[BY DESIGN] [BDK] Adults can't use the handheld vacuum cleaner on the floor [ Edited ]

[Ulf-Gunnel]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? Svenska
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.71.86.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? EP: Get to Work, Get Together, City Living, Cats and Dogs, Seasons, Get Famous, Discover University, Eco Lifestyle, Snowy Escape GP: Outdoor Retreat, Spa Day, Dine Out, Parenthood, Jungle Adventure SP: Perfect Patio, Cool Kitchen, Spooky, Movie Hangout, Romantic Garden, Kids Room, Backyard, Vintage Glamour, Bowling Night, Fitness, Toddler, Laundry, Moschino, Tiny Living, Nifty Knitting KITS: Bust The Dust OTHER: Holiday Celebration
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? 1. Buy a handheld vacuum cleaner and select an Teen / Young adult / Adult / Elder sim (put the handheld vacuum cleaner in their inventory or leave it on the lot) 2. Click on a dirty spot on floor (puddle / childrens mess / dust / dust bunny)
What happens when the bug occurs? There are no option to vacuum the dirty spot (on the floor) with the handheld vacuum cleaner.
What do you expect to see? An option to vacuum up the dirty spot with a handheld vacuum cleaner. Kids DO HAVE this option with handheld vacuum cleaners
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. Installed Bust the Dust

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Adult sims (all adult life stages) have no options to clean dirty spots on the floor with the handheld vacuum cleaners (you will only have the option to wipe up with mop). Adults can use it on objects e.g. kitchen counters / toilet and they can use the upright vacuum cleaners on these spots. Kids can use the the vacuum cleaner on these spots (both handheld vacuum cleaners did work for kids).

Dirt spots on floor = puddles / childrens mess / dust / dust bunny.

I did repair my game and tested on a new save file. I tested all vaccum cleaners (3 upright + 2 handheld). The bug occur both with the vacuum cleaner in the sims inventory and on the lot.

Edit By Crinrict: Added Tag to Title

[SimGuruRitzy · Accepted solution]

Hello,

I heard that Adult can't use Handheld vacuum on the floor is by Design. Adults can also use the handheld vacuum, just not on the floor. Handheld vacuum are intended to be used on the floor only by Child sims.

[dolldrms1]

I'm seeing this in my game, too.  The only differences between this report and my game that I see are that I play in English and have all content released to date installed.

[SimGuruRitzy · Accepted solution]

Hello,

I heard that Adult can't use Handheld vacuum on the floor is by Design. Adults can also use the handheld vacuum, just not on the floor. Handheld vacuum are intended to be used on the floor only by Child sims.

[Zerotheliger]

uh im sorry what thats absolutely a joke. does EA not understand or see what a handheld vaccum is in real life? they are used on the floor all the time what the heck kind of lazy excuse is that? also the robot vaccums still get stuck. and wont return to base stations. this has been an on going bug that makes them completely unusable for lots of people.

[Ulf-Gunnel]

.

[SimGuruRitzy]

Hey there @Ulf-Gunnel and @Zerotheliger  thanks for getting back to me.

First of all, I understand that you were hoping for a different response and are frustrated but this is all that I can tell you at this point. 

I get that my initial post might not have been worded the best, but I can confirm that it was a conscious choice that adult Sims can't use the vacuum cleaner on the floor.

Having said that, We really appreciate your feedback and will make sure we pass it on to the team. For future purposes it would be great if you guys provide your feedback in General Discussion & Feedback section.

Regarding the robot vacuum, we already have thread https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/NEEDS-INPUT-S-Robot-Vacuum-getting-stuck-cleaning/td-p/8187558, input from you guys will be really helpful for the team to track.

Thank you!

[Ulf-Gunnel]

@SimGuruRitzy  
At first, I do really appreciate that you are replying. Let’s say that this was implemented by choice (even if it sounds shady).

Ok. But then we have another problem: How and where are you as a player supposed to share your feedback if you really want to make a change?

Let’s take a recent example:
There have been a lot of constructive feedback on the lifestyles since the release of Snowy Escape. (Other things also, but Lifestyles was introduced in that EP and there have been no follow-up afterwards).
Example:
Many players have expressed that they experience problems with the Close knit / People person lifestyle (the lifestyle counting family members/professional-work relations +too low minimum for People person): Sims getting People person from working as a doctor/if they having a big family, and parents become tense and despise their new born baby because their new friend (the baby) isn’t in line with their Close knit lifestyle. This is bad tuning. I’ve seen so many players feedback on this since the pack released (see e.g. the sims forum, I put some of the threads below). But there’s still no fix or even communication that this critique have been acknowledged and are going to get fixed (and I think that most of the players are ok with that some things is going to take a little while, we just want to know that you really are working on this). I don’t like when the critique get to harsh, I’m all for constructive critique and encouraging climate but I do really understand why many players do become exhausted after a while.

I always feel that your developers seems to be so devoted and passioned for the game when I watch you livestreams. That’s awesome and inspiring! I guess that you all just want to make a great game and make the players happy.  
But where do you (the team) need to get the feedback to actually be able to improve/fix things?
When we as players experience issues/bad tuning on a new pack (as with the lifestyles like the one above with Close-knit/people person lifestyle or the handheld vacuum cleaner). Where shall we as players best share that kind of feedback if we want to make a difference?
As a bug on the bug forum? As feedback on this forum? As feedback on the sims forum? On twitter? On Reddit? Somewhere else? There are already a lot of feedback on this issue (the lifestyles) on the sims forum, nothing has been fixed yet, so is it better to share it on this forum instead???

You are a company and of course you want to sell your products, but I do really believe that an improved relationship/dialogue with your customers (acknowledge the feedback and active work to fix bugs/implement constructive feedback that you get on your packs/kits) would result in a more “constructive tone” from your players, and overall more pleased consumers that keeps playing the game and are more positive to packs/kits and positive on paying for these.
(And as an extra bonus to you devoted game developers out there: by doing this you will bring diversity and joy to people all around the world (I mean, this must be quite an epic motivation? )😉
It's obviously a win-win situation for everyone.

The new initiative with the laundry list and the “Inside maxis” are great. But you (as a company) are having serious issues with follow-up and act on the constructive feedback you get on the core of the game (like #FixThePersonalities since 2014) and released packs/kits (even the new ones like SE). (But I also want to say: it took a little while but it’s awesome that we have got things like the sentiments, the skin tones and that you are working with diversity even with objects in the game, like the new paintings).

I see so many players that share their feedback over and over again (and no I’m not talking about “everyone want different things” I’m talking about when a lot of players sharing feedback on the same issue -ex. Personalities, Lifestyles/BDK kit, bugs/tuning) and you don’t acknowledge this or fix it even after months… or even years (!). I do really understand why players are getting a little exhausted sometimes (quite often… :-/).

Thread on constructive feedback when releasing a new packs/kit?
Is it possible for you (the team) to open a thread on constructive feedback when you release a new pack/kit? The thread could be open for a week/couple of weeks and the players could be able to share their constructive feedback on the pack (not just bugs/glitches, also things like tuning). You (the team) could work more actively to implement/fix these things under this period (or at least acknowledge it and start to fix the issue if it’s going to take a longer while).
You would then be able to sell more packs/kit for “release” price (players would be interested in giving their feedback) and I think that this could give a feeling of being listened to and encourage the community to have a more “constructive” tone (we all know that the tone can be a little harsh sometimes…).
Here is a recent post on this forum from another player that suggest something similar:
Re: Idea to improve the bug report form - Answer HQ


Most of the players, if not all of us just want to have a great time playing a great game. But I think we’re all getting a little sad and disappointed when the game ends up unplayable because of lot of bugs and bad tuning. And we even get more sad and disappointed when we share our feedback, the month and even years pass, and there’s still no sound or sign for a change from the other side.


Best Regards
//Long time simmer



*Some of the Feedback on Close knit/People person from the sims forum:

Constructive feedback on Snowy Escape (and to be clear, the ideas in the first post comes from ideas/feedback seen on the forum from other players)
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/987213/snowy-escape-fixes-updates-what-need-to-be-fixed-...

Thread on the issue with People person/Close knit Lifestyle #1
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/988038/lifestyles-suggestion

Thread on the issue with People person/Close knit lifestyle #2
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/984226/close-knit-and-people-person-lifestyles-lets-talk

(And so on, and a lot of comments/threads spread over forum… so yeah, giving players the ability to share these feedback in one place = a constructive feedback thread would be awesome…)

[EA_Leeloo]

Hey there!

A quick FYI: Since there is a lot of feedback in this thread and @SimGuruRitzy has already responded, I moved it from the Bug Report section to General Discussion.  

- Leeloo

[LirraFlirra]

@Ulf-Gunnel I have a similar problem. My Sims can vaccum on the first floor not the second floor. I see the option to vaccum when the sim have the big vaccumer in personal inventory an klick the dusty floor. But when the sim gets to the dusty spot the action just dissapers.

[ArchAngel1294]

I can actually see why you might have made this decision. It wouldn't’ make sense for an adult sim to vacuum the floor with a handheld vacuum while standing up (as they’re too tall), so you would have had to create a whole new pose for adult height sims of kneeling down to vacuum the floor. I imagine this was too much of a task for a little kit pack. So I completely understand.
I don’t like everyone being so vicious to sims 4 creators. All your decisions have logical reasons that tie into your limited resources, or into keeping gameplay simple enough avoid lag (like sims 3 suffered from to a much greater extent that sims 4 in my experience), or other completely understandable reasons. I can’t stand the negativity. I’m really happy with sims 4 and don’t focus on what we haven’t been given (because what we have been given is awesome).