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Is it sad that this is normal now?

So I took some time off from Sims 4 to let some expansions come out. Magic and Eco Life have dropped so I figured I'd fire up my game again. Here is the sad part, my FIRST thought was there were expansions so what are the new bugs? I find that very disappointing but at least the game has one thing going for it, consistency. Sure enough I've already encountered two new bugs.

1st bug. Some actions just never complete. This seems to happen OFTEN with eating meals. The sim will sit, eat and there hunger will fill up, but the plate of food never loses food and the eating action never completes. The sim just sits there forever spooning food into their mouths. Fortunately this is easy to fix, you just cancel the action and trash the plate and your good to go, but this happens to sims visiting your lot as well. Since you don't have direct control of these sims there is no way to cancel whatever stuck action they have so you have to use the console to resetSim, otherwise they'll eventually starve to death on your lot. This is also happening with the "Watch Movie" interaction on a TV. The movie starts, the sims sit to watch, their entertainment goes up, but the movie will NEVER finish.. they will sit there forever.

2nd bug. Decorations are simply not working at all anymore in any situation, the entire system for decorations is now completely broken.

Does anyone else find it sad that the first thought with new expansions isn't "Oh my god, new stuff to do, I'm so excited!!" Instead, your first thought is "What bugs are going to be introduced to my currently working game, and is it going to be game breaking?"

Add to this the total lack of any amount of urgency in fixing these bugs. Remember the good 'ol days when a game company would take a bug in their game as a personal insult and usually roll out a patch within a week? I don't know if those days are simply gone or if that attitude in game development is not conducive to how EA does business, regardless ... it's disappointing.

The saddest part of all of this is it's totally no surprise at all. As soon as EA sucks in a game developer, that developer's product ultimately suffers as a result.

Here's to hoping Maxis can shake off the shackles of EA long enough to actually fix these bugs in a timely matter, but I seriously doubt it.

Praying I'm wrong,

An extremely dissatisfied customer

Comments

  • StilettoBlackStilettoBlack Posts: 3,844 Member
    It is sad. That is how they are though. I will never be able to play a magician in TS3 and make it to the big show venue. Never. The bug they never fixed. I tried the mod but it just slowed down my game too. At the end of TS4, expect to have to live with the bugs they leave at the end.
  • Fillups44Fillups44 Posts: 8 New Member
    I might be in the minority here but I've been playing The Sims since 2002 and it has been my experience that with any significant addition, there have been bugs that have required patching to fix. The game in all its iterations is a pretty complicated piece of software and with so many possible interactions, that significant changes kick up a few bugs.

    The recent base game before Eco living dropped was an extremely ambitious one and with that has come a host of bugs and glitches that will need to be patched out. The team has worked quickly on the most extreme ones and I'm sure is gathering data and working on a host of others. The Sims 4 has overall been a lot more stable for me than The Sims 3 was.

    Even though this has been a consistent issue with each generation of The Sims I have played, I don't consider it sad. I like The Sims because of all the options and stories it lets me tell. In my experience, games that afford that level of choice often also come with their share of glitches Skyrim, Mass Effect also offer a lot of choice and have had quite a few glitches over the years sometimes after big overhauls and updates. It happens.
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    edited June 2020
    jmac2727 wrote: »
    I'm sorry but your argument does not hold water. These are not some obscure bugs that you really have to dig into the game to find. These are bugs that ANY player playing for longer then 10 to 15 minutes would notice immediately. The eating bug is the perfect example, it's impossible that that was missed. So one of two things happened, they either failed to play test the expansion AT all, or they did do play testing, knew the bugs were there, and released anyway. I find that I'm unhappy with both of those scenarios, and I feel I'm justified in that disappointment.

    I hadn't noticed the eating one actually, but I prefer to keep my sims needs full via cheats (or even more often with the reward trait that keeps them always full) so they rarely eat haha!

    tbh, it's never been my first thought and I rarely encounter any bugs in my game. I do remember one last year-ish where todders got stuff stuck to their hands that caused me issues because I play toddlers mostly... but it was fixed quickly.
  • BatmanFanGirlBatmanFanGirl Posts: 1,298 Member
    I have that eating one too.
    heartstopper-couple.gif
  • Sara1010PSara1010P Posts: 888 Member
    I don't have the eating bug you mention, but I do have the one with the movies. What has happened to the decorations? I didn't notice anything buggy about them? My first thought when a new pack comes out isn't about what bugs will be added, so I don't find it sad, but you do indeed have the right to be disappointed if that is your first thought. You are a paying customer and deserve to get a game you are happy with. Sorry Sims 4 isn't fulfilling that right now for you.
  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    edited June 2020
    Some Guru said that Ea is Maxis and Maxis is Ea, so it isn't right to only blame EA in this case.
    ihavemultiplegamertags
  • ThenyoukissmeThenyoukissme Posts: 304 Member
    edited June 2020
    I agree. I often find myself worrying about the bugs that will be introduced. Its not that I expect absolutely no bugs, of course there will always be some, its just that usually theres so many and they can be game breaking at times. Plus, it’s not always guaranteed that they will be fixed and over time you end up with tons of bugs from a ton of packs. Eco lifestyle has been the worst for my game personally, theres so many things that are broken or conflicting badly with other packs that you cant help but wonder how much it was truly tested. I’ve seen a lot of people on here say that they cant even open their games, or that its constantly crashing. I expect bugs but not to this extent, where it is breaking peoples game, or new major features straight up dont work (the neighbourhood action plans are just a buggy mess) it can start to feel like I’ve paid for an unfinished or untested product
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    I like the bugs, but I am a playtester, so why I am weird that way. Anyway here is a link of instructions to help you out.


    @SimGuruNick is wonderful and tagging him here to let him know too. Whole QA team and honestly I have been reporting bugs since my cupcake crash bug in February 2015, so I know Sims 4 is totally not bug free because well bugs love me. But yes please keep reporting bugs. Complaining about bugs and reporting them to the QA team in detail is the best way to make the game get better. Anyways happy Simming and hope that you get your bugs fixed soon. I had one regarding gardening I had to report.
    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/NEEDS-INPUT-ECO-Hydroponic-Planter-seeds-disappear/m-p/9239491#M142790

    Crinrict is amazing volunteer and sweetheart on the bug forums. Deaderpool discord is a really cool place too if you have any questions about mods, CC, and stuff: https://deaderpool-mccc.com/#/
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • jmac2727jmac2727 Posts: 306 Member
    See, that's the problem ... I like that the company is using it's player base to receive feedback on bugs, what I don't like is that they are relying on that player base to find the bugs in the first place. These bugs shouldn't be in a finished product, instead of relying on their player base to test their expansions, maybe . . . and I know this is a crazy thought, maybe, just maybe they should hire play testers to sort these bugs out before they release the expansion. A drastic thought I know, but who knows... maybe it can happen.
  • jmac2727jmac2727 Posts: 306 Member
    Someone asked about the decorations bug, I know it's more then just my game because I've read other forum posts about it, but it may not happen to everyone. What it's doing with me is I can't get a nicely decorated, or highly decorated or any decorated buff at all to work as is intended. Go into your paintings and find the most expensive painting, fill a room up with dozens of them, you SHOULD get a beautifully decorated mood buff while in the room. After the expansion those decorated mood buffs just don't work... I've seen them pop up randomly but then just disappear a moment later with no explanation, even though I hadn't changed rooms. Again, a bug that should have been REALLY easy to spot yet somehow made it into a release version of the expansion . . . smh
  • popstarsleypopstarsley Posts: 1,086 Member
    I usually play more than one Sim in a household so it’s rare I’m focused on one Sim long enough to find most of the bugs people report. Maybe that’s why some players don’t “experience” them?
  • JC1979JC1979 Posts: 491 Member
    I have the eating one also. I had to actually remove the fridge from the lot because any “leftover” food eaten after taken out of the fridge would break my game stopping it in it’s tracks and I would have force shut down. And the fridge was just a problem in general because sims consistently went to the fridge to get food even if their hunger bar was full and leave plates all over the lot. So now my sims are left ordering pizza or finding a stand or hope a roommate brings food.
  • ScobreScobre Posts: 20,665 Member
    edited June 2020
    jmac2727 wrote: »
    See, that's the problem ... I like that the company is using it's player base to receive feedback on bugs, what I don't like is that they are relying on that player base to find the bugs in the first place. These bugs shouldn't be in a finished product, instead of relying on their player base to test their expansions, maybe . . . and I know this is a crazy thought, maybe, just maybe they should hire play testers to sort these bugs out before they release the expansion. A drastic thought I know, but who knows... maybe it can happen.
    Well not so much hire. We volunteer to test games before their release. Kind of like how EA Game Changers do before too. Anyway this is about the program: https://www.ea.com/playtesting So yes in a way they do rely on people to test their products. They have a QA team too and anyone can send their save files to the QA team, so that they know exactly what is happening in our games. Pictures help a lot too. I have a full time job too on top of this which does well pay. Gaming is just my hobby. It's ok to experience bugs that others haven't experienced it. It took months for other Simmers to experience the incest bug I was experiencing early on with being a rotational player. We all play differently, so takes some time to experience bugs together. :)
    “Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –Helen Keller
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    @Fillups44 If you look around the forums you will find tons of people that are having so many issues with the game especially the NAPs that they have stopped playing because once they start a save things get so out of hand so quickly.
    People are actually still waiting for urgent bug fixes since the 5th of June and it is now the 26th...
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • Paigeisin5Paigeisin5 Posts: 2,139 Member
    It is sad when a new pack or update is announced, and my heart drops into the pit of my stomach because I know there will be bugs and glitches to deal with. My excitement turns to dread in the time it takes my brain to realize new content always means new problems will follow. But this isn't new, you know. Bugs have been around for as long as I have been playing The Sims, and I doubt it will ever change. The only difference is how I deal with the issues that do come in new packs and updates. I stopped waiting for the teams to fix what is broken, and I control my game now. I don't get angry, mad or upset. I just find ways around the messes Maxis made, and go about my merry way. But I will add this, Eco Lifestyle is only the 2nd pack I have bought at full price in two years. The other one was Island Living, but we won't get into that ordeal here.

    As was the way with Sims3, Sims4 is heavily modded and manipulated in ways that suit me and my style of play. My Sims4 game does not resemble what the teams had in mind when the base game was released. Or even now, nearly six years later, after the release of over thirty packs. I chose what features in those packs I wanted to build on, then left the others behind. That's the beauty of having a community of brilliant mod creators who love the game, and work tirelessly to make the mods that allow us to have the kind of game we want to play. I fought the idea of being forced to use mods for a long time. I also believed it was up to Maxis/EA to give us what we want when we paid for those packs and expected more than what we actually got for our money. So now I seldom pay full price for a pack because I know better. I did buy EL on release day because I wanted it, and I was willing to take my chances. It isn't a bad pack. It has it's issues but most of those have been taken care of with a couple of mods. But I am not sad about using mods. I am sad EA is what it is and can't see anything except numbers and dollar signs, though. But I haven't let that slow me down as far as me enjoying this game. I am not saying everyone should ignore the fact disappointment is a real thing with Sims4. I am not saying the way I am handling it is right or wrong. I am just saying EA doesn't care. I simply chose to get even instead of being angry or sad about the game's shortcomings, and waiting for the teams to do something about it.
  • SindocatSindocat Posts: 5,622 Member
    Your outlook is your choice. If you want to focus on negatives and be disappointed, you are perfectly free to do so. But that is you doing it, and not someone doing it to you, and it is not my experience of the game. If it is yours, sit down with yourself, and ask yourself why.
  • AnnLee87AnnLee87 Posts: 2,475 Member
    Not everyone experiences the same bugs and that's why they need players to report bugs. I played all day yesterday and don't have the eating bug. I don't have the constant drinking water thing either. I don't play holidays. I deleted them all do to repetition so I don't know if I have the decoration bug. I use a few mods. MCCC, UI extension, all year plants and education system bundle. Do a lot of players have the eating bug? If not it's mostly mod related.
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    @Sindocat the quality of games in general is worsening (not always but a lot lately) and the price is increasing constantly.

    If you want to look at the bright side if things you can expect to pay 80$ for a buggy and empty Sims 5. Of course there are always positive things but when people have tons of bugs and EA doesn't do anything about it, it is not an opinion anymore, it's a fact.
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    edited June 2020
    Yes it is sad, because you get the impression that they care about some features with the sims4 and not so much about other features.

    I don't think it is a coincidence that they missed that you can't take care of the insect farm in Eco Lifestyle for example because I think no one wanted to play with it.

    But they do care about other things so I think it is important to not only focus on the negative. A lot of things still work pretty well in the game and mods help me focus on the more positive things. I can remove the horrible outfits, the weird behavior and other things.
  • LiELFLiELF Posts: 6,439 Member
    jmac2727 wrote: »
    Someone asked about the decorations bug, I know it's more then just my game because I've read other forum posts about it, but it may not happen to everyone. What it's doing with me is I can't get a nicely decorated, or highly decorated or any decorated buff at all to work as is intended. Go into your paintings and find the most expensive painting, fill a room up with dozens of them, you SHOULD get a beautifully decorated mood buff while in the room. After the expansion those decorated mood buffs just don't work... I've seen them pop up randomly but then just disappear a moment later with no explanation, even though I hadn't changed rooms. Again, a bug that should have been REALLY easy to spot yet somehow made it into a release version of the expansion . . . smh

    @jmac2727 The decorations buffs have been changed due to player complaints, it's not a bug. They now have a countdown so they don't give a constant happy buff, only a temporary one. They used to be extremely annoying because they would constantly keep Sims in the "happy" zone and it would end up overriding other emotions.

    They have also added a decorations debuff if your Sim has a poorly decorated environment. I imagine that this was done to add balance.

    I personally don't like having decorations influence anything at all, I think they should only be tied to materialistic Sims. But having a countdown timer is a big improvement because it makes more sense to me. I mean, who goes around their house in a happy euphoria, grinning at their decor day after day?
    #Team Occult
  • HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    I don't have the eating bug or a decorations bug. I've played for a whole lot longer than 15 mins since the last patch.

    Otherwise. Yes they tweak and change things due to player complaints and input... and sometimes it's for the worse for some players and better for others, but that doesn't make it a bug because gameplay has been tweaked and changed. For instance I hated it when they took away the ability for my playable sim to do everything they wanted to in an NPC home without complaint from that family (showering, sleeping, cooking). They made it so you basically needed the Always Wecome trait to do that after lots of complaints and threads that it isn't appropriate to be able to do that. So it's the first reward trait most of my sims get now.
    My favorite new change is the new door possibilities so vampires or neighbors are disallowed although I'm sure someone out there might be unhappy about that?

    You might want to use the reporting a bug process about the eating thing though that sounds annoying.

    Oh and about the bug farms.. you can take care of them it just takes a lot of effort to get them thriving @logion I have two characters that keep them and actually get them thriving everyday. I do hope they tweak down the amount of bug nurturing you have to do though it is too much in my estimation.

    Most of the bugs that annoy me right now have to do with plants not sure if they are universal or not though I need to go view the reports and check off some me too's soon.
    egTcBMc.png
  • suzanna13suzanna13 Posts: 1,426 Member
    First off, I don't have Eco Living. I do not have the eating bug, yet but I do have the TV bug. LiELF says the decorations thing is intentional. was that in the patch notes? I have also noticed that my expencive nano garbage can is not paying for itself anymore. I also either use the cheapest toilet or what I think is the most expensive one that is unbreakable. All my sims that had the unbreakable toilet have had it replaced with an equally expensive one that breakes constantly. I can't even find the unbreakable one anymore. Are these bugs or intentional?

    I am experiencing a lot more dropped actions. I have to watch my sims like a hawk to be sure they complete a task.

    I have hit the "me too" in report bugs in the past and it does not change the count no matter how many times I hit it. Maybe it is bugged for me also. Guess I should go check it out again.
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