I'm SHOCKED people by now haven't realized that EVERY TS4 EP will be a disappointment. It's a rule with this installment. One time is a misfortune, two or three time is a pattern, SIX times is a RULE (the only GOOD EP in my opinion is Seasons).
The moment Discover University got leaked, I knew it was going to be disappointing and have the bare minimum. Island Living showed the direction EPs are going. Make everything look pretty, and focus on engaging gameplay as an afterthought. It is what it is.
I didn't realise there would be no CAS traits. Did they give a reason as to why?
Why don't they just port over the ones from TS3? There are so many that I'd love to have like Lucky/Unlucky. Light Sleeper/Heavy Sleeper would've been perfect for uni life if you have noisy roommates or want to struggle getting a student to class on time because they love to sleep. I know some of the traits from TS3 didn't have much to them, but I honestly miss them so much.
I didn't realise there would be no CAS traits. Did they give a reason as to why?
Why don't they just port over the ones from TS3? There are so many that I'd love to have like Lucky/Unlucky. Light Sleeper/Heavy Sleeper would've been perfect for uni life if you have noisy roommates or want to struggle getting a student to class on time because they love to sleep. I know some of the traits from TS3 didn't have much to them, but I honestly miss them so much.
Yes, they were asked this directly and Simguru Steph said that they didn't add any so they could focus on university lot traits. They added 2 lot traits.
Should we be concerned that when showing this game off they didn’t have seasons (and who knows how many other packs) not installed? I’m betting going by performance issues in the past this year alone (RoM crashing) that this game will suffer some bugs and poor performance. Call it a hunch.
I'm concerned that Rebecca was trying very hard to minimize the number of loading screens they encountered. She said it several times, but didn't explain why. I can't see the reason being that they're boring, because anyone who plays TS4 expects loading screens. It felt like there was a risk of poor performance or a crash - and that's without all of the packs even installed...
All the robots will malfunction when it rains. That's probably why they didn't have Seasons turned on. I mean, we know this already from the festivals in San Myshuno and that middle guru briefly mentioned it in the livestream also. But imagine how embarrassing it would have been to show live!
Not to mention kids can't ride bikes...BIKES FOR GOD'S sake!
Called it. Kids riding on bikes? Nah thats stupid and unrealistic.
Maybe ONE DAY there will actually be content for kids that arent afterthoughts. I dont even really play kids tbh. No point in doing so when they rarely get anything in new packs. On the rare times I do have kids, I tend to just have them raise themselves. They're not interesting and they'll continue to not be interesting to me unless they get some actual substanial content.
I didn't realise there would be no CAS traits. Did they give a reason as to why?
Why don't they just port over the ones from TS3? There are so many that I'd love to have like Lucky/Unlucky. Light Sleeper/Heavy Sleeper would've been perfect for uni life if you have noisy roommates or want to struggle getting a student to class on time because they love to sleep. I know some of the traits from TS3 didn't have much to them, but I honestly miss them so much.
Yes, they were asked this directly and Simguru Steph said that they didn't add any so they could focus on university lot traits. They added 2 lot traits.
Yikes...
That's such flimsy reasoning. If anything, we should get both lot traits and CAS traits. With City Living, I could maybe understand them focusing on lot traits over CAS ones given that there were so many. With DU, nah.
I visualize a lot of broken robots in the future if we get real English weather. We can get four types of weather in one day but at least the Seasons are beautiful all year round. (We are having floods in some part of the country at the moment).
In other words keep an eye on the weather forecast!
I can't believe that 5 days is one semester. That is just the worst part of it to me. I can deal with not going to class with my sim but for my sim to be able to complete all of university in 3 sim weeks is just dumb. Maybe some people like that and that's fine, I just wish they'd think about players that want a longer university experience for their sims. Sure someone will probably make a mod but why do I have to get mods for something that seems like such an easy idea to implement? The work around of only taking 1 class a semester is awful. There will be little to no challenge involved. This is the most frustrating part of it all for me right now. Also the fact that they decided to leave apartments out again. I guess I can figure something out with the dorm living but if they did it with the dorm living why can't they just let us do apartments? These devs are frustrating.
This is my biggest complaint. I'm thinking there has to be an option they didn't mention, like with seasons to extend it. If not, what were they thinking? Lol mod time 😅 I would love control over how long I get to finish. Sim time goes extremely fast.
I am a bit confused on the perks of University versus the rest of the EPs. I could clearly see some of the benefits of having that EP; Get to Work made active careers. Pets gave me cats & dogs. Island Living gave me mermaids, swimmable areas, cultural enhancements. Get Together was Clubs (which was kind of boring to me but whatever). But yeah, they haven't clearly shown how skills and things help assist with scholarships and have getting a degree (or multiple because they did make a point to say you can have more than 1) helps my sim towards their career in a substantial way. I like that they have the bump in salary, promotions, etc but I also don't know if that's worth 3 sim weeks and possibly losing playability for other sims.
As much as a I love bikes, I bet they took tons of work so I feel like they should have been saved for a GP (alongside kids' bikes and perhaps a skatepark) and more work could have been given to the university experience.
Because when people think of university they are thinking of how TV shows and Movies show them. I mean tell me one movie or TV show which actually show you a university class? Can you name one bet you can't
I can't believe that 5 days is one semester. That is just the worst part of it to me. I can deal with not going to class with my sim but for my sim to be able to complete all of university in 3 sim weeks is just dumb. Maybe some people like that and that's fine, I just wish they'd think about players that want a longer university experience for their sims. Sure someone will probably make a mod but why do I have to get mods for something that seems like such an easy idea to implement? The work around of only taking 1 class a semester is awful. There will be little to no challenge involved. This is the most frustrating part of it all for me right now. Also the fact that they decided to leave apartments out again. I guess I can figure something out with the dorm living but if they did it with the dorm living why can't they just let us do apartments? These devs are frustrating.
I'll probably have my sims take 2 courses and 1 elective to stretch it out.
If they have spare time, I will probably get inventive with other things to do.
I still have fingers crossed that Uni progression stops for sims if you change households and play sims going to the rival school.
Rotating between the two would go a long way to stop it for feeling too short.
I personally thought 2 weeks a term was too long in TS3, so five days is a happy medium for me in TS4. I do wish they were customizable though, so players could decide for themselves how long they want them to be (like the length of seasons in Seasons). One thing I do like is that players can decide for themselves how many courses to take per term and by extension how long their sims' degrees will take.
The Sims 3 doesn't have a FIXED duration. How long each college lasts depends on your Sim's preexisting credits, and how many credits you want to apply for (which determines how many classes you'll have each day from 1 to 3). Without having preexisting credits, you can easily finish university in 3 Sim weeks. The game doesn't have "terms" like The Sims 2. It can be as long as short as you wish.
Kids can't ride bikes...? Wow...again....cutting kids out of all the fun.
Then again why would Young Adult Simulator have content for other age groups?
I genuinely can't get my head around so many people finding rabbit hole classes okay. Rabbit holes aren't gameplay. I see a lot of people saying that classes in 3 were boring but then they don't seem to realise that waiting for a Sim to materialise out of a non-existent class is boring for a lot of people too. 2 had rabbit holes but that was 15 years ago, I'm genuinely confused as to why people aren't expecting more. If classes in 3 were boring then surely 4 should have worked to make them more interesting instead of going backwards? I've seen a lot of people saying that education in general is boring but then why would they want to buy a University pack?
To me University without classes would be like Vampires without blood sucking or Seasons without winter.
These people confused me SO much!
Again, rabbit holes have existed since Sims 1. People conveniently ignore that.
There's no difference between watching a sim do nothing in class and waiting for them to reappear outside a building. Both are boring as all heck.
As for why anyone would want to buy a University pack when they consider education overall to be boring, well, fictional university is a lot easier and cheaper than real university. Not to mention, your degrees are always useful, whereas in real life, even STEM fields aren't a guarantee anymore.
So because there were rabbitholes in sims 1,2,3... It's ok for sims 4 to have rabbitholes? I don't get that logic at all. The Sims 4 should be an improvement. Why should we have rabbitholes AND loading screens in 2019? The excuse "well it would have been boring to see them in class" ??? Why does it have to be boring? Art classes aren't boring(sculpting, ect) science class isn't boring (frog dissection, ect.) They could have made it fun and engaging if they tried, but no just rabbitholes... And some people are happy about it... In 2019...
I’m upset with how many loading screens there’ll be. Some of us don’t want to have to load another lot just to go to the cafeteria or get away from our dorm. I’m also afraid that it’s more focused on robots and society’s/ club or whatever they’re callIng them. I was hoping to see a little more student/ school content.
Side note: I keep seeing others commenting on forums about how we’re FINALLY getting a sport. Has everyone just forgotten about basketball from City Living or? My sims play it in almost every save. I love it. I know we’ve needed more sports for some time now, but does no one remember the fact that basketball does exist in game? Is there another point that I’m not getting?
I do not get the complains about no kitchen at dorms. I mean if you would HAVE to load that cafeteria lot every time many times a day I WOULD TOTALLY understand. But minifridge+micro combo offers new meals, and I am pretty sure the sim living at dorm will not starve to death with minifridge and micro:) (lived with instant noodles for months irl, once upon a time)
EDITED TO ADD: As I am in complaining topic, to avoid the complains about off topic, here is my complain:
Kids cannot ride bikes! That is something I simply cannot understand. I learned to do it when I was a kid! I know this is pack for university, but with the trouble to animate teen-elders to do it, why not do the kids as well when they were at it.
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Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
The pack feels so empty that I can't believe is shipping like this.
We can't expect a lot from packs in TS4 because many issues come from the core base game but that doesn't mean we have to accept something as empty as this. This costs 40€ at full price. Island Living was empty as well but at least it brought a completely different arquitecture and lifestyle. Oh my! I can't believe I'm saying this but I think IL might be a better pack that DU
I have a lot to say, like a lot! But I want to wait a little bit to gather my thoughts properly and word them in a cohesive way.
In the meantime, I just need to say:
all Sims get the embarrassed moodlet when showering in the communal showers??? Really??
For some this the feeling of emptiness is nothing new as there is almost some kind of controversy with each pack and it may be be due to the limitations Sims 4 impose on the development of the packs. I am betting EA/Maxis wish they can go back in time and change most points in Sims 4 but they have no choice but to roll with it and hope for the best even if their best is not the best for some.
Disagree, instead of two meh worlds why not spend the money on a fleshed out pack? Nope, they thought it would look more meaty to build two worlds. Those kind of choices have nothing to do with how TS4's engine can work. Those type choices fall on the lead producers, the creative director and Lyndsay. Wasted time, money and talent instead of a meaty pack.
When someone goes to a doctor do they want to see the one who didn't spend much effort in university, and floated through his/her classes and still barely squeaked through with a C or see the one who did apply a lot of effort and got an A? One who thinks everything is a cold or one who knows the differences in an allergy and a cold.
That may be true but I look beyond the two meh neighborhoods and look at features which I was referring to for engine capibility does play an part in program development. Also, you are correct about about some choices that producers make but it also involves the customer as well, if majority of the customers overlook what an pack has or do, the company looks at those who are against them as collective damage and as long they make an profit it is all good for them so they will continue to put neighborhoods that are meh in the packs. I rather have the ability to expand or edit my neighborhoods and look like that is never going to happen and why I never pay full price for what EA/Maxis put out.
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So because there were rabbitholes in sims 1,2,3... It's ok for sims 4 to have rabbitholes? I don't get that logic at all. The Sims 4 should be an improvement. Why should we have rabbitholes AND loading screens in 2019?
The excuse "well it would have been boring to see them in class" ??? Why does it have to be boring? Art classes aren't boring(sculpting, ect) science class isn't boring (frog dissection, ect.) They could have made it fun and engaging if they tried, but no just rabbitholes... And some people are happy about it... In 2019...
It's lazy/easy work for Ea. And if summer are ok with minimum effort, then they have an reason/excuse to keep pumping out half baked content. I honestly think Ea and the sim community are killing this franchise
Kinda ironic some are complaining about a complaining thread. Now if this was the happy thread then a lot of you would tell us to get out and not to ruin your fun. Show the same energy with this thread if not what you want to see. But anyway, I'm not hyped for uni, but ill stay tuned for reviews and gameplay
I do not get the complains about no kitchen at dorms. I mean if you would HAVE to load that cafeteria lot every time many times a day I WOULD TOTALLY understand. But minifridge+micro combo offers new meals, and I am pretty sure the sim living at dorm will not starve to death with minifridge and micro:) (lived with instant noodles for months irl, once upon a time)
EDITED TO ADD: As I am in complaining topic, to avoid the complains about off topic, here is my complain:
Kids cannot ride bikes! That is something I simply cannot understand. I learned to do it when I was a kid! I know this is pack for university, but with the trouble to animate teen-elders to do it, why not do the kids as well when they were at it.
Just because I go to university doesn't mean I have to reduce my eating habits and only live from unhealthy microwave junk food from now on just because of the lack of a communal kitchen. Game or not, this is supposed to be a life simulator game and I don‘t eat microwave junkfood IRL, so why should my Sim?! Also I think that this STOVE RESTRICTION was a VERY BAD IDEA giving the youth the wrong impression that living of microwave junk food would be ok. Junk food is NO healthy food“ and neither is permanent cantina food.
On a side note; instand noodles are the worst junk that you can ever eat!
The University of Alabama says: "Processed foods such as ramen noodles contain significant amounts of sodium, saturated and trans fatty acids, which can lead to chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease if eaten too often".
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Comments
The moment Discover University got leaked, I knew it was going to be disappointing and have the bare minimum. Island Living showed the direction EPs are going. Make everything look pretty, and focus on engaging gameplay as an afterthought. It is what it is.
Why don't they just port over the ones from TS3? There are so many that I'd love to have like Lucky/Unlucky. Light Sleeper/Heavy Sleeper would've been perfect for uni life if you have noisy roommates or want to struggle getting a student to class on time because they love to sleep. I know some of the traits from TS3 didn't have much to them, but I honestly miss them so much.
Yes, they were asked this directly and Simguru Steph said that they didn't add any so they could focus on university lot traits. They added 2 lot traits.
All the robots will malfunction when it rains. That's probably why they didn't have Seasons turned on. I mean, we know this already from the festivals in San Myshuno and that middle guru briefly mentioned it in the livestream also. But imagine how embarrassing it would have been to show live!
Called it. Kids riding on bikes? Nah thats stupid and unrealistic.
Maybe ONE DAY there will actually be content for kids that arent afterthoughts. I dont even really play kids tbh. No point in doing so when they rarely get anything in new packs. On the rare times I do have kids, I tend to just have them raise themselves. They're not interesting and they'll continue to not be interesting to me unless they get some actual substanial content.
Yikes...
That's such flimsy reasoning. If anything, we should get both lot traits and CAS traits. With City Living, I could maybe understand them focusing on lot traits over CAS ones given that there were so many. With DU, nah.
In other words keep an eye on the weather forecast!
This is my biggest complaint. I'm thinking there has to be an option they didn't mention, like with seasons to extend it. If not, what were they thinking? Lol mod time 😅 I would love control over how long I get to finish. Sim time goes extremely fast.
Community
question: do i have to sit through a loading screen and watch my sims doing whatever god knows in a rabbit hole sports building?
I'll probably have my sims take 2 courses and 1 elective to stretch it out.
If they have spare time, I will probably get inventive with other things to do.
I still have fingers crossed that Uni progression stops for sims if you change households and play sims going to the rival school.
Rotating between the two would go a long way to stop it for feeling too short.
The Sims 3 doesn't have a FIXED duration. How long each college lasts depends on your Sim's preexisting credits, and how many credits you want to apply for (which determines how many classes you'll have each day from 1 to 3). Without having preexisting credits, you can easily finish university in 3 Sim weeks. The game doesn't have "terms" like The Sims 2. It can be as long as short as you wish.
There's no difference between watching a sim do nothing in class and waiting for them to reappear outside a building. Both are boring as all heck.
As for why anyone would want to buy a University pack when they consider education overall to be boring, well, fictional university is a lot easier and cheaper than real university. Not to mention, your degrees are always useful, whereas in real life, even STEM fields aren't a guarantee anymore.
The excuse "well it would have been boring to see them in class" ??? Why does it have to be boring? Art classes aren't boring(sculpting, ect) science class isn't boring (frog dissection, ect.) They could have made it fun and engaging if they tried, but no just rabbitholes... And some people are happy about it... In 2019...
Side note: I keep seeing others commenting on forums about how we’re FINALLY getting a sport. Has everyone just forgotten about basketball from City Living or? My sims play it in almost every save. I love it. I know we’ve needed more sports for some time now, but does no one remember the fact that basketball does exist in game? Is there another point that I’m not getting?
EDITED TO ADD: As I am in complaining topic, to avoid the complains about off topic, here is my complain:
Kids cannot ride bikes! That is something I simply cannot understand. I learned to do it when I was a kid! I know this is pack for university, but with the trouble to animate teen-elders to do it, why not do the kids as well when they were at it.
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
That may be true but I look beyond the two meh neighborhoods and look at features which I was referring to for engine capibility does play an part in program development. Also, you are correct about about some choices that producers make but it also involves the customer as well, if majority of the customers overlook what an pack has or do, the company looks at those who are against them as collective damage and as long they make an profit it is all good for them so they will continue to put neighborhoods that are meh in the packs. I rather have the ability to expand or edit my neighborhoods and look like that is never going to happen and why I never pay full price for what EA/Maxis put out.
It's lazy/easy work for Ea. And if summer are ok with minimum effort, then they have an reason/excuse to keep pumping out half baked content. I honestly think Ea and the sim community are killing this franchise
Just because I go to university doesn't mean I have to reduce my eating habits and only live from unhealthy microwave junk food from now on just because of the lack of a communal kitchen. Game or not, this is supposed to be a life simulator game and I don‘t eat microwave junkfood IRL, so why should my Sim?! Also I think that this STOVE RESTRICTION was a VERY BAD IDEA giving the youth the wrong impression that living of microwave junk food would be ok. Junk food is NO healthy food“ and neither is permanent cantina food.
On a side note; instand noodles are the worst junk that you can ever eat!
The University of Alabama says: "Processed foods such as ramen noodles contain significant amounts of sodium, saturated and trans fatty acids, which can lead to chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease if eaten too often".