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Has "family play" fallen back to the wayside? (Now with New OP)
Positivibee
Posts: 52 Member
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/801025/ea-silence-on-family-play-and-family-play-fans
This thread is a continuation of the above link.
I believe that family play has again fallen by the wayside. This thread isn't about EA and Maxis' current focus (occults and builders) but on the lack of good domestic type play in general since Seasons. I myself play all types of styles so no hate on other types of gameplay.
Examples of what I'm talking about
Toddler are petty much the same as children below with the addition of lack of any new traits.
Children can't show visible occult status, have had the same 4 aspirations since launch, it's a flip of the coin if they get clothes and hair in a new pack.
Teens are basically restricted adults.
Elders, They exist?
This thread isn't exactly a complaint but an observation. Please no hate towards other types of play/players. Also no posts on preteens (and other mid-stages) as I believe that they're basically confirmed to never be in sims 4 and are basically a mashup of ways that children and teens can be improved.
I've also played every Sims game since 2000, so I know how play was in other games. This thread isn't about what made family play in the other games better or worse, the issue is sims 4 domestic play.
Would love to hear about ways you all believe family play can be improved
.
This thread is a continuation of the above link.
I believe that family play has again fallen by the wayside. This thread isn't about EA and Maxis' current focus (occults and builders) but on the lack of good domestic type play in general since Seasons. I myself play all types of styles so no hate on other types of gameplay.
Examples of what I'm talking about
Toddler are petty much the same as children below with the addition of lack of any new traits.
Children can't show visible occult status, have had the same 4 aspirations since launch, it's a flip of the coin if they get clothes and hair in a new pack.
Teens are basically restricted adults.
Elders, They exist?
This thread isn't exactly a complaint but an observation. Please no hate towards other types of play/players. Also no posts on preteens (and other mid-stages) as I believe that they're basically confirmed to never be in sims 4 and are basically a mashup of ways that children and teens can be improved.
I've also played every Sims game since 2000, so I know how play was in other games. This thread isn't about what made family play in the other games better or worse, the issue is sims 4 domestic play.
Would love to hear about ways you all believe family play can be improved
. Post edited by Positivibee on
17
Comments
Anyway I agree.
I really liked playing a family in Sulani, that is when I started my current family. It is just so laidback and calm there. Cute outfits for toddlers and kids as well. I would say that Island Living was good for my families.
Parenthood is pretty much family related play. Then we had the toddler pack and kids room stuff which were good additions. Then with seasons and holidays being introduced feels like sims can enjoy more activities with their families.
Can kids swim in the ocean or get on the boat things?
They can def swim in the ocean and toddlers can play on it. Haven't tried the boat yet
I really like walking on the beach with a toddler. Thinking about moving my second generation back to Sulani now. My sims have been living in Brindleton Bay with three weeks of winter snowstorms. And 1 week left to go.
Every now and then the game invites the young couple back to the guys parents that still live in Sulani with his younger siblings and it is so difficult to go back. Ha ha, I just want to bring a tent next time.
Not to mention, we were constantly put down by the realism players who would scream "THIS IS A LIFE SIMULATOR!!!! GO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE IF YOU WANT WITCHES!!!"
I love playing families, and think they added a nice bit in Island Living for that (not as much as I would have liked, of course). But I love witches too. And I love building. And lots of other things. I just want lots of all-round stuff
As for family play being on the back burners, I would say it's no different to any other version of the game so I am not surprised at the small quantities we get for it. You get a little bit here and there, along with bits of occult, bits of fantasy, bits of building stuff etc, but the main concentration has always been young adults - especially female young adults. I don't see them ever changing that, even if they last through making sims 5, 6, 7 and on.
I am used to Supernatural, but do not have aliens, vampires, mermaids, or whatever the hell is in Strangerville in my TS4 game, nor do I miss it. I have Spellcasters, now, because I like casters, and I love Art Nouveau and those Build/Buy assets were not to be missed.
But my family play has, I will say, been most rewarding. I love what Parenthood brings. I love the depth given to TS4 Toddlers and Children and Teens, their interactions across ages as siblings, and their interactions at all ages with their parents.
My 2nd Gen Heir still visits his folks often. He is still close with his brothers, and when I am playing his Household, they all are frequent visitors as well. My youngest 2nd Gen Spare is to remain a teen, for the time being, but the older spare is about to age up and move out - to Glimmerbrook, as it happens.
In my case, and I realize this is not a universal sentiment, occult play and family play are not mutually exclusive sets.
edit - a cap from my most recent play session. I did not pose it. Bhakti, the older teen in the black tank, chose to bring his homework outside to sit with Chance, in stripes, who was journaling through an upsetting day at school. I don't have to push my family to do this. They just do. They are very close.
For me any kind of pack that gets me inspired is going to playing and I love occult sims so that really gets me into familyplay if that is what I am in the mood for. When Vampires came out I was still really missing playing MMO's and doing raids with my guildmates so there where a lot of vampires sparring for some weeks there. StrangerVille, Sulani and ROM actually made start playing families again. I tried to get a family going for a story about a armybrat that escapes the nowhere-ville with creepy neighbors but my main sim never found a guy that she clicked with. Oh well, she found him when Sulani came out and now everything is golden because I finally got magic!
The thing that we did get especially for familyplay in ROM, the different bloodlines and the ability to pass on magical talent in some way is pretty cool. It is just that we did not get any specific object outside the awesome bassinet and no animations. However, that does not mean that ROM does not make me feel like familyplay. I will play spellcaster-families for a long long time.
I rarely play households larger than one or two. When I do play families it feels like I need mods to play a family the way I really want to. There aren't enough actions for kids. I would love to have more toys, playground equipment, interactions for kids, teens and each individual life stage that is unique to that life stage. Like a single adult-like Mila Munch wishing to find a decent person to marry and voicing it to friends. Elder sims being able to play with the grandkids or tell them a story as a way to pass on wisdom to the younger generation.
My gameplay is a mix but a lot of it is family play. I have families that are close, spend time together, talk to each other, there's rarely a time when I have to make them sit at the table for a meal or feel like any member of a family is set aside. More is always good, of course, but I don't agree with the "there's nothing for families in TS4" complaint. There certainly is for me. And magic is part of that family play (can't wait to start including it in my main save) for me, so it's not an either/or situation.
I feel like Parenthood covers all of that nicely. Yard space is at a premium. Monkey bars for motor skill + fun works on tight lots where swings and slides would not fit. My founders live in Oasis Springs. Uncover the sandy soil, and it is a natural sandbox. The pirate ship and space ship are neat! I'd have loved to have had either to play on as a child (the space ship, especially - I was exactly the right age to go gaga for Star Wars).
...ehehe... hahaha....ahaha.. ha.. BWAHAHA... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA... ha... ha... *coughs* sorry.. just laughing at that joke about occults being given attention
But yeah
There is room for a lot of improvements especially for the kid life stage where they really should be able to do significantly more.
I think a good foundation has been set with Parenthood.. and believe more packs will come that have more child focused elements than others. I wouldn't even rule out that there wouldn't be any more child centered packs in the future. To me it's all just juggling what the overall community needs and expects in their game. Sometimes you get something specific to your playstyle, sometimes you just get another setting to play it out in and sometimes you get much more.
I'm not surprised children didn't get magical powers... vamp children don't have much either other than cosmetic additons. I would have loved magical powers on children though.. and will probably mod it in eventually. I just don't think they are going to change much on the way they are doing occults this time around.