That Sims 3 store was bananas and I don't ever want to see it back.
Sims 3 is still a better game than Sims 4. Sims4 fails on basic stuff like traits making each Sim unique. When I went back to Sims 3, I was literally shocked to see how the traits really made each Sim unique. I used to think the traits didn't change much in Sims3 and I was wrong. The traits should be the primary personality on the Sim, not the emotions. If someone dies, an evil sims should maybe cackle, a gloomy sim would cry loudly and hard and maybe become depressed, a happy sim should cry but be able to move on quicker.
I guess they would have taken too much time to code but since the Sims themselves and CAS seemed to be the primary selling point, they should have taken the time to do it.
That Sims 3 store was bananas and I don't ever want to see it back.
Sims 3 is still a better game than Sims 4. Sims4 fails on basic stuff like traits making each Sim unique. When I went back to Sims 3, I was literally shocked to see how the traits really made each Sim unique. I used to think the traits didn't change much in Sims3 and I was wrong. The traits should be the primary personality on the Sim, not the emotions. If someone dies, an evil sims should maybe cackle, a gloomy sim would cry loudly and hard and maybe become depressed, a happy sim should cry but be able to move on quicker.
I guess they would have taken too much time to code but since the Sims themselves and CAS seemed to be the primary selling point, they should have taken the time to do it.
I used to feel that way, but now I'm simply not seeing a difference. Basically, they're asking us to pay $10 for a single playable object and $40 for a world at this point. A world that is incredibly limited compared to the $20 worlds of the Store. I'm just not seeing the beneifit of the new system covertly disquised as the old with a new flavour.
Dissatisfied with Sims 4 and hoping for a better Sims 5
That Sims 3 store was bananas and I don't ever want to see it back.
Sims 3 is still a better game than Sims 4. Sims4 fails on basic stuff like traits making each Sim unique. When I went back to Sims 3, I was literally shocked to see how the traits really made each Sim unique. I used to think the traits didn't change much in Sims3 and I was wrong. The traits should be the primary personality on the Sim, not the emotions. If someone dies, an evil sims should maybe cackle, a gloomy sim would cry loudly and hard and maybe become depressed, a happy sim should cry but be able to move on quicker.
I guess they would have taken too much time to code but since the Sims themselves and CAS seemed to be the primary selling point, they should have taken the time to do it.
I agree. I have felt the problem with the sims 4 sims is not that they are all alike, It's the emotions are all the same. A sad sim is a sad sim and an angry sim is an angry sim. The traits are what emotion they go into when certain things happen. For instance, Sim A has a the loves outdoor trait. Sim B has the club trait. If they are in a club gathering outside, they both are happy but act the same way. because there are so many ways for sims to be in an emotion (especially happy) everybody feels the same. When each sim all the time has plus 6 happy, everybody acts the same. One sim is happy because he's with other sims, another is happy because he is outside, a third is happy because she ate good food, and the fourth is happy because she heard good music.
Four different reasons based off of traits but one emotion. That is the problem with sims 4 emotions. Anyway that was off topic but I much prefer sims 4's stuff packs over the overpriced sims 3 store.
I love video games because of the things that I could never do in real life... For instance, in the sims you can get a job and a house.
Origin ID: Mainmanvs100
I liked The Sims 3 Store because it lended itself to contests. I own most of the Sims store due to the contests, lottos, and generosity of Simmers in the gift gathering section of the forums. That section still has fantastic giveaways and generous Simmers around and that was/is still a major benefit for me.
For me, in general, it's about quality rather than quantity and The Sims 3 Store put out some great quality items, worlds, etc. I was always excited when a new set was revealed and I loved the videos and live streams that the Store used to do.
I liked the store. It was outrageously expensive, and I didn't think that some of the things were worth the price, but if I really wanted them, then I would watch ads to contribute simpoints to my budget. Thanks to some truly generous people & wonderful friends, I own the store ( apart from one or two hat hairs that I don't like ) and have helped other people along their way to owning it too.
I always thought the contests and giveaways promoted a really nice sense of community in the store section. It was always a really nice and friendly place to post in the "old" days, even if you didn't give or receive.
Sometimes I wonder if people remember exactly how many items we really got with some of the store packs, especially worlds. Lucky Palms for example. Not only did we get the wishing well & casino items, with a little extra gameplay, but you got the world, all the clothing, the hair, the build items , plant items, and a set of retextured and re-designed rabbitholes to fit into the world. Not every rabbithole was covered, but enough to make me ( at least ) think that something like that was worth the money.
Years on now, and I am still playing it, still using the rabbitholes in other worlds, still using the wishing well, and occasionally letting my sims gamble, and I think it's been worth its money.
I think the quality of the store was excellent, apart from a couple of those awful and ugly flowers that looked like something from lego-land.
Some of the hairs were a bit boofy though
I think TS4 could probably benefit from a store itself, with some added gameplay items. It might make it less boring for some people.
The loading time just to travel or go into the future are one of the main reasons those pack's weren't worth it to me. University had the same issue but at least with university I felt like the load time was worth it in the end.
One loading screen and you can play for simdays without one. WA worlds are very much worth the wait for me, as is University. Oasis Landing... less. It was nice to travel there but I don't see myself doing that any time soon with my sim. That's all very personal though, don't think this has anything to do with quality? I understand why people wouldn't like WA, but it's a high quality package (for those who do like the theme).
I already dealt with the first loading screen just to get in game, last thing I wanted to do was wait during a second to travel to one of the travel worlds. I also wasn't a fan of exploring tombs which left me to exploring the worlds and sadly it felt like most of the effort put into the tombs rather then the world. I did like karate and nectar making but those aren't enough to make me feel like my money was greatly spent. Honestly though I wanted the experience of sending my sims on vacation to relax and have fun not spend the next 10 sim hours exploring a tomb and my sims passing put due sleep failure. I wish they had combined IP with WA because IP added the feel of going on vacation because of resorts but since they were in your home world it felt weird to go to one. If resorts were instead in those travel worlds that would of made more sense. For me that would of been a great traveling EP, explore tombs and find treasures or relax in luxury resorts .
Must admit I absolutely love the WA worlds myself, can't see where they went sloppy there I do understand though when exploring tombs isn't what you want in the game it's kind of a lost EP. Yet again, it was very wel made.
I guess it depends on how long your loading screens are? When WA was my only EP it wasn't a long wait, and on my current computer it doesn't take long either. That has been different, but it kind of feels ok for me because it does take a lot of time to travel from home to China or Egypt or France. So my mind somehow even kind of welcomes it I guess.
I don't agree about IP and WA combined, those are two completely different themes (I never considered WA vacation, it felt like Indiana Jones to me from the moment I saw it on a shelf and discovered the game had an expansion). I do wish though they'd have treated IP the same way, it being a vacation world to travel to.
I hope Outdoor Retreat isn't the only thing they'll give as far as travel. Go camping and that's it for a vacation. Nah, I need WA/Bon Voyage type travel. Most of my Sims are too posh to go camping.
I do like the GP Spa Day. I think it was worth it. I got all my TS4 content during the black Friday sale.
The expansion packs could use more work, IMHO. I wish there was a consistent design, but it really feels like they just throw whatever they want into the pack and call it a day. It's similar to the release schedule of packs; there is none. It's just whatever happens, happens. I don't really like that.
It's more or less confirmed that vampires are the next feature being worked into the game, likely through the form of a game pack. To me, it's a massive annoyance and a very weird choice if it turns out they're going to be charging us 20 dollars per supernatural state GP, when TS2 (and TS3 even before the supernatural EP) threw one in each EP. I just cannot and will not support that, if that's what they're doing.
I don't have any basis of comparison. What I can tell you is: Do I feel like I got my money's worth?
I would say yes overall, with a few caveats, highlighting where those drawbacks are. Note that most of my other thoughts on these packs are positive, but right now, I just want to focus on what didn't work for me that comes to mind.
Get to Work: Was really disappointed that there was no actual hospital or police station building I could simply travel to. Weirdest thing having an active job that is (IIRC) a hidden lot. Just ??? all around. Doctor was kind of overwhelming and broken with the "way more patients than you can realistically manage + leaving in a huff if not taken care of soon enough." Sort of realistic to how a hospital is, but at the same time, a silly reason to take a hit to job performance. You shouldn't take a performance hit because you're understaffed for the patient flow.
Get Together: A fun tool, Clubs, but the auto-start-gathering issues made it frustrating sometimes. I still get enjoyment out of it, but not as much as I feel like I should, looking at what it provides. Something about it just doesn't quite fit into an average sim's life (at least, the ones I play). It's the same issue I have with most social gatherings in this game. Unless your sim is unemployed, it feels like a rush fest, followed by everyone leaving. For this reason, club gatherings feel far too fleeting as a part of my sims' lives.
City Living: A little early for me to be giving an overarching mention of drawbacks, but I'll say what I've noticed already. Too much repetition of things that would be cute if they were a rare occurrence and had more substance to them: Namely, critters in the Needs TLC apartment, neighbors being loud or being annoyed at you being loud (I was disappointed that there seems to be no second or third step to this mechanic... it's just you get mad at each other or agree to stop for that night and that's the end of it... I would have loved to see some kind of progression where somebody had the potential to get evicted and then there could be interplay with the landlord and what your relationship is with them.) Festivals are rare enough that I haven't grown bored of them yet; in fact, I can't help thinking that the rotational nature of them that is out of my control may give them longer mileage. Time will tell. But on the flip side, not being able to control them is antithetical to sandbox and that doesn't sit quite right with me; it seems to create a scenario where they are joined at the hip to the xpac and will therefore become overshadowed by new xpacs. Compared to, say, GTW or GT, where the mechanics can be played in tandem with CL.
To put it in an oversimplified nutshell, I would say the theme here is: Things that make me feel powerless or give content that is too tied inherently to an xpac itself tend to be a negative for me.
I agree about what they're doing with the packs. It seems TS4 breaks the tradition by moving features from the base game to DLCs or from EPs to GPs or SPs.
Careers: Science, Medical, and Law Enforcement were moved to Get to Work while Political/Politics were moved to City Life.
Hot Tubs: Moved to The Sims 4 Perfect Patio Stuff rather than being included in the base game. Interestingly, The Sims 3 does actually have the Hot Tubs functions coded in the base game but you need an Expansion Pack (e.g., Late Night), a Stuff Pack (e.g., Outdoor Living), or certain Store items that includes a Hot Tubs to use them. However, the Skinny Dipping action is not included in the base game so you still need Late Night or Starter Pack to be able to Skinny Dip.
Butlers: Moved to The Sims 4 Vintage Stuff instead of being included in an Expansion Pack.
The careers I've mentioned were included in all base games from The Sims, even The Sims FreePlay although two (Police/Police Officer and Doctor) were added in an update while Science and Politics were included since the first version on iOS. However, TS4's detective career is a combination of Law Enforcement and Investigator from Ambitions.
The Sims 3 had done something similar where the items from The Sims and The Sims 2 were TS3 Store exclusive instead of being included in EPs. The Sims 4 has moved the Store exclusive items back in the games as the Cow Plant, Voodoo Doll, and Violin were included in the base game while others are placed in DLC packs such as the Sauna and Massage Table being included in Spa Day, and the Wishing Well being added in Romantic Garden. However, The Sims 4 seems to be doing this as well as the mentioned careers were moved to DLCs and Hot Tubs being included in Perfect Patio rather than a patch similar to TS3 where you needed Late Night or an EP/SP that includes a Hot Tub.
Even the EPs get his treatment as majority of DLC released for The Sims 4 are Stuff Packs. I understand most Simmers don't like paying $40 for an EP especially since TS4 is already expensive even with the price being reduced to $40 although sales help alleviate this, and it doesn't help Simmers claim the EPs in TS4 aren't as good as TS3's EPs or the GPs/SPs in TS4 which was the reason I made this thread. The bad thing about not having many EPs and GPs is Simmers won't get extra Worlds especially those that offer more Lots for Sims to live in considering that the lack of extra lots, especially large lots, is one of TS4's complaints.
I'm not sure what TS4 will do with the past objects or features from older games mainly Toddlers that Simmers have been talking about since TS4's release.
I have found every EP to be underwhelming in some fashion, some clearly more than others.
GTW is the best EP for Sims 4 IMO, even though it's thoroughly not a good pack. It focuses on linear, repetitive goals for three active careers. Aliens and retail were thrown in, and to this day neither really work that well. It was ambitious, but failed to offer any substantial, lasting content.
GT is garbage. The pack as a whole is lacking a compelling theme, and the little content included with it feels like odds and ends that were cobbled together with no clear direction for what they were trying to do. Clubs are neat, but there is a severe lack of content to use with them, and the repurposing of base game content that is sold as new is offensive.
City Living comes in slightly above GT, but follows the same trend of being a terrible pack. Once again there is a huge emphasis on the world, which is incredibly small from what I have seen. The pack allows the player ZERO creative control over the advertised features of the pack. Apartments can barely be edited, and you're stuck with the small number provided by Maxis. Festivals are composed of content the game has had since it released, and similarly cannot be edited in any way. They couldn't afford to animate elevators, but they could afford low quality Sims FX and a talking toilet.
Their DLC has nose dived in quality. They try to cover the fact their packs are thrown together by saying "you can't please everyone" as if thats supposed to mean something. After two years, their inability to offer players what they want is nothing short of intentional. Their badly designed packs are intentional. They don't listen, they don't care, all complaints have expiration dates (per SGDrake). The declining quality of Sims 4 can be attributed to the development team, and will only get worse as they continue to deny that they are doing a bad job. Give credit where credit is due, just because someone worked on a previous Sims game doesn't mean they know what the heck goes into making a new one.
I'm not sure how bad this will be since there's no way to get refunds if you don't like the game's DLC. Origin's Great Game Guarantee doesn't apply to DLC and Amazon doesn't provide refunds so if you don't like the game, I'm afraid you're stuck with it which is worse since most people think the DLCs, especially the EPs, are inferior to The Sims 3's EPs and SPs. Even disc versions won't help you since The Sims 4 requires Origin activation and returning the game isn't an option.
At least Origin does allow refunds if you aren't satisfied with The Sims 4 itself but if you are disappointed with the DLCs especially if an EP that isn't on sale, there's no refund for you.
It's weird with me. I like that they broke up the added content into basically: Stuff Pack, mini expansion and full expansion with varying prices. But, I haven't gotten a single of the stuff packs or any of the mini expansion like ones, such as Outdoors. And while I have all the full expansions, I always waited until they were on sale because I personally haven't seen a single one of them being worth the $40 price tag. They just always felt like they were lacking in some respect, and added even more bugs to my game that I would have to worry about if they would ever get fixed.
Once again there is a huge emphasis on the world, which is incredibly small from what I have seen.
Boyfriend got it for me for the holidays because it was half off. Outside of a bug I'm experiencing personally, and can't get help on, the world is quite small much to my disappointment. The Sims 3 equivalent of this was far superior even with the pathing issues I had with it. It added more and the city felt like a city, not a movie set.
Even I question the DLC: some don't like the fact the content featured are the same ones in previous games, take Bowling Night Stuff for example. Also I feel that The Sims 4 seems to focus too much on Stuff Packs compared to Expansion Packs and even Game Packs which for the former, comes at the expense of extra features and content such as extra Goals and extra Worlds (which is needed given that The Sims 4 doesn't have enough lots).
For the DLC itself:
The EPs are good but they too expensive ($40) and somewhat lacking in content; Spa Day, Dine Out, and Vampires are considered good GPs although Outdoor Retreat has mixed opinions, and the Stuff Packs also have mixed opinions: Simmers often question if Luxury Party, Spooky, Movie Hangout, Barkyard, Kids Room, and Bowling Night are either worth buying or if they should be skipped it while the other four, Perfect Patio, Cool Kitchen, Romantic Garden, and Vintage Glamour, are considered useful because of their content (PP has Hot Tubs, CK has the Ice Cream Machine, RG has the Well, and VG has Butlers).
Game packs are the clear winners IMO. All but OR have been pretty good. There are some parts of them I don't care for, like vampire XP, unlockables, or the staff requirments (non-active household), but for the most part you get a good chunk of gameplay for $20. I say keep it up. To this day I consistently use content from all of the GP's except OR that I usually forget exists.
EP's are pretty slim on new content and features. GTW is IMO the most expansive EP (doesn't mean it's the best tho) we've gotten so far, GT was lacking in features/content, and CL is IMO the weakest pack we have gotten so far. Nearly all of the new features added are locked away from players, and unavailable outside of the new world, for a Sims game that is a total fail. I never want to see that again, or the fake apartments.
Stuff packs are eh. There's some good ones, primarily due to the gameplay included. I don't have all of them, first time for that, but out of the ones I do have I would say PPS (for the hot tub), RGS (never use he foliage, just the wishing well) and KRS (skeptical at first, but ultimately satisfied with the pack as a whole). I want to love cool kitchen, but I don't think they hit the right balance between buy mode and CAS there.
Compared to TS3 Store, the stuff pack themes (TS2, TS3 & TS4) are not inspired.
They are not ambitious, just they brought the stuff which was missing from the basegame.
The stuff packs (Except for H&M, Ikea and Diesel) never made me dream like TS3 Store did.
While TS4's EP feel a little lackluster next to the EPs we received in TS2 and TS3, I much prefer the TS4's DLC format instead of the TS2 and TS3 Stores. In my opinion, both the GPs and SPs have felt like a good value against their price and have added a lot of gameplay to help flesh out the game.
I wonder what people think of the Parenthood Game Pack. It could be a good GP although it can have the same problem as Kids Room if the Simmer only plays with Adults and Elders as this would make Parenthood and Kids Room useless due to being geared towards kids and families.
That Sims 3 store was bananas and I don't ever want to see it back.
Sims 3 is still a better game than Sims 4. Sims4 fails on basic stuff like traits making each Sim unique. When I went back to Sims 3, I was literally shocked to see how the traits really made each Sim unique. I used to think the traits didn't change much in Sims3 and I was wrong. The traits should be the primary personality on the Sim, not the emotions. If someone dies, an evil sims should maybe cackle, a gloomy sim would cry loudly and hard and maybe become depressed, a happy sim should cry but be able to move on quicker.
I guess they would have taken too much time to code but since the Sims themselves and CAS seemed to be the primary selling point, they should have taken the time to do it.
I used to feel that way, but now I'm simply not seeing a difference. Basically, they're asking us to pay $10 for a single playable object and $40 for a world at this point. A world that is incredibly limited compared to the $20 worlds of the Store. I'm just not seeing the beneifit of the new system covertly disquised as the old with a new flavour.
^This guy gets it.
The Sims 3 Store is not dead. They just figured out obscure lamp #47 doesn't sell on it's own, but toss obscure lamp into a group package with a bunch of other obscure objects and give it a big shiny "OFFICIAL STUFF PACK" tag at the top, and suddenly it sells like hot cakes.
I wonder what people think of the Parenthood Game Pack. It could be a good GP although it can have the same problem as Kids Room if the Simmer only plays with Adults and Elders as this would make Parenthood and Kids Room useless due to being geared towards kids and families.
I personally really love the Parenthood GP.
Families don't feel so 'empty' now with the interactions and parents being able to parent along with teens feeling more like teens and not just skinnier adults. Feels more than kids just coming home to do homework and taking care of their needs. Compared to adults, kids are pretty restricted in things they can do and things they couldn't even use. Kids Room stuff and this GP has been more than helpful with that. (Especially since kids did not have a big selection of clothing even from previous EP's and GP's compared to teens and up) CAS pretty watered down compared to previous GP's though I honestly didn't get the GP because of CAS though I would have liked to seen more teen centered clothing as what I saw looked nice. </3
It all just comes down to preference and likes really. Some play with young adults to adults and never want to age the sim. I was like that in the Sims 3 really and then you have family players. I played with families in the Sims 2 A LOT all due to great gameplay, which made me forget at times how lacking in 'content' there was. With the Sims 2 complete collection, I realized when looking through CAS that they still didn't add so much. Heck there was little to no extra makeup with complete packs and more hairstyle variety, yet I still loved the game. Stuff packs for the Sims 2 were actually pretty decent. Don't think there was one that I actually disliked.
Think there should always be a little something for everybody to enjoy in the Sims 4. From family to Supernatural related things.
Comments
Sims 3 is still a better game than Sims 4. Sims4 fails on basic stuff like traits making each Sim unique. When I went back to Sims 3, I was literally shocked to see how the traits really made each Sim unique. I used to think the traits didn't change much in Sims3 and I was wrong. The traits should be the primary personality on the Sim, not the emotions. If someone dies, an evil sims should maybe cackle, a gloomy sim would cry loudly and hard and maybe become depressed, a happy sim should cry but be able to move on quicker.
I guess they would have taken too much time to code but since the Sims themselves and CAS seemed to be the primary selling point, they should have taken the time to do it.
I used to feel that way, but now I'm simply not seeing a difference. Basically, they're asking us to pay $10 for a single playable object and $40 for a world at this point. A world that is incredibly limited compared to the $20 worlds of the Store. I'm just not seeing the beneifit of the new system covertly disquised as the old with a new flavour.
I agree. I have felt the problem with the sims 4 sims is not that they are all alike, It's the emotions are all the same. A sad sim is a sad sim and an angry sim is an angry sim. The traits are what emotion they go into when certain things happen. For instance, Sim A has a the loves outdoor trait. Sim B has the club trait. If they are in a club gathering outside, they both are happy but act the same way. because there are so many ways for sims to be in an emotion (especially happy) everybody feels the same. When each sim all the time has plus 6 happy, everybody acts the same. One sim is happy because he's with other sims, another is happy because he is outside, a third is happy because she ate good food, and the fourth is happy because she heard good music.
Four different reasons based off of traits but one emotion. That is the problem with sims 4 emotions. Anyway that was off topic but I much prefer sims 4's stuff packs over the overpriced sims 3 store.
I love video games because of the things that I could never do in real life... For instance, in the sims you can get a job and a house.
Origin ID: Mainmanvs100
For me, in general, it's about quality rather than quantity and The Sims 3 Store put out some great quality items, worlds, etc. I was always excited when a new set was revealed and I loved the videos and live streams that the Store used to do.
I always thought the contests and giveaways promoted a really nice sense of community in the store section. It was always a really nice and friendly place to post in the "old" days, even if you didn't give or receive.
Sometimes I wonder if people remember exactly how many items we really got with some of the store packs, especially worlds. Lucky Palms for example. Not only did we get the wishing well & casino items, with a little extra gameplay, but you got the world, all the clothing, the hair, the build items , plant items, and a set of retextured and re-designed rabbitholes to fit into the world. Not every rabbithole was covered, but enough to make me ( at least ) think that something like that was worth the money.
Years on now, and I am still playing it, still using the rabbitholes in other worlds, still using the wishing well, and occasionally letting my sims gamble, and I think it's been worth its money.
I think the quality of the store was excellent, apart from a couple of those awful and ugly flowers that looked like something from lego-land.
Some of the hairs were a bit boofy though
I think TS4 could probably benefit from a store itself, with some added gameplay items. It might make it less boring for some people.
PoppySims Archive
InnaLisa Pose Archive
Devolution of Sims - a once customisable open world sandbox which has become a DLC Party catalog in a shoebox
I ♡ Pudding
I guess it depends on how long your loading screens are? When WA was my only EP it wasn't a long wait, and on my current computer it doesn't take long either. That has been different, but it kind of feels ok for me because it does take a lot of time to travel from home to China or Egypt or France. So my mind somehow even kind of welcomes it I guess.
I don't agree about IP and WA combined, those are two completely different themes (I never considered WA vacation, it felt like Indiana Jones to me from the moment I saw it on a shelf and discovered the game had an expansion). I do wish though they'd have treated IP the same way, it being a vacation world to travel to.
I do like the GP Spa Day. I think it was worth it. I got all my TS4 content during the black Friday sale.
It's more or less confirmed that vampires are the next feature being worked into the game, likely through the form of a game pack. To me, it's a massive annoyance and a very weird choice if it turns out they're going to be charging us 20 dollars per supernatural state GP, when TS2 (and TS3 even before the supernatural EP) threw one in each EP. I just cannot and will not support that, if that's what they're doing.
I would say yes overall, with a few caveats, highlighting where those drawbacks are. Note that most of my other thoughts on these packs are positive, but right now, I just want to focus on what didn't work for me that comes to mind.
Get to Work: Was really disappointed that there was no actual hospital or police station building I could simply travel to. Weirdest thing having an active job that is (IIRC) a hidden lot. Just ??? all around. Doctor was kind of overwhelming and broken with the "way more patients than you can realistically manage + leaving in a huff if not taken care of soon enough." Sort of realistic to how a hospital is, but at the same time, a silly reason to take a hit to job performance. You shouldn't take a performance hit because you're understaffed for the patient flow.
Get Together: A fun tool, Clubs, but the auto-start-gathering issues made it frustrating sometimes. I still get enjoyment out of it, but not as much as I feel like I should, looking at what it provides. Something about it just doesn't quite fit into an average sim's life (at least, the ones I play). It's the same issue I have with most social gatherings in this game. Unless your sim is unemployed, it feels like a rush fest, followed by everyone leaving. For this reason, club gatherings feel far too fleeting as a part of my sims' lives.
City Living: A little early for me to be giving an overarching mention of drawbacks, but I'll say what I've noticed already. Too much repetition of things that would be cute if they were a rare occurrence and had more substance to them: Namely, critters in the Needs TLC apartment, neighbors being loud or being annoyed at you being loud (I was disappointed that there seems to be no second or third step to this mechanic... it's just you get mad at each other or agree to stop for that night and that's the end of it... I would have loved to see some kind of progression where somebody had the potential to get evicted and then there could be interplay with the landlord and what your relationship is with them.) Festivals are rare enough that I haven't grown bored of them yet; in fact, I can't help thinking that the rotational nature of them that is out of my control may give them longer mileage. Time will tell. But on the flip side, not being able to control them is antithetical to sandbox and that doesn't sit quite right with me; it seems to create a scenario where they are joined at the hip to the xpac and will therefore become overshadowed by new xpacs. Compared to, say, GTW or GT, where the mechanics can be played in tandem with CL.
To put it in an oversimplified nutshell, I would say the theme here is: Things that make me feel powerless or give content that is too tied inherently to an xpac itself tend to be a negative for me.
The careers I've mentioned were included in all base games from The Sims, even The Sims FreePlay although two (Police/Police Officer and Doctor) were added in an update while Science and Politics were included since the first version on iOS. However, TS4's detective career is a combination of Law Enforcement and Investigator from Ambitions.
The Sims 3 had done something similar where the items from The Sims and The Sims 2 were TS3 Store exclusive instead of being included in EPs. The Sims 4 has moved the Store exclusive items back in the games as the Cow Plant, Voodoo Doll, and Violin were included in the base game while others are placed in DLC packs such as the Sauna and Massage Table being included in Spa Day, and the Wishing Well being added in Romantic Garden. However, The Sims 4 seems to be doing this as well as the mentioned careers were moved to DLCs and Hot Tubs being included in Perfect Patio rather than a patch similar to TS3 where you needed Late Night or an EP/SP that includes a Hot Tub.
Even the EPs get his treatment as majority of DLC released for The Sims 4 are Stuff Packs. I understand most Simmers don't like paying $40 for an EP especially since TS4 is already expensive even with the price being reduced to $40 although sales help alleviate this, and it doesn't help Simmers claim the EPs in TS4 aren't as good as TS3's EPs or the GPs/SPs in TS4 which was the reason I made this thread. The bad thing about not having many EPs and GPs is Simmers won't get extra Worlds especially those that offer more Lots for Sims to live in considering that the lack of extra lots, especially large lots, is one of TS4's complaints.
I'm not sure what TS4 will do with the past objects or features from older games mainly Toddlers that Simmers have been talking about since TS4's release.
GTW is the best EP for Sims 4 IMO, even though it's thoroughly not a good pack. It focuses on linear, repetitive goals for three active careers. Aliens and retail were thrown in, and to this day neither really work that well. It was ambitious, but failed to offer any substantial, lasting content.
GT is garbage. The pack as a whole is lacking a compelling theme, and the little content included with it feels like odds and ends that were cobbled together with no clear direction for what they were trying to do. Clubs are neat, but there is a severe lack of content to use with them, and the repurposing of base game content that is sold as new is offensive.
City Living comes in slightly above GT, but follows the same trend of being a terrible pack. Once again there is a huge emphasis on the world, which is incredibly small from what I have seen. The pack allows the player ZERO creative control over the advertised features of the pack. Apartments can barely be edited, and you're stuck with the small number provided by Maxis. Festivals are composed of content the game has had since it released, and similarly cannot be edited in any way. They couldn't afford to animate elevators, but they could afford low quality Sims FX and a talking toilet.
Their DLC has nose dived in quality. They try to cover the fact their packs are thrown together by saying "you can't please everyone" as if thats supposed to mean something. After two years, their inability to offer players what they want is nothing short of intentional. Their badly designed packs are intentional. They don't listen, they don't care, all complaints have expiration dates (per SGDrake). The declining quality of Sims 4 can be attributed to the development team, and will only get worse as they continue to deny that they are doing a bad job. Give credit where credit is due, just because someone worked on a previous Sims game doesn't mean they know what the heck goes into making a new one.
At least Origin does allow refunds if you aren't satisfied with The Sims 4 itself but if you are disappointed with the DLCs especially if an EP that isn't on sale, there's no refund for you.
Boyfriend got it for me for the holidays because it was half off. Outside of a bug I'm experiencing personally, and can't get help on, the world is quite small much to my disappointment. The Sims 3 equivalent of this was far superior even with the pathing issues I had with it. It added more and the city felt like a city, not a movie set.
For the DLC itself:
The EPs are good but they too expensive ($40) and somewhat lacking in content; Spa Day, Dine Out, and Vampires are considered good GPs although Outdoor Retreat has mixed opinions, and the Stuff Packs also have mixed opinions: Simmers often question if Luxury Party, Spooky, Movie Hangout, Barkyard, Kids Room, and Bowling Night are either worth buying or if they should be skipped it while the other four, Perfect Patio, Cool Kitchen, Romantic Garden, and Vintage Glamour, are considered useful because of their content (PP has Hot Tubs, CK has the Ice Cream Machine, RG has the Well, and VG has Butlers).
EP's are pretty slim on new content and features. GTW is IMO the most expansive EP (doesn't mean it's the best tho) we've gotten so far, GT was lacking in features/content, and CL is IMO the weakest pack we have gotten so far. Nearly all of the new features added are locked away from players, and unavailable outside of the new world, for a Sims game that is a total fail. I never want to see that again, or the fake apartments.
Stuff packs are eh. There's some good ones, primarily due to the gameplay included. I don't have all of them, first time for that, but out of the ones I do have I would say PPS (for the hot tub), RGS (never use he foliage, just the wishing well) and KRS (skeptical at first, but ultimately satisfied with the pack as a whole). I want to love cool kitchen, but I don't think they hit the right balance between buy mode and CAS there.
They are not ambitious, just they brought the stuff which was missing from the basegame.
The stuff packs (Except for H&M, Ikea and Diesel) never made me dream like TS3 Store did.
The Sims 4 Ideas Corner
- 👕 [CAS] Male content | 💰 §1 Million Lifestyle | ♂️ Man lifestyle for The Sims | ♻️ Content from The Sims
- 🔨 [Build/Buy Mode] Ideas | 📱 Ideas from The Sims FreePlay | ✈️ Vacation : Gameplay update | 🥦 New meals
The Sims 4 General Discussion^This guy gets it.
The Sims 3 Store is not dead. They just figured out obscure lamp #47 doesn't sell on it's own, but toss obscure lamp into a group package with a bunch of other obscure objects and give it a big shiny "OFFICIAL STUFF PACK" tag at the top, and suddenly it sells like hot cakes.
I personally really love the Parenthood GP.
Families don't feel so 'empty' now with the interactions and parents being able to parent along with teens feeling more like teens and not just skinnier adults. Feels more than kids just coming home to do homework and taking care of their needs. Compared to adults, kids are pretty restricted in things they can do and things they couldn't even use. Kids Room stuff and this GP has been more than helpful with that. (Especially since kids did not have a big selection of clothing even from previous EP's and GP's compared to teens and up) CAS pretty watered down compared to previous GP's though I honestly didn't get the GP because of CAS though I would have liked to seen more teen centered clothing as what I saw looked nice. </3
It all just comes down to preference and likes really. Some play with young adults to adults and never want to age the sim. I was like that in the Sims 3 really and then you have family players. I played with families in the Sims 2 A LOT all due to great gameplay, which made me forget at times how lacking in 'content' there was. With the Sims 2 complete collection, I realized when looking through CAS that they still didn't add so much. Heck there was little to no extra makeup with complete packs and more hairstyle variety, yet I still loved the game. Stuff packs for the Sims 2 were actually pretty decent. Don't think there was one that I actually disliked.
Think there should always be a little something for everybody to enjoy in the Sims 4. From family to Supernatural related things.