Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.

This is what THE SIMS series needs to do in order to stay alive!

claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
edited January 2018 in Off Topic Chat
I was playing Sims 4 today and I found myself feeling annoyed. My sim was always fiddling with their phone, wanting to take selfies, wanting to send texts, wanting to browse the web and play video games.

Lately I've been seeing constant posts from players saying they are running out of fun things to do with their Sims. It's true!! Lets face it, nobody wants to sit on a computer and watch a digital simulated life sitting on a computer playing the same game. The new Sims social media career path is depressing and incredibly boring to play. How much fun is it to watch a Sim updating their status, uploading images and sharing memes?

It's great that they're accurately portraying our current dependence on social media/internet/phones for everything but it's getting too real and losing the magic that made the Sims so popular in the first place.

The Sims series was on the right path with games like "Sims Medieval" where you could be a king, pirate, priest in another era. They were on the right path with "Castaway" where you are stranded on an island drinking coconuts and building a home out of bamboo. They need to do more like this if they want to keep the series alive.

They explore time travel to a small degree in Sims 3, with the ability to travel to the future and the Roaring 20's town world you could download. They had a 70's, 80's clothes and furniture stuff pack.

What about an expansion pack that fully takes you back to simpler times? Lets eliminate the Sims constantly checking of cellphones and playing games on computer. We can do that in real life. We can experience that reality every day.

A great idea for Sims 5 would be to start in the 1800's. How amazing would it be travel back in time? What about living off the land as a farmer to survive or a doctor like "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" in the old west? How about a sharp shooter like Annie Oakley? What about driving a buggy, feeding chickens, cooking on an old stove. How about expansion packs that explore different eras, for real. Lets go back to the 1920's, 1940's and back to the woodstock 60's. lets return to sims checking the newspaper for jobs like they did in the original sims series. If the job you want isn't available, you have to wait until the next day. Lets get those old fashioned phones back on the walls. Lets bring back grocery stores, book shops. Every expansion pack could be a new world in a different time period.

Lets explore history in a way that would put THE SIMS back into today's news for being revolutionary, for being different. Sell the idea of traveling back in time and people will respond to it.

There is a game called "The Movies" by Lionshead. It came out back in 2005. This game explored time travel with a movie studio through different generations. Even though it's now dated, I still love to play it. Sims should take a look at that unique game and consider trying to explore a new path with the Sims series. I would love to see this happen and I really think it would be just the thing to push Sims into the next generation.

At the end of the day, Sims is supposed to be an escape from our every day humdrum reality. An opportunity to "play god" and explore a different way of life. Somewhere along the way it became too much of a simulation of our current times. Our current times are pretty depressing. The more they continue down this path, the less people will play. I'm ready to throw in the towel and I've been a big fan since Sims 1.

That's just my two cents. I would be so happy to see the Sims go in this direction and really explore time travel. Does anyone else agree?
tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
Post edited by claritysf on

Comments

  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    edited January 2018
    Why was this discussion moved to "Off topic"? It's about The SIMS series.

    Oh well. I guess my ideas were not well received by the Sims moderators. :(
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • MidnightAuraMidnightAura Posts: 5,809 Member
    I agree with you. I love and still play the Sims 1-3 because I can decide what time period it is. I have the choice if my sims are tech obsessed or not. With the sims 4 as soon as they are children they have a smart phone and they are obsessed with it. Games for children are lacking and all sins are obsessed with the darn pc.

    Now a lot of people are like that in real life I get that. I used to work for a major tech company and there's something really sad about watching kids get tech forced on them from a very young age "to keep them quiet" but any way I digress.

    The sims 4 is imitating real life and capitalising on what's popular "for now" cat riding roombas any one? Like you say if I play the Sims its to get away from my life and play a lifestyle I can never do in real life. I don't play to sit and watch sims ignore each other whilst playing on their cell phones. Some simmers clearly enjoy it and that's fine. I just wish we had more choices. To play our way and not "what all the cool kids are doing" way.
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    Thanks @MidnightAura - I'm glad someone else is on the same page! :)

    I also wish we had more choices. If we could at least have the option of removing a Sim's Cellphone so we can decide what time period we want to imagine our Sims living in, that would be a step up in Sims 4. We're forced to play in a tech obsessed current reality, so there isn't much room to escape or freedom to imagine a different reality. The phone rings all the time and you need it to do almost everything.

    In Sims 1-3, you had the option to buy a cellphone or not have one. That gave you the freedom to create an environment that reflected any time period and I thought that was a lot more fun.
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • theFellatheFella Posts: 297 Member
    claritysf wrote: »
    In Sims 1-3, you had the option to buy a cellphone or not have one. That gave you the freedom to create an environment that reflected any time period and I thought that was a lot more fun.

    In The Sims 3 don't you automatically get a smartphone with University or whatever EP it was? It has been a while...

    MeanBrilliantArrowworm-size_restricted.gif
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    @theFella Yes, that's possible. :( I think I remember something like that too. It's also been a while since I've played the Sims 3.
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • MidnightAuraMidnightAura Posts: 5,809 Member
    theFella wrote: »
    claritysf wrote: »
    In Sims 1-3, you had the option to buy a cellphone or not have one. That gave you the freedom to create an environment that reflected any time period and I thought that was a lot more fun.

    In The Sims 3 don't you automatically get a smartphone with University or whatever EP it was? It has been a while...

    You do but sims aren’t as obsessed with it and for children it’s less of a smartphone and more akin to a basic phone. The one and only time I tried a sims 4 Apocalypse challenge I quit in frustration as I was constantly stopping everyone from kid and up playing with their phones all the time.
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    edited January 2018
    @MidnightAura True! That's why I don't remember it so much. It wasn't central to game play.

    They got rid of the daily newspaper in Sims 4 and now a Sim's mobile phone or a computer is required to perform the functions. So there isn't any departure from technology. Which reflects our current reality but limits our ability to enjoy certain challenges & imagined game play.
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • KelvinKelvin Posts: 6,899 Member
    Isn't there a mod out there that reduces the occurrence of sims interacting with their mobile phones automatically? I don't know cuz I haven't played sims 4 for months.
    chicken-run-ginger-i-just-decided-i-dont-care-idc-gif-20619284.gif
    ._.
  • KelvinKelvin Posts: 6,899 Member
    edited January 2018
    claritysf wrote: »
    Why was this discussion moved to "Off topic"? It's about The SIMS series.

    Oh well. I guess my ideas were not well received by the Sims moderators. :(

    My guess is some people don't take criticisms well :p
    ChocoCub wrote: »
    Isn't there a mod out there that reduces the occurrence of sims interacting with their mobile phones automatically? I don't know cuz I haven't played sims 4 for months.

    BTW I found this on MTS: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=585104
    chicken-run-ginger-i-just-decided-i-dont-care-idc-gif-20619284.gif
    ._.
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    Thanks so much! @ChocoCub :)
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • Sigzy05Sigzy05 Posts: 19,406 Member
    I disagree with a main sims series featured on a time that is not the current. Because the fun of the sims is to explore and live a simulated life. The sims has always had tons of past and future decor and clothing for players who want to experience those times though, but I really do feel like it's best for the main game to portray life as realistically (well with some quirks and fun npc's too) as is today.

    On the TS4 sims being overly attached to their phone and computers however, to me, it does get annoying especially the whole selfie and simstagram sort of deal. I mean I do spend some time on Instagram irl but I get annoyed/bored with it too. But the thing here is, I think they are overplaying the "we are cool, check us out teens" sort of deal. I get that they want to cater do younger ages but putting simstagram, selfies and shade in the game is just obnoxious. It's not fun, it's not iconic and it's not realistic to the point where it's such a big deal anymore.
    mHdgPlU.jpg?1
  • LiaRose1435LiaRose1435 Posts: 720 Member
    I would love more options for historical game play. Almost all my save games are historical. I wish we had a newspaper so sims could get a job without going on the computer or their phone. All of the reliance on technology in the sims 4 makes it hard for me to play my game the way that I want.
    Am I too lost to be saved?
    Am I too lost?
  • JestinaJestina Posts: 1,609 Member
    They do need to bring back the newspaper and stop with automatically giving every sim a mobile device. I thought it was a horrible idea in TS3 and it's even worse in TS4 with all the annoying pop-ups. Sims should have to buy a mobile phone if they want one, like it was implemented in TS2.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0 New Member
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Seera1024Seera1024 Posts: 3,629 Member
    I actually prefer less goal oriented play for Sims. So a Medieval or Castaway style Sims game actually would turn me off. I haven't bought either game for those reasons.

    I like the ability to choose how my Sims live their life. I can have one set up where I've a medieval set up. Another at present day. Yet another at the Victorian age. And even one futuristic one. That's lacking with Sims 4, though I don't know if that's more due to lack of CC being made for those aspects given the artistic choices.

    It needs to go back to the humor of Sims 2 and allow for the creativity allowed in both Sims 2 and Sims 3. It needs to remember that it was first and foremost a building simulator with the live mode actually just for testing things out. Meaning it needs to cater to those who primarily build as well - something Sims 4 doesn't do too well.

    It needs to add some difficulty back into the game. Not necessarily to the Sims 1 level. But somewhere in the realm of early Sims 2 and early Sims 3.
  • CarolinaCanCarolinaCan Posts: 116 Member
    The game developers were too lazy so they just made the Sims act like a stereotype
  • theFellatheFella Posts: 297 Member
    I remember I used to have this Sim called Clint Western. he was one of my favourites. he was a guy who thought he was in the Wild West, and he lived in a 1880's style house (more specifically a house similar to Clara's house from Back to the Future 3). I wish I could have him in TS4 but when I tried he was always getting calls on his phone and he was just so technology dependent that it did not feel like the actual Clint Western. little fantasies and characters like that is what drew me into this game 18 years ago, and the inability to do so now is why I stick to TS2 mostly. slightly off track here but I think The Sims 5 should allow me (and us!) to bring back characters like Clint Western. what do you think?
    MeanBrilliantArrowworm-size_restricted.gif
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    Thanks everyone! @Sigzy05 @LiaRose1435 @Jestina @meerkattime @Seera1024 @CarolinaCan I'm glad I'm not alone with the way I feel about Sim's dependence and reliance on technology (Cellphones and computers). I agree that maybe goal oriented time specific game play might not be for everyone but it would be great if Sims gave us the option to create our own time periods. I would like to have that freedom back. It's hard to enjoy a fantasy storyline or imagine the Sims in a different time when the cell phone keeps ringing. If they can at least implement the removal of required cellphones and return of the newspaper in the upcoming Sims 5. That would be a huge step in the right direction. Maybe Time period towns can be sold separately as expansion packs. This way you can buy it if you want or not.

    @theFella - Yes, I would totally love to go back to the Wildwest in the Sims and I was thinking Clara's house in BTTF 3!!
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    If you even mention TS5 the thread gets moved to off topic section. TS4's fragile ego can't handle any wishes for future games. I seem to recall we had a whole section to talk about future game's ideas over on TS3. TS3 was so big of an entity it didn't need to have it's ego stroked by not mentioning a future game idea. It could handle it.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • vickyloovickyloo Posts: 134 Member
    Does turning your phone on to silent stop all the annoying calls? I think it did on one of my saves but i haven't played that one in a while so i could be wrong.

    I would really love different era's in the sims, would be a such a good aspect of game play. Esp for people who like legacy challenges, like having your first sim living off the land and being able to move throughout time while expanding your family line!

    I LOVED the castaway and pet game they did with all the objectives, i wish they would do another one!
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    @Cinebar Wow, I didn't realize that. That explains why this thread was immediately moved from the General Sims discussion to "Off Topic" Not even "Ideas Corner" :( I probably should have been more careful with my wording and not mentioned TS5

    Honestly these changes could be implemented into Sims 4. Newspapers could be added in a patch. Sims cellphone could be changed from obligatory to optional. A future time travel expansion pack could even be added!


    Alas...
    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    vickyloo wrote: »
    I would really love different era's in the sims, would be a such a good aspect of game play. Esp for people who like legacy challenges, like having your first sim living off the land and being able to move throughout time while expanding your family line!

    Yes! That would be amazing!!

    I also loved Castaway. (On PC and PS2) It was the most relaxing game to play. Collecting wood on the beach, making shabu shabu in a pot over the fire, fishing and befriending the local monkeys. The scenery was incredible. I miss having a tropical island world in the Sims in general.

    I didn't know there was an option to silence your phone. I have to try this.

    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
  • Sigzy05Sigzy05 Posts: 19,406 Member
    claritysf wrote: »
    @Cinebar Wow, I didn't realize that. That explains why this thread was immediately moved from the General Sims discussion to "Off Topic" Not even "Ideas Corner" :( I probably should have been more careful with my wording and not mentioned TS5

    Honestly these changes could be implemented into Sims 4. Newspapers could be added in a patch. Sims cellphone could be changed from obligatory to optional. A future time travel expansion pack could even be added!


    Alas...

    Let's not forget the wall phones.
    mHdgPlU.jpg?1
  • claritysfclaritysf Posts: 384 Member
    edited January 2018
    Sigzy05 wrote: »

    Let's not forget the wall phones.

    Yes!!

    MTS_-Maylin--423550-001.jpg

    334942.jpg




    tumblr_mackehc6CQ1qgi6ty.gif
Sign In or Register to comment.
Return to top