I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
This is in reply to the part I bolded. I think W.W. has finally got his dream come true and name this the architectural game which is what he was going to call TS1. Considering there is such a huge number of lots on the gallery it's clear people like building more than they like playing it. Millions of lots.
But the sad thing about TS4 is it's alright for character creation and building (but limited in those areas, too) but we're supposed to be playing and after you strip away the CAS manipulation and the building aspects (new push and pull blocks) there's not much in there for actually keeping people for playing for days without stopping. Playing for hours and hours and forgetting to take a bathroom break. Those are the days of The Sims and The Sims2 and probably for many in TS3 though it started to be more about building also. Oh, and uploading patterns.
I cannot argue with you there @Cinebar . I think what you state has merit. The wow factor of the house building and sim creation components has definitely came with a price...less emphasis on the actual gameplay
Fortunately, for me, that's alright---these home building capabilities satisfy my "inner architect" desire. But I can also understand why this may turn off so many simmers. I've recently talked to simmers on this forum who do not like to build at all. They'd rather download a nice house off the gallery and then spend the majority of their time playing the game. Herein lies the problem...there is just not that much for the Sims to do just yet. To some extent, we've sacrificed simulation for creation, and I can understand how that frustrates many simmers.
And as much as I do love the building tools, even this comes with limitations (as you also stated above). It's sometimes difficult to match doors-to-windows or furniture-to-furniture because the color schemes have been pre-chosen for us. That has definitely hindered some of my designs, and is one of the reasons that I heavily miss the Sims 3 CAS system.
I would like a color wheel at least. Not many shades of the same color match in this game and it really annoys me. SGLyndsay said she was surprised not many people were using the color choices they had included on clothes or maybe it was furniture. (now I remember reading that in the Ask A guru thread now closed...middle of night light goes on where I saw that,lol) It's no wonder, hope telemetry doesn't tell them next time no need to add those extra things but for it was non matching shades of color.
Yes! I would be happy with even a small color wheel, and maybe a small pattern wheel of 30-50 patterns. It would be so nice to be able to customize furniture. I build a lot of 1920s to 1940s creations, and some of this furniture clashes with my designs. I end up using many of the same pieces in my houses.
And you know what else I miss? Hair highlights haha. Most of my sims are based off people I know, and I have one friend with these nice purple streaks and tips that I cannot recreate with the given tools.
I miss being able to give Nancy Landgrabb black roots when I'd dress her in sleazy daisy dukes.
I'll add my name to this list. I used to create sims and give them very strange hair colour combinations.
One thing I loved about TS3's CASt was being able to create graying hair at the temples. Just slightly or maybe dramatic. As if they were slowly showing their age as they were getting older. I loved that.
I really miss having this customization too. Being able to have an elder sim that just had gray streaks, teens with pink and purple highlights, older adults with gray roots...it was only hair color but it just added a lot of depth to CAS. I wish we could at least get this back for hair.
Yes, it would be so cool to get a hair highlight feature back!
@SimGuruDrake - thanks for facilitating this thread here and thanks for keeping your cool and not just shutting the thread down. And you're here on the weekend too Kudos!
I think Rachel's departure is a HUGE deal--not for TS4, but for the future of The Sims. Ms. Franklin's resume is impressive and I reckon she's an incredibly talented individual. However, she wasn't the right person for this franchise (in my opinion). Maybe she did just fine for this game--let's acknowledge that a lot of players enjoy TS4 (no idea why, but whatever... somehow the game worked for quite a few fans), but I think that in the long run she (and whoever else had say in some of the choices made for this game) would've been bad for the brand.
I don't want to see The Sims go the way of SimCity I'll wait for TS5 and hope this go around that the producers involved will have heard those of us who stopped buying the Sims and our reasons for doing so. I'd rather see the executives shuffled around because they realise there are better opportunities to shine in other positions than developers and producers like the SimGurus who get let go because EA determines Maxis is no longer profitable... I'm sure there are a lot of fans like me who want the Sims to succeed, but I'm not going to throw money at this (in my opinion) boring lackluster TS4 game. That's just silly : (
I actually have played The Sims 4 recently just to show my nephew the game as he used to love playing The Sims 3. He quickly lost interest, and I can't blame him. The only appealing change I noticed from a builder's perspective was the correction of transfer loss when sharing builds. My core concerns with the game expressed both at Creators Camp and in my written feedback to the team (which Rachel Franklin solicited during our conference call around March 2015) remain largely unaddressed in any meaningful way. It is very telling to me that almost every creator I know from Sims Camp and Creators Camp has left the franchise almost entirely, just like me. I'm not talking about the fan sites and YouTube personalities (tellingly labeled "influencers" at Creators Camp). I'm talking about the creators who truly created the most magical and inspiring things with The Sims 3, things we could no longer do in The Sims 4. The creative tools we need--that we said we needed quite explicitly--just aren't there as I tried to articulate clearly and extensively with words and photographic examples in the post above (taken from March 2015).
I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
I too create more than I play I only have 268 hours into the game. I could not play sims 3 it was too laggy and buggy and would not recognize my newer video card, so it never played right, I love sims 2, but my sims all seem to look the same and I find the CAS in that after sims 4 to be lacking. I can't download sims 1 on my computer even though I have all the disks, would love if EA would make it a digital download so I could play it again.
I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
I too create more than I play I only have 268 hours into the game. I could not play sims 3 it was too laggy and buggy and would not recognize my newer video card, so it never played right, I love sims 2, but my sims all seem to look the same and I find the CAS in that after sims 4 to be lacking. I can't download sims 1 on my computer even though I have all the disks, would love if EA would make it a digital download so I could play it again.
I would not mind going back to play Sims 1 again for a while, if only to see Marky Sharky...aka the Volley Shark...on the beach!
@jimmysnan I still think The Sims 2 body shop has more sliders than this game. At least for face structure. I stopped using TS2 CAS years ago and built my Sims in body shop then in game go into existing Sims in the in game CAS and they will be in there from body shop. It has so many things this game doesn't have like nostril flare or not, lowering the eye brow just over the eye or not, double chin etc. And Spock ears.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
I too create more than I play I only have 268 hours into the game. I could not play sims 3 it was too laggy and buggy and would not recognize my newer video card, so it never played right, I love sims 2, but my sims all seem to look the same and I find the CAS in that after sims 4 to be lacking. I can't download sims 1 on my computer even though I have all the disks, would love if EA would make it a digital download so I could play it again.
I would not mind going back to play Sims 1 again for a while, if only to see Marky Sharky...aka the Volley Shark...on the beach!
I remember the shark!! Id love Sims 1 to go digital on origin as a complete collection.
I agree that she didn't seem to really share the same vision that the fans have, and as a fan, I'm hoping that this means we'll get someone who does. Wasn't she the one who said that they didn't consult professionals for this game? Which is why the emotions are so unrealistic...
@jimmysnan I still think The Sims 2 body shop has more sliders than this game. At least for face structure. I stopped using TS2 CAS years ago and built my Sims in body shop then in game go into existing Sims in the in game CAS and they will be in there from body shop. It has so many things this game doesn't have like nostril flare or not, lowering the eye brow just over the eye or not, double chin etc. And Spock ears.
I have to admit I have never used Sims 2 Bodyshop because I did not know how to use it
I agree that she didn't seem to really share the same vision that the fans have, and as a fan, I'm hoping that this means we'll get someone who does. Wasn't she the one who said that they didn't consult professionals for this game? Which is why the emotions are so unrealistic...
I keep forgetting the emotion system is even there! Its so pointless as nothing has ever been done with it. I dont even notice it when i do play now.
I am having trouble with this site, since I had to update. I just got word that I have posted too much and have been taken off of here for spamming. It showed in red on top of this comment. So if this does show then great if not then I can't help it
After attending Sims Camp and then Creators camp at the launch of The Sims 4, I couldn't help but sense a real disconnect between Rachel Franklin and the longtime fans of the game, especially the artists and creators who built true masterpieces with the platform with earlier versions of the game whether they were houses, movies, modeling magazines, or stories. All of the major tools at these creators' disposal were dispensed with like Create a Style, Create a World, and MOO for Sims while adding nonsensical things like terrible camera features that blurred from a distance or caused objects to disappear from close up in camera mode. The artists and creators and other fans left the franchise in droves, including me sadly. Leaving out Create a Style was probably the nail in the coffin for me--and not just that, but Rachel Franklin's complete lack of perception of why that was such a key feature for creators and lack of any visible intention to address such huge concerns in a tangible way that made the game playable for creators who wanted to express themselves in the best possible way instead of with a continued severely restricted palette.
There are folks here debating whether she was fired or left for another job opportunity. The "other job opportunity" speaks just as poorly of her as helm of The Sims 4 and one who was ultimately responsible for all of the very bad decisions that went into the making of this game. She came on at the start of Sims 4 with no experience whatsoever in the franchise or connection to the fan base (others at EA/Maxis have been there since the beginning), and she couldn't even stick it out until the third EP? What does that say about her passion for making the game the best it could be (instead of the worst iteration ever) and her competence as a leader?
I think The Sims 4 is beyond repair at this point. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm not. I hope EA gives The Sims 5 a chance and this time around solicits and employs feedback from fans BEFORE and DURING product development instead of AFTERWARDS when the game engine is locked and the hopes and possibilities of and for fans, builders, and other creators throughout the history of the franchise are completely dashed.
Well said, Bill. Like you , I have become more and more frustrated with the limitations of the game over time and find myself building/playing less and less. It saddens me.
I agree with you that there seems to be a disconnect between the studio and what the fans want from the game that stems from leadership. Choices have been made with the direction of the game and they have not been good ones. Despite the feedback and lagging sales, the decision was made to plow forward and double down on these bad choices. I hope that new leadership will recognize this and make an effort to redirect the game where it needs to go to thrive.
I love this game. I have devoted years creating and sharing with the community because with The Sims, anything is possible. Or at least it used to be.
I agree that she didn't seem to really share the same vision that the fans have, and as a fan, I'm hoping that this means we'll get someone who does. Wasn't she the one who said that they didn't consult professionals for this game? Which is why the emotions are so unrealistic...
That might have been Lucy Bradshaw but during the interview where they were together. I never understood that since LB had a degree in psychology and I thought it would have been useful in fleshing out what a Sim should do when they felt a particular emotion and especially for traits and whether those were inherited or learned. And the magnitude those things would play in fleshing out a Sim to be a unique individual which in this game they are not but were to me in TS2.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I agree that she didn't seem to really share the same vision that the fans have, and as a fan, I'm hoping that this means we'll get someone who does. Wasn't she the one who said that they didn't consult professionals for this game? Which is why the emotions are so unrealistic...
I keep forgetting the emotion system is even there! Its so pointless as nothing has ever been done with it. I dont even notice it when i do play now.
It drives me nuts--like I said in another thread, I'm in the field of psychology and do research on emotion dysregulation, so I feel pretty confident in saying that the way they work in TS4 is extremely unrealistic. Although, honestly, the lack of realism wouldn't bother me if the emotion system didn't (IMO) inhibit story telling so badly.
I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
I too create more than I play I only have 268 hours into the game. I could not play sims 3 it was too laggy and buggy and would not recognize my newer video card, so it never played right, I love sims 2, but my sims all seem to look the same and I find the CAS in that after sims 4 to be lacking. I can't download sims 1 on my computer even though I have all the disks, would love if EA would make it a digital download so I could play it again.
I would not mind going back to play Sims 1 again for a while, if only to see Marky Sharky...aka the Volley Shark...on the beach!
I remember the shark!! Id love Sims 1 to go digital on origin as a complete collection.
That goofy looking shark dude always cracked me up. He is one of my fav sim NPC's! Haha
I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
I too create more than I play I only have 268 hours into the game. I could not play sims 3 it was too laggy and buggy and would not recognize my newer video card, so it never played right, I love sims 2, but my sims all seem to look the same and I find the CAS in that after sims 4 to be lacking. I can't download sims 1 on my computer even though I have all the disks, would love if EA would make it a digital download so I could play it again.
I would not mind going back to play Sims 1 again for a while, if only to see Marky Sharky...aka the Volley Shark...on the beach!
I remember the shark!! Id love Sims 1 to go digital on origin as a complete collection.
That goofy looking shark dude always cracked me up. He is one of my fav sim NPC's! Haha
He is goofy looking but I too love seeing him, I miss the game itself, as it was played with my son when he was younger who is now 42, I played the sims 2 with grandson (his son) and the sims 3 and 4 on my own since they had moved on.
I actually have played The Sims 4 recently just to show my nephew the game as he used to love playing The Sims 3. He quickly lost interest, and I can't blame him. The only appealing change I noticed from a builder's perspective was the correction of transfer loss when sharing builds. My core concerns with the game expressed both at Creators Camp and in my written feedback to the team (which Rachel Franklin solicited during our conference call around March 2015) remain largely unaddressed in any meaningful way. It is very telling to me that almost every creator I know from Sims Camp and Creators Camp has left the franchise almost entirely just like me. I'm not talking about the fan sites and YouTube personalities (tellingly labeled "influencers" at Creators Camp). I'm talking about the creators who truly created the most magical and inspiring things with The Sims 3, things we could no longer do in The Sims 4. The creative tools we need--that we said we needed quite explicitly--just aren't there as I tried to articulate clearly and extensively with words and photographic examples in the post above (taken from March 2015).
Hi Bill!!!!! How are you!!!
I agree. I lost interest in TS4 almost immediately. Boring and limited. Not at all what we had in prior Sims games.
Although I do not blame just this one person. When the game itself started out with mobile/online in mind, this person was probably the right person to run the game. Too bad the game was switched mid development. Or for that fact why would anyone think this type game would be best as a mobile game confounds me.Then EA expected us, the consumers to just deal with the fallout. That being a limited unfinished train wreck.
After listening to interviews I came away with the feeling that someone(s) did not understand what a good many of the base considered important in a Sims game. Why they (?) felt the need to change the whole concept of the game is beyond me.
Moving on it will be interesting to see who the replacement will be. What background they come from may indicate whether any (if any) future Sims games will make a return to the sandbox type game I enjoyed.
kim
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln
They should bring back Will Wright, but I don't think he would want to join the Sims 4 in this state.
I actually think people would be shocked if Will Wright worked on a Sims game.
Simply because it would be so far from The Sims 2/3/4 that I think people would hate it even more.
You have to remember, he was the one who worked on The Sims Bustin Out. That was his last Sims game that he had control over, and he loved the over the top, quirky cartoon, non realistic, adult focused, linear gameplay. That's where he took The Sims before he went.
He was an "advisor" on The Sims 2 base game, which meant he was asked if he liked the game, and if he felt it was good enough. But I believe a Sims sequel would have been nothing like The Sims 2 we have now, if he was in total control.
I think it's good that he left when he did. He also though SimCity 2013 was incredible.
Honestly, I'm kind of glad. I don't think she had a vision for the Sims 4.
I've always said, The Sims 4 being what it was wasn't her fault, because she was dumped with the project and was given a year to make it work.
That said, I don't know what's she's been doing since Get Together. She hasn't done any interviews, she hasn't talked about 4 that much. I think it's for the best.
I just hope SimGuruLyndsay gets the spot. She worked on the original Sims and has always worked on the games. I hope she gets full control over the Sims and takes it.
I want the future of The Sims 4 to be fixed. It can be fixed if they focus on it. It's not broken at its core like people say, it's just not enough has been done with it
I hope Graham comes back because if he is the guru that headed up Sims 3, he appeared to be levelled headed and a nice person. He showed a lot of passion for the Sims. I wish Rachel better luck in her next endeavors, Sims series need better guidance that reflects some wishes from all groups and not just one. however be careful for what you ask for you may not get it and in time if there is any left I guess some of us will see if there is change.
That wouldn't help me with the game's future, because I was already upset by the direction TS3 was going in. Although I was excited by the open world, and it was worth playing for that alone, I already noticed the shallowing out of the sims as little humans and the extra emphasis on ways to score goals. I would like to go back to the personality sliders, and the personal memories and experiences stored by the sims. I know that these very memories caused some of the clogging up of our computer processing but in my judgement that was largely because they gossipped about them too freely and about too trivial matters. So basically if Betsy burned her grilled cheese one day, three generations later every sim in the universe knew about it and stored it as a memory. This lovely idea could simply have been tuned down a bit.
Interesting reply but I am trying to see how Sims where 'shallowed out as little humans' as you put it.
TS3 had the greatest emphasis on Sims in any Sims game what with the traits replacing the dated 'personality points'
THey were shallowed out big time, sims in 3 are the blandest so far.
Maybe they were bland but as far as gameplay goes I am more interested in and Sims 4 right now has the blandest gameplay. But what I post and what you post can be subjective because we after all have different tastes. It takes more than graphics and it just run to keep me interested.
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I honestly believe the sims today would leave Will Wright shaking his head. This was his baby.
Have you seen The Sims Bustin Out? That was his baby. He even presented it, and did all the press for it.
While it was a great game, it was more distant than The Sims 4 is from the original Sims. It was a game where you played a Story. That's where Will Wright took the game.
Will Wright lost interest as of The Sims 2. He barely spoke about it, and wasn't even credited on it apart from being the person who created it. They just asked him if he was okay for the game to be realesed under his brand.
I'll make a bold pitch for the next person to lead what could become the greatest Sims game ever: Cassidy Wright. Hey, she's Will's daughter, she's interested in technology, she's old enough and young enough at the same time. C'mon, who's with me?!?
What are her professional credentials? Has she been the head of a studio before? Does she have experience with game development or anything related to that field? Don't get me wrong I really liked Will Wright when he was involved with the Sims, but I don't think her parentage, her interests, or her age are really enough to ensure "the greatest Sims game ever".
I seriously doubt that there is a "greatest Sims game ever" for everyone. I think the game is too much your imagination to be a "standard" great game. It is what you imagine it to be. You love some things and hate some things. They are not the same things that I love or hate, they just are. I always have to shake my head when I see "the best Sims Game Ever" because none of them are and none of them will be for everyone in my opinion. The best is what you make of it.
I agree with you @jimmysnan . Everyone's individual expectations are so widely different that the gurus would never be able to create a one-size-fits-all sims game for us.
I've liked each of the sims releases---including 4---in their own way, but I've also disliked various aspects about each.
As much as I liked 3, with its open worlds and CAS, I used to get quite agitated by all the bugs and slow load times and lagging. I cannot begin to count how many times my game was interrupted by glitches or poor performance, and I was constantly clearing the cache to improve performance, and, toward the end of sims 3, I was doing this constantly.
In my mind, sims 2 was laid out the best. I loved the design of the apartments, the shopping, the vacation destinations (and the activities that you could do there) and the fact that cars pulled in and backed out of driveways, instead of just magically appearing in a parking spot or personal inventory. It was a simple game, yet it really was put together well.
I recognize that game design would be a tough profession to be in, and I applaud all the gurus and the programmers and testers and supporting staff for their hard work! I am sure that Rachel and SimGuruDrake and all the rest of the gurus have put in some very long days, and their list of challenges are long and rigorous. They have to try to please the fans, whilst also pleasing EA and its stockholders.
Do I like all 100% of the content that EA/Maxis delivers? Definitely not (i.e. Katy Perry in 3), but, at least for me, I feel that there is enough good content in 2,3, and 4 to hold my interest for hours at a time. I will admit that 4 has held my attention the least of all---I generally only play for an hour or so here and there---but I still enjoy playing the game, and I have spent hours building houses and creating sims. Sometimes I think I enjoy creating more than actually playing.
This is in reply to the part I bolded. I think W.W. has finally got his dream come true and name this the architectural game which is what he was going to call TS1. Considering there is such a huge number of lots on the gallery it's clear people like building more than they like playing it. Millions of lots.
But the sad thing about TS4 is it's alright for character creation and building (but limited in those areas, too) but we're supposed to be playing and after you strip away the CAS manipulation and the building aspects (new push and pull blocks) there's not much in there for actually keeping people for playing for days without stopping. Playing for hours and hours and forgetting to take a bathroom break. Those are the days of The Sims and The Sims2 and probably for many in TS3 though it started to be more about building also. Oh, and uploading patterns.
I cannot argue with you there @Cinebar . I think what you state has merit. The wow factor of the house building and sim creation components has definitely came with a price...less emphasis on the actual gameplay
Fortunately, for me, that's alright---these home building capabilities satisfy my "inner architect" desire. But I can also understand why this may turn off so many simmers. I've recently talked to simmers on this forum who do not like to build at all. They'd rather download a nice house off the gallery and then spend the majority of their time playing the game. Herein lies the problem...there is just not that much for the Sims to do just yet. To some extent, we've sacrificed simulation for creation, and I can understand how that frustrates many simmers.
And as much as I do love the building tools, even this comes with limitations (as you also stated above). It's sometimes difficult to match doors-to-windows or furniture-to-furniture because the color schemes have been pre-chosen for us. That has definitely hindered some of my designs, and is one of the reasons that I heavily miss the Sims 3 CAS system.
I do agree that a lot of what is making Sims 4 run almost w/o problems comes at a price for some simmers who want to take the game over and beyond but can't because it might make one group feel left out and IMHO it is like one size fit all if one group can't experience all the bells and whistles than nobody else can experience those bells and whistles regardless if you run your system with an i7 6700K, Nvidia 1080 8 GB ram, and 16 GB ram, etc. I would love to see a demo with Sims 4 with all it's features and some of Sims 3 features(Yeah it is a pipe dream but one dream though). However it their game and it my money and glad it is only one of the many I do play.
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Comments
Yes, it would be so cool to get a hair highlight feature back!
I think Rachel's departure is a HUGE deal--not for TS4, but for the future of The Sims. Ms. Franklin's resume is impressive and I reckon she's an incredibly talented individual. However, she wasn't the right person for this franchise (in my opinion). Maybe she did just fine for this game--let's acknowledge that a lot of players enjoy TS4 (no idea why, but whatever... somehow the game worked for quite a few fans), but I think that in the long run she (and whoever else had say in some of the choices made for this game) would've been bad for the brand.
I don't want to see The Sims go the way of SimCity
I actually have played The Sims 4 recently just to show my nephew the game as he used to love playing The Sims 3. He quickly lost interest, and I can't blame him. The only appealing change I noticed from a builder's perspective was the correction of transfer loss when sharing builds. My core concerns with the game expressed both at Creators Camp and in my written feedback to the team (which Rachel Franklin solicited during our conference call around March 2015) remain largely unaddressed in any meaningful way. It is very telling to me that almost every creator I know from Sims Camp and Creators Camp has left the franchise almost entirely, just like me. I'm not talking about the fan sites and YouTube personalities (tellingly labeled "influencers" at Creators Camp). I'm talking about the creators who truly created the most magical and inspiring things with The Sims 3, things we could no longer do in The Sims 4. The creative tools we need--that we said we needed quite explicitly--just aren't there as I tried to articulate clearly and extensively with words and photographic examples in the post above (taken from March 2015).
I too create more than I play I only have 268 hours into the game. I could not play sims 3 it was too laggy and buggy and would not recognize my newer video card, so it never played right, I love sims 2, but my sims all seem to look the same and I find the CAS in that after sims 4 to be lacking. I can't download sims 1 on my computer even though I have all the disks, would love if EA would make it a digital download so I could play it again.
I would not mind going back to play Sims 1 again for a while, if only to see Marky Sharky...aka the Volley Shark...on the beach!
I remember the shark!! Id love Sims 1 to go digital on origin as a complete collection.
I have to admit I have never used Sims 2 Bodyshop because I did not know how to use it
I keep forgetting the emotion system is even there! Its so pointless as nothing has ever been done with it. I dont even notice it when i do play now.
Well said, Bill. Like you , I have become more and more frustrated with the limitations of the game over time and find myself building/playing less and less. It saddens me.
I agree with you that there seems to be a disconnect between the studio and what the fans want from the game that stems from leadership. Choices have been made with the direction of the game and they have not been good ones. Despite the feedback and lagging sales, the decision was made to plow forward and double down on these bad choices. I hope that new leadership will recognize this and make an effort to redirect the game where it needs to go to thrive.
I love this game. I have devoted years creating and sharing with the community because with The Sims, anything is possible. Or at least it used to be.
That might have been Lucy Bradshaw but during the interview where they were together. I never understood that since LB had a degree in psychology and I thought it would have been useful in fleshing out what a Sim should do when they felt a particular emotion and especially for traits and whether those were inherited or learned. And the magnitude those things would play in fleshing out a Sim to be a unique individual which in this game they are not but were to me in TS2.
It drives me nuts--like I said in another thread, I'm in the field of psychology and do research on emotion dysregulation, so I feel pretty confident in saying that the way they work in TS4 is extremely unrealistic. Although, honestly, the lack of realism wouldn't bother me if the emotion system didn't (IMO) inhibit story telling so badly.
That goofy looking shark dude always cracked me up. He is one of my fav sim NPC's! Haha
He is goofy looking but I too love seeing him, I miss the game itself, as it was played with my son when he was younger who is now 42, I played the sims 2 with grandson (his son) and the sims 3 and 4 on my own since they had moved on.
Hi Bill!!!!! How are you!!!
I agree. I lost interest in TS4 almost immediately. Boring and limited. Not at all what we had in prior Sims games.
Although I do not blame just this one person. When the game itself started out with mobile/online in mind, this person was probably the right person to run the game. Too bad the game was switched mid development. Or for that fact why would anyone think this type game would be best as a mobile game confounds me.Then EA expected us, the consumers to just deal with the fallout. That being a limited unfinished train wreck.
After listening to interviews I came away with the feeling that someone(s) did not understand what a good many of the base considered important in a Sims game. Why they (?) felt the need to change the whole concept of the game is beyond me.
Moving on it will be interesting to see who the replacement will be. What background they come from may indicate whether any (if any) future Sims games will make a return to the sandbox type game I enjoyed.
kim
Abraham Lincoln
I actually think people would be shocked if Will Wright worked on a Sims game.
Simply because it would be so far from The Sims 2/3/4 that I think people would hate it even more.
You have to remember, he was the one who worked on The Sims Bustin Out. That was his last Sims game that he had control over, and he loved the over the top, quirky cartoon, non realistic, adult focused, linear gameplay. That's where he took The Sims before he went.
He was an "advisor" on The Sims 2 base game, which meant he was asked if he liked the game, and if he felt it was good enough. But I believe a Sims sequel would have been nothing like The Sims 2 we have now, if he was in total control.
I think it's good that he left when he did. He also though SimCity 2013 was incredible.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Olympus was a project under his name befire he left.
Rachel stepped in around the time of SimCity 2013.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
I've always said, The Sims 4 being what it was wasn't her fault, because she was dumped with the project and was given a year to make it work.
That said, I don't know what's she's been doing since Get Together. She hasn't done any interviews, she hasn't talked about 4 that much. I think it's for the best.
I just hope SimGuruLyndsay gets the spot. She worked on the original Sims and has always worked on the games. I hope she gets full control over the Sims and takes it.
I want the future of The Sims 4 to be fixed. It can be fixed if they focus on it. It's not broken at its core like people say, it's just not enough has been done with it
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Have you seen The Sims Bustin Out? That was his baby. He even presented it, and did all the press for it.
While it was a great game, it was more distant than The Sims 4 is from the original Sims. It was a game where you played a Story. That's where Will Wright took the game.
Will Wright lost interest as of The Sims 2. He barely spoke about it, and wasn't even credited on it apart from being the person who created it. They just asked him if he was okay for the game to be realesed under his brand.
Insta: https://instagram.com/jkarajs?igshid=oef2ymrand3g
Ahh! Thanks.
I always get confused as to whether it's paid content or free content that the time restrictions apply to.