I stand by what I've said that we have been as transparent and forth coming as we can be with the confines that we work in. If you don't want to take it at face value and want to run off with it in wild directions that is your prerogative but it is no where near the truth.
@SimGuruDrake, how can you say this when culling, relationship culling, and inactive played relationship decay were all added into the game without being announced to let players know what was about to happen to their games? What confines prevent you from being open about game mechanics as they are added? I'm not talking about future content and the confines that prevent you from talking about it early. I'm talking about mechanics that are surreptitiously added into the game unannounced. I have yet to see any explanation as to why these mechanics cannot be communicated in the patch notes. When you fail to communicate new game mechanics which alter gameplay, you lose trust with your customers, and you leave us to speculate that the reason these features are not announced is that the team knows they will be unpopular. (Doesn't sound like a sound strategy, given the panicked threads that explode whenever one of these mechanics is added, but you're not providing us with any alternative answers.) Until you provide a reason as to why features are not always announced as they are added, I cannot believe your statement "we have been as transparent and forth coming as we can be", as much as I want to.
Well the reality is that you are setting yourself up for disappointment with that mindset because you will always be looking for something negative rather than giving content a chance to stand on its own. I know the future is bright for this game and it's mind boggling to see how my panels are somehow sending you off in this direction.
Dear @SimGuruDrake, the mindset I had 2 years ago when I was very enthusiastic and hopeful that TS4 would be a great foundation for a great game did not help, it was disappointment after disappointment. With this current mindset I am actually not setting up myself for any disappointment because I am not feeling enthusiastic about the game anymore. The lack of focus specially with EPs is just harming the game.
You say that the future is bright for the game, I hope you are right because that is what I want too, but I don't see anything indicating that. Of course you see the future bright because you are sitting at the opposite side of the table and you might have access to information that gives you hope and makes you enthusiastic, but don't blame me when I feel that way. Once you come to this side with the lack of info regarding the essential things players have been asking for and the constant "we cannot talk about future content" you will see how it feels.
I stand by what I've said that we have been as transparent and forth coming as we can be with the confines that we work in. If you don't want to take it at face value and want to run off with it in wild directions that is your prerogative but it is no where near the truth.
Yes you are transparent but selectively. And when I say you here I don't mean you personally but as a company or at least Maxis branch. Not just about future content but also about what comes in patches. An example is how culling has been hidden from us players without any mention in both Dec 2015 and Jun 2016 patches.
The studio isn't being shut down, we aren't being silent, and EPs are very much still a thing. The game isn't being turned into a mobile game and it's not being treated as an MMO. Gamescom (and any gaming event really) isn't always the place to make announcements for things and will never dictate how we make announcements.
Good to know that the game is not being shut down and if we players have been feeling this way please don't blame us, This is the first sims game that in one year is not getting any EP. This gives us the indication that something is really wrong. And when I say what I feel that does not mean it is what I wish but what I feel from all the signs and indications.
Additionally, influencers aren't just people creating YouTube content or streaming on twitch or running fan sites. Every person in this forum is an influencer in their own way, you can see it every time a speculation thread gets created and whether or not it will take off like wild fire. You are influenced in your every day life by the music you listen to, shows or movies you watch, your friends, your parents, your teachers, social media, forums, etc.
As I said right now the main influence for me about the game comes from the game itself and its content. I don't take word of mouth seriously any more when it comes to this game. I would rather have the experience myself. And I expect others also not to take my words the same way because my experience is different than theirs. This is specially true with the Sims games because every person plays the game in his own way and his own style.
Everything I post is an opinion here and I think every post of others is as well.
Hello everyone! I just wanted to stop in here to clarify somethings about the panel:
1. Those who attend will absolutely be able to share what they learn after the panel is over.
2. There are two portions for this panel. The first is hosted by myself and is about what goes into deciding what influencers we work with / how content creators can start building relationships with us. The second is hosted by Lyndsay and Rachel and will be giving some insight into how far we've come with The Sims 4 since launch, explaining the addition of Game Packs and what they have to offer, and what exactly goes into development for content on The Sims 4.
3. The Q&A will be focusing solely on the above items that we discuss. We are not talking about future content, we are not making any announcements about content, and we aren't giving hints to anything.
4. We are taking this opportunity to grow stronger relationships with our international community who sometimes feel left out of things since our North American community tends to get more opportunities for things since our studio is based here.
I hope that helps clear things up
Focusing on the fourth point here.
If you intend to "grow stronger relationships" then I suggest the Sims team be honest. Be honest with the community. Even if you only look at this thread you can see the amount of anger and frustration there is within the community at this time. What you're planning to do over at Gamescom is of no use to anyone, and is really, really harmful to your reputation because it's showing you are turning a complete blind eye to everything at the moment.
People are tired. People want to know stuff. You know what we want. If you have anything to say to us, make sure it is of worth. If not it is purely wasting everyone's time.
Look by the time SGDrake had managed to secure an audience with whoever in HQ made all these decisions The Sims 67.333 recurring would be out. We just have to take what comes.
I don't think that the effort to reach out to the European community at Gamescom is a waste of time or effort, @Conorsim, but I do agree with your call for honesty to the community. The reason I say that is that I know European Simmers often feel left out of things like live Q&As and live responses from Gurus in forum conversations, and in general can sometimes feel a little alienated from the game since it's based off American life. I think it's great that the team wants to reach out to the international community and have a targeted Q&A about how those Simmers can be more involved. I think we can just accept that the Gamescom panel is designed for that specific purpose, which will be of use to some people, and focus our calls for honesty from the team away from Gamescom. (I'm not trying to lecture you! I just worry that if we target Gamescom too much, the Gurus will respond to our criticisms of the panel instead of the more pressing issues concerning honest communication which, as you say, have been expressed in this thread among others.)
Hello everyone! I just wanted to stop in here to clarify somethings about the panel:
1. Those who attend will absolutely be able to share what they learn after the panel is over.
2. There are two portions for this panel. The first is hosted by myself and is about what goes into deciding what influencers we work with / how content creators can start building relationships with us. The second is hosted by Lyndsay and Rachel and will be giving some insight into how far we've come with The Sims 4 since launch, explaining the addition of Game Packs and what they have to offer, and what exactly goes into development for content on The Sims 4.
3. The Q&A will be focusing solely on the above items that we discuss. We are not talking about future content, we are not making any announcements about content, and we aren't giving hints to anything.
4. We are taking this opportunity to grow stronger relationships with our international community who sometimes feel left out of things since our North American community tends to get more opportunities for things since our studio is based here.
I hope that helps clear things up
Focusing on the fourth point here.
If you intend to "grow stronger relationships" then I suggest the Sims team be honest. Be honest with the community. Even if you only look at this thread you can see the amount of anger and frustration there is within the community at this time. What you're planning to do over at Gamescom is of no use to anyone, and is really, really harmful to your reputation because it's showing you are turning a complete blind eye to everything at the moment.
People are tired. People want to know stuff. You know what we want. If you have anything to say to us, make sure it is of worth. If not it is purely wasting everyone's time.
How is the knowledge of our inner workings with development and production not of use to anyone?
How is providing people who want to build their fan sites or create video content (whether streamed or pre-recorded) and potentially make it a living with the knowledge of how we can work together and opportunities they have available to them to help succeed not of use to anyone?
How is taking the time to speak to actual fans face to face and have conversations not of use to anyone?
@SimGuruDrake yep I agree, I think your panel at Gamescom has a very specific purpose and I think it's great that you're going all the way to Germany to reach out to a different group of Simmers. I don't think there's anything wrong with the Gamescom panel - you have made it clear what its purpose is, and I think we shouldn't expect anything out of it other than what you've stated! (Looks like we were posting about that at the same time just now.)
But the Gamescom panel's integrity isn't the biggest issue here! I stand by what I said that we can't take your claims for transparency seriously when mechanics are added unannounced. It's the same old, same old with the newest patch notes - relationship culling has been tweaked (and favourably, though I still can't play the game unmodded personally with the new levels) but there was nothing about this in the patch notes. Why, why, why??
Hello everyone! I just wanted to stop in here to clarify somethings about the panel:
1. Those who attend will absolutely be able to share what they learn after the panel is over.
2. There are two portions for this panel. The first is hosted by myself and is about what goes into deciding what influencers we work with / how content creators can start building relationships with us. The second is hosted by Lyndsay and Rachel and will be giving some insight into how far we've come with The Sims 4 since launch, explaining the addition of Game Packs and what they have to offer, and what exactly goes into development for content on The Sims 4.
3. The Q&A will be focusing solely on the above items that we discuss. We are not talking about future content, we are not making any announcements about content, and we aren't giving hints to anything.
4. We are taking this opportunity to grow stronger relationships with our international community who sometimes feel left out of things since our North American community tends to get more opportunities for things since our studio is based here.
I hope that helps clear things up
If you intend to "grow stronger relationships" then I suggest the Sims team be honest. Be honest with the community. Even if you only look at this thread you can see the amount of anger and frustration there is within the community at this time. What you're planning to do over at Gamescom is of no use to anyone, and is really, really harmful to your reputation because it's showing you are turning a complete blind eye to everything at the moment.
People are tired. People want to know stuff. You know what we want. If you have anything to say to us, make sure it is of worth. If not it is purely wasting everyone's time.
Oh please...this Forum doesn't represent the whole Sims Community?! There are about 50-100 Users in the Sims 4 Topics, that smash the Game in every Way they are abled to. Those People talk...and i think they also feel...like representing the whole community! But this isn't the case.
I'm not the kind of Sims 4 Fan Boy...there are several things i find disappointing too but there are so many things that the Team has worked on since the game has been released two years ago. This whole "we're getting no infos" thing is a mess. It's not that kind of different from other games?! I don't know any game, in which the Team is involving the Community in EVERY step they are doing ( early access games excluded).
I absolutely understand if people say "why they can't tell us if toddlers will make it ever in the game", but there are things connected to those questions that team can't influence! Like that awful law in America that says free content can only be announced in the quarter it's going to be released. EA can't go like "Let's go break the law...the community wants to know some things". And even if it would be paid content (that can be anounced every time)...i realy wouldn't be told something like "well...we're working on toddlers...but we're not sure if we are abled to do it in a way, that makes everyone happy and we can't tell you when they're going to make it into the game. We'll give you more infos about them when the release comes closer". It sould be so terrible to wait like two years for a Pack and in the End it's not what you waited for so long. The team went a big step forward with putting this little Teasers together...thanks to @SimGuruDrake for this "innovation"...
We'll get new Content and we'll get Infos about that Content...but you have to wait another Month?! But realy...one Month is like NOTHING in this business when it comes to wait for new Content Infos.
And there are also people interested in the Q&A at the Gaescom without getting more Infos about Future Content! Some people are very pleased to learn something about the main game and developing it! And what would be cooler than meet a bunch of Simmer Friemds while having the opportunity to get to know more about amazing People like @SimGuruDrake at once
And for the End...please Simmers...Calm down! Do you really think that it'll advance the Game if you tell the People here the whole Time how bad the Game is? You won't be heard louder only because you're writing it in every single Thread.
Hello everyone! I just wanted to stop in here to clarify somethings about the panel:
1. Those who attend will absolutely be able to share what they learn after the panel is over.
2. There are two portions for this panel. The first is hosted by myself and is about what goes into deciding what influencers we work with / how content creators can start building relationships with us. The second is hosted by Lyndsay and Rachel and will be giving some insight into how far we've come with The Sims 4 since launch, explaining the addition of Game Packs and what they have to offer, and what exactly goes into development for content on The Sims 4. 3. The Q&A will be focusing solely on the above items that we discuss. We are not talking about future content, we are not making any announcements about content, and we aren't giving hints to anything.
4. We are taking this opportunity to grow stronger relationships with our international community who sometimes feel left out of things since our North American community tends to get more opportunities for things since our studio is based here.
I hope that helps clear things up
In reply to the bolded statement:
@SimGuruDrake don't worry we will not ask about future content, because we don't think there will be any, at least an interesting one.
We will just wait for your announcement of shutting down the sims 4 and the sims franchise as a whole. That is the only news me and at least some other players think we are going to hear from EA officially.
Well the reality is that you are setting yourself up for disappointment with that mindset because you will always be looking for something negative rather than giving content a chance to stand on its own. I know the future is bright for this game and it's mind boggling to see how my panels are somehow sending you off in this direction.
I stand by what I've said that we have been as transparent and forth coming as we can be with the confines that we work in. If you don't want to take it at face value and want to run off with it in wild directions that is your prerogative but it is no where near the truth.
The studio isn't being shut down, we aren't being silent, and EPs are very much still a thing. The game isn't being turned into a mobile game and it's not being treated as an MMO. Gamescom (and any gaming event really) isn't always the place to make announcements for things and will never dictate how we make announcements.
Additionally, influencers aren't just people creating YouTube content or streaming on twitch or running fan sites. Every person in this forum is an influencer in their own way, you can see it every time a speculation thread gets created and whether or not it will take off like wild fire. You are influenced in your every day life by the music you listen to, shows or movies you watch, your friends, your parents, your teachers, social media, forums, etc.
Although I'm sure many of us appreciate getting these kinds of responses, it really often feels like you're not answering the core questions people ask (you not nec. meaning "just you" ). It's hard to understand why you're giving us features no one's ever, to my knowledge at least, asked for (notwithstanding that I like phone covers & that maybe people were disappointed that they were left out of the EP, but then again .. why release them after such a long time?), but you're never really telling us why certain things are still not in the game and why certain bugs aren't being fixed first (before adding this kind of stuff). A bug-free game is still better than phone covers, and I feel like that's something you, and most other Gurus, definitely understand. And I'm sure you're all tired of the big T-question, but then why don't you guys just decide to definitively say "okay, they're are / are not coming"? What do you have to lose by being open about this? Sometimes, that feels to players like a) you know they're not coming, but want people to keep buying content in the hopes that they will, in fact, one day come; or b) you know they're coming, but refuse to tell people for some other reason. I mean NPCs, toddlers, cars, self-employment, etc. are things that aren't mindblowlingly new or anything, for many of us they're just standard features of the sims. You wouldn't ruin the surprise by being a little bit more precise as to what people can / cannot expect. This is one of the very few game series I know of that are so extremely reluctant to tell people right off the bat what they should / shouldn't hope for. No one's asking you to spoil the fun or to share exactly what you're working on, they just want to know if they should stop hoping or not. I mean clearly the Gurus have shown interest in people's ideas, and that's fantastic. But no, there is no real dialogue, or at least not a clear one. These types of answers are nice, but evasive. And that's sometimes a little sad. I understand that you're not allowed to single-handedly bend the rules and tell us what so many people here want to know, but you do have to understand that it's been two years. Not two months or two weeks. Years. That's a hell of a long time to hold off on features you know for a fact matter to tons of people, and instead keep giving us stuff we may actually really like if we had any idea at all what it is you're doing. I don't mean to offend you or any other Guru specifically for that matter, I just find that a little sad sometimes.
Wasn't/isn't there a similar system available in one of the sims games when coming back from vacation? You get to choose from several boosts/moodlets/effects depending on how well your vacation went? (I think it's vacation based, anyway)
Anyway I love reading the news on the Influencer's websites, and if someone else wants the hassle of jumping onto planes and sitting through speeches and presentations so that I can relax in my chair at home and read well written articles and screenshots about sims news then that is completely dandy by me
3. The Q&A will be focusing solely on the above items that we discuss. We are not talking about future content, we are not making any announcements about content, and we aren't giving hints to anything.
You know how to destroy all fun in just one sentence.
I don't like being the destroyer of fun but that is sadly part of my job sometimes. Better to try and keep everyone grounded rather than letting people run around trying to rile others up into a negative frenzy.
OK, I can certainly understand that part of your job is telling people what they don't want to hear. Don't envy you there. However, I think it's hypocritical to say on the one hand "no insulting others on the forums," and then turn around with the veiled insult of saying that we naysayers are "running around trying to rile others up into a negative frenzy."
Newsflash: Simmers are already in a negative frenzy, thanks to the two-year-and-growing silence on toddlers (I don't believe they're ever coming), the horrible culling which is apparently "working as intended," the joke that is constant musical chairs, and so forth.
Hi @SimGuruDrake. Has the panel discussion already taken place? When can we expect to hear about what was discussed?
The panel is actually tomorrow since it is earlier in the afternoon tomorrow you could probably start hearing about stuff that evening (this is assuming those coming are planning on putting something together to share with you that quickly.)
Hi @SimGuruDrake. Has the panel discussion already taken place? When can we expect to hear about what was discussed?
The panel is actually tomorrow since it is earlier in the afternoon tomorrow you could probably start hearing about stuff that evening (this is assuming those coming are planning on putting something together to share with you that quickly.)
So that's tomorrow morning in Gamescom time zone ?
@SimGuruDrake - I have a question for panel, not connected to the toddlers and pets
I've just read somewhere, that 'EA might be opening for remastering their games' (article was connected to the Mass Effect series) - so obvious question - Is it possible, that somwhere in the future we'll get remastered Sims 1 or 2? That would be really awesome.
@SimGuruDrake - I have a question for panel, not connected to the toddlers and pets
I've just read somewhere, that 'EA might be opening for remastering their games' (article was connected to the Mass Effect series) - so obvious question - Is it possible, that somwhere in the future we'll get remastered Sims 1 or 2? That would be really awesome.
I would buy a remastered TS2 if it had modern, semi-realistic graphics (not the TS4 claymation sparkly Disney Princess look). I still have and play TS2 and it has such heart.
Hi @SimGuruDrake. Has the panel discussion already taken place? When can we expect to hear about what was discussed?
The panel is actually tomorrow since it is earlier in the afternoon tomorrow you could probably start hearing about stuff that evening (this is assuming those coming are planning on putting something together to share with you that quickly.)
So that's tomorrow morning in Gamescom time zone ?
The Event is on Thursday Morning at Gamescom in Germany (CET). This means it's late Wednesday Evening in the US
The Gurus have already reiterated time and time again that they cannot tell us about upcoming content until they are able to. We don't like that, but I think they've repeated this rule that binds them until they're blue in the face. We understand what @SimGuruDrake has described as the "confines" concerning future content.
But we have NOT been told whether any confines prevent the team from honestly communicating every update as it is added to the game. Any time someone from the community asks about upcoming content they will be treated with pretty much the same answer. I know that if I ask "when are you adding XYZ?" they will say "sorry I can't tell you that because of the following confines ABC". But when we ask, "Why haven't you announced culling, relationship culling, and inactive played relationship decay changes when you've added them?" there's no explanation - no stock answer to which we are resigned. Just radio silence. It's fraying a lot of people's nerves. (Mine, definitely!) I know that asking when you're going to add toddlers will get me about as far as interrogating my kettle, but so far SimGuruDrake - or anybody from the team - has not explained why these new game mechanics are added secretly.
@SimGuruDrake yep I agree, I think your panel at Gamescom has a very specific purpose and I think it's great that you're going all the way to Germany to reach out to a different group of Simmers. I don't think there's anything wrong with the Gamescom panel - you have made it clear what its purpose is, and I think we shouldn't expect anything out of it other than what you've stated! (Looks like we were posting about that at the same time just now.)
But the Gamescom panel's integrity isn't the biggest issue here! I stand by what I said that we can't take your claims for transparency seriously when mechanics are added unannounced. It's the same old, same old with the newest patch notes - relationship culling has been tweaked (and favourably, though I still can't play the game unmodded personally with the new levels) but there was nothing about this in the patch notes. Why, why, why??
Anything that we change intentionally that is a big change we acknowledge that in the patch notes. We don't always do that for very minor issues but there are times when things get fixed because we fixed something else so we don't always know those are fixed until after you tell us.
In regards to culling I cannot speak to it, I don't work on that part of the team. But this might hold at least some knowledge of what you are looking for: December 4 Patch Notes --please scroll to the bottom to find the culling specific portion.
Hi @SimGuruDrake. Has the panel discussion already taken place? When can we expect to hear about what was discussed?
The panel is actually tomorrow since it is earlier in the afternoon tomorrow you could probably start hearing about stuff that evening (this is assuming those coming are planning on putting something together to share with you that quickly.)
So that's tomorrow morning in Gamescom time zone ?
The Event is on Thursday Morning at Gamescom in Germany (CET). This means it's late Wednesday Evening in the US
@Terra I'm not actually asking when they're coming, I'm just wondering (out loud) why they made this decision in the first place. People appreciate honesty, they appreciate being told honestly what will happen to the things they love. If they told us, from the beginning, that they're never ever coming (not just them, also tons of other things), then the disappointment wave would've been long over by now. Sure people would perhaps not play it because they need that (and I'm not one of those people), but they might actually appreciate the gesture. Some might even appreciate it enough to give the game a fair chance, to approach it with an open mind instead of a disappointed one. There's nothing to lose, except for maybe the customers they're already losing anyway.
Here's the info to which @SimGuruDrake was referring.
These are some of the specific issues we have addressed recently,
all with the goal of making the game stable, performant, and
enjoyable. Please know that we are always looking at performance,
culling, memory, and load time optimization issues among our
highest priority issues. And while we can’t always speak to them,
we are always appreciative of your feedback.
They are aware people are having issues with culling and are always looking for ways to address those issues.
Comments
@SimGuruDrake, how can you say this when culling, relationship culling, and inactive played relationship decay were all added into the game without being announced to let players know what was about to happen to their games? What confines prevent you from being open about game mechanics as they are added? I'm not talking about future content and the confines that prevent you from talking about it early. I'm talking about mechanics that are surreptitiously added into the game unannounced. I have yet to see any explanation as to why these mechanics cannot be communicated in the patch notes. When you fail to communicate new game mechanics which alter gameplay, you lose trust with your customers, and you leave us to speculate that the reason these features are not announced is that the team knows they will be unpopular. (Doesn't sound like a sound strategy, given the panicked threads that explode whenever one of these mechanics is added, but you're not providing us with any alternative answers.) Until you provide a reason as to why features are not always announced as they are added, I cannot believe your statement "we have been as transparent and forth coming as we can be", as much as I want to.
[edited for a typo]
Add Manage Neighbourhood Options - assign your own Sim to NPC jobs!
The Problems with Death in The Sims 4
Distinguish Elder gameplay with Elder-only reward traits
Filter Rugs by Room Size
Dear @SimGuruDrake, the mindset I had 2 years ago when I was very enthusiastic and hopeful that TS4 would be a great foundation for a great game did not help, it was disappointment after disappointment. With this current mindset I am actually not setting up myself for any disappointment because I am not feeling enthusiastic about the game anymore. The lack of focus specially with EPs is just harming the game.
You say that the future is bright for the game, I hope you are right because that is what I want too, but I don't see anything indicating that. Of course you see the future bright because you are sitting at the opposite side of the table and you might have access to information that gives you hope and makes you enthusiastic, but don't blame me when I feel that way. Once you come to this side with the lack of info regarding the essential things players have been asking for and the constant "we cannot talk about future content" you will see how it feels.
Yes you are transparent but selectively. And when I say you here I don't mean you personally but as a company or at least Maxis branch. Not just about future content but also about what comes in patches. An example is how culling has been hidden from us players without any mention in both Dec 2015 and Jun 2016 patches.
Good to know that the game is not being shut down and if we players have been feeling this way please don't blame us, This is the first sims game that in one year is not getting any EP. This gives us the indication that something is really wrong. And when I say what I feel that does not mean it is what I wish but what I feel from all the signs and indications.
As I said right now the main influence for me about the game comes from the game itself and its content. I don't take word of mouth seriously any more when it comes to this game. I would rather have the experience myself. And I expect others also not to take my words the same way because my experience is different than theirs. This is specially true with the Sims games because every person plays the game in his own way and his own style.
Focusing on the fourth point here.
If you intend to "grow stronger relationships" then I suggest the Sims team be honest. Be honest with the community. Even if you only look at this thread you can see the amount of anger and frustration there is within the community at this time. What you're planning to do over at Gamescom is of no use to anyone, and is really, really harmful to your reputation because it's showing you are turning a complete blind eye to everything at the moment.
People are tired. People want to know stuff. You know what we want. If you have anything to say to us, make sure it is of worth. If not it is purely wasting everyone's time.
Add Manage Neighbourhood Options - assign your own Sim to NPC jobs!
The Problems with Death in The Sims 4
Distinguish Elder gameplay with Elder-only reward traits
Filter Rugs by Room Size
How is the knowledge of our inner workings with development and production not of use to anyone?
How is providing people who want to build their fan sites or create video content (whether streamed or pre-recorded) and potentially make it a living with the knowledge of how we can work together and opportunities they have available to them to help succeed not of use to anyone?
How is taking the time to speak to actual fans face to face and have conversations not of use to anyone?
But the Gamescom panel's integrity isn't the biggest issue here! I stand by what I said that we can't take your claims for transparency seriously when mechanics are added unannounced. It's the same old, same old with the newest patch notes - relationship culling has been tweaked (and favourably, though I still can't play the game unmodded personally with the new levels) but there was nothing about this in the patch notes. Why, why, why??
Add Manage Neighbourhood Options - assign your own Sim to NPC jobs!
The Problems with Death in The Sims 4
Distinguish Elder gameplay with Elder-only reward traits
Filter Rugs by Room Size
Oh please...this Forum doesn't represent the whole Sims Community?! There are about 50-100 Users in the Sims 4 Topics, that smash the Game in every Way they are abled to. Those People talk...and i think they also feel...like representing the whole community! But this isn't the case.
I'm not the kind of Sims 4 Fan Boy...there are several things i find disappointing too but there are so many things that the Team has worked on since the game has been released two years ago. This whole "we're getting no infos" thing is a mess. It's not that kind of different from other games?! I don't know any game, in which the Team is involving the Community in EVERY step they are doing ( early access games excluded).
I absolutely understand if people say "why they can't tell us if toddlers will make it ever in the game", but there are things connected to those questions that team can't influence! Like that awful law in America that says free content can only be announced in the quarter it's going to be released. EA can't go like "Let's go break the law...the community wants to know some things". And even if it would be paid content (that can be anounced every time)...i realy wouldn't be told something like "well...we're working on toddlers...but we're not sure if we are abled to do it in a way, that makes everyone happy and we can't tell you when they're going to make it into the game. We'll give you more infos about them when the release comes closer". It sould be so terrible to wait like two years for a Pack and in the End it's not what you waited for so long. The team went a big step forward with putting this little Teasers together...thanks to @SimGuruDrake for this "innovation"...
We'll get new Content and we'll get Infos about that Content...but you have to wait another Month?! But realy...one Month is like NOTHING in this business when it comes to wait for new Content Infos.
And there are also people interested in the Q&A at the Gaescom without getting more Infos about Future Content! Some people are very pleased to learn something about the main game and developing it! And what would be cooler than meet a bunch of Simmer Friemds while having the opportunity to get to know more about amazing People like @SimGuruDrake at once
And for the End...please Simmers...Calm down! Do you really think that it'll advance the Game if you tell the People here the whole Time how bad the Game is? You won't be heard louder only because you're writing it in every single Thread.
Although I'm sure many of us appreciate getting these kinds of responses, it really often feels like you're not answering the core questions people ask (you not nec. meaning "just you" ). It's hard to understand why you're giving us features no one's ever, to my knowledge at least, asked for (notwithstanding that I like phone covers & that maybe people were disappointed that they were left out of the EP, but then again .. why release them after such a long time?), but you're never really telling us why certain things are still not in the game and why certain bugs aren't being fixed first (before adding this kind of stuff). A bug-free game is still better than phone covers, and I feel like that's something you, and most other Gurus, definitely understand. And I'm sure you're all tired of the big T-question, but then why don't you guys just decide to definitively say "okay, they're are / are not coming"? What do you have to lose by being open about this? Sometimes, that feels to players like a) you know they're not coming, but want people to keep buying content in the hopes that they will, in fact, one day come; or b) you know they're coming, but refuse to tell people for some other reason. I mean NPCs, toddlers, cars, self-employment, etc. are things that aren't mindblowlingly new or anything, for many of us they're just standard features of the sims. You wouldn't ruin the surprise by being a little bit more precise as to what people can / cannot expect. This is one of the very few game series I know of that are so extremely reluctant to tell people right off the bat what they should / shouldn't hope for. No one's asking you to spoil the fun or to share exactly what you're working on, they just want to know if they should stop hoping or not. I mean clearly the Gurus have shown interest in people's ideas, and that's fantastic. But no, there is no real dialogue, or at least not a clear one. These types of answers are nice, but evasive. And that's sometimes a little sad. I understand that you're not allowed to single-handedly bend the rules and tell us what so many people here want to know, but you do have to understand that it's been two years. Not two months or two weeks. Years. That's a hell of a long time to hold off on features you know for a fact matter to tons of people, and instead keep giving us stuff we may actually really like if we had any idea at all what it is you're doing. I don't mean to offend you or any other Guru specifically for that matter, I just find that a little sad sometimes.
Bon Voyage in TS2 ! I always took the extra wants
OK, I can certainly understand that part of your job is telling people what they don't want to hear. Don't envy you there. However, I think it's hypocritical to say on the one hand "no insulting others on the forums," and then turn around with the veiled insult of saying that we naysayers are "running around trying to rile others up into a negative frenzy."
Newsflash: Simmers are already in a negative frenzy, thanks to the two-year-and-growing silence on toddlers (I don't believe they're ever coming), the horrible culling which is apparently "working as intended," the joke that is constant musical chairs, and so forth.
The panel is actually tomorrow since it is earlier in the afternoon tomorrow you could probably start hearing about stuff that evening (this is assuming those coming are planning on putting something together to share with you that quickly.)
So that's tomorrow morning in Gamescom time zone ?
I've just read somewhere, that 'EA might be opening for remastering their games' (article was connected to the Mass Effect series) - so obvious question - Is it possible, that somwhere in the future we'll get remastered Sims 1 or 2? That would be really awesome.
I would buy a remastered TS2 if it had modern, semi-realistic graphics (not the TS4 claymation sparkly Disney Princess look). I still have and play TS2 and it has such heart.
The Event is on Thursday Morning at Gamescom in Germany (CET). This means it's late Wednesday Evening in the US
But we have NOT been told whether any confines prevent the team from honestly communicating every update as it is added to the game. Any time someone from the community asks about upcoming content they will be treated with pretty much the same answer. I know that if I ask "when are you adding XYZ?" they will say "sorry I can't tell you that because of the following confines ABC". But when we ask, "Why haven't you announced culling, relationship culling, and inactive played relationship decay changes when you've added them?" there's no explanation - no stock answer to which we are resigned. Just radio silence. It's fraying a lot of people's nerves. (Mine, definitely!) I know that asking when you're going to add toddlers will get me about as far as interrogating my kettle, but so far SimGuruDrake - or anybody from the team - has not explained why these new game mechanics are added secretly.
Add Manage Neighbourhood Options - assign your own Sim to NPC jobs!
The Problems with Death in The Sims 4
Distinguish Elder gameplay with Elder-only reward traits
Filter Rugs by Room Size
Anything that we change intentionally that is a big change we acknowledge that in the patch notes. We don't always do that for very minor issues but there are times when things get fixed because we fixed something else so we don't always know those are fixed until after you tell us.
In regards to culling I cannot speak to it, I don't work on that part of the team. But this might hold at least some knowledge of what you are looking for: December 4 Patch Notes --please scroll to the bottom to find the culling specific portion.
Thanks !
These are some of the specific issues we have addressed recently,
all with the goal of making the game stable, performant, and
enjoyable. Please know that we are always looking at performance,
culling, memory, and load time optimization issues among our
highest priority issues. And while we can’t always speak to them,
we are always appreciative of your feedback.
They are aware people are having issues with culling and are always looking for ways to address those issues.