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Sims 411 - Forum Feedback, August 19th

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  • Dbnydb3Dbnydb3 Posts: 3 New Member
    Most of the seating is comfort level 1 which makes most of the seating unusable because sims will choose to sit anywhere else that has a higher comfort level so even if the chair or couch looks great with a particular design I end up not using them. We should be able to upgrade the comfort or at least make some of them a 3 instead of over 20 options all comfort level 1 and only 5 or 6 with a comfort level higher than 1.
  • Hcla25239028Hcla25239028 Posts: 22 Member
    edited August 2021
    1 : cars
    Please include cars in the game or some form of public sim transportation like... Tramway track to get around within a neighborhood or individual worlds. Sims could use it to go to work, meet up with friends for actives or even ride it together as a group.
    #2 : shopping
    A local grocery store or weekend farmers market where you can get fresh ingredients. This could be used so many ways. Think a after school job for teens, a way for sims to shop for fresh veggies or pick up a birthday present or Christmas gift for someone. Not to mention running into their friends or stumbling into their ex while out and about.. ackward!
    #3 : simple weather
    some simple seasons/weather like Rain in the spring, leaves falling and winding days in the fall, a bit of snow in the winter. You don't have to add the complete seasons pack but enough to make the game feel more realistic. You could do a separate mini pack for severe weather like blizzards, tornadoes, sand storms etc.
    #5 : work
    include some sort of get to work and dine out theme within the base game. Something that allows you to follow your sim to work and complete task that help them achieve there aspirations within the base game. You could pick a few jobs for base game that would allow this.. Police, business, artist in the park teaching at a high school, waiter or cook at a restaurant /bar/cafe, cashier at a grocery store, retail store or cafe to start. Then later expand to add more interesting jobs with activities in another pack.. Model, doctor, scientist, politician, act etc. This will allow people to actively be involved with their sims jobs more as well as give give them more chances to get out with sim friends for dinner or shopping.
    #6 : realistic sims
    more complex sim characters through feelings, memories and family relationships / events. Example would be the ability to have family reunions, graduations , bridal showers ,baby showers even shelter in place during bad storms . Grandparents volunteering to watch the grandkids or even have them spend the night. The ability for sims to recognize related sims, 2nd cousins, aunts & uncles etc.
    #7 : A mini storyline option.
    At the beginning of the game the players have the choice to do free play or storyline. If they pick free play they are free to go on as usual with the game if they pick storyline there could be a short storyline in which allows your player to really be involved in the story behind the world or characters within. At the end of the storyline if they complete it they could unlock hidden items or a mini vacation world. There could also be quest throughout that fall into the storyline that are optional to take and complete. #8:world travel
    semi open world that would allow sims to move throught the world or neighborhood they are in without a loading screen for easier screen play. If by chance a person wanted to jump from say Sulani to Windenburg or Oasis Springs then their would be a loading screen but to move within sulani there wouldn't be.

    #8 I think there should be options when buys a house or apartment.
    Example:
    Buy furnished
    Buy unfurnished ( the house / apartment still comes with a complete kitchen and bathrooms )
    Buy unfinished ( this would just be a house shell. You would have to buy everything including kitchen and bathroom )
    Buy with loan
    Rent :
    •month to month
    • 6 months
    •1year.
    •Shared rental

    #9 Jobs ideas
    The sims is in need of more job opportunities besides cook, writer, business etc. Here are a few examples:
    Cosmetologist
    Real Estate Agents/Brokers
    Dental Assistant
    Health Aides
    Archaeologists
    Architect
    Travel agent
    art conservator
    Private Tutor
    Teacher
    Principal
    News anchor
    Homemaker
    Nanny
    Butler
    Assistant / secretary
    Store manager
    City manager
    Gym instructor
    And the list goes on.. Also these should be filled with local seems giving you the chance to see them while they are on the job and vice verse.
    #10 Other:
    The ability to mow your lawn or pay a kid to do it
    Put away and take out dishes and cookware
    Open closet shelving to make a walk in closet where your sim can actually walk inside and contemplate a outfit.
    Teen babysitters that actually babysit and the option for a nanny and butler for our wealthy sims
    Bikes
    Open neighborhoods / downtown area
    Pop up events in the park like jazz in the park, outdoor art show , outdoor movie, fall festival or winter Christmas parade
    Baby's and toddlers should be physically taken to daycare and picked up.
    Kids and teens should have sleepovers
    Seniors citizens need bingo night
    Kids should be able to make money during the summer via lemonade stands and teens / adults should be able to sell unwanted items via yard/ garage sales on Saturday's only

    Everything I mentioned here is in regards to the base game. These things can be updated gradually like regular updates not all at once. Many other games are continually doing major updates like these gradually and it makes the players feel like having a good baasgame is just as important to the company making it as it is to the players playing it. The better the base game the more players will keep coming back for more...


    Thank you for opening the form for feedback!
    Post edited by Hcla25239028 on
  • torieggtoriegg Posts: 5 New Member
    For depth, improve single sim gameplay. This game is not fun at all when playing one sim because of the lack of global story progression and the lack of a good autonomy/personality system that's needed to make the world around that sim alive. It was breaking immersion to have to exit to the map and load other households, but that was also the only way to make things happen to other sims. But then, even in one household, nothing happens without the player micromanaging every sim. It's very much like playing with dolls.

    The Sims 3, honestly, also had boring single sim gameplay, but that was ignored because of how easy it was to access other families. It was natural to play rotational households and the story progression at least reduced the chore of micromanaging every household.

    The Sims 4, given that it didn't have an open world like TS3, should've followed The Sims 2 format of slider-based personalities. Other commenters have explained the particularities well. Because at least, the sims will have realistic diversity and it makes it fun to watch their interplay. I hope you could add different 'styles' of certain interactions depending on the traits they have. Because we would like to see them act VISUALLY different during certain interactions once autonomy and personalities are improved. I think they should strongly represent their personality type without player control.

    For the challenge, careers, parenting, romance, and friendships need to have more consequences, and these should also be based on an improved autonomy/personality system. For example, intelligent sims should bore other sims autonomously.

    If you could implement it like that, The Sims 4 would be so much more fun as a life simulation game. The Sims 2 used to compete in sales with games like GTA and Half-Life because it really was an immersive game and still the only life simulation of its kind.

    [Also, just an annoyance, seeing celebrities all over the place is a big immersion breaker. Can we have a no-celebs lot trait at least?]
  • poreausiporeausi Posts: 1 New Member
    Hello Sims Team,
    First of all Id like to thank you for this opportunity! I love that you take the time to hear our opinions on these topics.
    Now, moving on to what "a higher level of challenge and depth in the Base Game would look like" for me:

    -Lot traits: these have been a great addition. They improved the difficulties in the game to a reasonable level, where it is not so difficult that impedes one from having fun but not so easy either that you can get bored with them quickly.

    -More consequences: These were things that made previous sagas more enjoyable to play life mode with. For instance, if you did bad in school you were sent to the military service, or you could get fired from work if you didnt prepare enough. Those tiny things made it super exciting and scary at the same time!

    -Burglars: closely related to the previous one, alarms and burglars need to be added to ensure more gameplay and depth.

    -More differentiation between ages, as well as more gameplay for all of them: I feel like young adults and teenagers dont differ at all, so adding more depth in the latter age group would mean great changes. Conversations being different isnt enough, Id add more objects to interact with and "phases" to teenagers.

    -More relationship types: like many people have said in this thread, adding uncles, aunts, etc. would make the world seem more interconnected and fun to play with.

    -More traits: I feel like there should be more in order to have more different sims. The wants and fears many people have mentioned would be a perfect addition to achieve this as well.

    -More connection to the world: Henford on Bagley did this better than its predecessors, allowing one to interact more closely with the world (eg. window shopping). Those tiny interactions in every world would make significant changes to the overall gameplay, since itd make them more liveable. Another example would be adding other means of transport to the game: going from one place to the other feels quite empty, so even adding the image of a plane when travelling to Selvadorada for instance, would make it look more realistic.

    -More interactions with objects: The prime example for this is clocks: Id love to see them have the option to set up an alarm! Itd be just like in real life. Also, I´d add new objects for kids, teenagers and seniors as well as new "activities after school". Id love to see more activities that are different from the drawing tables we have.

    These are some that I think would be great! Anyways, thanks again for letting us participate! :)
  • ChampandGirlieChampandGirlie Posts: 2,482 Member
    Hi, I am following up with a second post because I would like to focus more specifically on what I want which I think is in line with many players. My first post mainly emphasized making any changes optional and highlighted some basic major areas of improvement.

    I would like to see gameplay that is geared more to teen-to-adult players. Currently, it feels like a lot of the game is in "child mode". For example, the chance cards are nearly always silly and childish. Any humor is usually very childish. There is a lack of risk or randomness and other than woohoo (which I don't want to see nerfed) there really isn't that much gameplay for teen-to-adult players. A lot of the game seems like it is for 8 year olds. I think it would be fine to separate out a child mode but to have some new content that is just more engaging for teens through adults / elders.

    As I mentioned, I would like any story progression to be optional due to rotational play though I'd always be happy to see more interactiveness in the world generally. Similarly, I would want the ability to protect certain households from new changes because I may have my own gameplay or story in mind for them. However, I think there should be more risk with multiple types of outcomes - positive, negative, neutral - and more surprises.

    I think there could be more mature themes for challenges in the sense of gameplay based on themes of finances, love, getting along with family and friends, navigating personal crises and probably other themes. This may depend on Seasons but there could be adverse weather events, political challenges, social challenges (bullying/cliques/fitting in, falling out with relatives, infertility, struggles at work or with coworkers and ways to overcome issues but those would require more from the player). I mentioned that there could be base game challenges dealing with common real life events that create more to overcome, more challenges and potentially new kinds of rewards.

    I mentioned wanting to see added financial risk and management, more life goals or added unexpected events with varied outcomes and new ways to be rewarded or punished in the game - these could be financial, social (friends & coworkers), familial, romantic, personal (hobbies, interests, self-esteem), and less predictability. In particular, it would be great for sims to react differently from each other.

    As mentioned, romantic personalities should be more varied and less predictable. I know a lot of people are wanting intense jealousy reactions especially to cheating. I want this too but I want that to be one mode of play or scenario or personality type. As mentioned, I actually did not like how automatic TS2 & TS3 were about that. I do think that seeing more of those types of consequences especially if that's one format of play would be an improvement. Mainly I want more variety among my sims. I like Sentiments a lot and I think that they are a step in the right direction.

    I am writing this response because I want to emphasize that I would expect to see more grown up themes which can include teens through elders - mid life crises or suddenly wanting to change a city, a romantic partner or a job; real estate could be more complicated and sims could have to manage investments / we could have a gambling pack / sims could have more complicated business opportunities; social lives could be more complex and there could be a lot more that occurs among friends or that is instigated by a sim's social group or by unknown new characters. We could have political situations to manage in the world and economic factors or social movements.

    For romance, I would like to see online dating and new compatibility or chemistry. As mentioned, I think there should be a player override if we really want things to go in a certain direction. Generally, I do think the game could generate more surprises and include more difficulty but to be a "deep" game, it would need to not all be negative either. As mentioned, I would want to see new animations for behaviors, especially romantic ones but also friendly too. If sims go dancing together, they barely look at each other. Unless you use the group feature, they will just wander off. More group activities would be great. Bowling was well done and is an example of a well-implemented hobby IMO.

    As mentioned, I would like to see stronger behaviors based on interests - this should be across a range of interests. Ideally no two sims would be the same. Behaviors would be more varied. A slider for different temperaments would be welcome.

    A combination of Generations and Free Time with a more modern spin would be welcome. I noticed that we have more hobbies in later packs. That's great but we need more including possibly achievements based on interests. We have the Get Together Club System but we need to be able to really talk about interests with other sims and to find sims with similar interests. It might make sense to have a sim online social network through which you could easily form new groups and plan new events. In fact, we could probably have new types of social events based on interests, hobbies and new gameplay.

    We need to answer the question - why? What's the point? Sometimes you want to live the day-to-day, sometimes you want to take your sims out to a neighborhood venue and sometimes you want a bigger goal to play through that gives the game a meaning for your sims.

    I would want to optionally complicate my game and to have new ways to play with more meaning. Implemented correctly, this would be more interesting but would not mess up my current game, rather it would make it better. I would continue to be interested in new content for this version of the game. I actually think a lot of packs were well-executed - Seasons, Cats & Dogs, recent packs (aside from any bugs) such as Eco Lifestyle, Snowy Escape and Cottage Living.

    I think you could take some of the challenges of city management from old games like Sim City and add new depth to The Sims Series. You could also add new drama which could also be brought in from a sim's neighbors and environment. Neighborhoods should feel lively and alive. I have noticed an improvement in venues and some streets but we could really feel like our sims are in a living world and like their lives are important with new optional goals.

    I mentioned this before but I think that invitations from other sims could be improved. Our sims could have more time to respond or be invited in more complex ways. Example: A sim receives invitations from two friends. If the sim accepts one, the other will be angry, upset or sad and you might make an enemy. Your sim needs to pick. Another example I mentioned before and thought about: Your sim gets asked out by several different sims and now you need to choose. You do not know who will be the best match or if you will have a great date or not. The other sims might lose interest if they have to wait to go out with you. Later your sim asks out one of the other sims and finds out that sim is no longer interested - but maybe there is an option to try to win them over with more work.

    Other examples: Your sim's parents or relatives might get very opinionated about your sim's life and try to set your sim up or recommend a job. If you don't listen, they might have a negative sentiment. Your boss or coworker asks you to socialize and if you don't accept, it will hurt your work performance. I do think you should get 24 hours to respond though in case your sim is in the middle of something when they contact you. Your sim might need to work on or manage their confidence level and this could influence their performance or success in life.

    I would like to see an option for counseling and couples' counseling. I think there should also be a therapist/psychologist career. I mentioned this before but bring back private school and school admissions. Add more gameplay for teens such as dances, crushes, learning life skills and managing social lives. Create new ways to have fun as well for all ages.

    Thanks again, the main point of this post was to add more detail and clarity to my response.
    Champ and Girlie are dogs.
  • StephkStephk Posts: 1 New Member
    For me more depth means more consequences for sims actions and/or personalities.For example If a sim is creative the creative skills should be slightly easier to develop and their whims and automated actions should push them to do creative things. On the flip side if a sim is a loner it should be more difficult to gain charisma skill and their whims and automated actions should prevent them from wanting to talk to people unless they have a really high relationship. I also think if a sim is tense they should be able to do some of their likes; as an example if a sim likes rocket science they should be able to build a rocket and have that reduce stress. It is irritating to have sims refuse to do something that can and will reduce the stress mood-let because they are too stressed. Along with that I would love to see more variety in whims. If my sim is a book worm they should want to read more often than one who isn’t. I would like to see sims relationships be more independent with each other. Maybe one sim has a crush on another sim but that sim doesn’t even have a romance bar for sim 1. I would like it to be more difficult to break up relationships of townies and npc’s. If a sim is in a good relationship with someone else it should be much more difficult to get them to respond positively to romance interactions from an outside sim. It would also be great to specify the sexuality of sims. I dislike that they are all bi. It could even go as far as to not even have the romance screen available if they don’t like that gender. Kind of like how young adults and teens can’t have any romance. Another way to add depth would be to make it easier or more difficult to form relationships, gain skills, get promotions if you have aligned or conflicting traits.

    For me challenges I would like to see would be greater consequences for actions or inactions. If your sim cheats on their partner it should cause a rift in the relationship. If your sim constantly does not perform daily tasks for jobs they get demoted. If a sim eats while already full or has too many sweets they should get an upset stomach. If a sim has low funds or no baby items and get pregnant they should get worried or stressed about the coming baby. When we get pop-ups and have to choose an option there should be more randomness to the choices. Once you see them a couple of times you already know exactly what to choose to get the best option for your specific goals. Those are just a few examples.
  • atchaatcha Posts: 1 New Member
    The core problem of The Sims 4 is the absence of the personality of each individual sim. The current personality system is completely broken and does not work. That's why every sim feels the same when you play them, whether you play Bella Goth , Johnny Zest, or Eliza Pancakes, they just talk, laugh, and play a video game on the computer all day long just the same (even none of them has the Geek trait). If they can fix this core problem and make each sim feels truly different and unique, I guarantee that even the base game will be fun and amazing without any pack. The absence of the personality system is the root cause of why we feel that the game is empty. Even you throw in 100 packs more into the game, it won't help, unless they fix the personality problem first. And The Sims 5 will continue to be boring if this personality problem gets carried to The Sims 5.
  • TreePTreeP Posts: 1 New Member
    Dear Sims Team.

    I am honored to type this comment out to you all. I respect you as great human beings who must've gotten a lot of flack for game decisions beyond your control. Keep going on strong. Being on the media must be so difficult. I really can't imagine what you all go through.

    Now, my opinion is what I'd think to be a little unique. It's mostly because I am not an avid Sims player, nor was I ever one prior to the Sims 4; the Sims 4 was my first entry to the serious as a result, during the time period where Sims 4 Let's Plays were mildly very popular. My young mind was ECSTATIC when confronted with the POSSIBILITY of creating my own characters and dictating their stories. I fantasized and daydreamed about plot points of a group of teenagers living in a house with a secret alien hiding amongst them, where their lives would be hit with intrigue and trust and surprise. That fantasy was always very cinematical in my head, playing like a thriller mystery movie like a Scooby Doo knockoff of a sexy edgy teen movie.

    That is it: the memory that incited me to buy the Sims 4 and steal my aunt's laptop forever. The thing that drew me in to the game, the thing that APPEALED to me — as a storytelling type of simmer — was the possibility of shocking myself with a dang good time and a dramatic viewing of some seriously serious characters.

    When I was in CAS for the first time, creating a sim, I was having difficulties. I rushed through the process because I didn't know anything about creating body types or apparel choices, and I felt a little bored. Then when I entered the beginner's house, I was more interested in mingling with the other sim townies than the actual house and decor. I wanted something juicy to happen. A direct goal that could elicit a spicy character development. I wanted my Sims to cry and interact with each other and get close, like true friends and possible love interests.

    I don't care much for clothes, customizations, building and decor. I am a character-driven roleplayer; and while those things would enhance the storytelling experience, they were not necessary for me to care enough. And this was where I lost my interest in the game a few months, maybe a year, later: it had dawned to me that every sim I made were somehow copies of each other. It got to the point where, in order to differentiate between each character, I actually HAD to emphasis character design and clothing in order to be interested in my sims. The traits only offered slight, subtle nuances and did not offer anything spicy or antagonistic or exciting: so there were no stakes, loves was a shallow lie, and everyone treated each other equally without ANY biases. It was sort of like a super utopia. But utopias are boring in fiction, because the peace existed as a result of the sims— not as a result of their actions.

    Because of my experience, I had not purchased any other packs; THEREFORE, I don't truly know how much I am missing from the game. Parenthood and Vampires are really nice and added a depth to the characters that I absolutely adored! Each vampire sim could be unique because of the choices you had to make, and the parent choices you gave to your sims' children gave me insight to how mama sim and papa sim truly felt about their kids. It may be shallow, but simply offering the suggestion of uniqueness and individualism in a sim's mind can get me attached. I'm not very imaginative, so I need the sims to act out their differences for me.

    So for the base game, don't worry too much, take a deep breath, and find a way. There's always a way to make a sim behave differently. Maybe make the sims townies randomly have a 1% chance of dropping by to give a sim a mission or task or bribe? Then they get involved in an affair, involuntarily. See that? That's spicy, yet so shocking. What should I do— my sim has a wife!

    I don't know. I guess I can only reiterate what everyone had already said to you: you can't please everyone. I am probably not your demographic, so probably focus on whatever they heck they want from you. You must already know what the sims lack. I'm here to have fun, so I'm probably not helping you. But if you're reading, I want someone to bless you, maybe God, if you believe, because I really do respect the amount of time you spent on something irrelevant. Love you, eh? It's a hard job, but it makes people like us happy. We all don't truly appreciate how much value we human beings have.

    P.S. I advocate for more random events.

    From, Donald Holland.
  • agatuniiagatunii Posts: 1 New Member
    Hello EA Team!

    Thank you for this amazing initiative! We (simmers) love the opportunity to share our thoughts and opinions with you, as we want to continue improving and enjoying this game for many years to come!

    I've been playing The Sims since it first came out in 2000. I became somehow addicted to it immediately. It was such a complete experience, to create your own characters, their personalities, their homes, and then play with their lifes, make them love, cry, have children, jobs... the possibilities were endless! And they still are. However, I can't help but feeling that, with the progression of the game, we've lost something. I don't know exactly what it is, but I miss it. So I will do my best to express it in this post, always trying to be positive and respectful, because, after all, I still love this game and, at my 33 years old, between working and adulting, I use every little time I have for myself to play it, learn more about it, or share stories with the beautiful Sims Community.

    I think the key for a real-life simulator is that it should allow the possibility of recreating life almost to the very last detail, but also have that spicy surrealistic touch that reminds you it is a videogame. I will try to structure my thoughts and rank topics from more to less important to me (in case you get tired of reading at some point, hehe). Here it goes!

    [b]1. Relationships[/b] are complicated, because feelings are not always mutual. This is (in my humble opinion) the basis of a good and complex relationship system. What it means in the game is that the friendship and romance bar levels from a Sim 1 to a Sim 2 could be different than those from Sim 2 to Sim 1. This would allow so many possibilities in gameplay! Love triangles, fake friendships, unwanted children... I mean, we love drama in the game! We had it in TS2 and I'm not sure why it was changed, but I know I miss that a lot. I would like that getting someone to be your friend or love you was a bit more chalenging. An attraction system could play in here too so, for example, you have to fisrt learn what the sim likes or dislikes and then act upon that.

    [b]2. Important life events[/b] should have a long-lasting impact in the sims mood and lifestory. And I feel like a temporary moodlet is not enough. I miss [b]memories[/b]! Having your first kiss, getting married, having children, or a birthday are examples of events that should leave a mark forever in a sim, and maybe from time to time your sim could randomly rememeber their wedding day and get happy, or a breakup, and get sad. Please bring memories back! It would add som much to the game, and also to the lore, which I love. The whole drama in TS2 with the missing Elvira and Don Lotario's lovers was so much fun! But it wouldn't have been possible to solve the mystery without looking at their memories...

    3. [b]NPC's story progression[/b] is hard to achieve, unless you keep changing the active household - wich btw is another painpoint that deserves its own chapter. I would love for the sims I don't control to get married, pregnant, divorced... I know it can be hard to keep the freedom and flexibility demanded by some players, and at the same time give us that spice of random events happening outside of our household, but maybe it could be a game option that could be enabled/disabled.

    4. [b]Changing the active household[/b] has always been part of the gameplay, but I find several issues around it in TS4. Every time you load a hoursehold:
    4.1. All the sims needs are satisfied (aka. all the bars are green). Even if it's 3 am, the sims' energy is fully loaded, they aren't hungry, or dirty, or anything. Even if you leave them with all their needs low, you come back one hour later and they are perfectly fine. That doesn't make any sense... I know it would take too much memory to bring back the needs level for evey sim, but based on the time maybe they could be tired/hungry at least. And maybe we could have a preferred household where these variables are saved.
    4.2. The sims' wishes have changed, even if you had locked them. Again, I understand the memory issues, but maybe keep at least the locked ones, or at least for a preferred household as mentioned in 4.1. Speaking about wishes, it would be great if they would have an impact in your sims mood too, and if they were more related to their personalities and aspirations (I get many times wishes from being around something or someone, which I feel are not very logical).
    4.3. Sometimes, sims are at home while they should be at school/work...
    All these things break the story I am trying to tell sometimes. You adapt to them, and you can still play, but it just doesn't feel real anymore.

    5. [b]Social events[/b] have so much potential, please exploit them! You gave us the possibility to create events in the calendar, but what about social events? There are so little of them, and we cannot create more. There is an amazing mod by kawaiistacie has become a must for me: Memorable Events. It allows your sim to host a reception, a housewarming party, a family gathering, a pool party, a sleepover... all the things we do in real life! And they have goals! I mean... she has some amazing ideas, maybe you could reach out to her, seriously.

    6. [b]Autonomy[/b] is so important, and it's not bad, but it could work so much better, especially duing social interactions. One thing that annoys me a lot is when I prepare a meal for my guests and they decide to go take leftovers from my fridge instead. It's like, excuse me?? Why??? I think some basic rules could solve the issue, and I know this is a usual complaint and might be categorized as a bug, but it breaks interactions, and therefore affects storytelling, and gameplay depth.

    7. [b]Emotions[/b] need to be multiplied by 1000. I think about myself, and all the emotions and thoughts I have at once. Almost everything we do generates a feeling in us, even if it's very temporary. But it doesn't work like that for our sisms. I am tired of seeing so many sims with the emotional state "normal" or "bored". And that's the reason why most simmers (including myself) use the Slice of Life (SOL) mod by kawaiistacie, among others. It gives our sims more personality, and more emotions. The likes and dislikes are a great addition, but the moodlets generated by them are too temporary and sometimes overriden by others. Just give us more moodlets, plenty of them!

    9. [b]Babies and toddlers[/b] have improved a lot, but still... I don't want to extend a lot here, I know it's been broadly discussed. But just think, sometimes it's just the little, silly things that can get a smile from you, even when you are down, like the things kids do in real life :)

    I could continue for hours, but I think I'm gonna leave it here. Thaks again for listening to our thoughts and ideas. I hope I didn't break any rules or offended anyone. Just want to reiterate, I took the time to write all of this not because I think the game is not good enough, but because I love it and I know it could be much better.

    Dag dag!
    Agata
  • g01denswang01denswan Posts: 1,027 Member
    edited August 2021
    Depth to me means that sims autonomously behave more intelligently so they don’t need so much babysitting. They would show more self-awareness and initiative. They would remember their relationships and act accordingly. Example:

    Ambitious sims would automatically do their tasks for promotions while non- ambitious sims won’t.

    If they are attracted to someone romantically, they would automatically do romantic things if their needs, mood and relationship are good, but not if their needs, mood or relationship are bad. Sims that like children would automatically try a for baby more often. Sims that don’t like children would avoid trying for a baby. Sims in a good relationship would automatically woohoo more often.

    If they are hungry, they would automatically eat something they like. Frugal and lazy sims would always go for leftovers when possible even if they are not their favourite food. Snobby sims would avoid eating leftovers when possible even if they are their favourite food.

    When their needs are in the red, automatically take care of them instead of getting another glass of water, playing with clay or trolling the forum, etc.

    If there is nothing queued up, do something they like instead of just push-ups because they are energized.
  • Hcla25239028Hcla25239028 Posts: 22 Member
    The ability to mow your lawn or pay a kid to do it
    Put away and take out dishes and cookware
    Open closet shelving to make a walk in closet where your sim can actually walk inside and contemplate a outfit.
    Teen babysitters that actually babysit and the option for a nanny and butler for our wealthy sims that actually do their jobs
    Bikes & scooters
    Open neighborhoods / downtown area ( this is a big one for me )
    Pop up events in the park like jazz in the park, outdoor art show , outdoor movie, fall festival or winter Christmas parade
    Baby's and toddlers should be physically taken to daycare and picked up.
    Kids and teens should have sleepovers
    Seniors citizens need bingo night
    Kids should be able to make money during the summer via lemonade stands and teens / adults should be able to sell unwanted items via yard/ garage sales on Saturday's only
    Street /block party downtown in the summer
    Pumpkin carving event
    Breaking new on tv to announce random events / festivals or criminal activities happening in the area.. Burglary? !!
  • mr014mr014 Posts: 1,648 Member
    edited August 2021
    A common point of criticism for The Sims 4 is the Sims themselves lacking in depth. The team did a great job with the recent addition of the Likes/Dislikes system - the Activity section (with hobbies and skills) in particular basically serving as a basic hobbies system. This mechanic is certainly a big step in the right direction!

    However, many feel that some more layers of depth are needed for our Sims still. Like an improved/proper memories system. With its own dedicated section in the main Sim UI for each individual Sim (simology panel?) where the milestones show up. Any memory could be either positive or negative, based on the Sim's personality and aspiration (and not on their emotional state at the time the memory was formed like it is currently; otherwise we get situations like for example a Sim who hates children getting a happy memory of having a child just because they were in a happy mood when the child was born; so let's not do that). Oh, the memories could serve as conversation topics as well. So basically, like how it was in The Sims 2.

    The Whim system is due for an overhaul as well. To be more similar to the Wants and Fears system from The Sims 2, where they are more closely based on the Sim's personality and aspiration. More family-based ones, too, and less for buying a certain item. Make it a feature players will want to use again (without needing Mods to make it good), that you no longer have to disable and hide away behind a setting for newly created saves.

    Going back to Likes/Dislikes for a moment. Are there any plans at all to add more? The Activity (hobbies and skills) section in particular could use some more work, as there are several activities and skills in the game (between the base game and DLCs) that are still not represented here. More categories, too, like for food and snacks, tv channels, etc.

    Also, can we expect more trait improvements down the line (for DLC traits), beyond those first 17 from base game you did? Please don't forget about the DLC traits.

    That's it from me for now. Thanks for listening!

    Take care!
  • Veja1Veja1 Posts: 2 New Member
    There is a really annoying issue about randomly generated outifts. When Sims age up they get these weird random outfits and I know it's probably impossible for you to fix that, but maybe you could do something that their new randomly generated outfits would be one from already styled outfits that you have in cas, or at least make Sims wear outfits from one style category so it would look less ridiculous?
  • ChoriFlyChoriFly Posts: 1 New Member
    Hello! I have a few suggestions that I think could improve the game. I do not expect them to be implemented, but rather I wanted to share my ideas on what would be nice to see. Some are tweaks, and some are additions, but I am not demanding them, just suggesting.

    [list]
    [*] For relationships: Relationships right now are kind of boring and anyone can get with anyone. A chemistry system would add challenge if sims had turn-ons and turn-offs, maybe they could be related to their likes and dislikes, skills, and gender/physical preference. The challenge would be to maybe get some skills to become a better match for the sim you like. It would also be cool if we had to talk a lot with the sims to see where our interests align. Also, some group activities would be nice so we can share interests and build relationships. Another cool thing would be single-sided relationships, where one sim likes or dislikes the other sim more or less. Most of all, I think we should have to work hard to change sims relationships, and maybe it can change depending on age. Kids can make friends very easily, while teenagers and adults have a harder time.
    [*] Traits: they are very few slots for traits right now, which makes sims feel all the same, and gameplay becomes stale. It would be nice if we could have more than 3 traits and if those traits impacted relationships, careers, and activities more (i liked the update for the traits and I think you could build on that). I want some sims to struggle to do things and some have no problem at all. This adds challenge if the traits and goals of the sim do not align, which makes us play more to get where we want to be. Another idea I have is changing traits through gameplay. Sims could go to the therapist/doctor to navigate some traits like melancholic, and after some work (maybe we can have quests to get to this) the sim could gain a hidden trait that is basically a more toned-down version, so for melancholic the intensity and duration of the sadness could be lessened. Also, maybe if a sim is around sims with a certain trait that is opposite to theirs, their trait could change to be more similar to the group they interact with. This could happen more frequently to children and teens than to adults and elders. Some traits could be unchangeable and others malleable, and maybe we could define that in CAS.
    [*] Goals: It would be nice to have the whims back and have something like wants and fears. It was fun in TS2 to try to avoid the fears of the sims and try to accomplish their wants. These could be very tied to the personality of the sim (traits, likes and dislikes, skills, and goals). Then we could have the whims be a type of want that is related to the personality AND emotion the sims are feeling and that needs to be completed in a certain time and cannot be locked. If it gave more points when completed it would be nice too because it adds challenge.
    [*] Story: a lot of simmers like to make little stories for the sims that they are controlling, and it would be nice if we could have something like story progression, where sims you interact with could make their own moves, making the player change strategy sometimes to achieve their goals. It would be nice if we could control which sims have story progression on like no one, close friends, acquaintances, or people who the sim doesn't know.
    [*] Genetics: I would love it if you could implement a realistic genetic system, similar to the one in TS2 because that added realism to the game and also made stories and playing families more fun.
    [*] Randomness and consequences: I personally like the randomness of getting a bug infestation, a fire starting, getting robbed, someone spreading rumors, maybe you could be accused of a crime, etc. It would be nice if those things happened more in the game and if they had consequences like spending a lot of money on repairs or replacing items, or having to clean your name. It would also be nice if we could do something to prevent these things like continuously clean and take care of the garden, enhance items so they are inflammable, having an alarm or having a high physical skill to fight off the thief, have a good reputation, etc.
    [*] Emotions: I know that a lot of fixes have been done to the emotion system, but it could get more enhancements. I think there shouldn't be any items that give a strong emotion ever, and decoration should have a VERY small impact unless it is something like a picture, a painting, or a gift. I also think some events should have more intense emotions. For example, if someone dies, and you spend a nice time talking about it, the conversation could make you a little happier for a while but fade faster than it would if someone hadn't passed, and then the sadness should take over for a few days, and then stay there but with less intensity until it fades. Some events could add more intensity and decay time to the emotion as well, like activities that a sim shared with the person who passed could make the living sim sadder.
    It would also be nice if some sims had different emotions depending on their traits and relationships. Like if someone had a bad relationship, they would be happy or relieved that someone died. It would also be interesting if when a sim is feeling contradictory emotions, if instead of switching back and forward, they became confused, and maybe they could get a whim to ponder on their feelings and the simmer could choose after pondering what emotion should take over. I think all of these changes would make a more challenging and immersive experience because we would have to navigate the sims' emotions more to get where we want to be, and we also have more control over the sim and story.
    [/list]
  • rorosherurorosheru Posts: 1 New Member
    Hi, it looks like I’m a new Account but I had issues logging in so I’ve made a new account just for this !

    Formatted

    Hi so, weirdly enough I picked this game back up in May and was sad to see how much and how little it has changed and made me realise why I had dropped it in 2017. I made a list back then and I was delighted to hear about this forum! Thank you for this opportunity.

    I’ve played the Sims since Sims 2, though I was quite young most of my memories are from TS3 and I didn’t play with a lot of the townies. Despite this, the townies were so fleshed out that it felt like your sims were moving into town and not the world revolving around your Sim and their family.

    [b]I will list ways to improve gameplay from Least Likely to be implemented to Most Likely, or Realistic to Unrealistic.[/b] I’m not a coder, so I’m just assuming based off of my ideas and what I assume to be “simple”. I understand with development and coding, if you modify something you may very easily break another.

    ***

    [b]First of all I’d like to list things that I believe need dire attention in order to add depth to the Sims 4.[/b]

    * Reworking the Traits System / Improving the personality of Sims. [b]As of now traits are currently based off of what emotions Sims feel and what they do, not how they act.[/b] This makes sims void of personality.

    Example: [b]Reworking Traits like Goofball to mean that sims are clumsy, childish, chatterboxes or carefree. Some sims may think they are too cheerful or annoying.[/b] Instead of a spontaneous emotional buff, [b]traits define who they are and not what emotional state they are in.[/b] As at the moment a majority of the Traits do the same things as objects.


    * [b]Improving Life-States other than YA and YA part tw- I mean adults.[/b]

    Example: A way to start would be making teens shorter than adults - making them visibly different and more reckless.

    * [b]Implementing some sort of memory system[/b]

    Make sentiments permanent or implement a memory system similar to TS2. I go over this later.

    * [b]Add Wants and Fears to the Whims System. We can’t ignore whims. [/b]

    Sims have Fears and Wants, as well as Whims. [b]Whims are spontaneous and based on the Sim around you. Alone, they are not enough to replace an actual wants and fears mechanic as they are so mailable and change constantly. Conceptually, they’re great and go perfect with emotions, but not strong enough as a sole feature.[/b]

    Pairing it with a memory system and wants and fears system would greatly enhance whims. It makes sense for when Sims are angry and they lash out at someone they care about on a whim. [b]But in order for it to make any sense your Sim may have a fear of upsetting a specific Sim in fear of losing a relationship OR A sim /wants/ to upset this Sim[/b] because they have hurt them.

    ***

    [b]Implementing Game Mechanics on What We Already Have - Most Likely / Realistic.[/b] Here I will give suggestions on what we can expand on the games current features.

    [b]CAS[/b] - I think CAS is the best version yet for the Sims Franchise. Though i feel adding these things would make the quality of the game better.

    * [b]Boyfriend / Girlfriend / Engaged / Divorced option in CAS [/b]

    * Please allow the option to [b]make parents for premade[/b] sims or eradicate the game generating unplayable parents. At the moment the process is very difficult without m/ods !

    * [b]Extended Family options in CAS - Aunty, Uncle, Step Child, Cousin[/b] etc - having the ability to edit the family tree in CAS would be easier than the current set up

    * [b]Ability to randomise skills or set skills in CAS[/b]

    * [b]5 traits instead of 3 - if things like vegetarian / lactose intolerant have to be traits then we should have more slots ! [/b] It would make sense if they were attributes or lifestyle choices (i believe those are a thing in snowy escape - I don’t own it) so perhaps it would be worth adding lifestyles to base game ?

    * Add more Traits about how sims act / are perceived

    * [b]Expand the sliders for weight and add more body diversity. [/b]There are m/ods with presets and enhanced sliders for bodies that can diversify our game.


    [b] Gameplay - Most Likely / Short Term / Realistic [/b] - The Gameplay in the Sims 4 lacks in many places to say the very least. Here I will list what currently in game, can be improved on.

    * [b]Instruct a Sim to run here [/b] as well as go here

    * [b] Sims can visit their close friends and families houses and cook and sleep there without it being an issue[/b]

    * [b]Toggle calendar events for “only current household” or “select households that celebrate this day” [/b]or worldwide events.

    * Now the calendar is base game, we should be able to [b]plan events in advance or schedule dates[/b] - sim sets up a date with another sim, or sims have weekly meet-ups with their friends or family. Sims may dread or look forward to these events depending on their personality and they could get a moodlet about it until that event happens. For example lone wolf sims may be worried about the date but gain a happy sentiment if the date goes well! That would then improve the relationship with those Sims. And visa versa.

    * [b] Meaningful Reactions. Sims can react to their friend, child or grandchildren etc being cheated on if that sim is aware they are in that relationship. [/b] Celebrities would be more privy to this as sims would recognise them being unfaithful or having a new partner.

    * [b] Relax on bed & multi-task; [/b] I apologise for making you all animate (tho it is ur job) but it looks so odd when Sims relax on the bed and then have to move to the edge of the bed to interact with someone

    * [b] Reduce the rate of musical chairs.[/b] Its good that sims automatically sit down to talk but it looks odd in certain situations. Sitting down to flirt or argue looks odd. I don’t understand how routing works and if this could actually be reduced, but its a suggestion

    * [b]Talents And Weaknesses. [/b]Skills they are naturally good at and skills they find hard to improve.

    * Stop Sims from being obsessed with the computer !

    * Allow us to use the laptop on Sofas - the Sofas edge or on their laps

    * [b]Sync Radios to one another[/b] - if they’re playing the same station / genre, make sure theyre playing the same song ! (Even if they are in different rooms)!

    * Rich Sims will be seen less at mundane places.

    * Sims with children are often seen with them at the park

    * Sims can automatically dislike / not get on well with other sims based on their traits


    [b]The World Itself[/b]

    * No teens at bars or nightclubs. Teens should have their own venues ( though i know the amount of space we have for lots is limited and we have the teen neighbour hood log trait ) or have the ability to [/b] ban age groups from lots with lot traits unless accompanied by adults. Teens can sneak in![/b]

    * [b]Have Dates anywhere[/b], they don’t have to be goaled events - a more romantic venue like a restaurant would make a materialistic sim happy or a park for that sim would make them angry (very basic here 😭). Whereas a park would be a good date for a lone wolf sim.

    * [b] Multipurpose Lots ! [/b] If ur gonna make us suffer through the loading screens then let us have multipurpose lots 😭 - so putting a barista station on a gym lot for example would automatically give us an npc for the barista station instead of having ur sims do it / hire someone. Having the ability to apply multiple lot types to one lot would remedy this 😉

    * [b] Give us the ability to section lots [/b] - if we are able to introduce multipurpose lots we should be able to define what part of the lot is what like how city living can hide the part of the lot ur not playing on in the apartments i believe this is possible

    [b] Build Mode - These are less important as they are cosmetic [/b] and the game is gorgeous enough. Sadly this can’t compensate for the gameplay which is what I want to focus on, but nonetheless;

    * please allow us to paint ceilings.
    * [b] Edit Non-Lots around town [/b] (like the playgrounds and vast empty spaces in san myshuno)
    * Spiral Staircases

    [b] Immersion & Depth of Townies - [/b]I’m just brainstorming, these are ideas I don’t how to implement them but are suggestions on what to improve that (hopefully) isn’t game breaking.

    * [b]You will only be able to find certain sims in certain worlds. [/b]Sims are often generated to show up at lots but seeing spellcaster sims in the Willow Creek Bar just doesn’t make sense. Of course they can leave that world but I think some sims should be exempt. This would make the respective worlds feel different like town and not just a bag of dolls being thrown onto a doll house. (That sounded harsh but it was the most simple analogy).

    * [b] Townie Sims have relationships with each other. [/b] They have friends and enemies and lovers ! Even exes! Sims that predominantly like the same things as other sims get along well whereas other sims who don’t, don’t!

    * [b]Sims outside the active household, with jobs, will go to work. [/b] Meaning if a Sim wants to go out somewhere and invite their friend - they may not be able to because they are working. If the Sim is lonely or gets lonely easily this could negatively effect them.

    ***

    [b]New Game Mechanics: Sort of Likely, Would take more time than just expanding on preexisting features. [/b]


    * [b]Have Sims work NPC jobs. [/b] For example; your Sim becomes a barista or sales employee, if your game has a Café or retail lot etc, sims can apply to work there and you’d see them in these roles around town.
    * [b]Sims can be maids, gardeners and actually work for people. [/b] Or Sims can be landlords and disliked or liked depending on how well they do.

    * [b] The lifespan setting of the sims effects the rate of skill progression. [/b] This would go hand in hand with the talents and weaknesses, if they are good at it they will improve fasted but overall, skills take longer to improve.

    * [b] Child Sims can play tag [/b], have them do childlike things instead of just make messes with random materials (I am aware this is a parenthood animation).. have them slide down staircases, fall asleep on the sofa, bicker with their siblings, talk back to their parents ! Skip school and get caught!

    * [b]More After School Activities For Kids [/b]. This would probably be split into a pack but I’m shooting my shot: Dancing, Theatre, Sports, Literature, Maths, Science,

    * [b] Better interactions for Romance. [/b] Sims can cuddle on sofa. If they’re soulmates - they’ll be entangled, if they just got together they’ll do that awkward hug animation (the current one). Cuddle in bed after waking up, fall asleep with each other, kiss goodbye before work, slice of life things.

    * [b]Sims will remember the times their partner has cheated and lose trust in them. [/b] This will be permanent if it exceeds a certain amount.
    * Sims will hold grudges for being cheated on
    * [b]Close friends / Family should be able to reprimand their friend / relatives partners for cheating[/b] if they have a good relationship they are more likely to believe them.

    ***

    [b] New Game Mechanics: Least Likely / Unlikely / Un-Realistic / Long Term [/b]

    [b] Implement the Memories system. [/b]

    Recently I’ve been looking back on TS2-3 and remembering the memories and scrapbook mechanics and I think they add tones of depth to the game. [b] Your sim remembering how they’ve been treated / what has happened and that effecting relationships would be a game changer ! [/b] Townies having memories would also make the game more immersive than it feeling like other Sims don’t exist unless your sim interacts with them. [b] At the moment the gameplay is shallow and feels like your actions mean nothing unless you use your imagination. [/b]

    * [b]I’m aware that TS2 had a lot of issues regarding the memories system, [/b] however the game and technology itself has come a long way since then. As the legacy edition was introduced for players with less powerful machines I think we can and SHOULD make it work.
    * [b] I also understand TS4 is a cross console game and you don’t want to change what can be experienced on a PC to a console. However, the Sims 3 and Sims 2 both had different versions of the game because consoles weren’t as powerful as PCs, and still aren’t - thats just a fact. [/b]
    * I think we should stop dumbing down the game for it to fit into every box, it minimises the games potential. [b]The CEOs and Investors are just gonna have to deal with the fact the game cant be put in a box. [/b]Especially when the Console versions already have difficulty running as they are.

    [b]More NPCs [/b]

    * [b]Burglars, Fire Fighters [/b]- not necessarily an active career; having people show up makes more sense then sims randomly generating a fire extinguisher on a non-community lot. Burglars make the game more exciting and less linear.

    [b]Better Romance System [/b]
    I understand this is a game rated Teen. But the relationships lack diversity and realism, are very linear and easy to manipulate.

    * [b]Being able to assign a crush or your sim developing a crush [/b]because they admire or have the same interests of another Sim.

    * [b]Have sims doubt their relationships, [/b] have ones be onsided, “only about woohoo”, bored etc. all depending on the sims personality and chemistry with that Sim

    * [b]Sims have the same hobbies but one is neat and the other is a slob, creating issues in the relationship [/b]
    * Opposites can attract with different hobbies but similar ideas and visa versa.

    * [b] Sims can be unfaithful and faithful or indifferent
    * Sims can be exclusive or not or indifferent [/b]

    * [b] Cheating needs to be improved. [/b] Your Sim can be known as a Cheater or as a player (non-committal) or be good at hiding their infidelity (sneaky). This will effect to how their romantic interactions play out. [b] For example: Sims with a bad romantic reputation will find it hard to romance Sims looking for exclusivity. [/b]


    [b] Better Career System [/b]

    * [b]Go for interviews and keep trying until you get it [/b]- some careers are harder to get into than others unless you have specific skills or have researched the company.

    * Sims in higher positions can do things that majorly effect the company.

    * [b]Get demoted because of cutbacks, [/b] be made redundant and have to find new work and work your way back up the ranks

    * [b]Get Bored of your Job, get bored of the status quo! [/b]



    [b]Open Neighbourhoods [/b]

    An open world would greatly improve the game and make it feel like an actual town and not just isolated lots that are unpopulated until your sim shows up. The need to restrict the size of the Sims 4’s is hindering its progress. [b] The game is not a small game and with the amount of DLCs in its 7 year run, it can’t be. [/b]

    If Open Worlds are completely off the table, Open Neighbourhoods would improve the quality of the game at least. [b]Many Simmers including myself hate leaving the house in the game because of the loading screens. [/b]The game has so many dlcs that it can no longer be considered a small game. You’re going to see a loading screen for a while regardless of your PC. Especially for console players (thats why it should have a different format).

    [b]Everything feels so separate it doesn’t give me an incentive to explore or go to new places. [/b] Its especially frustrating when you can’t even go to your neighbours house without a loading screen, [b] it breaks immersion and makes you want to stop playing if everything is such a chore. This is what makes the game redundant and repetitive. [/b]

    [b] I’m aware that would be a LOT of work, thats why its the last thing on this list. [/b]It would probably require remaking the whole game, which @ 7 years is just unheard of.

    But hopefully this gives you insight to what is needed for TS5. If we insist on having this game continue, [b]we have to improve its core fundaments instead of adding new and shiny dlc stickers to patch up the huge cracks. [/b]

    I tried to be as respectful as possible whilst giving you as many of my ideas as I could. I really hope this improves the game. Or gives the people in power the incentive to want allow the team to improve this game. [b] Good luck to those reading these !! I hope my ideas make a big meeting somewhere. [/b]

    Thank you & good luck !
  • luna96luna96 Posts: 1 New Member
    Everything is beautiful in sims 4 except the closed world of the game.. so we want an open world like sims3 that is more lively and the possibility to visit your neighbors and go to work in your own car and see the different places on the map while you are at home like sims3 this is my dream... sims4 is beautiful with everything except the world The static surrounding your home and the very slow waiting screens are harmful... I will not stop asking you about the open world. Please, we want a more lively experience with the upcoming releases from you. Thank you
  • nnnnatalinnnnatali Posts: 102 Member
    AnnLee87 wrote: »
    Thanks for giving me a space to post! I have almost 7k hours played. I did however stop playing after the ghost update and the paranormal pack came out.

    My unpopular thoughts about TS4... I would like more options for specific packs. I should be able to go options and choose which occult appear in my save. I should be able to pick what climate and weather occurs in my save no matter where my Sim lives. It should not rain that much in the pets expansion. My Sim shouldn't need a high skill and a large machine to change the weather. I don't want a mod to do it either. I want options!

    I just want to play the game. I don't want the game to play me. Too many pop-ups. Useless tasks that have no impact. I want my sandbox. I just want to play. Example: The parenthood ask for advice and character traits should be optional. I mod to get rid of all of it. Stop breaking my immersion. I don't want teens to die on the sidewalk because they got a pimple. I know how to play and get my Sims work. I don't need constant job offers or messages about signing up for jobs when my Sim works from home. I just want to play without interruptions. Let me choose when they take a gig and if they have a job leave them alone.

    The game adds more and more features and constantly involves the Sim's family in the process : neighbors knock to get acquainted with inedible sweet food, call with job offers, new acquaintances are invited to all city events that happen every few days, a vampire tries to get into the house, Santa Claus will come in the new year even if you lock the door with a key. And why can't I turn it all off at will? Turn off the phone for a while, quit work, study, cancel specific holidays and festivals in the calendar. Play as much as I want, and then turn it back on?! The player is a god in his universe and do not deprive him of this status!
  • GordyGordy Posts: 3,015 Member
    Before you close up, think about how much depth and immersion dragons could bring to the base game.
    TS1_dragons_hatching.jpg
    The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
  • RadykielRadykiel Posts: 4 New Member
    Thank you for this possibility to express our opinions on the game

    I think there's a few things that majorly make the game lack depth in the long run:

    EMOTIONS:
    The emotion system is great, a little unbalanced, but that's beside the point right now. The problem is that it replaces the personalities of different sims, so they all feel the same. It feels like many aspects of the game are made for different emotions felt at the time instead of different personality types, which makes it hard to differentiate the sims after you've played with many, who have experienced similar gameplay. Gummy bear pancakes just hit all the sims the same and it's not fun to see the same stuff over and over again

    TRAITS:
    There's a few categories of traits and many of them cause sims to have flat personalities or not enough personalities because of just 3 slots in CAS
    - Skill & emotion buff traits are just bad. They don't add anything to the sims and they just make the game easier, which makes it play faster, which makes it boring faster. As a Polish Youtuber, Merta, said: "I could congratulate Zoe Patel for having no personality". This becomes more blatant when you notice a Goofball, Cheerful, Talkative sim suggests absolutely nothing by their personality
    - Traits like Vegetarian and Lactose Intolerant should be more declarative. There's a reason why people, who base their personality over their diet aren't too liked. It's similar with sims, they just have less personality and more dietary restrictions
    - Aspiration reward traits don't reward the player too much. They're here, but they feel more like the skill challenge rewards from The Sims 3. People don't train skills to be easier in them, they train to get access to something unavailable before like great strength, very hard to make meals or knowledge about some places with location based aspirations
    - Scout, Father Winter etc traits just don't work. They make the game too easy and they don't show any unique characteristics

    ASPIRATIONS:
    The aspirations don't have enough goals to be interesting. It would be great if there was a pool of tasks to do or just revamped whims to go with aspirations. But not every single cooking enthusiast should go throught the same dinner party. Also location based aspirations just feel like tutorials and when players are complaning about not enough gameplay and lacking towns. I think just adding new aspirations for different careers, playstyles, skills, etc. with having different goals for the existing ones would be a good choice

    NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES:
    The game has some random popups and opportunities which can reward the player or at least give something in exchange for something else, like in Parenthood. It's too easy to avoid negative consequences if there are any. I think it got the worst when the game just started giving out free 50k packets of money with a single pop-up

    CHARACTER PROGRESSION:
    Quirks and lifestyles are nice, but there's no basic way to have sims develop over time. Aspiration traits are lackluster and don't make them act differently, definitely not more fulfilled. Reward point shop traits are basically steroids, not ways to make sims behave differently based on what they've lived through

    and of course - MEMORIES:
    Now listen - I'm not talking about just a list of things that happened to sims. But there's no difference in playing a sims who defeated Mother, played all the Star Wars and had their parents die in a fire and a newly created sim. There's the occassional gifts, but they don't define a sim. It's not rewarding to play a sim for so long if you can barely see development over time except statistics and a long list of reward traits of which half do one thing

    Things that I think made the game have more depth and why I think they're imperfect:
    - Sentiments (they're great to have some connections between sims, but they're too temporary)
    - Lifestyles (it's a good way for sims to change over time, but there's too little and they're also in a pack)
    - Group and kid activities (it's great when sims can work together. TS4 shouldn't be a single simulator)
    - Half-active careers (they give you freedoms to do whatever, while still handing out challenges and goals to achieve)
  • GatoNephistGatoNephist Posts: 3 New Member
    Hello, and thank you for making this thread and giving us opportunity to share our insights.

    I tried to read the entire thread so as to know what everybody else had already said, but alas, I'm rather late to the party and couldn't make it on time ^_^' From what I have seen, though, the thoughts that I had have already been expressed by other people. So, I'm just going to mention a couple of things that I find important.

    As for difficulty - make it more difficult to make money, basically. This seems to be a major issue.

    And as for depth...
    It would be great to have more traits and trait slots; have things such as dietary preferences as its own system, separate from traits; better wants/whims that are actually meaningful, maybe bring back fears, too; allow kid to do more things; more group activities; allow non-symetrical relationships between sims.
    Also, imporved emotions. Better calibrated, with more impact, and not just in terms of what a sim can or cannot do in a certain emotional state. How about, for example... a sad sim can still throw a party and dance, play games etc., but will do worse and their fun motive will raise super slowly because they're not really into it?

    (BTW, I saw somebody suggest actually non-playable NPCs. I'm actually against. People are gonna try to play them anyway and break their game, and if it's disabled to the point of being literally impossible, it would feel pretty restricting. I know I would feel uncomfortable with that. Maybe just make sure that non-human NPCs don't autonomously do things that cause them to take of their "costume"?)
  • Mr_MuffinTopMr_MuffinTop Posts: 131 Member
    Hello, thanks for running this survey. A little info about myself so you know what sort of sim player I am, in short:
    • the Sims 4 is my first sims game
    • Sims 1 to 3 never interested me

    I play sims 4 because I had the urge to build and play within my builds so I sought out such a game. I had to choose between 4 other games and I felt sims 4 came the closest to what I was looking for. With that said, the sims 4 does scratch my builders itch, however I personally find the sims 4 empty and boring when it comes to game play b.c nothing I do in the game matters.

    A higher level of challenge to me means:
    Meaningful Rewards and meaningful risk

    What would you expect from it?

    I'd expect things like:
    Traits - to set the tone for the type of challenges my sims will face
    Example: A sim who is Jealous may argue more often with their partner/best friend because they are so jealous of their partners "close" friends or "Exes"/ best friend having other good friends. Choosing Jealousy in the sims should mean that the challenge with this sims will be to keep them from burning all of their bridges with lovers and best friends.

    Aspirations - I understand these are used as tutorials and that is fine, but I expect achieving a life aspiration to be meaningful to my sims even at end game.
    Example: Athletic bodybuilder has a meaningful bonus trait - a sims weight can change, this trait helps a sim stay fit easier and upon completion your sim can live a longer life.

    Food Master Chef is redundant and in my opinion isn't really worth getting. Raising your cook level causes a lot of food to be excellent so you don't even need this aspiration. Yes you can make food that never spoils, but I personally have never needed to care that food was spoiling because food is so easy to obtain and the fridge makes food feel like it never spoils.

    Careers - I don't believe a career is better b.c I can play it, Interactive careers and rabbit holes can be good IMO. What I expect is for the career I choose to add to the types of interactions my sims have. I feel my careers should impact my gameplay, currently it doesn't matter what career I choose, they all offer no consequences to my gameplay.

    Example: Criminal and secret agent gig. You get a lot of prompts to make choices for these gigs which I find fun yet disappointing as it only affects my job performance. The whole thing just gets watered down to "do you want a promotion or not", which is not necessarily a bad thing. The problem is if my sim becomes a boss, an oracle, or a villain, unless my sims changes clothes then I have no idea.

    When another sim who works as a diamond agent, or detective finds out my sim is a boss, oracle or villain it means nothing. Isn't the landgraab story set up to sound like conflict will arise should they discover each others identities? Yet when they do, nothing happens. No one is mad, there is zero drama, they all do pushups and live happily ever after. What I expected when I first played this game and read their story was that I the player would have to actively try to keep them from discovering each others careers or else drama would follow.

    Whims - I feel they should be attached to helping a sim feel good about themselves and that it should be meaningful instead of random.

    Example: My creative sim may have a whim to try something new. If they are a botanist they may desire to create a bouquet, and if their trait is a music lover they may wish to listen to some music. I shouldn't just want a bee box b.c I own an expansion, the whims should be attached to the type of job, traits and skills I have.

    Skills - All skills sort of play the same way, do x 100 times and level. Once a master unlock a little bit of stuff you may or may not use. Nothing is really wrong with that, the issue is just that it only affects 1 sim and the whole thing resets on a blank slat if I use another sim.

    Example: A fisher at max skill can catch any fish but they can't take that skill and have a fisher book made for their later generations to read. My sim has caught all the fish and knows all the locations, but I can't give a grandchild the book about fishing locations and bait types to help them out or become some fishing hermit other sims aspire to become. My sim can't do any of that b.c their is no way to mentor or share your wealth of knowledge with others.


    Worlds -

    Neighborhoods first: I expected the deliberate choice to make a small world would allow for foraging locations like in other games, like this neighborhood and world only has onions and a log book would help players remember locations for certain herbs, etc so that foraging is fun.

    I expected worlds to act as a gold sink, anytime I wanted to hop from say willow creak to oasis spring my sim would have to pay a small fee and I expected to have control over what sims showed up in my world since the game required me to instigate everything.
  • RockinSheepRockinSheep Posts: 25 Member
    Hi Sims Team!

    Thanks for taking the time to listen to the community and take feedback on the game and possible improvements. I'm sure that you're as keen to better the game as the community is. I'm glad that you're taking a look at the base game and tackling how to add more depth to the game, I'm sure a lot of players are ready for even more content!

    1. Emotions
    I think one of the core improvements with the game starts with the emotion system. It's unique to this generation and has great potential to really affect the sims and how they interact with the world. I *think* I remember the emotions being more powerful at launch but they've been toned down over time. I know not every player likes the system, but I think with some improvements it could be great. Currently it feels a little, stale? Your sims become inspired, it gives a little buff towards creative skills, and they unlock a few new interactions, but aside from that it's not particularly deep. Angry sims have a mad look on their face and take "angry poops" but they aren't snippy with other sims or breaking things, stopping their interactions just to be mad. I know that there's a balance to achieve between it taking over and annoying players, but the emotions currently just feel a bit shallow. Perhaps sims could spend more time feeling fine, or happy, since I assume most people aren't walking around feeling inspired for 8 hours a day. If focused sims got their tasks done quicker, while playful sims took longer and were more chatty with other sims around them. Dazed sims could struggle to focus since, well, they're a bit out of it. I think more than anything, it'd be nice if the emotions meant something to how the sims interact with each other and their surrounding more than a couple of unique interactions. Since so many of the sims actions and other systems add onto the emotions the sims have, if they are more watered down, then our sims are too.

    2. Traits
    I know people have complained about the lack of traits in the Sims 4, and whilst I would love some extra ones, I believe more work arounds with the current traits we have would also go a long way to creating more depth. As it stands, we've got some traits that affect gameplay and others that sort of exist. The emotional traits for example, aren't particularly deep. They trigger their respective emotion with a +1 buff for 4 hours, and that's about that. The issue with this being that as I previously mentioned, the emotions don't affect the sims lives too much, and with them not triggering too often, the traits don't offer much personality. I personally feel that the hobby traits should be removed and added to a separate part of CAS, perhaps similar to the likes/dislike system add a hobby system where the sims gained interests if they read books for example. With only 3 traits, having 1 of them being that sims loves reading is making that a huge part of their base personality, and as much as I like reading, I wouldn't say it's that much a part of me. Similarly to the emotions, the traits don't offer to much to the sims bar a few interactions. I'm one of the few people who speedrun the sims 4 (it's tons of fun, would recommend!), and whilst a few traits are helpful in planning speedruns, most of the traits don't really help or hinder my gameplay since they don't really affect the sims lives too much. Loner sims get a bit tense talking to strangers but they will still get into huge group conversations, clumsy sims don't fall over or drop things all the time (as a very accident prone person irl, it'd be fun for them to just trip randomly), vegetarian sims will just eat meat, active sims aren't more excited to work out etc etc. Much like the emotions, I think the traits should have more of an impact on how the sims act with each other, actions they will spontaneously do, what activities give them more fun, perhaps even affecting their needs. Whilst I would love to have more traits and even more trait slots, I think improving on the currently existing traits and making it make a difference in our sims would make them feel more unique instead of copies of each other.

    3. Relationships
    Firstly, I love the addition of the sentiments. I really love that our sims have some form of memory with other sims and that the actions we take (or the sims take themselves) have consequences. And I love that the Henford-on-Bagley sims all came with some kind of backstory built in with their relationships and sentiments. I know that the team is currently going through all the pre-made sims and are making improvements and I would love to see it with these. The pre-made sims all have a short backstory but when you go to play them, they barely know anyone. As much as we simmers love lore (see all the previous games), adding in a bit of flavour text without fleshing it out in game makes the sims feel less alive. I know not everyone craves the drama that I do, but after spending my entire childhood causing chaos in previous titles and playing through their stories, the sims 4 is a little lacking in comparison. I think the sentiments have gone a good way to helping with this, though perhaps they could be adjusted a bit too? Since they wear off pretty quickly they're easy to miss and thus not as effective in gameplay and relationship building, especially if simmers play on longer lifespans (perhaps having the length adjust depending on the lifespan?). One thought could be to have them decay slower, or at least slower with non played families. Alternatively, perhaps the sentiments pause for unplayed sims. Additionally if the sentiments affected how sims interact, the options that they have for communication. For example, I could have 2 sims fight each other, end up with a hurt sentiment, but they're able to go and hug again afterwards. I would love for the sims to be mad at each other for a bit longer, to feel like the choice to fight each other had an impact on their relationship besides them getting angry. This would of course need to be tuned to the individual sims, perhaps based on their previous relationship score. Another example is cheating, again it's full of drama, but we simmers do love a bit of scandal. A sim could cheat on their partner, their partner finds out, and it's honestly not that difficult to get them to forgive and make up (again, I speedrun the sims and am pretty speedy at this point). If there could be a longer and stronger impact on their relationship that would be great.

    Side note on relationships, but it would be great to be able to create more family depth in CAS. Adding sims as aunts/uncles/step-family/grandparents etc would make the stories we can tell have more impact from the start of the game. If it's possible, it would be amazing to be able to set the relationship score in CAS as well. If I make a family with 2 kids that dislike each other, I currently have to go into the game to set that up, but if we could set it up straight from CAS that would be amazing!


    Sorry for the essay! I'm sure you've got a lot to read through and think about, again thanks for giving us a voice and letting us help you all improve a game we all love! There's plenty more we could add and I'm excited to see where the Sims 4 goes from here!
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