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Sims 411 Recap - Inside Maxis 6th August, 2021

EA_LannaEA_Lanna Posts: 3,867 EA Community Manager
edited August 2021 in Sims 411
Sul sul Simmers!

Here is a quick recap of the August 3rd Sims 411. You can also hop over to @TheSims for the Sims 411 highlights video! :)

SimTogether
Today is the grand finale of #SimTogether featuring Cottage Living by the wonderful SimGuruJill! Jump in at 11AM Pacific Time on twitch.tv/thesims to see how the story of “A new beginning in Henford-on-Bagley” ends! Did anyone say the end?? This is just the beginning! Download the save file and give that plot your own personal twist to show us what this story really is about. After SimGuruJill’s stream today, you’ll find the save file here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AvxbRBU3iXGRgTonJaBEJ8MPG-xf

For anyone who missed it, you can re-watch the whole story told by the amazing streamer squad in the links below:

CAS and Build mode with SimGuruGeorge and Ash

Live Mode with Khaykashi

Live Mode with AndrewArcade



Hot Topics

We want a higher level of challenge and depth in the Base Game.

We’d love to hear more about it! Let us know what a higher level of challenge and depth in the Base Game would look like for you. What would you expect from it? How would this change your current experience of The Sims 4?

On August 19th starting at 6AM Pacific Time, we’ll be welcoming your comments again during 24 hours in The Sims Forums here: Sims 411 - Forum Feedback, August 19th.

Closer to the date, we’ll share the link to the forum thread again on The Sims Twitter account and on The Sims Forums.

As last time (which went wonderfully by the way! Thank you to everyone that participated and followed the guidelines):

We appreciate you understand that
  • this is not a wish list for content requests
    but a place where we can listen to your thoughts without distraction
  • this is not a guarantee we’ll provide an answer in the next Sims 411
    but rest assured that your comment is being read and will be addressed whenever possible
  • this is not a place to report bugs
    but please continue to report bugs on AHQ

THE GOLDEN RULE
We’ll only read comments that adhere to our Positive Play guidelines and our forum rules.

GUIDELINES AND RULES

We’ll only read comments that adhere to our Positive Play guidelines and our forum rules - here are some of the most important points when it comes to giving feedback:
  • Be respectful. We want to hear what you have to say but please be kind and respectful when posting here. Being mean or aggressive as well as cursing and swearing doesn't help to bring your point across.
  • Keep it game-related and on topic. As we said before, this is not the place to post a wish list and bugs, or talk about those Sims 4 mods that you found.
  • Don't make things personal. It's not cool to target other players who may have different opinions or attack SimGurus and other officials. This also means: please no mass taggings.
  • Don't bully, troll, bait, or derail the conversation. This is never okay - which should go without saying! If you do this, you will be moderated as per our forum rules.
  • Don't spam or flood this thread. Posting the same thing over and over will not get your question into the Sims 411 but it may lead to moderation.
We’re looking forward to your comments on August 19th on The Sims Forums!


Will there be werewolves, fairies, and zombies in The Sims 4?
Maybe? Maybe! We definitely hear the occult fans' strong desire for werewolves, faeries, and zombies in The Sims 4. We can’t confirm at this time when they'll make their way into the game but rest assured, we would want to put as much love and thoughtfulness into them as we did for Vampires and Spellcasters. For now, our roadmap continues to be focused on improving content that is in the game. That said, stay tuned and prepare your Sims for a relaxing refresh of one of our existing Game Packs coming up soon!


Are you planning on making the ocean swimmable in all worlds, not just Sulani?
We'll continue adding swimmable areas to worlds in future packs when possible, so stay tuned! In the meantime, apart from Sulani, your Sims can go for a splash in Britechester of Discover University, Mt. Komorebi of Snowy Escape, and Henford-on-Bagley of Cottage Living.


Why are Skintones getting lighter over the course of The Sims games?
Hundreds of Townies have come to life since the first The Sims game launched 21 years ago! A lot of love has been put into every single one of them and we acknowledge they need continued care and attention. So, it’s about time for a Townie overhaul! We’re currently in the process of updating NPCs in The Sims 4 including visuals as well as their lore. This will take some time to accomplish, as we have to spend some quality time with every single Sim from Willow Creek to Henford-on-Bagley! That means we’re taking it step by step or better said, Townie by Townie and we’re excited to update you at a later date.


It might be fun to highlight some of the gameplay moments that players share on The Sims Forums.
We agree! Find some community spotlights that we found on the forums below!


Community Spotlight
We’re super excited about this part and we know many of you, too. Thank you to all that wrote in our last feedback session that you would love to see us highlighting some of the fun moments you experience in The Sims.

And thank you to all of you who engage in our community via the Forums and who share their delightful content, you all help making this community the awesome place it is ♥

In this section we want to look at some fun stories and Sim profiles you have shared in the Forums lately.

It goes without saying that what we show here is a nano, micro, mini selection of all the great content that we see every day on the Forums. We will continue doing Community Spotlights in the future to showcase as much as possible!


Helios Dating Kalamainu'u Iona by @Metior_Ice
Helios started the morning working on a wood carving. The Eons, a family of Aliens, had a normal looking house with an eye-catching garden, but on the inside, where no one else but the family was allowed to enter, the house had appliances with artificial intelligence and advanced sleeping pods. Helios often spent time in his swimwear from the moment he woke up because of his mermadic mutation after eating mermadic kelp. His bedroom was a pool he slept in.
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Helios started to accept his new form, and he was grateful that he could still disguise his appearance and be on land with his siblings. One night, he decided to invite Iona over for another date since the last date didn't go very well. The two merfolk swam to one of the remote portions of the lagoon in Ohan'Ali.
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Unaware of the cultural significance of a Charmer's Lullaby among merfolk, Helios serenaded Iona with his mermadic lullaby.
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Also unaware of the cultural significance of Mermaid's Kiss, Helios moved in with a kiss of life. He didn't know that his actions meant that he was promising to devote himself and his life to Iona, but he wouldn't mind. Iona was interesting to him. She seemed to have a hidden side of her personality that he wanted to discover. He would commit his life to her if that's what it took to learn more about her. It was reassuring that, when Iona saw his true alien form, that she didn't pull away. She wasn't afraid of him.
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Fier Legacy by @Haneul
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The Fiers are a vampire family led by an arrogant and socially awkward megalomaniac named Asher who, among other things, hopes to have 100 children. As of now, he's had 17. The youngest five recently became young adults and are discovering the perks of university, so Asher's ready to move on from the life he's built with them in Sulani. Even though everyone is into pursuing an eco lifestyle and protecting the environment and even though Asher employed some draconian conservation policies while working as a top-level conservationist, he's done with that kind of tiny living stuff and had a (gaudy flamboyant) palace built in San Myshuno, where he recently relocated his family and where he intends to raise the next generation of his children.

The Fiers moved from Sulani to San Myshuno, and they were enjoying their new home. For example, Adelise and her daughter, Dysis, played many rounds of ping-pong on the roof with the city skyline as their backdrop. Dawn and Delmarya (Deli) swam laps in their indoor pool. Adelise also enjoyed cooking in their new kitchen.
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But the move had been exhausting. The youngest Fiers (Dawn, Deli, Dysis, Darius, and Dyna), despite most of them being quite happy, were trying to adjust to a new home in a new city with a new climate while in the middle of their colleges' academic terms.

It was a bit of a mess and they resorted to napping—a lot.
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Poor Dyna, who on top of everything else was on Foxbury's soccer team, collapsed from exhaustion once.
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As for their father, Asher, he was adjusting well. He intended to begin a new career, but he wanted to let the megalomaniac in him shine before resigning from his current job as Chief Sustainability Officer.
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In the name of cost-cutting and energy saving, Asher unilaterally forced the city to shut off its power for a few hours after 8 p.m. He could do this every day if he wanted, but he'd refrain for the economy's sake.

During the power outage, he relaxed in his office, and by candlelight, re-read a tome about the greatness of vampires (like him, he thought).
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At any rate, his daughters were used to this sort of draconian power saving and did their homework unbothered. During the power outage, Asher's eldest daughter, Aster, who'd moved out long ago, also visited the Fiers' new home for the first time.

Asher was always happy to see her and he didn't hide that, but he did stop himself from being overbearing and smothering her with fatherly affection in front of everyone.
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Instead, he snuck off to his office for a few minutes to privately celebrate.
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Family Portraits by @Mstybl95
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The Sims Hero Spotlight
@Crinrict
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When thinking about the Sims community, there is one name that always comes to mind, Crinrict. A pillar in our Sims forum community for years and one of our most active users on Answers HQ as a member of the Community Connections program. Driven to help others, no matter how obscure an issue is, she always tries to find a solution for other simmers, going as far as to reproduce the bugs and share her insights with us. She’s always on top of the latest technical problems and bugs, and creating extremely helpful guides for all things Sims. All of this comes from her passion for helping others and her love for The Sims. She is a shining star in the Community! Thanks for always being so awesome, Crin!
  • New Simmers, take a moment to read through this thread.
  • The Help Center is hosted on Answers HQ. Check out EA_Mage's thread on why.
  • Please post all Sims 4 Bug Reports, Technical and Gameplay issues in the AHQ Sims 4 Section.
  • Here is a quick link to The Sims forum rules
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Post edited by EA_Joz on

Comments

  • simgirl1010simgirl1010 Posts: 35,703 Member
    Congrats again to @Metior_Ice, @Mstybl95, @haneul and @crinrict.
  • SindocatSindocat Posts: 5,622 Member
    EA_Lanna wrote: »
    Will there be werewolves, fairies, and zombies in The Sims 4?
    Maybe? Maybe! We definitely hear the occult fans' strong desire for werewolves, faeries, and zombies in The Sims 4. We can’t confirm at this time when they'll make their way into the game but rest assured, we would want to put as much love and thoughtfulness into them as we did for Vampires and Spellcasters. For now, our roadmap continues to be focused on improving content that is in the game. That said, stay tuned and prepare your Sims for a relaxing refresh of one of our existing Game Packs coming up soon!

    I can be patient, and it sounds as though they intend to give life states individual game pack treatment - which is just what I would hope for.

    I read this as a non-confirmation confirmation that indeed they do intend to visit these in the future.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    Sindocat wrote: »
    EA_Lanna wrote: »
    Will there be werewolves, fairies, and zombies in The Sims 4?
    Maybe? Maybe! We definitely hear the occult fans' strong desire for werewolves, faeries, and zombies in The Sims 4. We can’t confirm at this time when they'll make their way into the game but rest assured, we would want to put as much love and thoughtfulness into them as we did for Vampires and Spellcasters. For now, our roadmap continues to be focused on improving content that is in the game. That said, stay tuned and prepare your Sims for a relaxing refresh of one of our existing Game Packs coming up soon!

    I can be patient, and it sounds as though they intend to give life states individual game pack treatment - which is just what I would hope for.

    I read this as a non-confirmation confirmation that indeed they do intend to visit these in the future.

    @Sindocat I agree. Patience is a virtue, and in this case, I'd rather wait for them to refresh existing content instead of new content getting rushed out. Maybe this refresh will give them something to build off of when the new content will be made. Who knows, maybe this will make things better. If there is one thing I've learned playing an occult that is dependent on content from other packs, it can be very interesting and fun to mix and match content from other packs.

    The way I created my Alien household is actually because of a combination of content from multiple packs. A refresh for the old content can be a very very good thing.
  • SindocatSindocat Posts: 5,622 Member
    They have been frank that QA gets exponentially harder with each pack that they add, and I am fine with some time spent polishing existing content. Some of the excellent new hair textures - and colors - do kind of make older ones look a bit dated by comparison. I do look forward to hearing more about the refresh, and am glad the team is being given time to refine what we have, for sure.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    So, I did a quick look at my screenshots. The Eon House uses content from Strangerville, Spa Day, Get Famous, Dine Out, the Base Game, Eco Living, Get to Work, City Living, and either the Backyard or Patio stuff pack for all the Futuristic content. So, I'd be happy with updates to the Game and Expansion Packs in this list. Sulani is awesome, but I think Island Living is missing content found in other packs. The skill tree found with Vampires and Spellcasters would be nice with Merfolk.

    For a book series that I'm working on, I spent years researching merfolk lore. Merfolk do control the weather, have a strong connection to music and their music does have an affect on the forces of nature (Many depictions feature merfolk singing and playing instruments. Sirens and Merfolk are entirely separate mythical creatures, but pop culture has blurred the lines between their abilities), merfolk do have an element of shapeshifting abilities (Taking human form, for example. This comes from their association to both the Moon and Water that are natural symbols of Change and Changing form.), and Merfolk being friends with sea creatures such as being able to talk to fish and summon sea monsters is not far from what merfolk might be able to do in lore. Merfolk can grant wishes for a price in some lore.

    Other merfolk, such as the Blue Man, Merrow, Fossegrim, Noken, and other European variations can be associated with a type of faery folk. The in game depictions of merfolk are actually closer to pop culture depictions of merfolk, and that is Scandinavian in origin.

    I'd love to see the game use more accurate gender representation for merfolk as the mythical creature is heavily gender oriented.

    Mermaid = Female
    Merman = Male
    Mer = Gender Neutral

    In fact the term Merman and Mermaid can be broken down into a Prefix (Mer that means of the Sea) and Root Word (The Base Word modified by a Prefix). A mermaid is, at its core structure, a Maiden of the Sea. None of the mermen, Men of the Sea, are maidens in my game. None of them. So, the word mermaid, is in of itself a misuse of terminology and demonstrates a lack of understanding or knowledge. For all the research they did on Polynesian Culture for Island Living, their simple misuse of one word to represent an occult, made up of multiple genders and sexes, in a pack that introduced the ability to modify gender to the game, shows how little they actually researched about merfolk. This mythical creature is present in the lore of every culture that has made contact with the ocean and other significant bodies of water. For the Planet Earth, that means a variation of mermaids AND mermen exist in lore globally.
  • Metior_IceMetior_Ice Posts: 3,094 Member
    Anyways, I'm still playing the game because I enjoy it. I look forward to their refresh, and I hope they take the time to revisit the myths, legends, and other lore that can and does influence the cultures they are associated with. It's important because, even though occults don't appear in real life, their lore still has an influence on real life.
  • SERVERFRASERVERFRA Posts: 7,108 Member
    I'm happy that they mentioned there will be Fairies & Werewolves eventually. ;)
  • QueenBoadiccaQueenBoadicca Posts: 3 New Member
    I am just in love with Cottage Living...my boyfriend said he misses me!
  • 83bienchen83bienchen Posts: 2,553 Member
    Very well deserved feature, @crinrict. You're awesome.
    Now now EA, don't be stinking up our lovely lavender bath with your shopping fart. - My TS4 mods - Gallery ID: 83bienchen
  • BlkBarbiegalBlkBarbiegal Posts: 7,924 Member
    Congrats again to @Metior_Ice, @Mstybl95, @haneul and @crinrict.

    I second this. :)
    Me on:
    Twitch jovi_jov
    Twitter BarbieSimmy
    Origin SimsBarbie
  • YexuyYexuy Posts: 2 New Member
    In sims 4, our neighbor can do everything they want in our home but we cannot even make a pancake in their home, I guess it is a little bit unfair… I mean, would our sims have the ability to take care of themselves in the future? Maybe EA would let them full in love with their special person and complete their life goals without our control one day, right?
  • EjomiEjomi Posts: 1 New Member
    In sims 4, my cats and dogs can't stop sleeping when they are in the 'world' of snowy escape. Is this normal??? When I wake them up, they fall a sleep again.
  • EliteGirlEliteGirl Posts: 537 Member
    edited August 2021
    Will there be werevamps in The Sims 4? I would love for werewolves and vampires to have werevamp kids. And the option to create werevamps through Create A Sim.

    Also, can we have a fairytale world like I mentioned in this thread?:
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/991397/fairytale-world#latest


    Will we be able to have our sims an option to choose EITHER an polyamourous relationship or an exclusive relationship? A lot of people are in favor of this idea:
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/992572/should-we-have-polyamorous-relationships-as-an-option-for-sims-in-the-sims-4/p1

    And can there be LGBT polyamourous couples as well as exclusive LGBT couples? Please let me and other people know.
  • crinrictcrinrict Posts: 18,771 Member
    Been on vacation and just came back. This sure was a nice surprise

    Thanks all for the congratulations and thanks team for the shout-out :D
    Crinrict's Help Blogs -- Twitter
    Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
    How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
    AHQ Tutorial

  • EnigmaOFFCEnigmaOFFC Posts: 58 Member
    I'm really excited about their npc and lore overhaul. I hope they make it in the classic timeline/universe. I would love anything before Sunset Valley during Gunther Goths childhood, between Sunset Valley and Sims 1 or after Sims 2 (the only thing we know after Sims 2 is that the Calientes moved to Barnacle Bay.
  • simmeroriginsimmerorigin Posts: 1,370 Member
    I don't think they are going to place the Sims 4 on the timeline....EAxis has already completely screwed up the timeline that they can't undo the damage. Instead, the Sims 5 should be a necessary reset and continue the franchise lore by taking place directly after the events of The Sims 2.

    The NPC (side note...should be called "playable sim" or "premade") Update should add depth and consistency with the identities of classic Sims characters that have made a return in that game. A must-watch video on fixing Sims 4 lore is here.
    He/him | Simmer since Sims 1 | Active Sims 2 wants-based rotational player, Sims 3 legacy player | My gameplay rules via PleasantSims | Bring back challenge and depth to the Sims: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17959464/#Comment_17959464
  • Jordan061102Jordan061102 Posts: 3,918 Member
    Once again, it's always very vague, I don't feel much informed from this. It's like I kinda answer you but I'm not giving you real answers.
    Lu4ERme.gif
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,952 Member
    My mentions don't seem to be working so I'm very late to this topic, but thanks again for highlighting my posts. I appreciate it and look forward to the upcoming updates to the game (even though I'm content and already have a ton to play through).
  • momelimberhammomelimberham Posts: 75 Member
    "Why are skintones getting lighter?" "We're improving townie and npc lore!" What a baffling way to not answer the question at all.
    Can one awkward man find love when nobody knows what he looks like? Check out Joe Baghead season 1
  • jackofallgames07jackofallgames07 Posts: 12 New Member
    Sul Sul!

    My name is Jack (@jackofallgames7 on Twitter) and I have brainstormed some ideas from all areas of the game that I think could be more challenging, without making it a nightmare for all players who don't appreciate an increase in challenge.
    I love challenge in my game, but I understand not everyone does, so I tried to make all of my ideas on an ''opt in" basis.

    I have also tried my best to use existing resources where possible so these ideas could be built into the game, without having to build entire systems from scratch.

    [B]LOT CHALLENGES:[/B]

    I think this was such an excellent idea from the Cottage Living patch, but I have some more ideas that could seamlessly add challenge to the game without forcing it upon everyone;

    Example 1:

    [quote]"Pricey Area"
    Want to live in one of the most desired locations in town for a fraction of the cost? Too bad! Businesses know you're made of money and won't be afraid to charge premiums on everything from your bills to everyday goods and services.

    *Features; increased cost of bills & utilities, increased cost of everyday goods and supplies such as canvasses for painting, food from the fridge etc., increased costs for services such as Zoomers, Pizza and Maids."

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