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INTRODUCING NEIGHBORHOOD STORIES - Bringing New Life to the Neighborhood

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  • Atreya33Atreya33 Posts: 4,410 Member
    Thanks for the heads up. I will play offline for a little while until I am sure my other played households are safe.
  • ldmarkoldmarko Posts: 5,487 Member
    For those intending to install the patch tomorrow don't forget to disable your mods and backup your saves.

    I'm copying my entire Sims 4 folder to an external flash drive. Just in case. 😄

    Good idea, thanks!
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  • FelicityFelicity Posts: 4,979 Member
    I love story progression. It's one of the reasons why I still play Sims 3. I hate Sims 4 phone calls asking my sim to decide for others major, life altering events. Why should a sim who my sim spoke with once (with that trait which makes everyone an instant friend) be the one to decide whether or not they want a baby. That's something they should talk about with, well, a sim who'd be involved in the process :/

    Hopefully someone will come up with a mod sooner rather than later which removes the phone call element and uses a RNG, weighted by traits, to make the decisions in the background.
  • SkyrryxSkyrryx Posts: 201 Member
    edited December 2021
    I don't like story progression. This is one of the many reasons I had never and will never buy The Sims 3. I'm used to play my Sims in rotation. I feel more connected to my pixels like that, because I see how they grow up and I'm able to decide for importants things like their relationships and having kids. I prefer when a game show me something instead of only telling me. If they offer enough control with this new system, I'm ok with that. Otherwise, meh.
    Post edited by Skyrryx on
    Thank you @83bienchen for modding the game. Whims Overhaul is essential for my gameplay.
  • mightyspritemightysprite Posts: 5,807 Member
    Oh, and there's a cute sentiment for having received advice. Even if the advice was, like Akira's, "I'm not sure..."

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  • bandit5bandit5 Posts: 917 Member
    one of my mods must be blocking this i don't get any of the new content will check
  • jennieeffinjennieeffin Posts: 184 Member
    So far I really like this change. I've gotten two calls after hours of gameplay: one from my Sim's girlfriend, and one from their closest friend, asking for advice about a job and a new person in their life respectively. I tried having my Sim talk to a Sim they had just recently met into "following their dream career" and they responded by saying they didn't feel they knew them well enough to have this conversation, so I like that it's a little bit more realistic and responsive.

    It really doesn't seem like in this iteration stuff can just happen without your control. It's just a way to get things to happen without jumping into the household, which I appreciate for households I have no intention of ever playing, like the Calientes.
  • invisiblgirlinvisiblgirl Posts: 1,709 Member
    This is the key for me:
    Once you have that, your Sims need to form at least one friendship outside the household.

    Which is why, once again, I do not allow my Sims to interact with anyone outside the household and shudder at the thought of adding 'Get Together' to my game.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that people who wanted story progression are getting it, but I really wish they'd allow the hermit players to turn off the text messages and calls. My Sims are pretty happy talking to their plants and smothering their bunnies with love. The only drama I want in my game is occasional llama drama. (Seriously, you're...green. You need your wool sheared. Trust me on this.)
    I just want things to match. :'(
  • EgonVMEgonVM Posts: 4,927 Member
    Wait a minute... Is the point of not having NPC sims get married that in the future your sims can get invited to the weddings? Wedding pack? Feel free to speculate on that further in the speculation section in this forums.

    Anyway, I tested it out. Got a phone call from a sim telling that they are interested in hanging out with another sim.
    Another thing is that the overpower of talk up to has been lessened. Now this interaction can work, but now when sim goes to talk to that other sim, it may turn out that they may not like each other and no new friendship is made.
    Also tested out the job encouragment interaction. So far I managed to make Victor Feng an astronaut and Eliza Pancakes a babysitter that way.
    And of course I had to test this "Discuss expanding family" interaction out too. So far, it has succeeded twice, so now Eliza Pancakes and Meredith Roswell pregnant. Well then. Time to wait until they give birth!
  • talongirl6talongirl6 Posts: 184 Member
    Thanks for the information about the new update! I really love it so far, as I've always enjoyed the calls my Sims get. I always thought that there weren't enough calls and texts honestly, so adding more is great! It makes it more realistic, in my opinion. And it's certainly less annoying than all the weird pop-ups about likes and dislikes that show up constantly. For me, my Sims have already called about asking if they should make friends and also if they should have a baby. I can't wait to see what else is added!
  • ElliandreElliandre Posts: 2,468 Member
    @SimGuruNate Thank you! I love this update so much!!! :heart::smiley:

    My Sim's best friend/neighbour called with a baby/family question and I said yes thinking I would get a moodlet and then the Sim got pregnant :joy: I felt bad because the Sim already had 4 kids lol, so I went over to visit the baby and knitted her a onesie and put it on her. The baby would just not have been born without my Sim's encouragement :sunglasses: So now my Sim is like a beloved Auntie living next door. Also I'm a huge family/relationship player so these add so much more meaning to my Sim's close knit circle of friends and family. Lately only people calling my Sims is Bess begging for money and invitations they never have time for. I've also had a Sim call to see if I approved her hanging out with another friend of my Sim and so they got together and now are friends too. This is amazing for building a friendship circle where everyone is friends without me having to rotate through the houses. :smiley: Another Sim called and asked if she should go after a job promotion and I told her yes and she called a few days later to report that she got the promotion. These new phone/chat options deliver results! I've tried to encourage some people who are unemployed to follow their dreams, not sure if that gets them a career, but I think you need very high relationships for your advice to be taken, which makes sense. Really loving this update so far and I hope more options are added to it in the future. It would be nice to encourage skills/hobbies too.
  • BabykittyjadeBabykittyjade Posts: 4,975 Member
    edited December 2021
    Thank you guys for sharing your updates. It sounds interesting. I agree with the above player that I also wanted more calls and texts with more ways to respond. As much as I wish I could take the phone away from certain sims, especially for old time or apocalyptic game play, I also enjoy lots of calls, questions and invites for my social sims.
    Zombies, oh please oh please give us zombies!! :'(
  • FrogeemsFrogeems Posts: 57 Member
    @SimGuruNate I can appreciate effort put into things, such as this update. However, I've spent hours upon hours of making my neighborhood perfect as my chronic OCD has asked me to. Is there a way to completely shut off this feature? I've based my neighborhood upon my story series I'm creating, and I do not want any changes (divorce, marriage, new baby, career improvements) to occur in my SimWorld.
  • simgirl1010simgirl1010 Posts: 35,708 Member
    Overview of the two new aspirations from the Neighborhood Stories patch.

  • DoloresGreyDoloresGrey Posts: 3,490 Member
    edited December 2021
    I have got two phone calls so far.

    #1 A father (played household, not active) asked his son if he should hang out with his other son. I said yes and later he reported they had fun.

    #2 My sim got a call from his.... woohoo galpal (unplayed). She is married. asked him whether or not she should have a baby with her husband. I said yes. She is pregnant now. Her poor husband has no idea he is already taking care of two cuckoos.
    -probably just playing Phasmophobia :p
  • Brd709Brd709 Posts: 2,032 Member
    I've played for most of the afternoon today and my game updated yesterday and not had any of the neighbourhood stories stuff happen yet.
  • FairyGodMotherFairyGodMother Posts: 7,406 Member
    I started a new game yesterday after the patch, and quit after the welcome wagon left. I played it for about 2-3 hours straight today and I have had:

    #1 two phone calls in which I chose "under what conditions" so my sim made $5000 within a few hours :D

    #2 Ian called asking my sim if he should get to know Derek because he heard some people telling him Derek is a good person (something like this) and I chose "I'm not too sure".

    #3 Ian called me again thanking me for suggesting he spend time with Derek and he said Derek was a lot of fun :) I didn't suggest anything, but said not sure. So I don't know about this one :*

    Funny thing is, my sim has no friends yet, and she went to the bar a few times, so I was thinking she met someone there named Derek. I looked in the panel and found out Derek is Ian's spouse. I suppose there are some spouses that don't know each other very well? I will just roll with it :D
  • ncisGibbs02ncisGibbs02 Posts: 2,018 Member
    I’ve updated today and will give it a try.

    Glad we got the loft window as well. Hopefully the empty household bug should be fixed. 🤞
    Now alternating between Sims 2,3 and 4! 😊☕️🌞
  • ACruelButLovingGodACruelButLovingGod Posts: 708 Member
    This is a nice start toward a balanced approach between having NPCs evolve without having to manually play them and having the world get out of control (one reason I gave up on Sims 3 and didn't like it compared to 2 or 4.)

    One thing I'd like to see in the future is allowing NPCs to actually gain skill permanently if your played sim mentors them—on an instrument, at the gym, at the fishing hole...maybe even have Discover University sims be able to influence the academic track of the other sims in the dorm as well.

    That's the part I feel Sims 4 currently lacks that I really want to see more of—NPCs don't really "grow" as people unless you're controlling them directly.
    (he/him)
    And remember this above all. Our Roman gods are watching. Make sure they are not ashamed!
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  • NetzspannungNetzspannung Posts: 2,456 Member
    edited December 2021
    I am currently playing a couple that made it through the 'Finding Love after a Breakup' scenario and the sweater curse and I am enjoying the new social interactions and phone calls. They have quite a few friends, some of which are households of families I created, but have now marked as unplayed. I was able to get all of them to have a new baby without switching households. So for my way of playing the game, this is great.

    Forgot to add: I would really like it if couples that can't have children of their own, would ask if they should adopt. I think that would be a very nice addition for the future.
    If I just posted an outfit you like, I have good news - there is more where that came from!
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/956513/netz-a-porter-outfits-ready-to-wear-for-your-sims-no-cc-required
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    we all try ...
  • GlacierSnowGlacierSnow Posts: 2,301 Member
    For the people worried that this will mess up their families with unwanted complications that they have no control over: I don't think that will happen, at least not if every potential change calls you up and gives you a chance to say "Don't do it".
    For the people worried about getting a lot of phone calls: Yes, I think you will get a lot of phone calls.
    For the people who want a toggle to turn the whole thing off: I haven't found one yet.

    Thanks for giving us an update on the update, @mightysprite . I appreciate it.

    I'm happy for the players who are enjoying this feature, but I never wanted it. Guess I won't be updating my game again until they add an off switch. Since buying anything new requires me to update, if EA wants my money on any future packs, they'll need to give me a way to turn this whole feature off.
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  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited December 2021
    This sounds interesting if I were not a rotational player. But I am and have always been one. I micromanage my entire hoods in all these games.
    Whether they lived or died depended on if they were a close friend of the main characters (or favorites) within a 'world' This is one reason I wasn't happy with TS3's story progression. It's a thorn for those who play rotationally even if it would just affect those non played townies (not in houses) in all these games, it could change the direction of the player's story.

    I'm not sure I would like this for TS4, either. So many wanted story progression for TS4, so I'm happy you got it, but I've never understood that when TS3 was the only game that literally played the game for the player with little input about 'townies'. I've never understood why bring TS3's system into a rotational player's system. TS3's system made sense I guess because many who played TS3 were not rotational players, didn't understand rotational players nor want to play that way. They liked one household and the world go on around them with many different changes, like Sims moving in and out of the worlds. I didn't because I spent a lot of time setting up all the lots, worlds, Sims, and more of a neighborhood story rather than just one particular Sim. The town and it's folks mattered to me. So, I wasn't a fan of TS3's SP. An off toggle wasn't always off, either.

    I suppose this will give players a lot to discover and do in the game, but what is it going to matter Maxis when the game can just cull that Sim within a week or so. (If not in a house). And I just read where a young child granddaughter gets the phone call, lol....how deep is this really? I mean who asks their five year old granddaughter to help make a decision about a job promotion. I mean depth is missing already. Just some remindful feedback. Random phone calls are not depth. More meaningful depth would be the child not get a phone call about such life changing decisions, right? I think so. Needs more tweaking.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • kusurusukusurusu Posts: 971 Member
    Even if I don't control her, Sona's looking for new challenges:
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    My SuperSim Collection: Rosetta Stone · Sona Ali
  • cynciecyncie Posts: 4,548 Member
    edited December 2021
    I’ve been playing my game as usual since the update, but so far, no calls. I know MCCC didn’t break, but I’m wondering if there’s a setting that’s blocking it? My Sims get the other game initiated calls (come over and hang out, duel challenges, go to the festival, etc). I also have many of my sims best friends marked as played to prevent MCCC story progression from interfering, so I’m wondering if that’s affecting the calls. At any rate, it seems you can drastically curb the impact of this update,someway. I’m just not sure how, yet.
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