Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
My problem with Get Together and almost all of the packs that have come before it.
sabmic
Posts: 85 Member
This may seem rant-y and not vary well put mainly because it's late and I'm too lazy to review and edit what I wrote but I had to get this out.
It's not specifically this pack that puts a bad taste in my mouth, it's the focus all of the packs they've released combined. With each added pack (aside from the stuff packs though luxury living is included) the message seems to be "Do you wish you could be RICH!?!?! Do you want to live the YA life?!?! Well buy these! You'll get to vicariously live out all of your dreams through the sims". Many of the packs do not incorporate features playable for anyone other than the single YA player or someone who wants to emulate being rich/having more than enough disposable income. What's the point of even starting out with a YA sim if they seem to become obsolete once they age into an adult (or the unspeakable *gasp* elder) and I want them to do more mundane, everyday things. Not to mention how teens (did you mean: glorified young adults) or children don't have much to do after a while, and elders don't have their own thing (though elders are generally underrepresented in most entertainment).
My problem is that the game is becoming less of a life simulator with equal opportunity/fun events/cool new things for all life stages and more of a YA sim where you can live out how you wish you could/could have live(d) when you were 18-early/mid thirties without bills or general life drags (because literally anything negative in this game doesn't have effects that last for more than a day unless you plan on micromanaging your sim into calling a sadness hotline. Aside from that it's straight back to "Life shouldn't be a drag, it's fun! So much fun! Parties YA life! All kinds of fun! Who needs fear, uncomfortable, suspicious, and other negative traits when we can smash them all into one less depressing trait that represents all of those things, also leaving us more room for HAPPY PARTY YA LIFE traits!"
I think we need to take a step back from beach hangouts, bars, luxury chocolate fountains and dresses, and focus on more sim interactions and things that sims can do together but also alone, and no we do not need to fix this for YAs but for all other life stages that don't have much too keep your interest or set them apart. As well as fixing the trait system to make things more realistic instead of fantastical. Yes, all sims should wash their hands after using the bathroom as a rule/and also so that the player doesn't get grossed out when they realize the sim that they sent to make the family's dinner dinner clean themselves properly, but tell me why my "slob" sims make their beds and put their dishes in the sink *pre-dishwasher age* like everyone else. Or why my lazy sims will still get up to clean the house if there's nothing else to do. The whole selling point of emotions and loading screens and such would be so that places would feel less empty and so that your sims would do different things autonomously but certain interactions shouldn't happen autonomously if a sim has a certain trait. I honestly don't see a difference between sending an active sim and a lazy sim to workout. Traits just feel like a flashy graphics to me. The traits should shape the sim and how they react (their emotions) to different situations, emotions should not be the driving factor that makes a sim who they are.
It's not specifically this pack that puts a bad taste in my mouth, it's the focus all of the packs they've released combined. With each added pack (aside from the stuff packs though luxury living is included) the message seems to be "Do you wish you could be RICH!?!?! Do you want to live the YA life?!?! Well buy these! You'll get to vicariously live out all of your dreams through the sims". Many of the packs do not incorporate features playable for anyone other than the single YA player or someone who wants to emulate being rich/having more than enough disposable income. What's the point of even starting out with a YA sim if they seem to become obsolete once they age into an adult (or the unspeakable *gasp* elder) and I want them to do more mundane, everyday things. Not to mention how teens (did you mean: glorified young adults) or children don't have much to do after a while, and elders don't have their own thing (though elders are generally underrepresented in most entertainment).
My problem is that the game is becoming less of a life simulator with equal opportunity/fun events/cool new things for all life stages and more of a YA sim where you can live out how you wish you could/could have live(d) when you were 18-early/mid thirties without bills or general life drags (because literally anything negative in this game doesn't have effects that last for more than a day unless you plan on micromanaging your sim into calling a sadness hotline. Aside from that it's straight back to "Life shouldn't be a drag, it's fun! So much fun! Parties YA life! All kinds of fun! Who needs fear, uncomfortable, suspicious, and other negative traits when we can smash them all into one less depressing trait that represents all of those things, also leaving us more room for HAPPY PARTY YA LIFE traits!"
I think we need to take a step back from beach hangouts, bars, luxury chocolate fountains and dresses, and focus on more sim interactions and things that sims can do together but also alone, and no we do not need to fix this for YAs but for all other life stages that don't have much too keep your interest or set them apart. As well as fixing the trait system to make things more realistic instead of fantastical. Yes, all sims should wash their hands after using the bathroom as a rule/and also so that the player doesn't get grossed out when they realize the sim that they sent to make the family's dinner dinner clean themselves properly, but tell me why my "slob" sims make their beds and put their dishes in the sink *pre-dishwasher age* like everyone else. Or why my lazy sims will still get up to clean the house if there's nothing else to do. The whole selling point of emotions and loading screens and such would be so that places would feel less empty and so that your sims would do different things autonomously but certain interactions shouldn't happen autonomously if a sim has a certain trait. I honestly don't see a difference between sending an active sim and a lazy sim to workout. Traits just feel like a flashy graphics to me. The traits should shape the sim and how they react (their emotions) to different situations, emotions should not be the driving factor that makes a sim who they are.
21
Comments
I always Saw the Sims as a just a Life Simulator, I can put myself in situations I wouldn't be comfortable doing in real life, or is actually impossible, like magic. but you're saying, The Sims 4 is catering too much to players, Like me. I always thought the Sims was diverse, it catered to RPG, Adventure, Strategy and Puzzle solving, Somewhat action, Deviance, Storytellers, and Creators, also Somewhat catered to adults and children. to an over all Simulation.
But I can respect that.
and Agree The Sims should cater to the others, because It will benefit me.
I can agree children don't have much.
And I don't know why Children can't do some older things, like garden, work on their writing skill, Handiness.
Like I loved to Garden when I was young, I was really handy growing up, I use too take things apart and put them back together.
And I can agree some traits need work.
My Mood:
About children, I completely agree with you, considering teens are what they are. Why can't children cook basic mac and cheese or microwavable dinners especially since within an hour they age into an adult looking person who has free-reign over everything. What happened to feeling too old to act like a child but being too young to do anything fun/adult or the youthful mischief that I do not see with either life stages or the accidents that come with being young (especially if it comes with tinkering/touching things they should or setting sparks/fires in the kitchen from inexperience). Of course children and teens are not empty characters but with what's in the game for YA and adult sims living the YA-or rich- life, the other lifestages should have more going for them. Which is my problem with Get Together, while it seems like a lot of YA fun, it also seems to lack any real substance or replay value.
They need to put more balance in the game. Partying is pretty well covered now, let's focus on something else for a change! More family activities, more types of community lots that make a world look more realistic (like grocery stores). I love the idea of having children be able to garden too. Some of my favorite childhood memories are gardening with my grandmother. I wish we had some Erector style toys for them too, so that they could work on other skills.
Daily Deals Rotation Thread
Love kids stuff? Check this out!
Cascades & Daily Deals-Get the best bang for your simpoints
I watched an interview where she pretty much said that the game was getting mixed reviews because players only wanted to play one way (see: their preferred way) and that they wouldn't understand how to play this edition of the sims unless they watch devs play it and see "the new possibilities the game can present" and I was appalled. If you want to add some new elements/flavours to the game no one is stopping you. But you cannot tell the consumer how to like their product and then drip feed them what they want, you give the consumer what they want in the beginning so that they stick around and then you introduce cool new features that could expand how they play.
Side note: maybe the current sims team should focus on websites like IMVU if they only want to create parties, fun, and woohoo all of the time.
Then the single Sim experience that the Sims 4 has was mentioned in another interview here.
So not even the Maxis team will disagree with you.
I'd suggest checking out this video too:
I do think the Sims 4 needs to cater to more play styles whether it is family, deviant, supernatural, or world builders.
thank you for the GT interview, that was enlightening
Unfortunately we don't have any beaches.
Omg, lol, I had not watched the young man explain why the GT was not what this game needed. He said exactly what I think. I hope the developers listen to all of what he said. I wish I could make his entire video my signature. lol
Gallery link - I wish Toddlers, Weather, Pets… in Sims 4
@catloverplayer no we don't, and while there is nothing wrong with beaches, there is something wrong with them being introduced with this specific pack. If anything beaches (or this whole pack in general) should be a game pack but this shouldn't be the concept for the last ep that we'll see for a while. Again, there's nothing wrong with parties/beaches/etc but there's something wrong with how they're prioritizing this type of play, which doesn't even seem to be a "playstyle" per say but just a stage that people play when they feel like it or to expand their gameplay.
OR- any age range can camp and the closest to party atmosphere was sitting around the camp fire.
GTW- Again not party themed and playable by any adult or the retail could be owned by a teen.
Patio Stuff- Okay there was a bar but otherwise it was a pretty typical outdoor relaxation group of items. Yes, you can Woo Hoo in the hot tub but speaking as a non-YA, I do still Woo Hoo in and out of game- lol and I plan to as an Elder too!
Spa Day- Yet again, non party based and can be used by several age ranges and yet again I do not consider going to the spa to be the sole preview of YAs.
So I don't really get the continued insistence that the game is only directed at a particular age range save for the idea that maybe people see themselves and their lives in a particular light of the "mundane" and see anything outside that definition as belonging to a younger age and of course the marketing of the game which has skewed too much in that direction because that is the only market they haven't gotten yet- the new young one. I also think the marketing is meant to convince teenagers this isn't just their parents game. Think of this when you think about the new EP in November and ignore the commercial with all the kids partying and instead think of how it works for whatever age range you want to play. In the meantime take your kids camping and send your elder to the spa and have your middle aged sim quit their job and open a bakery. Then get the whole family in the hot tub to relax.
I understand who they're marketing to because I am in that new young teen demographic that they're trying to get to. I can see why they want to overload on the luxury and YA living to get the attention of my peers and also to make the game more linear because that's the way the games that my friends play are, but I can tell you that people who play the sims are people who are interested in a life simulator. My friends don't think this game is their parent's game, they just think it's stupid or too boring to warrant buying. It's not on the tips of their tongues like Batman: Arkham City or GTAV. I've met people who enjoy the games and the franchise and we've bonded over our love for it but those who don't know or don't care about the games aren't going to be swayed by the packs that they've been putting out because the sims isn't even on their radar. The company should be catering to those who want a sandbox life simulator, because that's what the game is. They should be trying to change things for an age group who really couldn't care less about the sims.
But honestly I'm fine with supernatural. I kind of wanted it when it came out for TS3 but I didn't end up getting it because I just didn't have the money. I mean, if that's what people want then that's what they want and I'm not going to stop them but my problem would be is if supernatural comes before packs that generally flesh out all aspects of base gameplay. Fun things like supernatural should come after the majority is catered to and now niche/sub-playstyles can be explored.
Sometimes your creativity is limited where you use it most, but you can use those limitations to inspire new forms of creativity you may never have thought of beforehand.
I thought I replied to this but I must have forgot to hit 'post comment' but I agree that hangouts and parties are getting dull now