for my WooHoo cult.
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Yes.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
I only use like 2 or 3 different apartments in CL, since I prefer open space. But I'll use them for sims that have just moved away from home and need a cheap place to live.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
I'll visit the Spice and Romance Festivals of City Living. The Flea Market is a rarity for me. I don't bother with any other festivals because they're boring.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
Never.
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
Never.
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Yes. My main family is actually a mixed mermaid/witch home.
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
I'll have families live to the island and play in the water, but I don't clean the island.
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Love skiing and snowing, never bothered with mountain-climbing.
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
Every generation.
As for spas, I'll use them occasionally. I'll also occasionally visit Selvadorada and explore the ruins. I almost never use University because it's too long and pointless. I don't bother with the Parenthood traits because they never do anything. Laundry is always glitched, so I abandoned it. And I'll have dedicated families take on the Paranormal pack's career. And I'll play clubs, but mostly to get Sims to meet each other. Sometimes I'll play with holidays, but they're usually an annoyance.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
I do have all the expansion packs, game packs, and stuff packs, but not all the kits. A year or so ago, I switched from playing on normal age span to playing on long, mainly so that my Sims would have time to enjoy some activities more. My children now have to win 5 times at chess, voidcritters, or don't wake the llama before they can age up; my teens have to win at 5 of the bar games, or basketball, or bowling. Teens also have a 3-day vacation (camping trip, school trip, etc.), and my newlyweds were going on honeymoons as soon as we got the ability to put rental homes in any world. One couple with the geek trait went to Batuu.
I think of the activities provided by EA as either basic or a side game. To give an example from Dine Out, owning a restaurant is a side game for me, but having restaurants that my Sims can go to on a date is basic.
To make this brief, any pack that provides a world or a career is basic. Seasons didn't provide either, but it's basic because of the weather, and also because of the holidays. Parenthood is basic because of parental interactions, phases, and character traits. Dine Out is basic because of the restaurants and Spa Day because of yoga. Jungle Adventure provides the best side game.
I still use the big parks that came with the base game. The Toddler play building goes in Magnolia Blossom Park, and the water slide goes in Oasis Springs. Sometimes I put the Wishing Well in the ruins in Windenburg.
Among stuff packs, Toddler Stuff, Knitting (for Plopsy), Laundry Day, and Movie Hangout are basic.
I do agree, though, that I could do with a rest from Expansion Packs and Game Packs, and new content generally. My game feels complete, with plenty for my Sims to do.
I have not played TS4 since Discover University. The gameplay and replayability are just not there for me like they were in previous games. And I do not feel I should have to use mods just to enjoy the gameplay. I barely touched Sims 3.
I can and do play TS2 for hours (I played for 13 hours on Saturday alone). I only use one item of CC and that's the College Adjuster to adjust final exam times from being in the middle of the night. Other than that, I play vanilla and have since I got the game EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO (Sept 2004...I now have the UC on Origin).
Love this and went with the original questions as a template! some packs I still use all the time, but some? total duds to me now, it really depends!
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves? -no, I don't like the business system in TS4 that much personally
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet? -No, pets are rare in my saves
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago? -not super often, but yes
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.? -every so often I try another run at the acting career and typically enjoy it! though the last time was a let-down since my sim died of old age before reaching her fame aspiration, which was her first and only aspiration (which I have completed before, so not being able to do it was a shock, and it was on normal lifespan and everything)
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again? -only rarely, I recently ran the strangerville mystery for the second time and enjoyed it!
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news? -I ADORE the science career and play it often, I often have sims needing the rocket ship since I enjoy the Nerd Brain aspiration, I rarely play with aliens but if a sim conceives one I keep it in the family and play with them!
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective? -detective yes, doctor no, simply because I didn't find the doctor career very fun even when it was new
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps? -on occasion I will run a vampire save for fun but not super often
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office? -I've never done this despite having cats and dogs, I've been thinking about making a save for it though!
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims? -rarely
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? :p (gameplay feature) -if I have sims that are woohooing in general, there's a very high likelihood they have or soon will woohoo in a bush
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids? -not recently but I've been wanting to use one again
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore? -I rarely ever played with them in TS4 tbh
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol) -I don't think I ever had the special parties I think you're referring to, despite having the pack (I think it's Luxury party? I have almost all packs and the ones I'm missing are all pretty recent)
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid? -NAPs yes, Eco Living no, I don't like the world, and my sims rarely live off the grid unless I want a challenge
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off? -extremely rarely, I barely used knitting even when it first came out despite getting the pack
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old? -they were old for awhile but recently I started a couple saves with sims in CL apartments!
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL? -some but definitely not most, I pretty much always do Humor and Hi jinks though!
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim? -it's 50/50 based on whether or not I'm super invested in their current activity, or if they have an important need to fix (hygiene or sleep being the biggest ones that make me say no to dates)
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB? -I hardly ever did even though WB is my all-time favorite world, most of my saves start there and I have a legacy challenge save there!
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people? -rarely, but I want to try it again
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way? -I stopped for awhile but recently have thought about doing another beach aspiration run, possibly with a mermaid conservationist
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb? -rarely, though it's another thing I want to try again!
Are you still making Sims learn magic? -not often but I just ran a magic user save that I've almost "completed" (by my own standards anyway)
Comments
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
No. Although I just started building a magic and crystal shop for the first time.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
No. I never did this.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Yes. This is still pretty much the only park I go to lol. That's my favourite fishing, chess, BBQ and kids playground spot.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
No. I disable fame. Paparazzi stalk my gyms. I like the acting career though.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
Yes. I love this pack. I stopped playing it because I heard it caught a bug and you couldn't eat the fruit. But since it just got fixed I have been making over the townies today in my new save and will start playing it again ... like in 10 minutes.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
Yes and No. I love the science career and the rocket ship. I'm always playing those. Aliens are not something I play with much. Sometimes I have to when they invade the science lot.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Yes. I love both those careers.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
Yes. I love my vampires.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
No. I've never done this. I want to do this, but I keep forgetting.
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Yes. I sometimes send the Sim for a day or weekend. I like weekend camping trips and I like the jungle pack.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes?
No. Huh? In the bushes? Never done that. Doesn't sound very romantic.
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids?
No. The what? What's a Critter? The Voidcritter video games? I give them the video game machine if I have two child Sims and they play it together.
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
No. That thing is ridiculously huge. It's the second most banned item from my lot after the Cupcake Factory.
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol)
No. What's a formal party? My Sims watch TV at home in their Pj's.
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
No and Yes. I disable NAPS. I love that off-the-grid lot trait though. I'm always using that.
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Yes. All my Sims knit. My game is like a giant knitting circle. Even my vampires knit.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Yes. I love the apartments. The bugs and rats don't bother me.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
Yes. All of them. I love all four of the festivals.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
No. My Sims rarely date unless I'm doing an aspiration. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a ... cradle.
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
No. I don't seem to get those invites.
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Yes. I love the mermaids. I made Disney's Ariel and I love her so much. She starts off all my new Saves.
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
Yes. You mean the cleanups and Conservation career? Yes I do those a lot.
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Yes. I love this pack. I haven't fully climbed the mountain yet though.
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
Yes. I love the Spellcasters. I've just levelled up my ghost detective with magic.
More please.
For that reason, most aspects of the game are also still new-ish to me.
I haven’t had a Sim run a business yet. I’ve had Sims practice medicine, and I’m planning to have a Sim become a veterinarian. While I haven’t had a Sim scientist, I’ve had run-ins with aliens, including an abduction that resulted in my male Sim getting pregnant.
I don’t have the vampire pack, and while I’ve never played a merperson Sim, I’ve had Sims become friends with them. In one save, my Sim was dating a mermaid.
Realm of Magic is a fairly new addition to my collection, so I’m definitely still exploring the possibilities of Spellcasting.
My Sims love interacting with pets. My real household does, too. My main characters usually adopt a dog, a cat, or both.
Most of my Sims visit Granite Falls, Mt. Komorebi, and Sulani for vacations. They’ll ski, snowboard, and climb at Mt. K fairly often. Two of my Sims called Mt. K their home. My current “main character” has grandparents who have retired to Sulani, so I experience island life fairly often. As I write this, my current Sim is hanging out at the park in Willow Creek, playing chess and grilling dinner for the gang. It's a remodeled park, but those kinds of lots are still essential to my Simming style.
San Myshuno remains one of my favorite worlds. My Sims often attend the festivals; student Sims do so less frequently because they're often studying or enjoying campus life. While I don’t often have my main characters live in apartments, I usually create supporting actors who do. San Myshuno is often an important setting for the stories my Sims and I create.
My single Sims almost always accept invitations for dates, and they often ask other Sims out. Married couples often go on dates together. Only one of my Sims chose the bushes for their first Woohoo, but I’ve had more established couples sneak into the bushes for intimate reasons. (Incidentally, my Sims have solved their issues with Bladder needs there, too…which makes them much less attractive trysting places.) Some Sims party all night in Windenburg, while others don’t; it depends on the character I’ve created. I do tend to create Sims who can sing well, and many pick up a guitar. That §500 prize for winning a karaoke contest can make life much easier for a Sim of modest means, and busking for tips is a decent side hustle.
I haven’t played many Child Sims, because many of my main characters are young singles or couples. They also tend to be less affluent, so they’re not throwing lavish parties. Right now, they’re more likely to be scratching out a living on a small farm in Henford-on-Bagley, considering an evening at the Gnome’s Arms to be a big night out. Some knit and cross stitch, if it seems like they would enjoy that activity. One of my Doctors found it very relaxing to knit after he finished a tough shift. He became a legendary Plopsy creator.
Get Famous and Eco Lifestyle are the packs I find myself using the least. I like and use a lot of Build/Buy items and CAS stuff from those packs, but I haven’t done much more with them. On the other hand, I can’t imagine playing without Seasons or Cats & Dogs. Those were also the first two packs I bought. City Living and Discover University are almost as essential to my usual playstyle.
This was a fun set of questions to answer.
Exie hay, cavero, mabza meeah vendarzo.
Yevsas mairzeemo!
If it's missing, I never bothered with it. As for the survivors:
Still take sims to the park in Willow Creek
Strangerville scenario is rare, but still do it on occasion, just finished 2 runs in different stories
OR world, not frequently but still do
Bushes - traditional place for marriage consummations and in general quite popular with romance minded sims
water slide is in nearly every build so long as there's room, my sims love the thing
I don't bother with the apartments, but not because of the bugs, rats, etc. They are just not worth the expense.
If there's a festival, my sims are there. For their own reasons. Romance and spice are essential because of the harvestables
dates - depends on whether the sim is single and looking, recently had a sim marry the one they went on a blind date with
Raves? WB?
Mermaids - via the kelp, never have, but do have a CC pack that provides tails and proper movements so several sims at least have the look
Sulani - just a place to visit on occasion
Snowy Escape - it's in the installation that's been abandoned due to bugs & EA foul-ups that make the game too frustrating to play
magic - depends on mood/story plan, some sims do, some don't
university - too busy with the real thing to do it with sims, but some of them visit, attend lectures, and try things out
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
No, only tried it once, got frustrated and quit. It was hecka boring anyway.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
Heck no! Did it a couple of times and compared to pets in Sims3 that you can actually control and see their needs and all, pets in Sims4 are just annoying.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Have never bulldozed it. It's dull, but it's useful. I go there to socialize sometimes because it has a bathroom, some ways to get food (bbq), chess tables, playground equipment, and a place to fish, all in close proximity. Fishing elsewhere means you're far away from toilets, food, etc. usually.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
No, did it once and lost interest after. It doesn't have replay value.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again? I never played the scenario to its conclusion because I already know the secret, realize it's not going to have replay value, and just use Strangerville for ambiance and the music.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
I still love aliens! Love going to Sixam, wish it were bigger, wish aliens had more powers and more interactions unique to them. Love making hybrid families and everything else. Never put my aliens in human disguises. In fact I have made alien nightclubs before with alien dancers and staff and owners. It was great. I also love aliens in Sims3 especially being able to hijack a UFO and "kidnap" the alien driving it and befriend them, then marry them and start having hybrid alien kids.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective? Not in Sims4, they were soooo borrrrringggggg I couldn't even complete either one.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps? Yes, with loads of mods to make them interesting as vampires instead of just pale emo people with digestive disorders who like to go knock politely on doors at night, wait outside all night and leave, or if invited inside, watch TV or play computer games til 4, and then leave. Without mods they are pointless, but with mods they can be exciting and fun.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?Never have, and likely never will, after visiting the vet way too many times with the permanently ill pet my sims had. That got old fast and I no longer have pets in Sims 4 families.
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Not sure I understand the question. But I do still enjoy the vacation worlds from time to time. There are mods to make them livable and I like that idea the most.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes?
Of course!
Are you still making kids play with the Critter thing?
Trading and battling Voidcritters/ Sim Pokemon? meh, only if I'm playing a family with a child in it and I want to dive deep into the child's life for some reason. But they play more with the doctor set, and other skill building things, or do scouting activities. I didn't have a Pokemon-filled childhood so I don't care that much about them.
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore? the waterslide? Yeah, I like it in summer.
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol)
I didn't buy it when it was new so have no idea what you mean.
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
I have liked shipping container builds (how ironic, if we had but known to buy shipping containers in real life before prices on them went astronimical) and I also get a kick out of living rustic sometimes. I really like the idea of living off grid in a tiny hunting cabin.
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Never did that, but have had Sims enjoy knitting casually a little. It's okay now and then, never got obsessed with it but it adds some nice things to the game once in a while.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Yea, I still love the apartments. It's a real part of my own life experience and I feel nostalgic for the apartment life, even though I have lived in crappy ones and it's not that quaint at the time.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL? On a whim, I do. Other times I don't feel like it or my sim is busy, so I don't. I do like the Spice festival as a way to get my Sim acquainted with the Bubble Blower with friends, and get used to eating hot spicy food.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim? That hasn't happened in so long I can't recall. If it won't wreck a good relationship they already have, I often will out of curiosity, but if I'm busy doing something more interesting with my Sim, I just say no.
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
Those are still happening? I sure do miss them. Loved them and then they got buggy, like I'd get an invite and arrive and it would be raining and there was no rave going on. Then the invites stopped too. Maybe they are back now?
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people? Never have, and maybe never will. I have never been less interested in a fictional life form, than mermaids, not only here but in stories elsewhere. They just bore me to death for some reason.
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
I've never yet done almost any of the things in the island pack aside from windsurfing (AWESOME) and living there off the grid, without the need for money because I was making solar and wind energy, collecting water, crafting and selling things, fishing for my food. I've never tried out the career opportunities there.
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Have never climbed yet. Do enjoy SE sometimes, for festivals, and have played sims who live there, too.
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
I have done that a few times and it was fun, but it's boring in gameplay after the initial training at the magic HQ. It feels like a rushed, incomplete pack that could have and should have been so much more.
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I play with most all the features from the packs still, but not in one family. I play with generations of families and each generation normally concentrates on a few of the different main aspects of the packs, for example, I started my most recent save file having the founders of my generation be farmers, living on a farm with chickens, cows and a garden. Their kids moved to the big city and live in apartments, one becoming a celebrity. Their children will be something else, maybe a jungle adventurer, ect. Most of my households have pets, and sometimes the kids do have a hamster or rat. I don't just play per pack, I incorporate the gameplay within my saves, using what seems to fit with whatever Sim I am playing at the moment. I do use vacations with all my households, and since we can make any world a vacation world now I use the worlds from Island Living and Snowy Escape for vacations and honeymoons almost explicitly. The activities there are used as vacation activities. As for occults, I hardly ever use mermaids or aliens, but vampires and spell casters are plentiful in my game.
I know there are several who still play just about every thing in all the packs (looking at you simgirl),
I couldn't ask all the questions like the obvious such as Do you still incorporate clubs into new packs with new activites? Which of course was a main selling feature of GT. The list would be way too long for me to ask every pack's main features since there are more than 40 and all the stuff packs had gameplay objects.
The aging of TS4 seems to be that things like 'clubs' don't actually get each and every thing added to that system (just as an example of TS4's aging) with each new pack though at one time they did say they would add any new gameplay of other packs to that system. I have read that many things in newer packs aren't possible in the club's system on here.
That would help with aging if Maxis would do that more often than they have been doing over the past few years. And or add new whims for each and every pack and or aspiration and or interaction etc. Though some never played whims and glad they are hidden, new whims would help TS4's main gameplay features such as 'whims' remain fresh and more interesting diminishing how that feature has aged into oblivion.
It's interesting to see many don't play with many of the main features anymore but wait for a new experience and though many say they 'don't play packs' it seems many do because they aren't playing the main features of the older packs. I felt the university pack and Cottage Living were too new to list in this survey since they probably were the last biggest updates in packs and why I didn't mention them.
At some point I feel TS4 will have too much content (packs) for someone to actually enjoy every thing in every pack and though Maxis believes all this would keep a game 'fresh' and 'new' it's more like code upon code and people not really enjoying what they already have. And or no room or time to refresh the main features of the older packs and add new experiences to those features. Such as the club system may get some updates from other packs but not as much as was promised and or expected.
As others in this thread stated they can't find or don't have the time to actually play all that TS4 sold to them, so, all that really does matter when it comes to thinking about what ages well in this game and what didn't if it's jump from one pack to another. Yes, we all love new content, new packs and new experiences but if a player can't even get to a feature or it's so old news (years later) that their excitement is met with 'oh, that' 'yeah I played that years ago, ho hum' then it doesn't bode well for the aging of TS4 when main features are just swept to the side to be replaced with a new shiny but a new player sitting there thinking but I just got GTW etc. tell me about the pack! and are met with things like
I don't play that pack anymore...lol....I'm waiting on the new shiny.
Thank you everyone. I hope Maxis will revisit older packs and enhance some of the main features of all those packs but not change their core features only add more to those features that would greatly help the aging of TS4 as it goes on it's ninth year.
Here's a crazy idea instead of building more new packs why not add to features such as you know the Cottage Living pack would have been a great way to incorporate selling farm animals (your own business) to others who might have needed a cow or chicken. That way owning a business could also include a farm business (not just crops) and or updating old features like the Doctor career to be able to work from their own home office and go out and treat patients out in the community (like TS3) instead of having to wait on a house call while at the hospital which was/is one of it's features.
Like why not update GTW and it's hands on careers with 'at home' experiences like opening a home office for the detective where clients (TS3) show up to ask you to solve a problem. Make that a lot trait for that pack . Hang a shingle outside the door.
I know many people here have many great ideas that's just a few of mine of how to freshen up old features in older packs.
And I know other people have even better ideas of how to improve the redundancy of TS4 because let's face it, it's eight years old and some older features could use updates. Maybe people would go back and buy older packs if they don't already have them.
Or here's another idea for Maxis, why not create special patches (for pay) to add special features to older packs? It could be something like $5 (same as those kits, uh) to add new features to what people already have and help them go back and enjoy the older packs more since they have probably done those things fifty thousand times by now and they need refreshed. That would (I think) add to the gameplay and make some nice change (money) for Maxis. Sell new features for older packs....innovative. Don't want the 'new patch' for pay..no problem.
Such as Cafes how many actually use one on a daily basis in their Sim's life now? Especially since there was DO and other newer kiosks of foods? I would guess not many. Update cafes to be able to run your own with just those foods and have to hire employees and or run one from your own backyard etc. Or do something with it to freshen it up to be used again as often as it was before we all got DO.
An actual grocery store (though many of us found a great way to get around not having one in the game by making our Sims grow all the veggies and putting them in a community grocery store) with the actual bins and stuff updates should add to the game not just CAS assets, I think. A patch for money to update all those features would add new excitement to this game though I think many would call it microtransactions. lol
A patch for 'pet shows' TS1 style..or ok..a kit to add to the pet pack...new ways to make old content relevant again.
I personally think the game has aged particularly well as compared to it's predecessors, especially visually, due to the stylized art style, but also the gameplay. I'm a lot like Simgirl1010 in that regard, in that I do just still use the majority of the gameplay features from all the packs on and off.
But that said, I agree with this bit quoted above 110%. They have done far too little to fully mesh the packs. They haven't taken enough steps to not just add content, but integrate them with each other. Your example of club activities is a really good one. So much new stuff has been added in new packs without them making club activities for those things.
The same goes for Holidays and not making traditions that make sense from new game elements. And so many missed opportunities for adding aspirations that utilize elements of multiple game/expansion packs with elements that just would go well together for an aspiration.
I could go on and on and on listing all of the missed opportunities for better pack integration and combination.
I have mods, lots and lots of mods, that do a lot of those things, but I shouldn't need to use mods for them.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
It's really sad to me that TS4 requires so many mods by the player base who may have forgotten just how simpleton TS4 really is in the vanilla game. It also saddens me that when I played TS1 I never used any mods, at all, ever. I knew nothing about them and or cheats until many years later. lol (No internet or off and on back then). I didn't use any mods in TS2 for the first three years at all. I may have used the available cheats and enhancements in the game for particular things like hybrids and or turning toddlers into vampires, lol etc. however I was very happy with gameplay in a vanilla game. I rarely used any script mods in TS3 not even the major ones, and I liked that game, too, for the obvious reasons.
However, the more people who play TS4 are probably using mods to 'enhance' and fix what Maxis doesn't care about which is deeper gameplay they seem to miss all the time or at least some opportunities as you say.
I can honestly say that 99% of my mods for TS4 are for exactly that. Mods that tone down obsessive behavior, mods that make sims do what they're supposed to do (like actually sitting down at the table when eating, washing dishes in the kitchen sink, etc), mods that actually add personality and traits that actually work, and so on.
For TS3, I only use the major mods (Master Controller, Overwatch, and Error Trap) .... that's it, no other mods at all, and those are just to improve game performance and I do have the "fixed" worlds installed to fix the lag.
For TS2, I have absolutely no mods, just CC. Well I take that back, unless there's a mod that gets rid of the black square shadow under the feet (Can't remember if that was fixed with a mod or a setting).
But for TS4 ...... there is absolutely no way I could personally play without mods. No way!
It depends on the game I'm playing at the time. Some saves yes. Some saves no.
Since EP05 Seasons I have tested the new gameplay but haven't included it in my current game yet.
I'm still looking for a smart way to use these features together with the old ones.
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The Sims 4 General DiscussionNo, I don't do it very often. I would do it more if there was an aspiration tied to it. I'm planning to do it in this save but haven't decided on the type of store.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
It depends on the save.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
Yes, frequently.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
Now and then, yes.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
I rarely do this.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
I did it recently but I rarely play with aliens, so I tend to avoid the science career unless I'm playing with an appropriate theme.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Now and then, yes.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
Occasionally.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
Rarely
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
I do this now and then but usually I replace some of the vacation homes with communal lots so there's somewhere to go when it rains. I usually add a pub and a spa.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes?
All the time!
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Frequently.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
Rarely, because I'm not keen on that world. I like lot traits but usually go for the positive ones.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
Rarely.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
It depends on the sim
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Occasionally
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
I occasionally send sims to live there but mostly they just visit in the summer
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
Frequently. I love spellcasters.
__________
In my current save the plan is to play an expanded dynasty and go through each of the aspirations, which will force me to change my play style a little because I rarely do some of the aspirations. I also want to have another crack at running businesses and a veterinary practice, but it depends on whether that fits with the aspirations.
No, retail is a total mess.
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
Nope. Honestly, I use farm animals more than the pets because they're less obtrusive and needy.
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
I never bother with Willow Creek at all, outside of using it for community lots. But I often use the park in Oasis Springs for collecting and frog-catching.
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
Nope. My sims are usually blue collar or part of regular families. I use the fame system a lot though, for once-in-a-generation artists and writers, magical royalty, etc.
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
Maybe like once a save file.
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career?
Yes. I carry a family from my original save file, over to all future save files. It consists of a husband and wife who are scientists, their daughter, and their lab experiments.
Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
I almost never play or make aliens. Since I don't let my sims marry or interact with townies, I rarely deal with them. I never visit Sixam because there's nothing to do there.
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
Once in a while, but usually no.
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
I play and make my own vampires. They're the most fun occult, though I don't play them too often because my game leans heavily towards witch families.
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
Sometimes.
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
Nah, that place is abandoned.
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes?
Only after they fertilized them, so they're miserable.
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids?
Many of my kids will play and collect Voidcritter cards and merch. I don't use the Battle Station all that much though; since the whole system is based on type advantages, training your Voidcritters is completely pointless. Since you have to choose what card your opponent uses, there's no suspense because you'll know exactly who will win.
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
No, but only because I forgot it exists. I'll probably use it now that you reminded me about it.
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
Sometimes I'll play sims that live Off the Grid, while my regular homes will always try and upgrade their tech to help lower bills. I don't touch the environment system. I don't touch NAPS at all, aside from using cheats to activate the Free Love NAP in Windenberg, for my WooHoo cult.
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
Yes.
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
I only use like 2 or 3 different apartments in CL, since I prefer open space. But I'll use them for sims that have just moved away from home and need a cheap place to live.
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
I'll visit the Spice and Romance Festivals of City Living. The Flea Market is a rarity for me. I don't bother with any other festivals because they're boring.
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
Never.
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
Never.
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
Yes. My main family is actually a mixed mermaid/witch home.
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
I'll have families live to the island and play in the water, but I don't clean the island.
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
Love skiing and snowing, never bothered with mountain-climbing.
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
Every generation.
As for spas, I'll use them occasionally. I'll also occasionally visit Selvadorada and explore the ruins. I almost never use University because it's too long and pointless. I don't bother with the Parenthood traits because they never do anything. Laundry is always glitched, so I abandoned it. And I'll have dedicated families take on the Paranormal pack's career. And I'll play clubs, but mostly to get Sims to meet each other. Sometimes I'll play with holidays, but they're usually an annoyance.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
Except for the dust kit, I never touch it now because it's still buggy.
I think of the activities provided by EA as either basic or a side game. To give an example from Dine Out, owning a restaurant is a side game for me, but having restaurants that my Sims can go to on a date is basic.
To make this brief, any pack that provides a world or a career is basic. Seasons didn't provide either, but it's basic because of the weather, and also because of the holidays. Parenthood is basic because of parental interactions, phases, and character traits. Dine Out is basic because of the restaurants and Spa Day because of yoga. Jungle Adventure provides the best side game.
I still use the big parks that came with the base game. The Toddler play building goes in Magnolia Blossom Park, and the water slide goes in Oasis Springs. Sometimes I put the Wishing Well in the ruins in Windenburg.
Among stuff packs, Toddler Stuff, Knitting (for Plopsy), Laundry Day, and Movie Hangout are basic.
I do agree, though, that I could do with a rest from Expansion Packs and Game Packs, and new content generally. My game feels complete, with plenty for my Sims to do.
Oh, and I play without mods or CC.
I can and do play TS2 for hours (I played for 13 hours on Saturday alone). I only use one item of CC and that's the College Adjuster to adjust final exam times from being in the middle of the night. Other than that, I play vanilla and have since I got the game EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO (Sept 2004...I now have the UC on Origin).
Are you still making Sims run a business in most saves?
-no, I don't like the business system in TS4 that much personally
Are you still making Sims in every or several households get a pet?
-No, pets are rare in my saves
Are you still taking your Sims to the big park in Willow Creek? (basegame) Or did you bulldoze that years ago?
-not super often, but yes
Are you still making Sims get a fame career? Especially the actor career and not just freelance fame in other careers, etc.?
-every so often I try another run at the acting career and typically enjoy it! though the last time was a let-down since my sim died of old age before reaching her fame aspiration, which was her first and only aspiration (which I have completed before, so not being able to do it was a shock, and it was on normal lifespan and everything)
Are you still sending Sims to Strangerville and playing the scenario? Again?
-only rarely, I recently ran the strangerville mystery for the second time and enjoyed it!
Are you still making Sims get jobs in the Science career? Are you still playing aliens? Meeting, marrying, playing as an alien? Still visiting the world and or using a rocket ship with this pack and or even still using it from the base game aspirations? Or have you decided it's old news?
-I ADORE the science career and play it often, I often have sims needing the rocket ship since I enjoy the Nerd Brain aspiration, I rarely play with aliens but if a sim conceives one I keep it in the family and play with them!
Are you still playing a Doctor or Detective?
-detective yes, doctor no, simply because I didn't find the doctor career very fun even when it was new
Are you still playing Vampires? Meeting, marrying, playing as a vampire or filling towns with townie vamps?
-on occasion I will run a vampire save for fun but not super often
Do you still make a Sim run a vet office?
-I've never done this despite having cats and dogs, I've been thinking about making a save for it though!
Are you still visiting OR as vacation world with many different Sims?
-rarely
Are you still making Sims woohoo in bushes? :p (gameplay feature)
-if I have sims that are woohooing in general, there's a very high likelihood they have or soon will woohoo in a bush
Are you still making Sims play with the Critter thing for kids?
-not recently but I've been wanting to use one again
Do you still play with the backyard splash thingy or do most Sims not like that in the backyard anymore?
-I rarely ever played with them in TS4 tbh
Do you still have those formal parties you paid for in the extra DLC back when the game was new? (Forgot that party pack name, lol)
-I don't think I ever had the special parties I think you're referring to, despite having the pack (I think it's Luxury party? I have almost all packs and the ones I'm missing are all pretty recent)
Do you still play Eco Living and all those NAPS? Or still make Sims forget modern life and live off the grid?
-NAPs yes, Eco Living no, I don't like the world, and my sims rarely live off the grid unless I want a challenge
Are you still making your Sims knit their fingers off?
-extremely rarely, I barely used knitting even when it first came out despite getting the pack
Do your Sims still live in all the apartment types in the CL EP? Or did those bugs and rats and other type lot trait things finally get old?
-they were old for awhile but recently I started a couple saves with sims in CL apartments!
Do you still make your Sims attend most festivals in CL?
-some but definitely not most, I pretty much always do Humor and Hi jinks though!
Do you still make Sims go on dates when another Sim calls your Sim?
-it's 50/50 based on whether or not I'm super invested in their current activity, or if they have an important need to fix (hygiene or sleep being the biggest ones that make me say no to dates)
Are you still making Sims attend the Raves in WB?
-I hardly ever did even though WB is my all-time favorite world, most of my saves start there and I have a legacy challenge save there!
Are you still making Sims be mermaids or mere people?
-rarely, but I want to try it again
Do you still make Sims do all the things in the island pack? Or just visit from time to time and play another way?
-I stopped for awhile but recently have thought about doing another beach aspiration run, possibly with a mermaid conservationist
Are you still making Sims visit the Japan mountains in the snowy pack? Do you still make a Sim climb?
-rarely, though it's another thing I want to try again!
Are you still making Sims learn magic?
-not often but I just ran a magic user save that I've almost "completed" (by my own standards anyway)