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Paranormal Stuff Item Description speculation
Reedfish
Posts: 222 Member
I got the new pack today, and naturally started scouring the CAS item descriptions for any possible hints:
1) More references to love and romance, with Guidry being a 'serial romantic' and 'beloved flirt' in life apparently, and some hint that another ghost who was his love interest in life is now following him around. A sofa is described as mystically having followed it's dead owner to the graveyard they ended up in, and the last line in the description is 'that's true love'. And there's a lamp, I think, which is described as having a bad streak, and it 'may run away with your candleabra'. I really think Romance is going to be the next Expansion Pack or Game Pack. And if it's set in Paris, that might explain the food tweets the devs have been putting out too - new cuisine? The ability to make romantic meals for someone? The Porc Du Jour item they tweeted about a few months ago had a lot of hints to restaurants (and Frenchness), but it's hard to see what they could do that wouldn't recreate or rely on Dine Out.
2) The bird statue, which I was scratching my head about because it didn't seem paranormal at all, is indeed a falcon. I wondered, wildly, if it might be a reference to the Maltese Falcon and heists, but the item description says Guidry got it on his 'world adventures'. The falcon is a big deal in Egyptian mythology, and I know the Sims had an Egypt-inspired world in World Adventures before. Possibly a new vacation coming up? The palm tree hints at somewhere exotic too, and thinking of that the leaf patterns on some of the new clothes look a little tropical too.
3) Partly related to the above point, the two new vases are called 'botanicals', which seems like a very specific word to use. Maybe they're going to do something new with plants - either farming (which doesn't have to be just Western or food crops), or possibly the Costa Rican rainforest world they mentioned in a survey a year or two ago? Which would also make sense with the tropical-seeming plants above.
I love to speculate. Anyone else have any thoughts?
1) More references to love and romance, with Guidry being a 'serial romantic' and 'beloved flirt' in life apparently, and some hint that another ghost who was his love interest in life is now following him around. A sofa is described as mystically having followed it's dead owner to the graveyard they ended up in, and the last line in the description is 'that's true love'. And there's a lamp, I think, which is described as having a bad streak, and it 'may run away with your candleabra'. I really think Romance is going to be the next Expansion Pack or Game Pack. And if it's set in Paris, that might explain the food tweets the devs have been putting out too - new cuisine? The ability to make romantic meals for someone? The Porc Du Jour item they tweeted about a few months ago had a lot of hints to restaurants (and Frenchness), but it's hard to see what they could do that wouldn't recreate or rely on Dine Out.
2) The bird statue, which I was scratching my head about because it didn't seem paranormal at all, is indeed a falcon. I wondered, wildly, if it might be a reference to the Maltese Falcon and heists, but the item description says Guidry got it on his 'world adventures'. The falcon is a big deal in Egyptian mythology, and I know the Sims had an Egypt-inspired world in World Adventures before. Possibly a new vacation coming up? The palm tree hints at somewhere exotic too, and thinking of that the leaf patterns on some of the new clothes look a little tropical too.
3) Partly related to the above point, the two new vases are called 'botanicals', which seems like a very specific word to use. Maybe they're going to do something new with plants - either farming (which doesn't have to be just Western or food crops), or possibly the Costa Rican rainforest world they mentioned in a survey a year or two ago? Which would also make sense with the tropical-seeming plants above.
I love to speculate. Anyone else have any thoughts?
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Comments
They have definitely been hinting hard at romance in item descriptions imo. Even Snowy Escape had a TON of romance references in item descriptions. I definitely think something romance-themed this year is likely.
I also feel that Horus the Falcon/the palm could certainly be a slight nod to an upcoming (and LONG overdue) African world in the Sims 4.
One thing I'd like to add is a potential nod to a Scottish Highlands world. At the top left of the new cluttery wall art item, there is what appears to be a Celtic-themed plate and a photo of what could possibly be an old Highlands manor or castle situated on a moor. The other destination photos in the collection seem to be of Selvedorada, a world already in the game. This contrast makes me think the Highlands will be coming at some point, especially when you consider that we had them listed in a survey about a year ago.
Even more interestingly, the third swatch of this item turns all of the photos/objects black and white EXCEPT for the plate, the photo of the manor house, and the photo of the sun, star, and moon. AKA all of the unambiguous items are black and white, while the more ambiguous ones are left colored.
To me, the sun, star, and moon item could be interpreted as a hint at werewolves, as they're bound to live by the day/night cycle. Add it all up, and I'd speculate that this item/swatch could point towards a pack set in the Scottish Highlands that includes werewolves. I think the themes would work very well together. But who knows
I feel like they've been hinting at romance for a long time, like putting Love Day on the calendar in Seasons, but not putting Halloween or Easter on even though they give you all the traditions associated with those. I'm hoping that all the references now mean it's coming soon!
Have no idea how it blends though...
🏡 Gallery 📖 Stories 🌍 World Project 🥔 MOD/CC Free
actually played it yesterday in ts3 and despite loving the aesthetics i couldn't stop thinking how much more enjoyable it would be to play with ts4 world size where i could actually navigate the endless sea of sand and similar looking buildings cause the world sizes are smaller and you always close to some lot
its bit overwhelming in ts3 but id definitely be interested in ts4 version cause we really need worlds that feel bigger to explore in ts4
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What if we're getting Scottish Highlands Werewolves AND Fairies? As much as I do want werewolves, I worry if werewolves on their own may not be up to the standard of Sims 4 Occults, though I could be wrong. It's just that if this is the theorised Medieval pack as well, then fairies would also make sense for it.
Lol, an English degree taught me how to analyse texts, and now I bring these skills to the Sims!
The Scottish Highlands would be a great location for a werewolf pack - I was looking up An American Werewolf in London, which is probably a similar horror/comedy vibe to what Maxis would go for, and the main characters were attacked on the Yorkshire moors. Moors and highlands are very similar, and would be a good setting for a "the wolves are out there!" sort of situation, or a mini-storyline if they wanted to do something like that again. Not that I'd want it to be completely story-based, but some 'steps' you have to take to get made into a werewolf in-game could be cool.
I've had another thought though, looking at the items again. The main ghost character is Claude René Duplantier Guidry, which is a very French-American sounding name. The main city associated with French-American things is New Orleans, which (rightly or wrongly) is also associated a lot with voodoo. Zombies are also associated a lot with voodoo, and are something the Sims have done in the past. There was also that super-cool looking bayou-themed piece of concept art they put out for Sims 4 a long time ago. But also, one of Claude's middle names is Duplantier - and they have made other botanical/plant references in these items. Plants Vs Zombies is another EA property, and we know they love to mix their properties together and push - or at least reference - them in other games. So now I'm wondering if there's a pack in the works based in a Bayou/swamp type of area, with zombies roaming around, and you have to ward them off with voodoo or magic based on plants or potions. It's just a thought, but it seems like something Maxis might do.
It's worth remembering that a lot of hints are not necessarily hints for the next upcoming pack. Magic/Harry Potter was hinted at in Laundry Day, and I think it was a year or so after Laundry Day that Realm of Magic was announced. It's possible that this pack is hinting at a number of Occult packs and ideas the team have in the works. Even the Egypt thing would fit in with that, as they might have mummies in that sort of pack.
Speculation time is open!! 😆😆
I think there's a good chance they might mix themes in upcoming packs. Snowy Escape was all about winter sports, but also Japanese culture, but also zen and mindfulness. If there is an upcoming romance pack, it might be set in Paris, and have a sideline in food/French cuisine as well. It's hard to know what themes might be the focus of an upcoming pack, or just be sort of combined in with other things at this point.
The image in the bottom right is one of the plants from Strangerville. It could be saying that Werewolves are going to be their own game pack?
An American Werewolf In Paris! Is that romantic enough?
Don't do this to my heart 🤤🤤🤤
Love your analysis of everything!
I THOUGHT OF THAT. If there is a Paris/French world coming up, I'm fulling expecting werewolf or full moon references throughout, leading up to werewolves being added in summer/autumn.
It's going to be so exciting when all this doesn't happen.
Yeah, but it's not like a proper bayou-type deep swamp area. And they made Strangerville an American desert-ish world when they already had Oasis Springs. A player can dream!
Same. I over analyze everything because I majored in English. lol
I agree that we could get a French inspired world. Not sure if it will be New Orleans or Paris. Part of me thinks the New Orleans vibe of the Paranormal pack was so it would seamlessly fit into Willow Creek. It would be cool to have a creepier, darker bayou setting though.
In the live stream, the team talked about taking design inspiration from Morocco. We might get an African themed world, but it might be more Moroccan than Egyptian. Or maybe not. Haha.
After looking at the thread on Snowy Escape item descriptions, and reading through this thread, I am more convinced than ever that we are getting a romance themed pack and something to do with travel. However, I read a comment by SimGuruRuskii that said they supposedly don't put hints in the descriptions (ok, sure, Jan) but they do reference things from past games. That might account for the references to travel and hotels, but I don't think that's the case. I think we will eventually get hotels/resorts.
I am intrigued by the Scottish Highland theory. I remember a participating in a thread about ghosts and werewolves. We discussed the possibility of Scotland being a setting for werewolves, and I would love for it to be real.
Ugh. I was just in another thread talking about how the stacked plates item in Snowy Escape was clearly a hint to Paranormal Stuff, and I remember in Eco Living reading an item's description talking about 'a mountain of clothes', and 'an avalanche of socks', and I was sure the next EP would be snow and mountains, and lo and behold, it was Snowy Escape. I get they can neither confirm nor deny any particular hint, but I don't know why they keep lying to us that they don't do it.
I think this is a case of looking at who is saying they don't do it. GrimSuruDoi doesn't do hints on Twitter (except as part of organized "campaigns" that are quickly obvious). Other Sim Gurus (especially Frost) clearly do. SimGuruRuskii may well never write hints in herself, but it's also pretty clear that again, some devs do. I think that, even if using "we," when a Sim Guru says they don't do hints, we can only take that as true for the Sim Guru who is speaking.
We also need to remember that most text with meta-references is referencing things that have already happened, such as the Nightmare about the reality show. Very clearly a reference to Spark'd and SimGuruNinja's time as a judge there. Some may also refer to things that are coming. It's possible for both to be true.
Yeah, if she just meant she doesn't do hints that's fair enough, saying 'they' don't do hints made it sound like she was saying none of the team do hints, and there are no hints in item descriptions. Which is a claim I've heard before, and makes no sense to me, because I just think it's obvious they do.
And I was specifically talking about hints, not references. I'm aware there can be references to multiple things, including in the same text. For example, I know the 'most popular destination to elope' thing was a reference to a Spark'd challenge, but given that it seems to be the only challenge that was referenced, and is still an answer coming out of the Future Cube even now after the show/season is finished, makes me think it might be a hint at romance and weddings too.
It probably means nothing, but I was playing today and my Sim seemed to constantly think about what was in front of her, or about cars, motorbikes, and the Loch Ness Monster (/Emily). It could just be selective bias, but I was getting those supernatural Scotland vibes