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Career Skills (A tad bit disappointed)
muzickmage
Posts: 986 Member
I'm not going to say that this is a major pet peeve, because I have, for the most part, learned to ignore it. But every once in a while, like today for example, I just have to take a few minutes to rant about it, then I can move on again lol.
I find it a tad tiny bit annoying that (for example) A sim doing nothing with their sim life except maybe collect sea shells, and a little bit of fishing in between naps, can achieve the same level of cooking as a sims in a level 10 chef career with an honor diploma in Culinary Arts.
I agree that the chef will make more money with the cooking skill (and work schedule) than the lazy simmer sleeping all day from one fish to another.... but, on the topic of skills... it doesn't seem like a fair deal.
NOTE: This example is only for the purpose of suggesting that I wish there was some differentation from one sim skill set to another. Please don't read or adopt this example as something I absolutely wish would come to be implemented in the game. Another example that could be used is a perk system for University Grads.
IMO, (and i'm just thinking out loud here because i'm a crazy person)
..... Sims should only be able to reach level 5 of any skill unless they are in a career.
..... A sim in a career should be able to achieve level 10 of their career skills.
..... A sim with a degree should be able to achieve level 12.
..... A sim with a distinguished degree should be able to achieve level 15.
The professionally trained sim doesn't have any perks over the un-trained sim despite going through all that work to earn a degree and build a career. Well, the Chef gets to unlock a new appliance ... so yea... there's that.
I wish it was different.
Ok, there I said it. The rant is over. I can move on now. lol.
I find it a tad tiny bit annoying that (for example) A sim doing nothing with their sim life except maybe collect sea shells, and a little bit of fishing in between naps, can achieve the same level of cooking as a sims in a level 10 chef career with an honor diploma in Culinary Arts.
I agree that the chef will make more money with the cooking skill (and work schedule) than the lazy simmer sleeping all day from one fish to another.... but, on the topic of skills... it doesn't seem like a fair deal.
NOTE: This example is only for the purpose of suggesting that I wish there was some differentation from one sim skill set to another. Please don't read or adopt this example as something I absolutely wish would come to be implemented in the game. Another example that could be used is a perk system for University Grads.
IMO, (and i'm just thinking out loud here because i'm a crazy person)
..... Sims should only be able to reach level 5 of any skill unless they are in a career.
..... A sim in a career should be able to achieve level 10 of their career skills.
..... A sim with a degree should be able to achieve level 12.
..... A sim with a distinguished degree should be able to achieve level 15.
The professionally trained sim doesn't have any perks over the un-trained sim despite going through all that work to earn a degree and build a career. Well, the Chef gets to unlock a new appliance ... so yea... there's that.
I wish it was different.
Ok, there I said it. The rant is over. I can move on now. lol.
Post edited by EA_Leeloo on
5
Comments
Idk. I get what you're saying and I don't mean to be rude. I really hate conflict, so I am sorry if this comes off as mean in any way. I am just a huge proponent for non traditional education, and idk, just, this topic tends to hit home for me and cause me to be reactionary more than I usually am. 💕🙂
How things work in real life is completely irrelevant to the fact that I would like to experience a bit more balance to the skills' system in a video game.
However, on the topic you mentioned.... a trained professional will likely most often be more educated than the majority of those who learn on their own in their free time. Simply because the trained professional can't (by school practices) limit themselves to the education of just the topic they are wanting to work in.
(for me) To study business administration in University.... I had to have on my list of studies extra courses called electives. I chose History, Spanish, and Sociology. Though someone at home may be able to learn economics better than the graduate, or speak Spanish better than the graduate (justifying your point), they will need to study longer than that to achieve the equivelent of any MBA graduate. Just economics, or just Spanish, won't cut it.
To add another example. As a musician (guitar) I can go to youtube and find far too many amazing players who can very easily make me feel like I should just quit playing..... despite my over 30 years experience at fooling around with guitars.....
...... However, as a musician, i'm not limited to just guitar playing. I have spent decades learning the 9 elements of music (Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Form, Counterpart, Tone Color, Density, Dynamics, and Texture), and read up a bit on Sound Acoustics, and Musicology. Many youtubers may be able to play the guitar better than me, but they still have a lot of studying to do before I get truly worried.
That being said, still, I wouldn't assume to be arrogant enough to walk up to a professionally trained student of the arts, thinking I could hold my own.... as i'm sure I'd be soon embarrassed by their advanced training.
Just saying.
Back to the topic at hand, I wish there was more balance in the sims 4 skill system so lazy sims couldn't achieve the same level skills as trained sims working in those career fields.
I am just pointing out that if you decide to go the career route for a particular play-through, that it can be a bit disappointing (at least to me) that your sim won't earn any educational prestige over other sims......
..... despite having my sim work their career skills to the highest, while also taking the time to earn a university degree to enter that career. I still can't consider my sim a professional or expert in their chosen educational direction. A expert compared to which other sim? My sim could have achieved all of that skill while skipping the job market experience, and snubbing their nose at professional training from university.
When playing the sims, we almost must take the money factor out of the equation.... especially when my sim made 6,000 simoleans from to doing just 2 masterpiece paintings. If I was just wanting my sim's play-through to be about riches.... i'd just put an easel in the corner and ignore the rest of the game. Money-wise, we don't even need the rest of the game. Just paint pictures.
For me, building the skills, going through the university thing, working on the career responsibilities, etc. isn't about the money factor. It's about wanting some kind of educational experience and reward over my other sims in the household who apparently can achieve the same level of skills without the experience of career building, or professional training.
Maybe the game needs a guild system .... allowing sims to earn guild perk points if they have a degree for their chosen career.
Edit: Spelling
Perhaps in the future there could be challenge levels or options for how people enjoy playing. I wouldn't think it would happen in this iteration but who knows? I understand there is a lack for certain types of players when it comes to things like this, but taking away gameplay that others enjoy currently isn't the answer.
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
You can have 5 adult sims in the household, and there's basically very little difference between any of them (outside of gender, and the title you give to their income habits)
They have the same personalities, the same whims, the same habits, and if you play them long enough, they'll also end up with pretty much the same skills.
For me, that's what makes the occult packs so important to the game. They create individuality. I can have one of my sims be a spellcaster and be encouraged to play that sim knowing fair well my other sims in the household will never achieve those spells. They'll never be able to teleport, or fix the sink with the wave of a wand......
...... I know many simmers don't like the occult packs, and that's fair enough of course, but IMO without the occult packs the sims take a major step backwards to being just a carbon copy of each other.
I think what is happening here for me is that I am constantly looking for ways to make each of my sims in my household seem different than my other sims. I gave up on personalities, and whims.... and pretty much fell prey to locked doors to keep particular sims away from achieving particular skills. Keeping the musical instruments locked in a room that only my musician can get into is .... well...... the best resolve I came up with so far.
.... then there's the locked knitting room. The locked painting room. The locked photography room, etc.
Yep, things are getting crazy in my sim house. lol. Soon they may have their own apartments built on the family lot. I may have to give them each their own floor.... lol. They're going to be individuals whether they like it or not lol.
+ i like my sims to have boring jobs and awesome hobbies and id hate to give them all fancy jobs just to skill them up
like for example one might work as business man but be absolutely awesome at singing
or perhaps theres a gardener who is really great at chess
its not like everyone chooses job based on skill set even in real life
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I understand what you mean, I totally get it. Still absolutely hope this will never happen, though.
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But there are so many other skills in the game that it's entirely possible to differentiate sims by skills.
I had two elder, two adult, and two teenaged sims (as of last night, it's one elder, the other should go next time I play.) And I even play on Long Lifespan:
One elder capped out Archeology, Selvadoradan Culture and painting. Her husband didn't get higher than 6 in Archeology, because I never bothered to have him identify artifacts, he just helped her dig. She also capped off Painting earlier than her husband. However she never picked up snowboarding, or flower arranging, or juice fizzing, and her gardening is only at a six. She also conquered Knitting. (She also doesn't have Handiness maxed out, because she's a spell caster) She was a Teacher, for her profession.
Her husband, a Florist, maxed out Floral arranging and Gardening, as well as juice fizzing. He did a fair amount of painting, but never mastered it. Instead he focused on Writing. He did some candle making, but I never bought them a fabricator, so he never mastered that either, or learned to knit. He also didn't progress as far in Gourmet Cooking as she did, even though he did most of the cooking.
Their daughter got the Adventurous trait and so mastered Snowboarding before she hit College. She also climbed Mt. Komorebi. She's also mastered Logic and Guitar, as well as Rocket Science (because she's an Astronaut), Fitness and Handiness - despite being a spellcaster. She did learn Knitting from her mother, but I rarely have her knit, so it only improves when she does it autonomously.
Her husband is a Pro Gamer. He's mastered Programing and Video Gaming. He does some painting, some woodworking (handiness) but hardly ever cooks. His other "hobby" is Mischief, as he does a fair amount of hacking and trolling the forums. Never touched the Juice Fizzer, never looks at the garden.
They had twin daughters who are now teens. One has dabbled in many different skills, but focuses on Logic, Programing, and Video Gaming. The other works on Painting and music, and has dabbled in cooking more than her sister. She's also learned more knitting from her grandmother than her sister did, and I'm more likely to have her knit than her sister.
Six different sims. Six different focuses with their skills. Yes, there's some overlap, but not enough to make them feel "the same" to me.
Admittedly, I have Slice of Life installed, which helps a little with the Autonomy, but I'm still the one directing what skills they focus on most of the time.
Whether or not they have all achieved the same skills (as of yet) doesn't really offer an argument against the fact that a couch patato sim that does as little as possible each day can eventually become as skilled as a sim with a degree who focuses heavy on hands-on career experience..... thus, after doing so... you'll have carbon copy sims.... despite one being professionally trained vs the other being just a sim that doesn't work towards becoming a professional at all.
The point of my post is simply to highlight that (IMO) professionally trained sims should have some perks that non-trained sims don't have.
I wish I didn't use the leveling system as an open idea for an example... because i've noticed a couple replies that took that a bit too serious.... but.... moreover... my opening post was for the purpose of just suggesting that I wish there was some differentation from one sim skill set to another.... other than the..... "well... they haven't done that yet"...... so... they're different.
The example with my spellcaster comes to mind. I don't have to worry about my normal sims trailing off when i'm busy looking after another sim, and learning to brew potions. I don't have to worry about my spellcaster disappearing (again when i'm busy) to talk to dolphins.
Even the fame perks being turned on or off creates some differences that would be worth noting.
But to suggest that sims are different because one is on level 10 while the other only achieved level 6 (so far). Sorry, not the resolve I was looking for.
You have to be a spellcaster to get a spellbook. So why not a professionally trained Chef to get the professional cookbook? Then another sim can achieve level 10 in cooking all they want. Without a culinary degree they won't be cooking at the same level, or rather, with the same recipes, as a professionally trained Chef.
Overall, this is all i'm saying. Something that offers perks to sims with professional training that untrained sims don't have. Something that makes them different that other sims can't also freely achieve without that degree.
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> I’m all for additional perks to be added for sims who have a career that goes with a high skill. I also think a maxed skill should have more benefits than it does now, depending on what it is, I often have them move onto other skills or hobbies rather than stick with what they maxed. I guess it feels like a waste of time to go jogging if they’ve maxed their athletic skill and their weight is already low, for example. They can never initiate mentoring another sim in fitness - I have to be controlling the other sim to have them start on the treadmill and then my sim can mentor in fitness. And forget about mentoring in cooking, where’s that option?! Never seen it. I guess what I’m saying is that maxing a skill is already not very satisfying in some ways, so it would be great to have more perks at the top, even without a corresponding career. I don’t want the career to dictate what they are capable of, that sounds like a step backwards.
Maybe a solution could be skills to decrease if you don´t do them actively?
I mean, It´s weird that a sim can max a skill at a young age, then not do the action for a very long time and still have a maxed skill when time has passed. In a normal life you will “forget” things If you don´t do them for a longer period of time. (like playing an instrument).
I think it would be a fun challenge if your sim lose some skill levels if they do not perform the skill/hobby for a long period of time.
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