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Mass Hysteria Continued...
Remy_Geneva
Posts: 142 Member
Hi all, I made a thread a year ago about the imminent release of TS4 and the affect it was having across a community of simmers. I thought it would be interesting to see whether feelings had changed a year down the line by asking the exact same questions I did a year ago. I feel like as users of this forum it can be difficult to communicate a point with out coming off rude or sarcastic, as there are so many contrasting views. So getting to the point, how did you feel about the game and where do you stand now? What improvements do you think should be made? What do you hope to see in the game in the future like expansions and stuff?
Here is the post from a year ago if you would like to have a little looksie
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/775027/mass-hysteria/p1
You don't have to answer the questions, just be respectful of others and most of all be vocal
Here is the post from a year ago if you would like to have a little looksie
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/775027/mass-hysteria/p1
You don't have to answer the questions, just be respectful of others and most of all be vocal
6
Comments
There are some things I like very much about Sims4, such as CAS. I like the graphics and the look of the Sims and prefer them over Sims 3. The team has been responsive about some things, but it's not enough.
But there are too many things I dislike about it:
The focus is on young adults and partying and looks as though it will continue that way at least through November.
The fact that they sent me a survey and turned me away from it because of my age tells me they do not value opinions on content from all their players but only those in an age group more likely to support their vision of partying and youth.
The bugs that have yet to be resolved that were there from the beginning, such as the incest bug which has a very negative impact on me, or the culling problem. They have fixed some bugs that some people were getting, but these and others still remain. It's very much like they did with Sims 3.
The packs, while pretty and offer some new content, are very shallow and skimpy. The best one is the spa package. Since TS2, this has been a trend, but not nearly as bad in TS3 as it is now.
Angry poop and dying of embarrassment from walking in on someone in the bathroom as well as emphasis on "bro" behavior is a sign to me that Maxis is focusing on younger, immature players rather than on family play and those who prefer goofy humor. The Sims haven't had that appealing type of humor since Sims 2 and it's not improving.
I don't mind loading screens since mine are always fast, but I do object to having loading screens to visit neighbors. And I honestly think the neighborhoods are way too small. they should have double the number of houses/lots in each neighborhood, and no loading screens to travel within that neighborhood. That goes for the commercial neighborhoods as well.
The game feels much, much more task oriented, like an MMO: "bring me x number of these", similar to "created x number of paintings." It's taking a lot of the sandbox appeal away.
There are other things, some smaller and not deal breakers.
Overall, I have a difficult time convincing myself to go in and play. I'm trying a challenge someone suggested right now, but I'm not getting much out of the game these days.
I can't even begin to name all the improvements I think should be made. I know we'll never have open world, and that was a big deal to me in TS3. In fact, I'm back to playing TS2 and TS3, and probably won't do much with TS4 again. I don't plan on buying Get Together, and I can't even think of anything grand enough to pull me back.
Really disappointed with how this TS4 thing turned out, but I know others are enjoying it and even though I feel left out, I'm glad for them.
Happy Simming :-)
Sims 4 could have been a great game if it had been given more time before release. That way they could have added toddlers, the NPC people love like firefighters and a lot of other things that have been in a Sims base game since the start of the series.
Smelly cat, Smelly Cat
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat
It's not your fault!
I feel very bored with the game as I feel like i've already gotten everything out of it I could possibly get without meaningful new content. I feel like the game has a lot potential but it's unlikely to ever fulfill it as the attitude towards the introduction of key features seem to be 'too expensive, time consuming, difficult' etc. The devs say one thing and then turn around and say another. The base game was supposedly packed with the potential to do anything but at the same time we hear statements that the tech this time is more limited. 'We can't/couldn't get this to work the way we want it too' is a statement said quite often by the devs. The improvements that have been made aren't enough to make up for the many ways in which this game has regressed in terms of innovation and sophistication. I think it would be possible to make it great but the willingness to do so doesn't seem to be there this time.
What improvements do you think should be made?
I don't expect everything. I can live with loading screens and no colour wheel for example. What I couldn't forgive are no toddlers, a way to expand the current worlds we have and the old classic expansions like Pets and Seasons. I feel like I need all those things before I could take this game seriously as a Sims title.
What do you hope to see in the game in the future like expansions and stuff?
Unless the game has toddlers upon their release I wont buy any but if the game does have all lifestages then i'd buy things like Generations, Pets and Seasons. Those are the big 3 for me. I'd also buy an expansion that gave us drivable/ownable vehicles.
I like S4 enough but I am waiting for more features and game play that match my family oriented play style. Parties are fine but I am not interested. I have put S4 on the back burner for now and have gone back to S3 to enjoy my style of play. I'm sure when more content comes out, I will probably come back.
I expect them to handle some bugs, culling being the first priority. Another main focus should be bringing the toddlers back. I expect them to eventually add pets and seasons, but also make some fresh pack combos and throw in something completely new. Since I skipped sims 3 I honestly wouldn't mind them just re-doing the packs for that game, but I don't see that happening.
Updated with Werewolf Diaries (1)
^this^
Not much more to add except that I wish they would add a color wheel or something. Not having CASt really sucks. (Oh, I only have the base game but the principals still apply.)
I will be getting GT this Nov. I have only one family, my first one but the rest are single, marrieds and shackups. I hate that the babies are an "object" and to interact you have to, "click on the bassinet??" That and the full-sized kid leaping out of the bassinet when aging if, shall I say, offputting to say the least.
Since around the first of the year, I've logged almost 1100 hours so definitely enjoying it more.
However there are some things that the game still needs (apart from the obvious EPs such as Seasons etc.): first of all they need to adress culling. I'd be happy if they just addressed family ghosts culling because I just love looking back at my family trees and this is currently impossible (without mods) due to culling. Secondly, we need a world creator tool. Since I love historical neighborhoods, i have recreated PleasantView in the early 1900s using some mods etc. however it would have been much easier to just be able to download custom neighborhoods directly. Finally, last but not least, we need toddlers and pre-teens (right now toddlers would just not be enough!!) and a generations EP to go with them. With those three additions I would be the happiest simmer ever!
But to be honest I am only mad at myself 'cause I can't stop buying stuff for a "game" (I prefer the term app) which I effectively stopped playing 3 days after release... .
Now, though, the hope is gone. It's like watching an inevitable car crash happen in slow motion. You see a clear path on the left for the driver to avoid the car crash. You're screaming "Go left, go left!!!!" at the driver. The driver hears you but keeps the car on a straight-forward path to the car crash. And you're left wondering, "why???"
It's clear my age isn't on EA's radar. Well, then you know what they can do with that attitude? They can keep their surveys and I will spend what I have for gaming somewhere else. Pure and simple. The improvements over the last year have been excruciating waiting for them in dribs and drabs. This does nothing for making people excited about a game if they are all just standing around waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for that thing which would have improved their gameplay. And that will always be true when they strip down core games to bare bones in order to hook a player to hang around for a year waiting on any type of gameplay they wanted never happening. That is why it has been so excruciating. If I don't play a Sims' game my friends knowing what a huge fan I am of them then there is something wrong with it or I would be crazy with hysteria waiting on the next 'thing'. Whether that was dlc for free and or new content for sale, and that is the whole ball of wax.
When long time fans have no interest in the series anymore there is something wrong with a game.
TS3 started to act up on me and eventually I couldn't play it due to computer issues and the fact that the game was an absolute monster. The glitches and loading times and bugs kept building up and finally I gave up. I started watching Sims 4 videos on YouTube again and saw that some things had been added back in free updates (ghosts, pools, and family trees). So I decided that I would err on the positive side and hope that the missing features would be added back in the same fashion as ghosts, pools, and family trees had. I decided to buy the game in the February sale on Origin, and I'll admit I loved it at first and pulled an all-nighter exploring the game the first night.
Now one year later and 8 months of me owning the game I'm incredibly disappointed in what our beloved series has become. I bought Get to Work and received Outdoor Retreat as a gift but I quickly got tired of the goal oriented hand holding that GTW is and wasn't really interested in the tiny world that came with OR. After the disappointing announcement at Gamescon I realized how much the developers' vision deviated from my own. It is clear that the game is a young adult party juice and woohoo oriented game and I really don't like it. Even though I am within the range of EA's "target audience" I hate where the game is going. No family life, no toddlers, nothing for any sim that isn't a young adult to do. So at this point I am stuck, I hope that they will add what I and many others want, but the path they seem to be on doesn't support anything I want out of this game. I've done challenges, I've played different lifestyles, I've done everything I can think of to spark my interest in the next of the series that I have loved for the past several years. But when it all comes down to it: I'm bored
I think if EA has any hope of pulling together this scrap-heap of a game they need to listen to their fans. No more of this party life stuff that many of us do not care for. Bring us what we actually want: Pets, Generations, Seasons, University, a CASt/ Color Wheel. This isn't about what they want anymore, at least not if they want this game to stay afloat and live as a series to produce a Sims 5 down the road. They are quickly losing long term fans and the new players that bought this game for the party life aren't enough to substantiate a series like The Sims.
Players boredom in a year old game isn't indicative of room for growth and a positive outlook, it shows that the game has been floundering from the start. I only hope that it can stay afloat long enough for someone who knows what they are doing to take over the game and make it what we want.
As much as strangers like to name call me, I don't hate the game still. I just got bored and stopped playing it. Interview killed all hope I had for the game. It felt like I got trolled by Maxis honestly.
What improvements do you think should be made?
LOL where to begin? Public relations needs a complete overhaul and they need to get rid of the "You Rule" slogan. Better communication between the community and staff even if it is difficult some days. Get rid of the telemetry figures. It doesn't help the Sims and just a lazy approach to take. I think it is one of the reasons why Simmers are so unhappy now. Actually listen to how people play their play styles. I know SimGuruDaniel does try and I appreciate that. But there are a lot of play styles taken away. If things like CAW can't be possible, at least offer a compromise like the Sims 2 Town Editor system. Enough all or nothing approaches to features. There should be options for all sorts of players so as not to feel alienated out. Scrap the culling, fix emotions and reactions, and actually make sure the core game can actually support challenges that packs may bring. Like I think worlds might need to be redone in order to support challenges like seasons. Multitasking needs to be addressed with the babies and babies need to be freed because that not working could effect pets badly. Bring toddlers back in a patch and put preteens in an EP to fund both those life stages. Take the time to develop the packs. Simmers don't mind waiting a little longer for higher quality products. Don't remove supernaturals from EPs, but allow them to enhance those products.
What do you hope to see in the game in the future like expansions and stuff?
I hope enhancements of past packs. I don't want to see same old same old packs. For example University Pack can be expanded into a complete School EP. Pets could include either a safari, a zoo, or a fair and include exotic animals. Weather can include more intense natural disasters like a toggle for earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and other things. A sports pack would be cool and EA Sports team could help with that. Vacation spots need to be different locations this time. I would love to see some new places inspired by Australia, Iceland, South America, and India.
I agree, they should just recycle former EPs but instead they should enhance them. Take a look at TS3 University Life compared to TS2's, they took a fairly cool idea and made it into what is in my opinion, one of the best EPs I have ever played!
What I did not foresee was the game's utter lack of lasting appeal (at least for me). There were also things from TS3 that I eventually missed enough to hamper my enjoyment of the game (cars, huge neighborhoods). I stopped playing after about a month. I went back to the game for a bit when pools were introduced, and that was when the limited neighborhood editing hit me hard. I'm not sure if it was introduced at launch, but in TS3 I could add decorations and move lots about in the neighborhood. No such luck in TS4. The lack of terrain tools felt restricting too. All-in-all, TS4 did not suit my playstyle.
I went on to purchase Outdoor Retreat and Get to Work in order to expand the game in hopes that it would become more enjoyable, but I too grew weary of them quickly. I was super-excited about OR as I love nature and the outdoors, but it didn't hit the spot either. Something was missing at the core. The series to me had always been about creativity and customization. That was what TS4 was seriously lacking, except in the CAS department. I didn't want an easy Build mode; I've always wanted a powerful one. I've also complained so much about the lack of CAW that I'm not gonna beat the dead horse here. That was when I decided that the game, at its very heart, just isn't my cup of tea. GTW was the very last add-on that I bought for TS4, and it will probably remain that way for the foreseeable future.
I don't have any issue with the lack of toddlers or the closed-worlds. However, I'm already very disappointed in the game and imagine the disappointment felt by people who actually want toddlers and open-worlds.
You couldn't edit neighbourhoods in TS3 until Ambitions but due to the size of the base worlds, there was no serious concern about lack of place to add new Sims and not long later we got the CAW tool
I replied to that thread.
I hadn't bought it yet, and before that I was really considering skipping it.
I wasn't thrilled with what I saw in TS4, but I had to try if for myself.
There were a lot of features that I liked about the game, but the things I did not like canceled them out. I wasn't interested in playing families without toddlers and I couldn't stand teens looking like they are at the end of their age stage. I quit playing.
I bought Outdoor Retreat and Get To Work thinking maybe I just need more things to do. I stopped playing within a month and picked up TS3 again. I bought the party stuff pack and the Patio pack. I stopped buying after that, although Spa Day does look good. Cool Kitchen stuff looks like a very weak pack for the theme, so it's a skip. I am interested in what EA is creating for group play, but Get Together is really not the EP I need right now.
I may get Spa Day and Get Together because I do enjoy group play, but it's the EA expansion pack survey that is giving me a little hope for the future and has me thinking about continuing with TS4. That Generations EP--I want it. I really shouldn't buy anything until it's confirmed and I feel like it could get me to play families in this game.
I really should have been even more conservative than my original post and not even considered buying the base game until at least 4 EPs came out.