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Is The Sims 4 Now Forgetful Towards Storytellers?
DegrassiGen
Posts: 2,168 Member
The Sims franchise is known to appeal to many people not just in terms of the wide age range or gender but it's really how people play the game that make it very diverse. From builders to family players to people that play only challenges the Sims franchise always had something for everyone no matter how you played which is something I appreciated from The Sims. I as a "storyteller" Simmer love obviously creating stories from romance to the simply mischievous cause let's face it causing trouble in the game is half the fun. I love creating Sims that have a purpose for living. A story that needs to be told and while I was fascinated with the original Sims it wasn't until Sims 3 then 2 (played Sims 3 first before Sims 2) that I took my game play further by adding backstories to these characters and adding an entire story line for them to fulfill bringing life to my Sims and a purpose for creating them. So as I grew as a Simmer I started filling out the bios and the household story line that would define who they are and as someone who wants to someday write novels in his "real life" this was a blessing in no disguise.
But that my Simmers is the problem. In The Sims 4 anyways. While most Simmers may shrug this off cause this seems so minor the first thing that told me that storytellers might not be well liked in the fourth generation is the lack of individual Sim bios. Bios that could help give not only a backstory for that particular Sim but define who they are and why the act the way they do. To a hardcore storyteller this was highly disappointing. Bios have been a part of the franchise since the original Sims and poof it all of a sudden wasn't important anymore. To me it felt like it was more forgotten then anything else but that's just me. Not to mention the longer you play a Sim the more evolved they can become as they can experience life changes or simply grow as a Sim and bio's allowed you to see who they were from the beginning. The next thing is the family description themselves. Originally you could only fill like four lines worth of description and then you were cut off while in previous games there was such a large space to tell your story without limiting or omitting space and while this was improved several months later with more space added I do still at times feel the need to leave information out because of a lack of space meaning I spend more time on what's most important in saying about this family or household then telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me red plumbob!
But the real drag I felt completely devastated that I truly feel was the one thing that destroyed my game play nearly completely was the removal of the original memory system in a patch in December 2015. As a storyteller I became fascinated with memories even more so in The Sims 3 when you were allowed to create your own memories by taking a screenshot and writing a description. This was a great tool for me not just because Sims will be able to remember their past and what they have been through but because this allowed you to track your story from beginning to end so even if you were to forget certain details you could always go back and see what your Sim lived through and even use that to how they continue to live their lives. Would a Sim continue to let their past haunt them or will they grow from it to be a better Sim? Maybe I take too much pride in being a storyteller Simmer but it's a game play mechanic that I truly loved and the memory system truly let you and your Sim follow the story as it played out. In The Sims 4 this originally was improved before December 2015 when you were allowed to not only take a screenshot and description (description yet again more limited then previous games) but allowed your Sim to reminisce the emotions of that memory and you got to choose which emotions were appropriate for that memory which was pure genius.
But then December 2015 patch happened....when the memory system was supposedly upgraded what they actually did was take away the option to even choose the emotion of your Sims memory to being forced to give the emotion your Sim was feeling at the time. If you didn't want that then it became nothing at all. This is a huge problem because what happens in the game can often conflict to how your Sim should feel remembering the event. For a short example, I had a Sim who was abducted by aliens. Normally when this would happen I would make the memory either angry or sad depending on the character but because of this new system I could now only choose the "happy" emotion. Either that or not put a memory in at all. This makes no sense because what Sim would be happy to be abducted when they were trying to go to bed. That's like saying your happy that Bob Pancakes burned your house down trying to make pancakes because you prefer your home "nice and crispy"! This makes no sense to be forced an emotion that conflicts with an actual situation. And what's worst is how memories are even handled.
In the beginning memories were in a separate file so even if you were to delete all of your screenshots your memories were not affected. Not to mention that they were always in order but now not only are they listed often out of chronological order but they are also bunched in with photos you took with the photography skill and normal screenshots! It's a huge mess that literally crushed my storytelling game play! Since then I have tried to play the game countless times but without me being able to track my story the way I used to I'm like what is the point anymore. To me when the memory system was altered for literally no reason this became a game breaking moment and at this point in time believe I can only be a true storyteller with the first three generations. Sims 4 I feel left out as much as a family player.
So for my storytelling Simmers do you feel the same way as well? Being left out of the game? Rather you do or not how do you tell your story? I would love to hear other people's thoughts on the matter. I apologize for creating such a large post but I feel nothing could be left out to describe a huge concern. When I feel like I have to leave a game to go to another game to be myself as a Simmer then something must be wrong....I never thought I say this but I feel left out as much as a family player in this regard...
But that my Simmers is the problem. In The Sims 4 anyways. While most Simmers may shrug this off cause this seems so minor the first thing that told me that storytellers might not be well liked in the fourth generation is the lack of individual Sim bios. Bios that could help give not only a backstory for that particular Sim but define who they are and why the act the way they do. To a hardcore storyteller this was highly disappointing. Bios have been a part of the franchise since the original Sims and poof it all of a sudden wasn't important anymore. To me it felt like it was more forgotten then anything else but that's just me. Not to mention the longer you play a Sim the more evolved they can become as they can experience life changes or simply grow as a Sim and bio's allowed you to see who they were from the beginning. The next thing is the family description themselves. Originally you could only fill like four lines worth of description and then you were cut off while in previous games there was such a large space to tell your story without limiting or omitting space and while this was improved several months later with more space added I do still at times feel the need to leave information out because of a lack of space meaning I spend more time on what's most important in saying about this family or household then telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me red plumbob!
But the real drag I felt completely devastated that I truly feel was the one thing that destroyed my game play nearly completely was the removal of the original memory system in a patch in December 2015. As a storyteller I became fascinated with memories even more so in The Sims 3 when you were allowed to create your own memories by taking a screenshot and writing a description. This was a great tool for me not just because Sims will be able to remember their past and what they have been through but because this allowed you to track your story from beginning to end so even if you were to forget certain details you could always go back and see what your Sim lived through and even use that to how they continue to live their lives. Would a Sim continue to let their past haunt them or will they grow from it to be a better Sim? Maybe I take too much pride in being a storyteller Simmer but it's a game play mechanic that I truly loved and the memory system truly let you and your Sim follow the story as it played out. In The Sims 4 this originally was improved before December 2015 when you were allowed to not only take a screenshot and description (description yet again more limited then previous games) but allowed your Sim to reminisce the emotions of that memory and you got to choose which emotions were appropriate for that memory which was pure genius.
But then December 2015 patch happened....when the memory system was supposedly upgraded what they actually did was take away the option to even choose the emotion of your Sims memory to being forced to give the emotion your Sim was feeling at the time. If you didn't want that then it became nothing at all. This is a huge problem because what happens in the game can often conflict to how your Sim should feel remembering the event. For a short example, I had a Sim who was abducted by aliens. Normally when this would happen I would make the memory either angry or sad depending on the character but because of this new system I could now only choose the "happy" emotion. Either that or not put a memory in at all. This makes no sense because what Sim would be happy to be abducted when they were trying to go to bed. That's like saying your happy that Bob Pancakes burned your house down trying to make pancakes because you prefer your home "nice and crispy"! This makes no sense to be forced an emotion that conflicts with an actual situation. And what's worst is how memories are even handled.
In the beginning memories were in a separate file so even if you were to delete all of your screenshots your memories were not affected. Not to mention that they were always in order but now not only are they listed often out of chronological order but they are also bunched in with photos you took with the photography skill and normal screenshots! It's a huge mess that literally crushed my storytelling game play! Since then I have tried to play the game countless times but without me being able to track my story the way I used to I'm like what is the point anymore. To me when the memory system was altered for literally no reason this became a game breaking moment and at this point in time believe I can only be a true storyteller with the first three generations. Sims 4 I feel left out as much as a family player.
So for my storytelling Simmers do you feel the same way as well? Being left out of the game? Rather you do or not how do you tell your story? I would love to hear other people's thoughts on the matter. I apologize for creating such a large post but I feel nothing could be left out to describe a huge concern. When I feel like I have to leave a game to go to another game to be myself as a Simmer then something must be wrong....I never thought I say this but I feel left out as much as a family player in this regard...
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Comments
“Instead of putting players in the role of Luke Skywalker, or Frodo Baggins, I'd rather put them in the role of George Lucas.”Will Wright.
But what's with everybody trying to create a category for themselves, with the builders and the family players and now the storytellers? For what? Just say you like playing the game. Why do you need your own section?
Personally I've never cared about the memory feature and I don't take screenshots. So I didn't even know what's missing was missing. The memory notifications that used to pop up in The Sims 3 were super annoying, I turned them off. So I can't relate, sorry.
The so called 'category', as you call it, has been discussed for as long as sims has been a 'thing' lol. Even the developers acknowledge the different ways people play with the sims.
I'm glad this change didn't effect you
“Instead of putting players in the role of Luke Skywalker, or Frodo Baggins, I'd rather put them in the role of George Lucas.”Will Wright.
Because, truth be told, the game is played differently by every single person. And how you play the game falls into one of the many categories; story teller, builder, CAS, modder, etc. Even gurus/The Sims Studio themselves have acknowledged these categories of players exist, and are assigned different roles on the team exactly by each category of the game (build mode, live mode, create a sim, among others).
Also, AFAIK, nobody wants the memory system anything like TS3, and TS4 presently has them implemented just like TS3, except even worse. In TS2, we didn't have to make memories for our Sims through some clunky UI and assign emotions to them, they made their own memories, recounted on memories in their thoughts and dreams, and had their lives directly impacted by them. And they didn't remember dumb stuff like making pancakes with a giant notification to let us know about it like TS3 either.
I did see a lot of people unhappy with the memory-system change in December, since they'd been controlling it and using it actively. Not a fan of that kind of change, whether it affects me or not.
*holds up the family play thread*
The Sims has always been an important part of my life, and may it continue to be so! Long live Sims!
[Due to some kind of glitch, I am unable to insert photos into my signature for some reason.]
At least he is trying to get the dev's attention on a nerfed feature, which is something I believe we all want "fixed".
I don't even know what feature he or you are taking about. Memories? USELESS.
The Sims has always been an important part of my life, and may it continue to be so! Long live Sims!
[Due to some kind of glitch, I am unable to insert photos into my signature for some reason.]
I guess the only thing useless here is that attitude.
lmao, you saw that too? I wasn't even going to say anything...
Edit: Your pre-edited post was hilarious, btw.
Thanks XD Yes I changed it as some people might not get it
Edited to stay on topic:
I may not have used the memory system before, but I've found myself thinking more about the backstories of the sims I make. I guess my play style has gotten a bit deeper since 2, and I actually wouldn't mind exploring storytelling with my legacy family. I hope they do flesh storytelling out a bit more.
If we're talking the way they are done in TS3 or TS4 presently, then yes, it is kind of useless -- they do not impact live mode gameplay enough.
However, if memories are implemented like TS2, and the Sims' AI is updated to be able to recount past events within their lives and have that impact their moods and emotions, then I'd say it holds plenty of use to people who appreciate The Sims as a life simulation and platform to create stories with. Memory is a huge part of life, and you would think, given TS4 focuses so much on emotions, they would have a memory system implemented even better than TS2.
I didn't really ever try the ingame tools. I just used fraps still I got use to it.
I do feel for you though @DegrassiGen
I really dislike it when they change something people have gotten use too in this game. I can understand if it's a huge bug.. but.. they have done this a bit with other things. Aspiration nerfing... Alien Abduction decreasing (I didn't like the frequency.. but I felt they should have put in choice somehow). With all the complaints about ghosts I am afraid they will eventually take away the play style I've really enjoyed since ghosts came out..
You want to see that shot you just took? Well I hope you like scrolling!
So no.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
It's designed to create stories, yea, but not to track them or make lasting memories of them for your sims, so it's sort of a weird situation where story tellers are both catered to, but also misunderstood on a basic level. I love to make stories with my sims, but if there is no in game impact or way to record them, it becomes very stale very quickly, ya know?
I have always found the in-game bio/family description options to be extremely limited, I was never able to include everything I had in mind or even do them the way I wanted. That's why many simmers opt to use Word documents or blogs. I don't really mind the current state of this feature.
Regarding the memory system, yes that's quite a letdown. It was a fun and gimmicky way of getting sims in the right mood. It was a fantastic option to get sims sad since it's quite a difficult feat to achieve in the game. This change doesn't make sense at all, the only reason I can think of is that it is some sort of placeholder for an upgraded memory system that may be included in a future pack.
I have to agree with jackjack, Get Together was a fantastic addition to storytelling. Clubs are a very useful tool to dictate the behavior of uncontrolled sims.
That said, I feel your pain and agree that the current memory system is inferior to what we had before. One annoyance that hasn't been mentioned -- all the screenshots you take, whether for one particular family or for others in a different saved game, end up in your "memory system." All the photos that your sims take end up there, and so do all your "paint by reference" originals. I'd like to think that they made the change to accommodate some future improvement; otherwise, it seems like a fix that wasn't necessary. I don't recall people complaining about the memory system.
One problem I had with the various descriptive spaces in TS2 and TS3 was that whenever I tried to use them, I would quickly run out of room. I guess I'm too long-winded.
@Mightydan, I do agree about getting sad. Luckily, your sims can now buy the picture of the Tragic Clown, and you can get them sad that way. I used it when my Chief of Mischief teen-aged alien sim woke up to find herself in a holding cell.