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6 years of Shallow Sims

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  • Placebo7Placebo7 Posts: 107 Member
    keekee53 wrote: »
    NOTHING IS WORSE THAN MY SIM GETTING INTO A FIGHT WITH ANOTHER SIM AND THEN START TALKING TO THEM AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED.

    Absolutely right, @keekee53 . Nothing is worse than that because it makes the player feel FOOLISH for caring about their Sims' story and relationships and consequences more than the characters do, and clearly more than the game developers do. And that is how I end up feeling when I play.
  • keekee53keekee53 Posts: 4,328 Member
    Scobre wrote: »
    keekee53 wrote: »
    Can we talk about how they still have not added dancing face to face, slow dancing and no other couple activities to this game?? Adding two person boats in IL could have been a great addition. It is like couples cannot even be couples outside of woohooing in every bush, tree, shower, hot tub etc. They make sure to give us a new woohoo location each pack...SMH but no other couple activities. They cannot even skate together ugh.

    I do not why there so obsessed with the woo hop.
    Even the woohoo is shallow and doesn't always show the animation. It is seriously like social distance safe woohoo. I have never seen a less romantic woohoo as I have in the Sims 4 with all of the games. It is like 1950s separate bed romance.

    I love this article, shows how far away Sims woohoo away from each other now. Sims 4 has the safest bed woohoo:
    https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/12/woohooing-in-the-sims-is-actually-horrifying/

    It is shocking how they even have children...lol
  • bethyGracebethyGrace Posts: 709 Member
    edited May 2020
    bixters wrote: »
    This is a post just to remind people that after 6 years of this game, sims are still as shallow as ever, and that there have been no attempts to fix it or improve it.

    1. Not enough substantial traits or aspirations:
    The Sims 4 has an alarmingly low number of traits to actually choose from. Even more significant is that very few of them actually make any difference to your game. Traits like Active merely give you an energized moodlet that lasts an hour then disappears. Music Lover simply gives them fun when their playing or listening to music. Neither make a substantial dent in a Sim's personality. Even worse, are the pack specific traits we receive with Expansion and Game Packs. Child of the Islands merely gives you a happy buff when you're doing island activities. Dog Lover lets you improve your relationships with dogs faster. What's worse is that you can only pick 3 traits, so your sims never form an interesting or unique personality.
    As for aspirations, again there are far too few of them. The developers have been reluctant to add more to the game at all, and most of the time when they are added to a pack, they are simply tutorials for how to play that specific pack. In Island Living, for example, one of the goals of the Beach Life aspiration is to "get a suntan" and to "eat a coconut." How is this interesting gameplay?

    2. Emotions are still bogged down by environmental & happy buffs:
    The "well-decorated" buff overrides negative emotions constantly. Did your sim's spouse just die? Well, they won't care, since the room is so well decorated! This goes for all positive emotions in the game, most of the time they will override any negative emotions. Is your sims embarrassed from wetting themselves? Well, they won't be once they get a happy buff from playing a video game. Emotions are far too changeable, shallow, and just too happy. Unless playing in a shallow Utopia is your idea of a fun time, and this goes into my next point...

    3. Not enough consequences:
    Along with positive emotions overriding negative emotions all the time, the game just has too few consequences. If your sim child is failing school, the parents will not care, and there are no consequences. If your spouse cheats on you, the cheating spouse will only receive a slight negative relationship decline, and sometimes they don't even care. Children don't care if their parents get divorced. Your sim will almost never get fired from their job even when they perform badly. If your sim is mean to another sim, the other sim will simply continue chatting and smiling in the conversation. Add to this, we still don't have any burglars, an essential feature from the Sims 1, 2 and 3.

    4. Whims were eliminated and never fixed:
    Whims were things your sim wanted to do in order to gain aspiration points. From the beginning, they weren't very well thought out, with ridiculous whims such as "build a 1x1 pool" or "become dazed," completely random and not based on the sim's traits at all. They recently stopped having them altogether. You can re enable them in settings, but they have not been updated with any of the current packs, so there are no whims about magic, college, or becoming a star. Why they never updated or fixed them in the first place is anyone's guess.

    5. No attraction, turn ons/ offs, hobbies, likes/ dislikes, favorites:
    The Sims 2 and 3 both had systems for having favorite colors, food and music. They also had unique attraction systems that made dating and romance more interesting. 6 years in, we still don't have these things in the Sims 4.

    All of these things together make the sims in the Sims 4 incredibly shallow, which is why most people complain that all the sims act the same.

    And we shouldn't have to rely on mods to fix these problems!

    So listen up EA/ Maxis, you can sell as many copies of the Sims 4 as you want, get as much money as you want from people, but the same complaints are still there and have been there from the beginning! Just because they're spending money on your game doesn't mean they love it, and once the new customers realize how shallow the sims are, they won't be interested in the game either.

    I think it's high time these issues get fixed!

    6 years of me still playing The Sims 2 almost daily because it is still a better game.

    And you know what's amazing? The Sims 2 doesn't even really have "traits". It has personality points and interests, like in the Sims 1. Somehow, those systems plus proper wants & fears, attractions and aspirations, means that pretty much every single one of my sims is unique.

    Yeah, I play Sims 2 with tons of mods - I also play Sims 4 with tons of mods. But the core of the game is SOLID.

    The real problem in this game, which others have mentioned in this thread, is that there's no real failure, no real fallout, no real consequences, no real chance of two sims not getting along. There's no fear. The Sims do not care or react to what is going on around them.

    I remember the first thing I did in The Sims 4 was set up a family like the Pleasants from Sims 2, where Dad was cheating on Mum and I wanted to see what happened. And what happened? .... nothing, lol. Mum didn't care. Daughters didn't care. Well okay then, cool. Then I realised that my number #1 style of gameplay (families, generations, raising kids) was essentially impossible cos we didn't have toddlers or real teenagers. Then we got toddlers, and they were amazing... but no matter what, they all turned out the same as adults :(

    In a simulaltion game, you set up a situation, press play and see what happens. Then, you manage as you go. If you want to, you unleash disaster mode cos you are god and you can... just to see what happens. I don't know about you guys, but I really don't think that works in TS4. I want to see my characters react to things!

    I do still play the game, sometimes, and do challenges. Short-term challenges that keep me amused for a little while and then I go back to Sims 2, where I can have story-lines panning entire custom towns, multiple generations, families, friends and enemies.

    At this point I don't know if Sims 4 will ever really be fixed. I'm ready for a new Life Simulator. Bring out something from Paradox, or of course Paralives (although I will NOT get excited about that game until I see... well, GAMEPLAY! Sims 4 has proved that you can have a really pretty but rather boring and shallow game. Paralives have a lot of work to do, no matter how cool the build mode looks).

    Maybe even the Sims 5, although my faith in the team at this point is probably like a 3/10. They get 1 point for amazing toddlers (although belated), 1 point for a great CAS and a decent build/buy, and 1 point for the Seasons EP with the calendar.

    Also, I totally loved this sausage man thread https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/817854/an-obnoxious-psychosausage-tests-the-boundaries-of-the-sims-4-emotions/p1

    Bahaha. Brilliant.
  • LogisitcsLogisitcs Posts: 1,156 Member
    What a beautiful and well written post. The Sims themselves are the heart of these games and EA has been ignoring them for the past 6 years. I really hope Paralives does to The Sims franchise what City Skylines did to SimCity. I really do. Because EA would deserve it.

    There are tons of videos, tons of videos from EA's OWN game changers on YouTube showing why TS2 is a better game and why the SIMS themselves are better, EA has plenty of examples and evidence of what's needed to make the sims less shallow. But they do nothing. Instead piling more and more crap and asking for more money.

    Their greed will be their own undoing and I'll pop a champagne bottle when they finally get what's coming to them. They took something I loved for the entirety of my life and destroyed it.
  • king_of_simcity7king_of_simcity7 Posts: 25,102 Member
    Time to move forwards I think. TS4 is not going to get better is it?
    Simbourne
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  • bixtersbixters Posts: 2,299 Member
    edited May 2020
    Wow! I'm glad this thread is still going. There are some great posts in here! Maybe someone from the Sims team will actually read this (just kidding, like that would ever happen :D ).

    The new EP, although some of it is interesting, looks to be more of the same sadly :'( No depth in sight for our Sims
  • Jordan061102Jordan061102 Posts: 3,918 Member
    Yeaaaaah. I am desperated.
    Lu4ERme.gif
  • Jordan061102Jordan061102 Posts: 3,918 Member
    Time to move forwards I think. TS4 is not going to get better is it?

    Definitely not. It has been a long time since they did their pool about ''potential'' improvements on personalities. I deeply know it won't happen.
    Lu4ERme.gif
  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    Time to move forwards I think. TS4 is not going to get better is it?

    I don’t think it’s going to really focus on improving existing systems and majority player-requested content for sometime, if at all.

    TS4 is six years old, and has been the most limited Sims game I’ve seen yet. I’ve learned not to expect much of Maxis/EA during this iteration. With this latest announcement, it looks like they’re just throwing new concepts at the game, and that’s fine by me. I hope they come up with the wackiest, outlandish stuff and just use TS4 as a testing ground to see what sticks before, hopefully, making the true successor to The Sims 2 and 3. It’s really all this iteration is good for.
  • SERVERFRASERVERFRA Posts: 7,108 Member
    It sure doesn't help that they have to work from home.
  • KayeStarKayeStar Posts: 6,715 Member
    edited August 2020
    keekee53 wrote: »
    Yep OP that pretty much sums it up.

    I personally hate the moodlets and I prefer memories. In Sims2, I always knew when my sims were angry, sad, happy, afraid or worried because my sim expressed those emotions. I was always able to find out what happened to my sim by going through their memories or furious portrait of another sim that angered my sim. I don't know the system felt more fluid back then. Now I have these cheesy moodlets that mean nothing after 2 sim hours. NOTHING IS WORSE THAN MY SIM GETTING INTO A FIGHT WITH ANOTHER SIM AND THEN START TALKING TO THEM AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. This would never happen in the sims2. I would be lucky if I can get them to stop fighting...LOL Let's not even talk about how many times that sim will come over and kick the garbage can over...lol
    You reminded me of one of my favorite Sims 2 memories.

    Desdemona's father gets into a physical fight with another sim. Desdemona sees this, runs upstairs to her bedroom, and cries. After the fight ends, her father goes up to her room and hugs her.

    I did nothing. I didn't direct Desdemona to her room or direct her father to comfort her. This whole scene was free will.
    Post edited by KayeStar on
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  • StinalinaStinalina Posts: 2,396 Member
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    Time to move forwards I think. TS4 is not going to get better is it?

    I don’t think it’s going to really focus on improving existing systems and majority player-requested content for sometime, if at all.

    TS4 is six years old, and has been the most limited Sims game I’ve seen yet. I’ve learned not to expect much of Maxis/EA during this iteration. With this latest announcement, it looks like they’re just throwing new concepts at the game, and that’s fine by me. I hope they come up with the wackiest, outlandish stuff and just use TS4 as a testing ground to see what sticks before, hopefully, making the true successor to The Sims 2 and 3. It’s really all this iteration is good for.

    I like your dream! But I have NO expectations of this actually being the case... But I admire your positivism! :D
    I guess we all kind of live of dreams, since we keep trying to make the game work and keep hoping...

    Maybe if we keep this thread going somebody will eventually pick up on some of our ideas.... (Im a dreamer too!)

    So If you have to mention something that you actually do appreciate in Sims4 that could work in the next game, what would it be?

    I'll start:

    I do love the look at the neighbourhoods. Somebody made a great effort to make the surroundings of the playable lots very interesting to look at. But I would give it up in a heartbeat for better gameplay.... Whoops I think I just screwed me own Idea! :naughty: Not easy!

    Anyone else better at this?
  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    Time to move forwards I think. TS4 is not going to get better is it?

    I don’t think it’s going to really focus on improving existing systems and majority player-requested content for sometime, if at all.

    TS4 is six years old, and has been the most limited Sims game I’ve seen yet. I’ve learned not to expect much of Maxis/EA during this iteration. With this latest announcement, it looks like they’re just throwing new concepts at the game, and that’s fine by me. I hope they come up with the wackiest, outlandish stuff and just use TS4 as a testing ground to see what sticks before, hopefully, making the true successor to The Sims 2 and 3. It’s really all this iteration is good for.

    That and something to do while waiting for paint on a ship model to dry before the next coat.
  • BrittanyChick22BrittanyChick22 Posts: 2,130 Member
    keekee53 wrote: »
    Yep OP that pretty much sums it up.

    I personally hate the moodlets and I prefer memories. In Sims2, I always knew when my sims were angry, sad, happy, afraid or worried because my sim expressed those emotions. I was always able to find out what happened to my sim by going through their memories or furious portrait of another sim that angered my sim. I don't know the system felt more fluid back then. Now I have these cheesy moodlets that mean nothing after 2 sim hours. NOTHING IS WORSE THAN MY SIM GETTING INTO A FIGHT WITH ANOTHER SIM AND THEN START TALKING TO THEM AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. This would never happen in the sims2. I would be lucky if I can get them to stop fighting...LOL Let's not even talk about how many times that sim will come over and kick the garbage can over...lol

    I absolutely couldnt stand that in sims 3, still love the game but moments like that just irked me. You would think something like that would be addressed and fixed in 4.
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  • BrittanyChick22BrittanyChick22 Posts: 2,130 Member
    edited June 2020
    This is what capitalist greed has done to the gaming community. These companies want to take your money with little to no effort in their products. Its why gaming in general has been crap for so long nowadays. Microtransactions, bugs, glitches, broken mechanics, half 🐸🐸🐸🐸 content, unfinished games etc. Has been a huge problem in gaming and with these triple aaaaaaaa companies as the jimquistion would say. Things will never change until we put our wallets down...money is the only thing they will listen to.
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  • Okto84Okto84 Posts: 197 Member
    I really want TS4 sims to be added to and expanded with more personality. This is one area that just doesn't get much attention - but they're a huge part of the game!

    Currently, I use mods to eliminate the excessive happy weighting from decor. Just taking this out and letting the other game mechanics do their job is a big improvement by itself. As for should decor matter? I think it should be more important for date locations, parties, etc, but not all the time or when other more serious events are happening. Maybe emotions could have a priority system so some outweigh others, allowing things like the experience of starting a new relationship or grief to be experienced realistically. Emotions could even be modified by other, stronger feelings. For example a sim that's just had a baby or got married and feels happy should be able to shrug off negative events easier, while a grieving sim (death or end of relationship) might feel less from other positive events.
  • Francl27Francl27 Posts: 761 Member
    Op, that's why I haven't touched the game in a year now... Every Sim is the same and I get bored as heck as soon as my Sims have kids (but if they don't then I have to start over when they die, lol).
  • CAPTAIN_NXR7CAPTAIN_NXR7 Posts: 4,451 Member
    @bixters, Spot On.

    @Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    Time to move forwards I think. TS4 is not going to get better is it?

    I don’t think it’s going to really focus on improving existing systems and majority player-requested content for sometime, if at all.

    TS4 is six years old, and has been the most limited Sims game I’ve seen yet. I’ve learned not to expect much of Maxis/EA during this iteration. With this latest announcement, it looks like they’re just throwing new concepts at the game, and that’s fine by me. I hope they come up with the wackiest, outlandish stuff and just use TS4 as a testing ground to see what sticks before, hopefully, making the true successor to The Sims 2 and 3. It’s really all this iteration is good for.

    I feel the same about TS4. It's the Concept Guinea Pig of the franchise. I hope Maxis/EA will prove me wrong, but I do not see the actual sims getting a thorough AI overhaul anytime soon. So yes, blow it out of the park with the most outrageous concepts and themes. I’m absolutely cool with that. If it helps making the right decisions during development of the next iteration, all the better.
  • motdkmotdk Posts: 208 Member
    Yeah , I’m very disappointed In this game. I thought they would have made this gameplay better by now.
  • Bagoas77Bagoas77 Posts: 3,064 Member
    if you guys would stop buying their crap, they'd stop shoveling it out.
  • KaeChan2089KaeChan2089 Posts: 4,944 Member
    Bagoas77 wrote: »
    if you guys would stop buying their 🌺🌺🌺🌺, they'd stop shoveling it out.

    I believe that AND that most people praise ALL the packs in all sorts of ways, giving the gurus the mindset of "Hey, they really like it we're doing fine." and ignore the outcries from others that don't have good feedback...I honestly feel this.
  • lovelyskysxlovelyskysx Posts: 93 Member
    I remember when I was playing TS2, a few years ago, I made my female sim cheat on her husband with someone else, he eventually found out and she had to move out of the household. So, yeah, I agree.

    In TS4, one of my sims cheated on their spouse and a few hours later, they just forget the whole thing ever happened.
  • drake_mccartydrake_mccarty Posts: 6,114 Member
    Sims 4 was just step 1 in turning the PC game into a mobile inspired cash cow. The gameplay is so dumbed down that you basically have to imagine everything you do, and everything Sims 4 related has been light on content. The base game is barebones, and every piece of DLC is WAY too expensive for how little you get. Next step will be inserting micro-transactions so people can buy “just the CAS” or “just this build mode set” since it’s all of a sudden a problem that people can’t just buy CAS/BB stuff without the gameplay.

    Sims 4 and Sims mobile are super similar in the ways the game plays. Should be super obvious to anyone paying attention where they’re going with it.
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