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My confusion about "Gameplay" and the supposed lack thereof in packs

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  • netney52netney52 Posts: 1,214 Member
    I think it comes down to what people want from the game. For me the sims has always been sim wakes up, eats, washes, goes to work/school, comes home, eats, does something ie watch tv, do homework or a skill, wash/toilet and go to bed. That I how I’ve always played since sims 1 and it is very repetitive and does get boring from time to time. I change it up a bit by sending them on holiday (again did this in sims 1) and have them do different activities or on a weekend go to a bar, restaurant, park, beach etc. With pets they add to the daily function of my sims lives as do babies and toddlers. So pretty much my game is playing the more mundane aspects of real life. Some people may find how I play very boring some may play similar to me. I quite like the more out there packs like strangerville as it adds something different to my game. Personally I don’t like the owning a shop, vets etc as I have no imagination in that aspect of gameplay and I don’t understand the whole needing deeper gameplay with memory etc as I never noticed that aspect in sims 3 it was an annoying picture book which I’d spend forever clearing out. I will admit I tried playing sims 2 and never liked it as it was too unpredictable for my liking and sims 1 I ended up building in after a while as the gameplay was too challenging at times. I like sims 4 as it is such easy gameplay to come home and play after work as a way to de-wind.

    This issue is everyone plays the game differently and look for different things in the game.
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    "LiELF wrote:

    I personally don't think sandbox gameplay is always the answer. In some cases, like building and world editing, definitely. I think Sims 4 has too much sandbox play when it comes to dictating behaviors and actions of the Sims from the player and I would prefer more individual autonomy and game behaviors to choose from that Sims will act out on their own and animate. As it is now, the Sims are kind of all the same until the player dictates the direction.

    I only kept the part that I wanted to refer to, but that is exactly how I feel. There's way too much dependency on players to direct/dictate what our sims do. I too want them to do things on their own due to the traits they have.

    Instead of sims always wanting to grill out or troll the internet or play a game on their phone, etc. when left to their own devices. If I have a creative sim, and there's creative hobby activity objects (knitting, painting, sculpting if we had it, etc) I want them to just naturally pick something that would actually interest them. I don't always want to say, ok go play the piano or violin, you love music.

    The last time I played TS3 (about a month ago) my sim just autonomously decided to go to the community pool and swim laps and have water fights, I didn't dictate that, she wasn't an active sim or anything, that's just what she decided she wanted to do, so I followed her and let her enjoy that activity. I don't have those type of things happen in TS4 and I really miss that!
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    Gameplay in TS3 Island Paradise:
    Houseboats
    Resorts
    Visible underwater diving
    Playable lifeguard career
    Mermaids
    Hidden Islands
    Kraken
    All kinds of boats
    Surfing
    Waterski

    Gameplay in TS4 Island Living:
    Mermaids
    Playable conservationist career
    Slow sailing boats, aqua gliders
    Rabit hole diving
    Rabit hole lifeguard career
    Island spirits = almost normal ghosts
    Funny sun tan (love it!)
    Village fiestas without new animations

    See the difference? There is nothing interesting to do in many TS4 packs.

    If the difference is " a few fewer things" then sure. This, however, is far from "no gameplay".

    The functional houseboats alone deliver more story possibilities and magic than any feature in TS4. I really hope that the rental lots patch will add some meaning to Sulani. A Pool SP could also be helpful.

    What items do you think is missing from pools? I genuinely can't think of ANY.
    Also when people talk about "Story" in the Sims... I pride myself on having quite good imagination, but when I watch a lot of let's players I feel like I am watching Dark Helmet playing with the dolls: "Haha his husband loves him but he is going to go out and cheat with this mermaid I just made who is gorgeous! Also they don't know that their daughter is about to flunk Uni!".

    Everyone plays differently, but I never played that way. I never play Sim Selves (because 1. I am ugly, 2. It would weird me out completely to not only not be married to my wife and live as we do now, but to watch myself die!)
    I tend to play Sims that lives the lifestyle I would love but are not me in any other aspect: aka Sims that are not interested in careers or promotions, never stresses, have time to enjoy nature and just... are.)

    Well, in TS3 we had pool slides, pool bars (!!!) and waterfalls to play in. We also had curved pools.

    We also had actual diving boards! Which I miss tremendously!
  • LJKLJK Posts: 257 Member
    I think some people substitute the word "gameplay" for "depth" when they use it and that causes the confusion. Usually the word is defined as the way players can interact with a videogame and its contents, patterns, challenges, and consequences, and our connection that we have with the game as a whole. Previous Sim titles did a very good job at forging that connection, at drawing you into the game and telling a story whether you wanted it or not.

    Like my playstyle, in TS3, all I would focus on is improving skills, finding Sims to date, and maxing out every career. During this time, the game threw Opportunities at me, opportunities that connected with World Adventures, an expansion to the existing gameplay. It made me want to take actions I might've not wanted to take through Whims, of which there were many. At some point, I reached the Firefighter career and LifeTime award and my Sim got to go into a building to save Sims from a fire. I had to break down doors and direct Sims to safety while putting out the fires. At this point, I was concerned for the wellbeing of my and other Sims because while I wasn't sure if this could kill my Sim, I didn't want to risk finding out, so I paid extra attention at this aspect.

    The various moodlets were amusing and very numerous, making me wonder how many I'd missed. Skills had challenges to complete which had even more rewards for your Sim. Dates, opportunities, etc had a chance to go wrong and sometimes, it'd be out of your hands. It would be up to the player on how to react and deal with what happens, the good and the bad.

    All of this I think sums up "gameplay". Many other games throw stuff at you that you need to react to, stuff you didn't expect and challenges you needed to overcome. In a combat game, you could find some awesome sword and then feel a bit of a bond to it over time only to be saddened later when it breaks. In an RPG, an NPC you had never seen before amuses, scares, or amazes you in some way, be it their dialogue or actions. In The Sims, crazy stuff could happen to you that makes you laugh out loud or become concerned over the wellbeing of your Sims.

    The Sims 4... lacks these elements. You usually have to make your own situations, adopt a new playstyle (which in my opinion, you shouldn't necessarily have to), or download mods. Which other players don't like doing either and shouldn't have to. I think that's where the complaints come from.
  • LJKLJK Posts: 257 Member
    I can't edit, so I forgot to mention. I would also focus on buying properties in an attempt to own the whole city. This, coupled with my Sim's bills, made managing my Sim's cash very important. I would have to plan ahead with what I bought.
  • BeardedgeekBeardedgeek Posts: 5,520 Member
    izecson wrote: »
    I think what they mean is Sandbox Gameplay

    But... Sandbox gameplay is what they complain about? A LOT of posts are along the lines of "Maxis wants us to make our own fun" which is what sandbox play IS.
    Origin ID: A_Bearded_Geek
  • JemmaTheSimmerJemmaTheSimmer Posts: 387 Member
    I think there is also a difference between gameplay that is location-locked and gameplay that isn't. I know you can travel around everywhere in The Sims 4, but that is pretty immersion-breaking for me (aside from actually going on holiday) to instantly day trip to worlds that seem far away.

    I like to think of it as gameplay that you can use anywhere & with existing families. For lifestyles and sentiments, that is great and can be used anywhere. But for lot of the new stuff in Snowy Escape, you have to travel to the world to do it - not that I object in this case as it does make sense for ski slopes to only be on a mountain - but it is still locked to Mt. Komorebi. Same with City Living and Island Living, though make a bit less sense (debatably). Now something like Discover University is the opposite, which I love - you can do University from anywhere, from home, build your own university in any world (I've got a 5-lot campus in Windenburg and am adding one to Strangerville as well).
  • BeardedgeekBeardedgeek Posts: 5,520 Member
    I think there is also a difference between gameplay that is location-locked and gameplay that isn't. I know you can travel around everywhere in The Sims 4, but that is pretty immersion-breaking for me (aside from actually going on holiday) to instantly day trip to worlds that seem far away.

    I like to think of it as gameplay that you can use anywhere & with existing families. For lifestyles and sentiments, that is great and can be used anywhere. But for lot of the new stuff in Snowy Escape, you have to travel to the world to do it - not that I object in this case as it does make sense for ski slopes to only be on a mountain - but it is still locked to Mt. Komorebi. Same with City Living and Island Living, though make a bit less sense (debatably). Now something like Discover University is the opposite, which I love - you can do University from anywhere, from home, build your own university in any world (I've got a 5-lot campus in Windenburg and am adding one to Strangerville as well).

    And to me it's the opposite. The system with loading screens but complete freedom to travel is so so SO much better than a locked (but huge) open world where you literally had to forsake game play because you couldn't fit certain lot types in. "I have to bulldoze the pool to fit a fire station in or I can't be a fire fighter" is not a place I want to be in again.

    I also want to remind people that half the community want the open worlds to return while half the community still can't play the latest packs because they are (amazingly enough) on 32 bit computers from the 1650s. If EA patched the game to remove loading screens they would lose 30% of their player base immediately due to them not being able to afford new computers.
    Origin ID: A_Bearded_Geek
  • RavenSpitRavenSpit Posts: 1,387 Member
    I actually don't mind recycled animations, because I figure it's not worth re-inventing the wheel. For example, some of the moves in the Plumboomba dance videos (from Fitness Stuff) were reused from the dance skill in Get Together, but that's okay; using an animation in a different format leaves more budget room for new content. Maybe some of the animations for the hot springs will be similar to hot tubs, but we're getting a lot of new animations with the skiing, snowboarding and sledding. (I'm tempted to make a clumsy Sim and send him/her to the slopes to see what sort of fails I can get :D ).

    Yes, reusing animations is common practise and as you said it saves resources for new animations, so I am not against it in general, but in some cases in the Sims4 it is just too much, for me personally it's mainly the talking animations where it becomes way too obvious and feels off or lazy at times.
    I do for example not mind at all that they reused the "rock climbing" animations in SE from the fitness SP, because it makes sense, they added some new ones too and most of all those are not animations we are bound to see often.
    Same goes for your example the dancing animation for the TV dance workout, it makes sense and not every sim will work out to the video.

    So to me it's more like something that is bound to be used/shown often should have more visiable variety, if they offer different options.
    If they offer say 25 different options but use the same 5 animations between them it gets boring and seems lazy, this is the case with the conversations/talking topics (not the actual numbers of course, I do not know them), just a few more different facial expressions and gestures could make it so much better imho, they wouldn't even have to be big.

    Gallery ID: ra7orrat

  • LeaselmaryLeaselmary Posts: 108 Member
    edited November 2020
    Aine wrote: »
    It's pretty easy to see what people mean if you've played the previous installments. Especially Sims 2 has SO MUCH MORE depth and content gameplay wise it's not even a fair comparison.
    @Aine it's not fair to Sims 2 at all. I play sims 2 too and it's fun but... sims 4 has more content and more depth.

    For example yesterday my sim in sims 2 found out his wife cheated on him. Ok, he slapped her. A minute later he was idly smiling and business as usual. Because he wasn't angry. He was incapable of feeling angry, poor thing. The sin would stop once in a while to show me an flaming thought bubble to show he is furious with his wife. But gameplay wise - he wasn't struggling at all. His needs and aspiration were high so he was his ususal happy self, no struggle. And I had zero problem fixing his relationship with his wife.

    If he was in Sims 4 he would actually be angry, storming around, kicking the trashcan, taking it out on random ppl. Sims 4 does have a problem that sims aren't always in the emotional stand you want them to be, but you can fine tune it, if you want to. But you can't tune emotions when they are not in the game. I've only realised how important they are to the game when I've started playing sims 2 again.

    And gameplay wise Sims 2 is limited. Toddlers and kids life stage are very short because they don't have much to do. And after teaching toddler skills and helping with homework one time, parents have no more parenting to do. And it is unfair to compare it to Sims 4 because Sims 2 is much older game.

    I love sims 2 for memory system (but it can corrupt hoods, need to be carefull in sims 2), some cute details, iconic characters and well... nostalgia. But "depth" and "more things to do" is not on my sims 2 list.

    I'm sorry, it's just when ppl talk about how deep sims 2 was, I'm like "I play sims 2. Can someone plz send that deep immersive gameplay to my sims 2? Because I would like my sims 2 to get more deep but it's not".
  • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,518 Member
    Leaselmary wrote: »
    I'm sorry, it's just when ppl talk about how deep sims 2 was, I'm like "I play sims 2. Can someone plz send that deep immersive gameplay to my sims 2? Because I would like my sims 2 to get more deep but it's not".
    Sometimes I think some people can look back on the previous games with rose-tinted glasses. I tend to do that myself, just because I remember what fun I had with them back in the day.

    Every version has been fun for me at the time and had plenty of gameplay for my style of play - I love Sims 4 now much more than either of the others as it allows me to have more fun (though I hated it right up until the time toddlers were added), but this obviously does not apply to everyone as we are all different, play differently and expect different things from the game.
  • Nekia33painterNekia33painter Posts: 336 Member
    edited November 2020
    Sometimes they don't really make things different enough for re-used animations to be considered new gameplay. Snowy escape gave stuff that already existed in other packs. For example snow Pals, rock climbing, hiking and swimming. People who already have those packs wouldn't consider this new. I'm fine with seeing the same animations if it has a different outcome. Let's say if they reused the snow pal animation but instead making snow pals the sims created various ice sculptures. Instead of sims just having a swimming spot maybe take that throwing animation and have the sims play catch in the water. Climbing a mountain shouldn't feel the same as rock wall. That's probably why a lot of people don't think packs don't have enough gameplay.
  • LeaselmaryLeaselmary Posts: 108 Member
    @HayleeSims and player C will never play in Isla Paradiso or play it for coule of days and uninstall it (like me) because most features are tied to the town and it's not like you can live in Twinbrook, spend a couple of day on this tropical island relaxing on the beach, and come back to Twinbrook.

    I don't even play with mermaids, I use Island Living to let my sims have some quality family time on the beach, and it's perfect for that. All I wanted from Isla Paradiso was one thing only - just allow my sims to rest on the tropical beach and come home. And Isla Paradiso never gave me that. I had to wait for Sulani.
  • BabykittyjadeBabykittyjade Posts: 4,975 Member
    Leaselmary wrote: »
    Aine wrote: »
    It's pretty easy to see what people mean if you've played the previous installments. Especially Sims 2 has SO MUCH MORE depth and content gameplay wise it's not even a fair comparison.
    @Aine it's not fair to Sims 2 at all. I play sims 2 too and it's fun but... sims 4 has more content and more depth.

    For example yesterday my sim in sims 2 found out his wife cheated on him. Ok, he slapped her. A minute later he was idly smiling and business as usual. Because he wasn't angry. He was incapable of feeling angry, poor thing. The sin would stop once in a while to show me an flaming thought bubble to show he is furious with his wife. But gameplay wise - he wasn't struggling at all. His needs and aspiration were high so he was his ususal happy self, no struggle. And I had zero problem fixing his relationship with his wife.

    If he was in Sims 4 he would actually be angry, storming around, kicking the trashcan, taking it out on random ppl. Sims 4 does have a problem that sims aren't always in the emotional stand you want them to be, but you can fine tune it, if you want to. But you can't tune emotions when they are not in the game. I've only realised how important they are to the game when I've started playing sims 2 again.

    And gameplay wise Sims 2 is limited. Toddlers and kids life stage are very short because they don't have much to do. And after teaching toddler skills and helping with homework one time, parents have no more parenting to do. And it is unfair to compare it to Sims 4 because Sims 2 is much older game.

    I love sims 2 for memory system (but it can corrupt hoods, need to be carefull in sims 2), some cute details, iconic characters and well... nostalgia. But "depth" and "more things to do" is not on my sims 2 list.

    I'm sorry, it's just when ppl talk about how deep sims 2 was, I'm like "I play sims 2. Can someone plz send that deep immersive gameplay to my sims 2? Because I would like my sims 2 to get more deep but it's not".

    Honestly I don't think emotions get enough credit. They really tried to bring sims to life with it. I personlly think it needs to be fine tuned so they don't change emotional states so quickly and they need more negative emotions such as fear.
    But when I went back to play the older games recently because they get so much praise, I quickly came back to ts4 😅😅😅
    They were great games and each one has good and bad about it. Especially love the detailed animation of ts2. But ts4 is in no way perfect but has lively sims and plenty of fun gameplay that will come even more alive with sentiments and lifestyles.

    . I feel most complaints people have agaisnt it are due to a combination of nostalgia and playstyle preferences.
    Ts4 is a different way of playing that many don't want to accept. It just may not be the game for them. I personally couldn't deal with the glitches, the limited rotation of ts3, the locked world or the story progression, and the cc gets immediately corrupted among other issues I had with it.
    I gave it up for now.

    My biggest issue with ts4 personalities were lack of reactions to things. Like a vampire bit my gf while out on a date. And my sim just stood there grinning into the air with no feelings or response towards it even though the date was ruined and the gf fell out asleep on the the ground. And enemies acted like my best friend. But now according to the videos I saw on lifestyles and sentiments it seems that those issues have been addressed and sims will have appropriate reactions and feelings. Totally excited for it 😆😆
    Zombies, oh please oh please give us zombies!! :'(
  • BeardedgeekBeardedgeek Posts: 5,520 Member
    Leaselmary wrote: »
    @HayleeSims and player C will never play in Isla Paradiso or play it for coule of days and uninstall it (like me) because most features are tied to the town and it's not like you can live in Twinbrook, spend a couple of day on this tropical island relaxing on the beach, and come back to Twinbrook.

    I don't even play with mermaids, I use Island Living to let my sims have some quality family time on the beach, and it's perfect for that. All I wanted from Isla Paradiso was one thing only - just allow my sims to rest on the tropical beach and come home. And Isla Paradiso never gave me that. I had to wait for Sulani.

    Speaking of Twinbrook, it is a favorite world for me in Sims 3 BUT it is so small so you really only can play it with a specific Sim that has no intention of using 90% of what the game offers. it REALLY boils down to "What gameplay do I remove to fit a gym in? What gameplay do I remove to fit a club in?"
    Origin ID: A_Bearded_Geek
  • TamakiSakura84TamakiSakura84 Posts: 543 Member
    Speaking of Twinbrook, it is a favorite world for me in Sims 3 BUT it is so small so you really only can play it with a specific Sim that has no intention of using 90% of what the game offers. it REALLY boils down to "What gameplay do I remove to fit a gym in? What gameplay do I remove to fit a club in?"

    You can add lots to TS3 worlds in Edit Town mode.
  • BeardedgeekBeardedgeek Posts: 5,520 Member
    Speaking of Twinbrook, it is a favorite world for me in Sims 3 BUT it is so small so you really only can play it with a specific Sim that has no intention of using 90% of what the game offers. it REALLY boils down to "What gameplay do I remove to fit a gym in? What gameplay do I remove to fit a club in?"

    You can add lots to TS3 worlds in Edit Town mode.

    Yes, but you cant make new roads and features... So sure, I can place a lot out somewhere where it absolutely look awful.
    Origin ID: A_Bearded_Geek
  • SerraNolwenSerraNolwen Posts: 731 Member
    While I think some people go too far with the lack of gameplay criticism, I do have a few qualms. Every pack I've bought so far has brought something fun and interesting, but some of the features have very little impact on the rest of your game and don't stay fun for very long.

    In some cases, the feeling of a lack of gameplay comes from the fact that the gameplay is focused on one world. If I play in Sulani, I get the environmental effects, the neighborhood gatherings, the swimming spots, etc. If I play in Brindleton Bay, I get to befriend stray animals. Each have lots of cool features. But I can't mix those interesting things without travelling and, often, breaking immersion. Why does my Strangerville resident just take a few hours to go swim in Sulani before hopping over to San Myshuno for a festival? Some of those features being locked to a certain world make sense, like the City Living festival or Strangerville weirdness, but having too many features locked means every world feels a little limited after a while, and getting a new pack won't alter the way the world feels at all, so to enjoy the pack you have to move. Seasons is great because it has an impact in every game and almost every world. Island Living (?) doesn't do anything for my San Myshuno sim, who has to travel to get anything, from the traits, to the water activities, to the active careers, etc. Eco Lifestyle is kind of in-between, as environment counts everywhere, but I wish it included trash or collectibles in every world, not just smog or rays of sunshine. When you can't experience all the packs together, you kind of have to take all of the pack in at once (like Island Living) by moving to its world, and sometimes it feels like you've seen it all after that. Hopefully, the addition of freely placeable rental lots will help a little with that, as sims can travel to anywhere for a short period of time without breaking immersion, but I still wish big features like encountering people with animals or swimming in natural bodies of water weren't limited to a specific world.

    Some of the features lack depth because they simply involve going through the motions without any real decision making. I love new activities, because I like my sims having varied hobbies. I'm not one to complain that skating doesn't add depth. It's a different thing to keep your sim busy and entertained and make it feel different from the one who enjoyed diving. However, packs need more than those hobbies, especially when it comes to expansions, so that they can be more replayable, because in the end, those hobbies often involve clicking the thing and watching the animation. Big systems and features add depth, but only if they have some complexity, requiring you to make decisions as you go along. An example of a lacking feature would be the vet career : whatever test I do, I always find symptoms in two to three tests. Once I've found it, I click the right option, maybe do a surgery, and it's done. It becomes very repetitive. I wish it was more like the doctor career diagnosis, requiring you to observe and make decisions that matter in how efficient you are. I want my decisions in packs to alter my sims' life and what they can do, like the character values in Parenthood. I want my decisions in smaller subsystems like playable careers to alter the outcome. Yes, once again, I'm looking forward to Snowy Escape with the Lifestyles and Sentiments. Hope those are good.

    As for lack of replayability, I think what hurts the most is the checklists. I love giving sims a goal in terms of career or aspiration, but because they are checklists, there is basically only one way to achieve the goal. Once I've made one sim go through a given career, every sim will do it basically the same way. In trying to make the game easier to understand for new players, I think the team made it too streamlined. I sometimes miss the days of sims 3 careers, where a sim could reach the top by being the most skillful, or by having the right friends, or by completing special tasks. Sure, I still needed some basic skills, but to really climb the ranks, you had to put in extra effort, and you got to pick what that extra effort would be. Lack of surprise and meaningful choices in other areas is also hurting the game. Every time I get a random event asking me what I want to do and all I get is a short-term moodlet after I helped a coworker, I wonder why I don't get to know that person and have a relationship boost, for example. Some of the packs have been better at this, like Parenthood, but others give you choices that are so obvious and unilateral that they don't feel like choices, like how some Get Famous career events seem to come down to gaining fame and losing your job or doing nothing. I wish there were other options that did something else. Maybe if I reveal I'm aware of the corruption in my company, but don't expose it, I get a relationship boost with the boss, or some amount of money as a bribe. I also wish there was a greater variety of those events so that, again, not every sim working the same job will get all the same events. Another way to add variety and replayability to such "random" events would be if the outcome of some choices would depend on previous decisions too, like getting a good result out of trying something if you have high enough skills, a little like the Jungle Adventure events.

    TL;DR Checklists, "random events" that are always the same and major features locked to certain worlds are what hurts gameplay for me. Very often, it feels like the game tells me what to do. I can choose to ignore it, but that's it. I miss the events and systems that offered things to do and asked me not only if I wanted to do them, but how. The Sims team sometimes succeeds in that, but it's a little hit or miss, and the way the base game is set up prevents them from fully turning to the more interesting ways of doing things which show up in some systems.
  • babajaynebabajayne Posts: 1,866 Member
    While I thought Island Living was lacking a bit in gameplay, I think Snowy Escape offers a nice amount of gameplay. SE has more group activities. It’s nice to have a vacation destination for my sims to spend some quality time together. If IL had something like 4-player volleyball, if it had new places to explore/discover, and if it came with the ability to create rentals, then it would be easier to compare them. I don’t mind having activities like snorkeling and skiing attached to the worlds, it gives me a reason to go there.

    Stuff that would require changing existing worlds - like swimming in existing bodies of water - apparently can’t be done or it will break our saves. I think this is the biggest missed opportunity of all. And I think I’d like the choice of whether or not to break my own saves, it might be worth the sacrifice for some people. But for now, there are certain things that just aren’t feasible and I am judging the EP on what’s feasible.

    Sandbox gameplay, to me, is having many different things to do and multiple options for how to do them. The base game is getting Sentiments, platforms and the ability to place rentals in residential worlds - these are all sandboxy elements. I’m really excited that everyone can add these to their games.
  • SharoniaSharonia Posts: 4,853 Member
    edited November 2020
    Sharonia wrote: »
    I don't think the Sims 4 is lacking in game play at all. I do however think that it's lacking in fun game play. The whole go here, click this, rinse and repeat until the task is done

    Funny thing is, this is exactly how 1 2 and 3 also were. That is what the Sims IS. The ghost hunter career in Sims 3? Got to lot, either vacuum small ghosts by clicking on them or talk to large ghosts. Done. Repeat next night.

    Seriously, unless I am going senile here and forget amazing stuff (I owned all of those games), that is how Sims always have been. It's not an RPG, the gameplay has never been as deep as Skyrim even. You wake up, click on toilet, click on fridge, click on shower, go to work, click on toilet, click on fridge, click on TV, click on skill raising equipment for promotion (or in Sims 2, try to juggle 200 friends, which was quite literally Hell), go to bed...

    That's it. That's Sims 1, Sims 2, 3 and 4.

    I know that how all the previous games have always been and I've loved them all and I'm really not hating on the Sims 4 either but for me in the Sims 4 I guess it's the lack of variation in the tasks.

    Take the doctor career for instance. My sim gets promoted multiple times during his time in this career but his tasks never change. I would rather the tasks change over time as my sim gets promoted so that he has tasks the better suit his newer roles within the career. He goes from being a medical intern all the way up ladder to being a chief of medicine but his tasks still remain the same mundane tasks that he did as a medical intern. It gets boring fast doing the exact same tasks every day for ten whole levels of career promotions.

    StrangerVille was the same. The story goes through three different stages but what our sims do through these three stages barely changes. I just would like more variation in the tasks they do and maybe add some choices in the mix as well so as players we can feel more involved, make some decisions now and then and have some consequences for those decisions.
  • HayleeSimsHayleeSims Posts: 124 Member
    edited November 2020
    Leaselmary wrote: »
    @HayleeSims and player C will never play in Isla Paradiso or play it for coule of days and uninstall it (like me) because most features are tied to the town and it's not like you can live in Twinbrook, spend a couple of day on this tropical island relaxing on the beach, and come back to Twinbrook.

    I don't even play with mermaids, I use Island Living to let my sims have some quality family time on the beach, and it's perfect for that. All I wanted from Isla Paradiso was one thing only - just allow my sims to rest on the tropical beach and come home. And Isla Paradiso never gave me that. I had to wait for Sulani.

    I personally don't like Sulani as it just feels like a big a pool with sand around it. Its very small, the jet ski just flip flops in the water and I can't go anywhere, the lifeguard career is a rabbit hole and conservation career only works on one island just to name a few of my problems with it.

    Didn't really care we couldn't travel to different worlds because worlds like Sunset Valley already had a beach with an ocean. I disagree with you on your notion that most features are tied to the town as the only ones are dive spots and islands. Resorts, houseboats, jet skis, lifeguard career etc were all available in other worlds if you put them there.
  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    HayleeSims wrote: »
    Leaselmary wrote: »
    @HayleeSims and player C will never play in Isla Paradiso or play it for coule of days and uninstall it (like me) because most features are tied to the town and it's not like you can live in Twinbrook, spend a couple of day on this tropical island relaxing on the beach, and come back to Twinbrook.

    I don't even play with mermaids, I use Island Living to let my sims have some quality family time on the beach, and it's perfect for that. All I wanted from Isla Paradiso was one thing only - just allow my sims to rest on the tropical beach and come home. And Isla Paradiso never gave me that. I had to wait for Sulani.

    I personally don't like Sulani as it just feels like a big a pool with sand around it. Its very small, the jet ski just flip flops in the water and I can't go anywhere, the lifeguard career is a rabbit hole and conservation career only works on one island just to name a few of my problems with it.

    Didn't really care we couldn't travel to different worlds because worlds like Sunset Valley already had a beach with an ocean. I disagree with you on your notion that most features are tied to the town as the only ones are dive spots and islands. Resorts, houseboats, jet skis, lifeguard career etc were all available in other worlds if you put them there.

    This is true, and I don't really understand as to why some people keep bringing up that this features were only exclusively on Isla Paradiso, all expansion features of sims 3 pack were available to every world, save for some main features of S3 University.
    ihavemultiplegamertags
  • LeaselmaryLeaselmary Posts: 108 Member
    HayleeSims wrote: »
    Resorts, houseboats, jet skis, lifeguard career etc were all available in other worlds if you put them there.
    @HayleeSims resorts were my biggest dissapointment in the pack. Sims 3 failed to provide us a business EP, I was hoping I could at least run a hotel like a normal proper Sims 2 style business and it came with rabbit hole. This is not what I wanted. Other stuff... don't make much sense in Twinbrook. I would left this EP in my game and use some of it but... You couldn't have Sims 3 pack in your game unless it's a must for you. On most PCs you couldn't.

    My game could survive only couple EPs installed. But how do you play Sims 3 without Generations, Seasons, Ambitions, Pets and Uni? So I bought a nice new PC just to play Sims 3. And I still had to save every ten minutes. I would have a save error after an hour of playing. (Two hours if the game was generous). Then I would exit the game. Remove cashe. Reload the game (30 min loading screen). Play for another hour.

    This is why I don't see a point comparing Sims 3 and Sims 4 "gameplay". Can the game save? If the answer is 'no', there is no further comparison. The game failed at basic functionality. When I look at a chair with four legs and at a chair with two legs, I don't compare their design and artistic quality. Four legs chair functions, two leg chair doesn't. Even if two leg chair would be the most beautifull chair in the world if it had all legs it doesn't matter. And it's not the case with sims 3. Not the best sims game even if it functions.

    I can play Sims 3 now, on even more advanced PC, but it doesn't matter now, it's six years too late. The game had to function on the computers players had at the time.

    I actually find it boring comparing to Sims 4. I want emotions, sims are just so... lifeless without them now. I want restaraunts and spas that are not rabbit holes. I want celebrities that make sense. I want my sims to choose their social groups, not be forced into them. I want my sims to be business owners not investors. I want other players creations one click away. And I want some sims on the lots. My sim would go to a hot spot in Bridgeport and there are two sim there - him and the barmen. For real? It's revisiting Sims 3 that made me realise how awesome nd underappreciated Sims 4 is.

    I can play Sims 2 because it has some amazing features, but Sims 3... uninstalled it recently to free some disc space.
  • joRN1414joRN1414 Posts: 1,669 Member
    I've tried to figure out what people mean when they say 'gameplay' as well. Personally, me playing the game is gameplay for me. I play with what I'm given. I don't use mods or CC. I do use some of the Sims based cheats, but not many. I like to explore the different parts of the packs. Currently, I am having a blast with EL, while still enjoying IL, CL, C/D, and Seasons. I play in all the worlds when I feel like it. I make my own Sims. So, I guess that gameplay for me is just that. Me playing with the game and it has nothing to do with how anyone else might be playing it. I rarely find anything to complain about doing it my way. Do I find things I don't like about some actions? Yeah, I hate how everyone goes everywhere when out at a restaurant, but that is usually solved with a few clicks.

    That being said, I am very excited about the new things involved with the upcoming pack. HURRAH.
    "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" -Auntie Mame
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