To be honest, they're toned it down a little too much. Tons of kids have played the previous instalments, I still remember the animations from TS2. And it's not really graphic either, as things are censored. Plus what is wrong with the bedtime cuddle animation to have taken that out? There is nothing at all grotesque about two sims cuddling at night, they're a couple and it's sweet. The fact they're taken that out is ridiculous, and I'm talking about that specific interaction alone, nothing else.
(I'll edit this out if not allowed to discuss, but as it's part of the conversation: If anyone's looking for a mod which can help really get some drama going, I recommend 'Have Some Personality Please' by PolarBearSims. I've used it, and let's just say once an argument starts it never stops, those sims will hate each other and it will show).
**sigh**
A Teen rating means that the complexity of the game is restricted to the emotional capacity of a 13 year old. I exceeded that when I began with TS1.
What are the other ratings would be possible: YA (Young Adult) MA (Mature Audience) NC-17 (No Child under 17)?
Yes, there are (there always have been) mod's out there to introduce sexualized/graphically violent content. My experience with the mod's is that they're generally poor quality, and lack the control /sophistication that I would expect from a franchise integrated expansion pack. But EA still leaves modesty pixilation for mod'ers to remove, so I doubt they'll ever test the waters with a "mature audience" expansion pack.
But if they did... Hands down, I'd buy it in a heart beat! Hell, I don't play with animals in TS4, but I bought the Pets EP anyway because I knew there would be enhanced gameplay & interactions that I would otherwise be deprived of.
To those who wouldn't want more mature content, I'd recommend that they simply not buy that expansion pack. It's that simple.
Some things I miss from the past are: "playing footsie" in TS1 Hot Date, and in TS2, flirtatiously goosing your partner from a standing position and cuddling after woohoo before falling asleep together. And what ever happened with pool tables?
BTW: Did anyone ever get a TS2 bare-breasted female swan dive into a make out session as advertised/portrayed in the TS2 trailer? I never did.
**sigh**
A Teen rating means that the complexity of the game is restricted to the emotional capacity of a 13 year old. I exceeded that when I began with TS1.
What are the other ratings would be possible: YA (Young Adult) MA (Mature Audience) NC-17 (No Child under 17)?
Yes, there are (there always have been) mod's out there to introduce sexualized/graphically violent content. My experience with the mod's is that they're generally poor quality, and lack the control /sophistication that I would expect from a franchise integrated expansion pack. But EA still leaves modesty pixilation for mod'ers to remove, so I doubt they'll ever test the waters with a "mature audience" expansion pack.
But if they did... Hands down, I'd buy it in a heart beat! Hell, I don't play with animals in TS4, but I bought the Pets EP anyway because I knew there would be enhanced gameplay & interactions that I would otherwise be deprived of.
To those who wouldn't want more mature content, I'd recommend that they simply not buy that expansion pack. It's that simple.
Some things I miss from the past are: "playing footsie" in TS1 Hot Date, and in TS2, flirtatiously goosing your partner from a standing position and cuddling after woohoo before falling asleep together. And what ever happened with pool tables?
BTW: Did anyone ever get a TS2 bare-breasted female swan dive into a make out session as advertised/portrayed in the TS2 trailer? I never did.
Cheers!
oh? Look at Sims 1 cake dancers, and the Sims 2-goosing, steamy make-out, bed cudding nothing "13" year old in that, Sims 3 had "dancers" basically the S word
The fact of the matter a new Sims game is always aimed at a new generation, that new generation starts in their teens and the longer the game is kept alive as in the case of the Sims 4 you will eventually have a new generation of players come aboard. For the Sims, they need to start that interest early and they have stated as much.
Moving the game to a mature rating would hurt the game more then simply upping the rating but it would probably get some bad press and immediately be labelled as the Sims goes adult officially by EA. Large stake shareholders do not want to own stock in adult companies.
More so I disagree that adult mods lack quality, the biggest one has a lot of depth and is constantly updated not only with new features but bug fixes and animations. If Maxis decided to create an adult pack or new game in the series - we would get that one pack with a limited set of animations (1 per position?) and thats it. Sure it would create a frame work to allow modders to add more, but currently Maxis is doing more is less approach to packs.
I think a LOT of people would complain that it wasn't enough and if they REALLY expanded on it, then other people would complain that EA turned their game into a adult film.
Also keep im mind they originally had intended to have a woohoo skill in the game, but felt it was no longer appropriate for their game not because it was a skilled based on woohoo but because they simple didn't want to add that type of gameplay. I think a lot of people don't realize how conservative the Sims series is (remember a breast slider was only added to the Sims 3 after female developers on the team fought for it because the guys thought it was too sexual) but know their is a modding community out there that will do it for them anyway for those players who want it.
We still haven't gotten a lot of requested romantic features for the Sims 4 like new underwear, more romantic interactions, ect. If anything the Sims 4 makes woohoo silly and comical and thats not by mistake. Lets not forget the fist pump after woohoo and stupid animations they make before clearly meant to be comical or immature.
I think for Sims 5 or a adult pack to exist you'd not only need to change the culture at Maxis (because I guarantee some people would not want to work on it and request a leave) but at EA in general. I guarantee it would create a human resources issue with some employees feeling uncomfortable about it and some very loud share holders would push back if EA suddenly changed direction like that.
So it won't happen. Too many internal issues they'd have to deal with and I think your all expecting if Maxis DID create such a game or pack that it would have a lot more content or depth then it actually would have.
I personally love the idea, but they will never do it.
Marketing it as teen gives them access to all age ranges, which yields the highest profit value. The game is modable, so adults can still custom tailor it to their tastes if they choose to by adding mods. I think EA likes that setup and is very comfortable with it. I personally don't blame them, from a market standpoint, either.
In my own little perfect sim world mind, though, I'd love to see the return of some rambunctious and off-color humor like we had in TS2. I just don't think that kind of humor is acceptable to the majority anymore... and the majority seems to be the target audience for The Sims. They have to keep the lights on, after all, so I understand why they have chosen to stick with the rating they have.
I do miss those cake dancers from TS1, though! LOL
No. Teen is fine, they just need to go back to old-school teen with drunkness and mayhem like Sims Medieval. I get the "bubbles" but teens know what alcohol is and the effects.
We don’t need a mature rating. We just need deaths that aren’t caused by embarrassment and things like that. In my opinion that is stupid. Right now it seems like they are doing things for an under 12 market, not teens.
I wouldn't want it to be default, but as long as it was optional or DLC I'd be all for it.
I'm a big advocate of there being about a million different options and toggles you can set per save. I honestly think you should be able to have E for Everyone saves and M saves, and maybe even be able to password lock certain saves. So kids and adults can play the game at different levels.
It won't happen, though. Not without a huge paradigm shift that I don't think is likely.
This EA account is shared between two longtime roommates. The one most likely to be writing here is me, the taller of the roommates, whose opinions do not always represent the opinions of the shorter roommate.
I want them to keep it clean but I agree with a lot of things here. Yesterday I made a sim that dislikes kids just to try it out and I insulted a toddler in front of the parents ,the toddler cried, everybody went on happily chatting. What was the point to it? The parents should have kicked her out of their house or something. And when you kick people out sometimes they should refuse to leave, just those little kind of details would really make it nice.
Absolutely, the Sims 4 is way too childish. I want it to be more adult. I know, they've tried to make it a safe space without any violence at all, which is good, but they tried too much, just too much. It's all around soft, sugar, bright and childish. I'm a fan of recreating the real life and the Sims 4 is too dreamy.
May be an unpopular opinion, but I'm not a fan of too much fun stuff in the game. It doesn't mean I want blood, cruelty and murders, but Grim Reaper with a freezer bunny iPAD and rainbow poops (and other stuff like that) make me not smile, but facepalm. There is humor in the Sims 1-2-3, but not so irritating and in-your-face.
I also wish that the level of 5 years old kiddies jokes would go down, because it's really annoying when you create a very elegant, classy, educated and humble sim that looks like an Anne Rice vampire, he asks someone to massage him on the table, then farts in his face and laughs.
I would like mature as in adult like emotions and reactions rather than M rated actions. Like a mental maturity rather than a physical maturity. You can have realism without adding in elements that would require a rise in ratings. You can have divorce cause anger and sadness with maybe depression and cheating cause jealousy and anger. It's a thing people see in real life.
According to ESRB: Titles rated M (Mature) have content that is generally suitable for persons ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
Not what really needs to be in the game.
I have 99 problems and spiral stairs would solve at least 13
Origin ID: Emilissa
Well, seems they've tried by adding the No Clothes lot trait. But as deviant as I am I didn't want the feature to be used at a home lot with kids on the lot. I can think of a lot of icky videos appearing on Youtube with kids and parents naked. Which to many would be taboo. Glad they reserve that for community lots to be honest. Even I won't go that far.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I'm okay with the game's current maturity level. I even wish I could shut off death altogether. If it became more mature, I wouldn't buy it. I delight in the humorous touches like rainbow poops. Then again, my Simself has the Childish trait. 🌼
I would like it to go closer to Ts2. Ts4 feels a smidge sanitized. That said I would hate for the game to go full on M. That's just not the mood/tone of a game I'm looking for with Sims.
Considering the things that 13-year-olds today see, hear, and experience on a daily basis, TS4 is quite tame for a Teen rated game. The ESRB rates games as being suited for teens with the following criteria:
Content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.
It is indeed possible for a game to be rated Teen and still have elements of blood, nudity, and alcohol. Just check the ESRB website and search for games rated Teen within the past month.
As for whether I think the next game should be rated Mature, I welcome it. However, I doubt it would actually happen.
Considering the things that 13-year-olds today see, hear, and experience on a daily basis, TS4 is quite tame for a Teen rated game. The ESRB rates games as being suited for teens with the following criteria:
Content is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.
It is indeed possible for a game to be rated Teen and still have elements of blood, nudity, and alcohol. Just check the ESRB website and search for games rated Teen within the past month.
As for whether I think the next game should be rated Mature, I welcome it. However, I doubt it would actually happen.
Let's be real, you don't need to bump up the rating. The problem with these kinds of discussions is that people seem to be misguided and put too much focus on blaming the ESRB, despite the fact that there are many other games with more adult material than The Sims yet still maintain the T rating. I don't work for the ESRB, but I don't think it's probable for the next Sims game to be rated M just because it contains content highly similar to the TS2. I'm also willing to believe that TS4 is bowdlerised as a way of playing it safe to avoid offending the more sensitive portion of the community rather than out of trying to secure a particular rating.
Just think about it; is the content in The Sims 1, 2 and 3 really worthy of an M rating on a modern standpoint? A rating that's associated with games like Grand Theft Auto and Battlefield?
Let's be real, you don't need to bump up the rating. The problem with these kinds of discussions is that people seem to be misguided and put way too much focus on blaming the ESRB, despite the fact that there are many other games with more adult material than The Sims yet still maintain the T rating. I don't work for the ESRB, but I don't think it's probable for the next Sims game to be rated M just because it contains content highly similar to the TS2. I'm also willing to believe that TS4 is bowdlerised as a way of playing it safe to avoid offending the more sensitive portion of the community rather than out of trying to secure a particular rating.
Just think about it; is the content in the The Sims 1, 2 and 3 really worthy of an M rating on a modern standpoint? A rating that's associated with games like Grand Theft Auto and Battlefield?
I agree with you completely that the ESRB isn't entirely to blame and that the devs are trying to avoid offending even the smallest demographic out there. However, there are things I would like to see in a Sims game that would up the rating to M. I currently have mods to add some of those things, but it's not quite the same as having the feature built in natively.
And as I said originally, I doubt EA will stray away from the T rating.
Would never interest me. I like my game to be fun and light hearted with lots of fun things to do. I am not into games that kill, meanness, hatefulness, harming others in any way. It is bad enough we see real life so mean - I just have no more room for any of that in my recreation.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
A Spin-off maybe. I can't see EA risking The Sims with this.
A more mature rating with a game aimed to attract older simmers and other gamers who want a "game".
But the T-rating would only be a part of what I want for more mature simmers.
I want stuff like more depth to financial management. Sims have individual bank accounts, can take out loans instead of us having to use money cheats, can get into dept and could go bankrupt if poor planning and bad luck gets them into trouble.
I want there to be more consequences to actions, especially if the sims are being shady.
I want more of a real life simulation than a happy happy dollhouse world.
Comments
(I'll edit this out if not allowed to discuss, but as it's part of the conversation: If anyone's looking for a mod which can help really get some drama going, I recommend 'Have Some Personality Please' by PolarBearSims. I've used it, and let's just say once an argument starts it never stops, those sims will hate each other and it will show).
A Teen rating means that the complexity of the game is restricted to the emotional capacity of a 13 year old. I exceeded that when I began with TS1.
What are the other ratings would be possible: YA (Young Adult) MA (Mature Audience) NC-17 (No Child under 17)?
Yes, there are (there always have been) mod's out there to introduce sexualized/graphically violent content. My experience with the mod's is that they're generally poor quality, and lack the control /sophistication that I would expect from a franchise integrated expansion pack. But EA still leaves modesty pixilation for mod'ers to remove, so I doubt they'll ever test the waters with a "mature audience" expansion pack.
But if they did... Hands down, I'd buy it in a heart beat! Hell, I don't play with animals in TS4, but I bought the Pets EP anyway because I knew there would be enhanced gameplay & interactions that I would otherwise be deprived of.
To those who wouldn't want more mature content, I'd recommend that they simply not buy that expansion pack. It's that simple.
Some things I miss from the past are: "playing footsie" in TS1 Hot Date, and in TS2, flirtatiously goosing your partner from a standing position and cuddling after woohoo before falling asleep together. And what ever happened with pool tables?
BTW: Did anyone ever get a TS2 bare-breasted female swan dive into a make out session as advertised/portrayed in the TS2 trailer? I never did.
Cheers!
oh? Look at Sims 1 cake dancers, and the Sims 2-goosing, steamy make-out, bed cudding nothing "13" year old in that, Sims 3 had "dancers" basically the S word
Moving the game to a mature rating would hurt the game more then simply upping the rating but it would probably get some bad press and immediately be labelled as the Sims goes adult officially by EA. Large stake shareholders do not want to own stock in adult companies.
More so I disagree that adult mods lack quality, the biggest one has a lot of depth and is constantly updated not only with new features but bug fixes and animations. If Maxis decided to create an adult pack or new game in the series - we would get that one pack with a limited set of animations (1 per position?) and thats it. Sure it would create a frame work to allow modders to add more, but currently Maxis is doing more is less approach to packs.
I think a LOT of people would complain that it wasn't enough and if they REALLY expanded on it, then other people would complain that EA turned their game into a adult film.
Also keep im mind they originally had intended to have a woohoo skill in the game, but felt it was no longer appropriate for their game not because it was a skilled based on woohoo but because they simple didn't want to add that type of gameplay. I think a lot of people don't realize how conservative the Sims series is (remember a breast slider was only added to the Sims 3 after female developers on the team fought for it because the guys thought it was too sexual) but know their is a modding community out there that will do it for them anyway for those players who want it.
We still haven't gotten a lot of requested romantic features for the Sims 4 like new underwear, more romantic interactions, ect. If anything the Sims 4 makes woohoo silly and comical and thats not by mistake. Lets not forget the fist pump after woohoo and stupid animations they make before clearly meant to be comical or immature.
I think for Sims 5 or a adult pack to exist you'd not only need to change the culture at Maxis (because I guarantee some people would not want to work on it and request a leave) but at EA in general. I guarantee it would create a human resources issue with some employees feeling uncomfortable about it and some very loud share holders would push back if EA suddenly changed direction like that.
So it won't happen. Too many internal issues they'd have to deal with and I think your all expecting if Maxis DID create such a game or pack that it would have a lot more content or depth then it actually would have.
Marketing it as teen gives them access to all age ranges, which yields the highest profit value. The game is modable, so adults can still custom tailor it to their tastes if they choose to by adding mods. I think EA likes that setup and is very comfortable with it. I personally don't blame them, from a market standpoint, either.
In my own little perfect sim world mind, though, I'd love to see the return of some rambunctious and off-color humor like we had in TS2. I just don't think that kind of humor is acceptable to the majority anymore... and the majority seems to be the target audience for The Sims. They have to keep the lights on, after all, so I understand why they have chosen to stick with the rating they have.
I do miss those cake dancers from TS1, though!
I'm a big advocate of there being about a million different options and toggles you can set per save. I honestly think you should be able to have E for Everyone saves and M saves, and maybe even be able to password lock certain saves. So kids and adults can play the game at different levels.
It won't happen, though. Not without a huge paradigm shift that I don't think is likely.
This EA account is shared between two longtime roommates. The one most likely to be writing here is me, the taller of the roommates, whose opinions do not always represent the opinions of the shorter roommate.
May be an unpopular opinion, but I'm not a fan of too much fun stuff in the game. It doesn't mean I want blood, cruelty and murders, but Grim Reaper with a freezer bunny iPAD and rainbow poops (and other stuff like that) make me not smile, but facepalm. There is humor in the Sims 1-2-3, but not so irritating and in-your-face.
I also wish that the level of 5 years old kiddies jokes would go down, because it's really annoying when you create a very elegant, classy, educated and humble sim that looks like an Anne Rice vampire, he asks someone to massage him on the table, then farts in his face and laughs.
According to ESRB: Titles rated M (Mature) have content that is generally suitable for persons ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
Not what really needs to be in the game.
Origin ID: Emilissa
It is indeed possible for a game to be rated Teen and still have elements of blood, nudity, and alcohol. Just check the ESRB website and search for games rated Teen within the past month.
As for whether I think the next game should be rated Mature, I welcome it. However, I doubt it would actually happen.
Just think about it; is the content in The Sims 1, 2 and 3 really worthy of an M rating on a modern standpoint? A rating that's associated with games like Grand Theft Auto and Battlefield?
I agree with you completely that the ESRB isn't entirely to blame and that the devs are trying to avoid offending even the smallest demographic out there. However, there are things I would like to see in a Sims game that would up the rating to M. I currently have mods to add some of those things, but it's not quite the same as having the feature built in natively.
And as I said originally, I doubt EA will stray away from the T rating.
The teens could bully their young sibling.
Now The Sims 4 is a peaceful world where the evil sims are friendly with their archenemy...
Even the Nervous Subject's life is impossible to do now.
Yes I have heard all about TS4. A Sim getting angry and then smiling because there is a nice plant in the room...
Agreed. If The Sims 1 or 2 would be released nowadays, it may even considered to be rated as M. Even though graphic violence or blood isn’t involved.
It’s quite the stretch to call The Sims 4 as T by ESRB.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
In dreams - I LIVE!
In REALITY, I simply exist.....
A more mature rating with a game aimed to attract older simmers and other gamers who want a "game".
But the T-rating would only be a part of what I want for more mature simmers.
I want stuff like more depth to financial management. Sims have individual bank accounts, can take out loans instead of us having to use money cheats, can get into dept and could go bankrupt if poor planning and bad luck gets them into trouble.
I want there to be more consequences to actions, especially if the sims are being shady.
I want more of a real life simulation than a happy happy dollhouse world.