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The I'm Bored Thread

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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited January 2020
    @ApparentlyAwesome For me there are two options:
    • It’s just smoke, a way to get our attention and cause some hype (they are thinking about improving relationships and reactions, yaaaay) but they can’t really do anything with it
    • It’s not just smoke but actual plans they are going to work on, in which case I’d genuinely wonder why it took five years

    I also don’t understand the survey to be honest. It’s like asking people:
      You live in a shed.
    • Would you like a water supply system in your house?
    • A toilet?
    • Central heating?
    • A roof?

    It sounds like asking for the sake of asking. All those things are what this game should have been built upon.
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  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member

    I just wish we were allowed to give the reason why or go into detail rather than just leaving them to assume based off how we rate or what we choose.

    I wanted that option too. Just because I want something added or changed, but you don't know what it is about it that I like or don't like? Unless they plan on doing more surveys to expand on this. I wouldn't be opposed to them asking us for more input on a regular basis anyways. The last 6 years they've done as they wanted for the most part, if they want to keep this going for as long as they say they can keep it going, then things are going to need to change.

    Origin ID: Peapod79
  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    @ApparentlyAwesome For me there are two options:
    • It’s just smoke, a way to get our attention and cause some hype (they are thinking about improving relationships and reactions, yaaaay) but they can’t really do anything with it
    • It’s not just smoke but actual plans they are going to work on, in which case I’d genuinely wonder why it took five years

    I also don’t understand the survey to be honest. It’s like asking people:
      You live in a shed.
    • Would you like a water supply system in your house?
    • A toilet?
    • Central heating?
    • A roof?

    It sounds like asking for the sake of asking. All those things are what this game should have been built upon.

    This has to be the perfect way to describe it. :lol:

    I’m all for player feedback and surveys, but some of those questions just seem like a joke — EA actually going back and adding content to past expansions?

    Just ship better games and remove the whole hassle. How hard is it?
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited January 2020
    Paralives does have my attention more than The Sims at the moment I'll admit. I look it up every few days to a week to see if there's anything new about it.

    On the topic of The Sims, I didn't click done on the survey. I just wanted to read through it first. Some of the ideas sound generally interesting though I did note they stressed the word potential before the survey got started so of course some of the changes wanted may never come.

    Some of the suggestions I liked or even loved (shared experiences, relationship tone, shared personal history, more relationship types, define lifestyle, go on an outing and more), but with some of them clearly what I'm thinking of and what they're thinking of don't quite match up based on the descriptions they give after the bold print. Then also I'd read them and before I'd get too excited I'd think 'picture them implementing them in the game' and think :confounded: 'Nah...'

    If I vote based on what I want to see a number of them get high scores but my mind always went to how they would do it and what will the final product would look like and that would lead to things I'd vote a 7 or higher on getting a 5 or lower and it makes me unsure how to vote. Like if I could give my honest response then they put a little box down there for further comment so I can go into detail about why would've been great lol.

    It's sad to say but I don't trust them to do these things justice. It's the game of missed opportunities and potential if only. I want these things, it's just that in this iteration can it be done well? If this were to get ideas for The Sims 5 I'd feel slightly more comfortable answering based on enthusiasm because at least they're starting over from scratch.

    Also, the which EPs/GPs would we like to see have some extra polish or additional development (you could only select 3 in total) had me wondering if those will be in the form of another pack if gone through with. Seasons would be one of my selected ones so reading all those ideas for winter... :expressionless: Resorts, mountain climbing, ice fishing, all those winter activities and more for different types of climates could've gone into beefing up the Seasons pack and so could vacations and get aways with a few out of town getaways for sims to choose from based on each season. Or just have a Vacation pack on its own that provides mutiple vacation destinations.

    I think the only questions I didn't immediately overthink on were what would make it easier to create the sims you want, what brands do you want The Sims to work with and how satisfied are you with the game. All that being said though I did like this survey better than the last ones they gave us. I just wish we were allowed to give the reason why or go into detail rather than just leaving them to assume based off how we rate or what we choose.

    Just wanted to comment on some of these survey questions you mentioned.

    Shared Experiences, who knows what that even means? Memories? I doubt it. If Sims had memories then they would know they already have shared experiences. If they mean players (I haven't read the survey other than glance) NO.

    Relationship tone? Shouldn't they already have one? In love, crush, close, distant, solid, comfortable, familar? Odd one considering they have been building this game for 20 years.

    Shared Personal History....TS2 did this so much better, it's a little late to fix the core.

    Define Lifestyle: I don't even know what is meant by that one. Wouldn't this all fall under Traits, such a Hubris Sim might have more personal awards and mirrors etc? Their box of ideas sometimes doesn't reflect the great work they have done in the past games. A technophope possibly not wanting any electronics in the home? This is probably not even in the realm they mean and have no idea what hippy/yuppy idea they are trying to convey. Slapping clothes on a Sim and some Bohemian furniture in a room? I start to wonder where are the gurus who worked on traits in TS3 did they all quit?

    Go Out On An Outing? Can't even believe this is one, it's been done to death since base game. Half the time Sims run off so why pay for it again?
    Surely they aren't going to call this new.

    And the most laughable, what brands do we want them to work with to bring to The Sims. What happened to all those players who had scrupples back in the day and hated advertized- sell out in games? Guess they no longer play this series. Again more catering to those who love CAS and logos.

    If they want to build a better experience why don't they concentrate on gameplay. For instance TS2 shows you the name of the Sim your Sim is talking to while chatting on line. It also tells you who logged on etc. Your Sim can invite those Sims over, if you decide to do that. See, deep connection to actual gameplay. TS4 is shallow on this level and pretends to talk on line. (with unknown somebody)

    Why not go one better and add Sim Skype, Sim Snap Chat or something so your SIm and the other Sim can talk face to face on line. Instead of going a few better steps forward with brilliant ideas and code in TS2 they just ditch stuff and swear it's too hard. Players would appreciate when their Sim chats on line they can see a real Sim in their pjs talking back to their Sim. More layers of depth to an already great interconnection in TS2. Instead of the shallow 'busy fill' of TS4. Nothing means two cents in TS4.

    The Sims Skype would be enjoyable to see my own Sims in a different lot interacting with my current Sim. I would see their living room in background or maybe he or she is out in the desert when I made my current call them up. See, depth, Maxis. It's the details that matter to players, not the 'going through the motions'. At least to those of us who know you used to be better at building this series than your current team is now.

    Just draw a pie. Split it down middle. The left side is the size of an EP in older games. On the right side draw fifty little sections, that is the size of packs and how many you will need to get the gameplay of one EP from TS1, TS2, TS3, and still no meat, just empty crust.






    Post edited by Cinebar on
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • ApparentlyAwesomeApparentlyAwesome Posts: 1,523 Member
    I'm laughing at that shed part but that's true. I'm reading all these things and the game needs all of it and more.

    They could've asked before they started working on Sims 4 so we wouldn't be here (I would hope) but better late than never. It's just at this point I don't see how some of these things would go well based on what they've said about resources, the difficulty in implementing certain features, and certain choices already made and pretty much solidified in the game. Unless they just implement them on a smaller scale in which case I'd rather not have it at all depending on what it is.

    Take cross country skiing, downhill skiing and snowmobiling. I don't see going well at all because Sims 4 doesn't have an open world so they'd likely be limited. Snowmobiling and the game doesn't even have cars and barely has bikes? Sledding I could accept depending on how it's done but if it's too limited I wouldn't care much for it either. And it's not that I don't like these ideas, it's that I sense it's not going to be as great as it could be if only it weren't being done in the smaller box they've basically confined this entire game to.

    They could literally choose any one of those things in the survey to do and the game would still feel lacking if most of it isn't done or if additional work outside the things they mentioned aren't done. Then we point it out and still get called ungrateful people who can never be satisfied when it's taken more than the life cycle of one typical sims game for them to even ask us if we'd like to potentially see the things we've been requesting since before Sims 4 was released.

    I know it says Sims 4 but I think ultimately I'll fill it out as if it's all something possible for Sims 5. I'm not buying anything for a long time if at all anyway so if they have some surprises along the way that'll be cool. I see many simmers getting excited for what questions like these could possibly mean for the future of The Sims 4 but I need to see more than words in a survey to believe it. I'm glad their asking, I just need them to ask for more detailed responses which hopefully comes in future surveys.


    Based on the description they gave a number of them are needed but some make me question. I copy/pasted the descriptions given for them.

    Shared experiences- Sims share repeated activities with preferred Sims such as “brunch buddies”.
    I'm fine with this because it's nice to see the townies out doing things but when I pictured it in the game I see this somehow not ending up running into people on their designated bowling night every Friday, but two or more sims every day at the same place all day when they supposedly have jobs and lives and that's not exactly what I was thinking.

    Relationship tone- Relationships have short-term states such as “Furious with [Sim X]”.
    This one, I think wouldn't be necessary if emotions and personalities were better.

    Shared personal history- A relationship’s past impacts the present. For example, good friends who had a dramatic falling out may have a harder time reconnecting.
    I'll be honest, I thought this was a longer way of saying memories but then I thought about it and I'm sure it wouldn't quite measure up to Sims 2 memories if this is how specific their getting.

    Define lifestyle- Choose your Sims’ activity level, social preferences, habits, etc.
    This sounded very Sims 2 like to me. My first thoughts were interests, the personality points, turn ons and turn offs, even Sims 3 favorites.

    Go out on an outing- Take a group on a day trip such as a family pool day or a mountain climb.
    This one when I read it I was not thinking let's go to the pool or mountain climb. I was thinking family bike rides, roller blading through the park or on the block (not in a rink), family vacations, friend vacations, road trips, just cruising around the neighborhood with nothing to do, family trip to the grocery store where the parent who hates shopping is disgruntled, two of the kids are acting up and the other is pouting because he just wants to lay in the basket and nap and now the parent who likes shopping is regretting their "wonderful" idea of a family outing to buy groceries, things along those lines.

    Then I have to give an honorable mention to more relationship types because the example they gave was Have new ways to define relationship dynamics such as “bromance”. and I almost marked it as a 1 for that word alone. More familial relationship types to choose from in CAS like step-siblings, half siblings, great grandparents, in-laws, cousins, uncle, niece, etc. I'm totally fine with and have been wanting for a long time. I'd even think being able to set sims as best friends, enemies, exes on good/bad/neutral terms, crushes and one sided relationships is good, but bromance? If that was the first example that came to mind what other relationship dynamics were they thinking of?

    The brand thing I'm leaving my answer as I don't care. I'd rather they make items without attaching them to a brand. Unless it looks like something I'd style a sim in I never care about branded content. I'd like or dislike it just the same without a brand name attached to it. I've heard the preferred choice is Ikea.

    More in depth gameplay has been asked for now for so long. Again, I'm glad their asking what we'd like but without allowing us to give more detail we're basically giving them general information to guess on for over 90% of this survey. Which expansion packs need more work, choose up to 3 but I can't say in what way I feel they need work. What areas do I want to have the most content on a scale of 10 to 1 traits, lot traits, active careers, off lot careers, etc. A lot of it needs more than just content, but improvements and depth. If "more content" for traits can be depth I'd give it a 10. If it's more things to do but personalities stay the same, my interest is lower.
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  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited January 2020
    Omg, after reading the descriptions, we already have those things in game. Where are people, don't they see it?

    Share Experiences: Groups..except this time they just gonna include 2 Sims instead of several. REPEAT gameplay. Already paid for it. Not going to pay for it again to get it on a smaller scale. :s

    Don't Sims already get furious, wow trying to resell it.

    Shared history....don't we already have a relationship panel number and if they are friends it's sort of hard or easy to overcome some things (that's why we have mood emitters) been done already yes, it doesn't work as it should but what are people going to pay for here? Rewording?

    Define Lifestyle:
    How does a Sim choose it's social preferences? What's that? If these Sims had traits this would all be obvivous it doesn't need any uptown jive talk to make it sound good. Choose habits? Good luck with that one, Maxis, go ahead and prove you can make them stop dancing, drinking water, getting up to wave, or hug a stranger, or stop using the pc, or stop running after a stranger, or 'habits' of going to the bed to eat food.

    Go Out on An Outing..they just described Groups in GTW... GT, are they suffering from amenesia or something?

    And bromance again? lol I feel like we have fallen into Wonderland and Maxis doesn't remember they have already supposedly done all this in 2014.

    Post edited by Cinebar on
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • StrangerTloverStrangerTlover Posts: 1 New Member
    I have never been a fan of TS4 and for that reason I had just the base game until recently. I loved TS2 and TS3. I find TS4 graphically beautiful but gameplay is a snooze-fest. TS1and TS2 I believe were so successful because of the novelty aspect. TS1 didn't try to replicate real life. It made me laugh.
    TS4 made everything vanilla, boring pre-planned communities, nothing unique. Lost the ability to add color and patterns as in TS3. TS4, The Sims characters don't interact in any meaningful way and the only spontaneous behavior I've witnessed is them escaping to play games on the computer any chance they get...boring. TS2 I enjoyed the sillyness of the game, the Sims dysfunctional behavior, their spontaneous interactions that led to consequences sometimes dark, sometimes weird.
    Lastly, to combat the boredom I bought University on sale. I still haven't been able to play the expansion pack d/t off-campus students waiting period to start classes is 5 days and to move a student into the dorms to explore they must apply to the University wait 2 days and hope they aren't rejected. Not having much fun yet. I had hoped to explore the expansion pack that I had just paid for. Not much University gaming going on. The artifical waiting period of inactivity reminds me of Sims Freeplay, and certainly hasn't helped the boredom or experience with TS4.
  • ApparentlyAwesomeApparentlyAwesome Posts: 1,523 Member
    @Cinebar It sounded to me like they're enquiring about adding depth and more detail to all these things and in a way it's an obvious "no duh" thing. It's only what some of us have been asking for from the start, including some players who love the game. To me, most of those things already done were done just okay enough to skate by instead of taking them and going in depth like they could've and should've. Then add poor personalities and it makes things worse.

    Part of the reason this game has had potential for so long is I think to exactly what you've pointed out. They have these things already. The elements for the game to be something great are there, if only they'd take it and do something great. And these shouldn't (and hopefully won't) be something players would have to pay for, these should've been updates steadily added over the time Sims 4 has been out. Or better yet, they could've held off on releasing the base game and improved it. Now they're talking about possibly polishing up packs too and that, if done, should be a free update thing as well or better yet, again, they could've taken their time and improved the quality before releasing them.

    Speaking of taking time to improve quality, the lead designer for the new Tiny Living pack tweeted this:



    And then this:



    I'm glad both had responses that said something similar to what I was thinking.

    For the first one, where is the quality?

    And for the second, my concern is the quality of what they bring to the table. I don't mind it taking more time if they add to the scope and I know it'll add to the cost too but if they do the game right they'll get that money back and more from loyal and happy customers.
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  • ApparentlyAwesomeApparentlyAwesome Posts: 1,523 Member
    Oh, I also looked at some of the livestream today, mostly fast-forwarded to view the content but particularly this part caught my attention. My first thought was that I don't expect nor want that much from a stuff pack, especially not big stuff that's usually in an EP. It's just stuff to add to the experience. Not things that add meaty gameplay. I don't need a hero object for a stuff pack.

    I will give the credit though, this is the one pack that actually opened me up to the possibility of game packs because I never saw a point in them than to divide more EP content. For actual tiny living stuff that's not in this SP that players have brought up and shared pictures of, I think a GP would've been decent for all of that. To the part about how they don't intentionally do cash grabby things like withholding content, their hearts could genuinely be in the right place and it's just their inspired by the other teams work. Ok. But with a game that feels like it's in a weaker state than it's predecessors in gameplay, depth and even content in a lot of areas, I'd rather they consolidate the ideas to make what are supposed to be the strongest packs of all stronger. EPs used to be loaded in gameplay and content and now we're seeing what used to be gameplay and content in one EP divided amongst several packs. How are we not supposed to feel like something is fishy there?

    Somewhere in the livestream they also talked about the survey and I'm kinda surprised they seemed surprised (or maybe in awe) that players care so much to voice feedback. We love the franchise and want to see it do well of course, so I'm glad they encouraged people to continue giving them feedback.
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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited January 2020
    @Cinebar It sounded to me like they're enquiring about adding depth and more detail to all these things and in a way it's an obvious "no duh" thing. It's only what some of us have been asking for from the start, including some players who love the game. To me, most of those things already done were done just okay enough to skate by instead of taking them and going in depth like they could've and should've. Then add poor personalities and it makes things worse.

    Part of the reason this game has had potential for so long is I think to exactly what you've pointed out. They have these things already. The elements for the game to be something great are there, if only they'd take it and do something great. And these shouldn't (and hopefully won't) be something players would have to pay for, these should've been updates steadily added over the time Sims 4 has been out. Or better yet, they could've held off on releasing the base game and improved it. Now they're talking about possibly polishing up packs too and that, if done, should be a free update thing as well or better yet, again, they could've taken their time and improved the quality before releasing them.

    Speaking of taking time to improve quality, the lead designer for the new Tiny Living pack tweeted this:



    And then this:



    I'm glad both had responses that said something similar to what I was thinking.

    For the first one, where is the quality?

    And for the second, my concern is the quality of what they bring to the table. I don't mind it taking more time if they add to the scope and I know it'll add to the cost too but if they do the game right they'll get that money back and more from loyal and happy customers.
    Oh dear, manager talk. We get a lot of that in my profession, I’m surprised they didn’t bother to make a crossword puzzle out of it, they love that. The “If you can form a new word out of the first letters of the ingredients presented it must be right” principle. Spreadsheet management.

    “The Project Management Triangle is used to analyze projects. It is often misused to define success as delivering the required scope, at a reasonable quality, within the established budget and schedule. The Project Management Triangle is considered insufficient as a model of project success because it omits crucial dimensions of success including impact on stakeholders, learning and user satisfaction.”
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  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited January 2020
    Oh, I also looked at some of the livestream today, mostly fast-forwarded to view the content but particularly this part caught my attention. My first thought was that I don't expect nor want that much from a stuff pack, especially not big stuff that's usually in an EP. It's just stuff to add to the experience. Not things that add meaty gameplay. I don't need a hero object for a stuff pack.

    I will give the credit though, this is the one pack that actually opened me up to the possibility of game packs because I never saw a point in them than to divide more EP content. For actual tiny living stuff that's not in this SP that players have brought up and shared pictures of, I think a GP would've been decent for all of that. To the part about how they don't intentionally do cash grabby things like withholding content, their hearts could genuinely be in the right place and it's just their inspired by the other teams work. Ok. But with a game that feels like it's in a weaker state than it's predecessors in gameplay, depth and even content in a lot of areas, I'd rather they consolidate the ideas to make what are supposed to be the strongest packs of all stronger. EPs used to be loaded in gameplay and content and now we're seeing what used to be gameplay and content in one EP divided amongst several packs. How are we not supposed to feel like something is fishy there?

    Somewhere in the livestream they also talked about the survey and I'm kinda surprised they seemed surprised (or maybe in awe) that players care so much to voice feedback. We love the franchise and want to see it do well of course, so I'm glad they encouraged people to continue giving them feedback.
    To this day I don’t understand why the critical players, the ones that don’t play Sims 4 anymore, are being approached in quite a hostile way as if we’re a problem. We of course are when you want to live in Happy Valley and only want to hear how awesome everything is. In the real world however, the very fact people like us don’t give up and keep voicing our opinions should tell them something. Criticism often gets misinterpreted as negativity, the people expressing it being ‘negative Nancies’ and ‘complainers’. For me, being part of that group, that’s always felt as completely missing the mark. The ones accusing me of that often throw Sims 3 under the bus in the very same post for reasons that make me go “so what” (graphics), “who cares” (teleporting into a car), “but that’s fun!” (travelling and creating your own style) and “did... you ever actually play the game?” Calling people complainers and negative, by complaining and being more negative about something else than I’ll ever be (I don’t hate Sims 4). My signature for instance, if anything, is a token of deep love and positivity.

    Now, as for the part in your post I bolded: the mere face we are still here, should actually be considered a huge compliment to their own past. They should be in awe about that and cherish it, be proud of it. Not reject it as if we’re some spontaneously formed group of trolls who just don’t get this franchise or are unable to enjoy life in general (or don’t have one). We’re still not going anywhere (because we can’t, ok, detail). As soon as they get it right again (and I most certainly can see they are doing their best to achieve that), we’ll be back.
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  • drakharisdrakharis Posts: 1,478 Member
    The game needs improvement with the devs not being afraid of offending us. It's like they get to the edge and are almost there but political correctness keeps them from taking a leap of faith. In my opinion, Sims 4 should have taken where Sims 3 left us and improved upon the franchise instead of being more flash and pomp than something edgy and with substance.

    I mostly game offline with card games like Magic and Vanguard, miniatures games like Warhammer 40k and Malifaux (my husband keeps me from falling for the lure of another Games Workshop hotness... *sigh*) and RPGs like D&D and Shadowrun. I play Sims games sometimes but I play Malifaux and Shadowrun much more and can go for weeks and even months because Sims 4 is lacking in so much. I don't know if that lacking is just another word for "boredom" but I am definitely disappointed with the franchise even though I love my vampires and spellcasters too.
    Playtesting - not just tabletop games and card games any more. Really that should have been playtested in Beta and not [img]just with accounting and marketing but actual players. https://i.imgur.com/t48COW6.jpg[/img]
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited January 2020
    @Cinebar It sounded to me like they're enquiring about adding depth and more detail to all these things and in a way it's an obvious "no duh" thing. It's only what some of us have been asking for from the start, including some players who love the game. To me, most of those things already done were done just okay enough to skate by instead of taking them and going in depth like they could've and should've. Then add poor personalities and it makes things worse.

    Part of the reason this game has had potential for so long is I think to exactly what you've pointed out. They have these things already. The elements for the game to be something great are there, if only they'd take it and do something great. And these shouldn't (and hopefully won't) be something players would have to pay for, these should've been updates steadily added over the time Sims 4 has been out. Or better yet, they could've held off on releasing the base game and improved it. Now they're talking about possibly polishing up packs too and that, if done, should be a free update thing as well or better yet, again, they could've taken their time and improved the quality before releasing them.

    Speaking of taking time to improve quality, the lead designer for the new Tiny Living pack tweeted this:



    And then this:



    I'm glad both had responses that said something similar to what I was thinking.

    For the first one, where is the quality?

    And for the second, my concern is the quality of what they bring to the table. I don't mind it taking more time if they add to the scope and I know it'll add to the cost too but if they do the game right they'll get that money back and more from loyal and happy customers.

    In regards to the first tweet showing the triangle. As I said in another thread TS4's mistake is forgetting TS2 and TS3 exist. And we know better. This only proves to me they want to build the cheapest game possible (without any depth like in 2 or 3) for the most profit. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but don't expect the fanbase that know the others exsits to cheer them on. What did he actually say with his little example: It's too hard and too expensive.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • To7mTo7m Posts: 5,467 Member
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    @ApparentlyAwesome For me there are two options:
    • It’s just smoke, a way to get our attention and cause some hype (they are thinking about improving relationships and reactions, yaaaay) but they can’t really do anything with it
    • It’s not just smoke but actual plans they are going to work on, in which case I’d genuinely wonder why it took five years

    I also don’t understand the survey to be honest. It’s like asking people:
      You live in a shed.
    • Would you like a water supply system in your house?
    • A toilet?
    • Central heating?
    • A roof?

    It sounds like asking for the sake of asking. All those things are what this game should have been built upon.

    Haha!! I love this

    —T
  • ApparentlyAwesomeApparentlyAwesome Posts: 1,523 Member
    I wondered about user satisfaction too. They can accomplish all those things in an acceptable way to them but what if the people they're trying to sell it to don't find it to have quality?

    I guess the consumers and the history of the franchise don't count for much. Some players will admittedly buy anyway, even if they don't like something.
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    To this day I don’t understand why the critical players, the ones that don’t play Sims 4 anymore, are being approached in quite a hostile way as if we’re a problem. We of course are when you want to live in Happy Valley and only want to hear how awesome everything is. In the real world however, the very fact people like us don’t give up and keep voicing our opinions should tell them something. Criticism often gets misinterpreted as negativity, the people expressing it being ‘negative Nancies’ and ‘complainers’. For me, being part of that group, that’s always felt as completely missing the mark. The ones accusing me of that often throw Sims 3 under the bus in the very same post for reasons that make me go “so what” (graphics), “who cares” (teleporting into a car), “but that’s fun!” (travelling and creating your own style) and “did... you ever actually play the game?” Calling people complainers and negative, by complaining and being more negative about something else than I’ll ever be (I don’t hate Sims 4). My signature for instance, if anything, is a token of deep love and positivity.

    Now, as for the part in your post I bolded: the mere face we are still here, should actually be considered a huge compliment to their own past. They should be in awe about that and cherish it, be proud of it. Not reject it as if we’re some spontaneously formed group of trolls who just don’t get this franchise or are unable to enjoy life in general (or don’t have one). We’re still not going anywhere (because we can’t, ok, detail). As soon as they get it right again (and I most certainly can see they are doing their best to achieve that), we’ll be back.

    This!

    Because I liked the previous games but suddenly chose to "hate on" this one for absolutely no reason other than it's not the game I still have access to and play. That narrative gets boring too. I would love to love The Sims 4 but clearly it needs some improvements or the same players who complain about complainers wouldn't be excited about all the possibilities in that survey that we've been complaining about that can be summed up as depth. And again we get a SimGuru telling us to keep providing feedback and nothing we say will stop the game from being worked on. So either way you look at it, negative feedback isn't going to suddenly make them say The Sims 4 or The Sims franchise is done. They're still making money so that should be obvious anyway. Might as well be honest about likes, dislikes, etc.

    I hope people who rely on mods to fix certain flaws and bugs in the game also brought those things up. I don't know why that's nagging at me but I really hope there wasn't a mindset of 'modders already fixed it so that's covered, you guys can focus on this instead'. Tell them everything. Hold them accountable as much as possible.

    I wish all of them would take that into account, that us still being here and still willing to add our voices is a compliment to their history, instead of telling us in a roundabout way it's wrong to feel like we've been tossed aside in their goal to reach newer, younger players. We know the older games exist and have played them. We know what the Sims team is capable of. That's why I like when I see comments from simmers who've only played 4 wondering why this cool thing they learned was in 2 or 3 isn't in the game still or even better they purchase 2 or 3 and can look past the graphics and actually understand where older players are coming from. I'm not even trying to be the target audience. I just want good gameplay and a better level of depth and detail than the previous games. They've added some in Sims 4 but it still needs more.
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  • PrincessrozeeSPrincessrozeeS Posts: 390 Member
    I'm not exactly bored with the Sims 4 but I don't play for as long as I once did. I understand in some ways how the OP Cinebar feels.

    I lose direction and inspiration in the Sims 4 game. The reason is the Sims 4 feels disjointed to me. The order in which expansion packs and other items added into the game have not been in the right order (imoa). Packs should build on a Sims Lifetime, instead things like University have been left till quite late in the game. One of the things I enjoyed was taking a newly created YA in the Sims 2 to University to achieve, come out with lots of skills, friends etc. With Discover University in the Sims 4 the experience doesn't seem the same as it was in the Sims 2. I miss the mischievous Mascots coming into the dorms/community lots, being able to take my Sim on a vacation while still at university once they had achieved all their college work and of course finding and going to the secret society and all the advantages that it brought. I haven't found the secret society in the Sims 4, my Sim barely had time to do anything but college work lol.

    I miss things like slow dancing and other special interactions with a special sim; making a band and asking others on the lot to join in playing no matter what their skill. Yes it sounded awful at times but that was half the fun lol.

    I love the Seasons in the Sims 4 although it messes up so much with growing plants, fishing and exploring places like Outdoor Retreat especially in the Winter. I love the flower arranging but disappointing that fresh flowers soon wither and die. I thought this would be good for making a flower shop and selling but when they don't keep fresh the options seem limited. The same with fish going off once caught and left in a the Sim's inventory. Sometimes reality is not so good for creating game play the way the person wants to be inspired and create in their own game. Perhaps they should have given the Fishing skill when maxed out a way to keep the fish fresh and the same with the flowers arranging.

    For me the Sims 4 also lacks character and by that I mean there seems to be very few special NPC's. Mrs Crumplebottom (in the Sims 2) with her prim ways and hitting Sims with her handbag lol. I used to get annoyed at times with so much fighting going on in the Sims 2 with NPC's on community lots, but the NPC's in the Sims 4 seem characterless. They arrive at a community lot, don't stay very long and even when one of them comes to speak with my playing Sim, unless my playing Sims stops what they are doing and introduces themselves they get no friendship status with that NPC.

    I think the video sessions in the Sims 2 also added to the fun with achieving things like first kiss, graduating at Uni, woohoo in a hot tub. All added to making it a bit special and fun to play those aspects.

    I will continue to play the Sims perhaps not as much as I once did.

  • KaeChan2089KaeChan2089 Posts: 4,944 Member
    I'm not exactly bored with the Sims 4 but I don't play for as long as I once did. I understand in some ways how the OP Cinebar feels.

    I lose direction and inspiration in the Sims 4 game. The reason is the Sims 4 feels disjointed to me. The order in which expansion packs and other items added into the game have not been in the right order (imoa). Packs should build on a Sims Lifetime, instead things like University have been left till quite late in the game. One of the things I enjoyed was taking a newly created YA in the Sims 2 to University to achieve, come out with lots of skills, friends etc. With Discover University in the Sims 4 the experience doesn't seem the same as it was in the Sims 2. I miss the mischievous Mascots coming into the dorms/community lots, being able to take my Sim on a vacation while still at university once they had achieved all their college work and of course finding and going to the secret society and all the advantages that it brought. I haven't found the secret society in the Sims 4, my Sim barely had time to do anything but college work lol.

    I miss things like slow dancing and other special interactions with a special sim; making a band and asking others on the lot to join in playing no matter what their skill. Yes it sounded awful at times but that was half the fun lol.

    I love the Seasons in the Sims 4 although it messes up so much with growing plants, fishing and exploring places like Outdoor Retreat especially in the Winter. I love the flower arranging but disappointing that fresh flowers soon wither and die. I thought this would be good for making a flower shop and selling but when they don't keep fresh the options seem limited. The same with fish going off once caught and left in a the Sim's inventory. Sometimes reality is not so good for creating game play the way the person wants to be inspired and create in their own game. Perhaps they should have given the Fishing skill when maxed out a way to keep the fish fresh and the same with the flowers arranging.

    For me the Sims 4 also lacks character and by that I mean there seems to be very few special NPC's. Mrs Crumplebottom (in the Sims 2) with her prim ways and hitting Sims with her handbag lol. I used to get annoyed at times with so much fighting going on in the Sims 2 with NPC's on community lots, but the NPC's in the Sims 4 seem characterless. They arrive at a community lot, don't stay very long and even when one of them comes to speak with my playing Sim, unless my playing Sims stops what they are doing and introduces themselves they get no friendship status with that NPC.

    I think the video sessions in the Sims 2 also added to the fun with achieving things like first kiss, graduating at Uni, woohoo in a hot tub. All added to making it a bit special and fun to play those aspects.

    I will continue to play the Sims perhaps not as much as I once did.

    :'( I miss those SOOOO much, they were my favorite things aside from the memory system in the sims 2...

  • auroraael14auroraael14 Posts: 988 Member
    edited January 2020
    I can't play the game for more than 30 minutes at a time because of all the features that are missing. I would play the sims 2 but it crashes a lot on my computer randomly. My sims feel all the same and are not unique at all and forget about the fact that they are happy all the time even when someone dies or cheats. They don't have any wants or fears to speak of so there is nothing driving them. Babies are useless and so are many of the other life stages besides adults. I use to be able to play for hours now I find myself daydreaming about what the game could be. The simmers in this community have so many great ideas that it's hard for me to understand why none of them are implemented. I'm tired of hearing them say they can't do something that we had in the sims 2 and 3. Like kids playing tag or bunk beds. The sims look great and the build/buy is nice too but what's the point if the gameplay stinks. I now find myself just building but it would be nice if I could actually play the game. The new stuff pack looks nice for CAS/Build/buy and I know I will buy it but at the same time it's not going to make the game fun and it's not going to change anything. I keep thinking that they'll patch in wants/fears and better personalities but honestly who knows. I've been playing this game for more than half of my life and I hate the direction it's gone in. They keep cutting corners, reusing the same animations even in expansion packs where we're supposed to get new animations. I hate how happy this game is my sims don't have enemies because even after their done fighting they hug and start having a friendly conversation. I don't mind using my imagination sometimes to play the game but when I'm only using my imagination the game becomes stale and boring. We don't have cars, robbers, firefighters, buses, open neighborhoods. Even the houses around my sims are backdrops that don't even exist. If they do make a sims 5 I have very high expectations.
    Check out my gallery for house builds! Username: aejp24
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited January 2020
    So I watched Carl's review about Tiny House pack, or whatever, he was upbeat about the pack, and didn't critique it the way he has the last few. But anyway, the purpose of building these small three sizes seems to be to get Sims more happy perks. Advantages of living in one of the allowed sizes. Again, just more of the same happyville vibes this game keeps doing over and over. It might have made sense to me if Sims rarely were happy or had so many ways to get perks and happiness or easy street lives, but the whole game is built on those premises, so more of the same in my opinion. More buffs is not my idea of gameplay. And while I'm speaking about the stuff pack, more loss of control for players. If you build their way there are more advantages for your Sim to live an easier life and happier life, so it's their way or the highway, again. Controlling what type of homes now. It's a nudge in the politically correct direction to build smaller and leave a smaller footprint. The Sims get boosts for living in these things, just like other lot traits that make their lives easier, how many ways can this game invent to keep Sims lives perfect and happy? Ad Nauseam.

    And honestly, anyone who keeps saying they buy the packs though they don't want them but buy because of the CAS, well, why bother complaining about lack of gameplay when you feed the monster? You have the game you support, CAS. And that's all you keep getting. It's like training pets, you don't reward bad behaviour.

    Myself as an example: If I had kept on buying TS4 after my long years of critiquing it to death, how would that make me look? like an addict who couldn't control Impulse buying. Maxis hopes we all have that addiction. And since TS4 is still going strong I guess some do. Buy it all, even if you don't want it. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
    Post edited by Cinebar on
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • luxsylvanluxsylvan Posts: 1,922 Member
    Sometimes reality is not so good for creating game play the way the person wants to be inspired and create in their own game.

    For me the Sims 4 also lacks character and by that I mean there seems to be very few special NPC's. Mrs Crumplebottom (in the Sims 2) with her prim ways and hitting Sims with her handbag lol. I used to get annoyed at times with so much fighting going on in the Sims 2 with NPC's on community lots, but the NPC's in the Sims 4 seem characterless. They arrive at a community lot, don't stay very long and even when one of them comes to speak with my playing Sim, unless my playing Sims stops what they are doing and introduces themselves they get no friendship status with that NPC.

    I agree with you. I think one of the biggest issues with TS4 isn't that it adds realism, but adds it in seemingly random, annoying ways instead of what really makes it a game that mimics life.

    I don't care about fish and flowers spoiling and it's a bit annoying when they do so so quickly -- just like it's annoying for Sims to always be drinking water. Is it realistic? Yes, but realism =\= good gameplay anymore than it equals good art. It's pedantic and overdone. We KNOW it's a lifesim and we know how the real world works, we don't need TS4 to narrate every minute detail.

    At the same time, realism is lacking in the areas that give real life just that...life. The relationships and personalities are so minimal (perhaps as a 'design choice' in order so that the player may project their own imagination onto characters, but I don't buy it and don't think it's a good technique in Sims), and the game is afraid of making things too "real" because it might upset someone...I mean pets can't even die...and look I love my cat a ton but come on, is that real life? Enemies don't do much, anger is never really projected at any one sim for longer than a moment, etc. There are some short-term but no long-term consequences for things.

    In essence, the game denies reality in the most substantial ways and only includes it with tiny details that do more harm than good. Pick realism or not, and stick with it but stop dancing around the middle because the game doesn't do either well right now.

    I'm like you, I still play but not as much. It's frustrating and disappointing sometimes. It is the most fun when I put a bunch of rules and restrictions on myself to force it to be that way, but not necessarily on it's own.

  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    All of the above and then some. So often now my response to thinking about starting up TS4 is "What's the point?", better to read a book or build a ship model out of balsa wood. Sim Navy, if you will, and I could go on for a good while with parallels and equivalents. Lots of fun, challenging at times, and cheaper too.
  • surlybadgersurlybadger Posts: 283 Member
    I think I get bored because I'm a family aspect type player and Generations and Aspirations were my two favorite expansions in Sims 3 so I go through these bouts of boredom where I step away. But I always come back and binge play for a long while lol.

    That and I have large family sims and with University and how it plays, it messes with my ADD real bad and overwhelms me easily, lol. So I have to take breaks. I wish the semesters worked a bit differently so I didn't feel like once I enrolled a sim in college I was "stuck" playing them to the end of it.
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