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Why isn't TS4 inclusive of family players?

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  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,906 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    Simburian wrote: »
    Give the community good cable and wifi connections and just wait and see the difference in the community. Countries in Africa, like South Africa are providing free wifi access to all their citizens. Future shopping? Amazon drone delivery? Here we come! We in the West are slow to catch up in our remote areas. We may hate it but it is coming.

    "“The World Bank says that for every 10 per cent of broadband penetration a country’s GDP grows by 1.28 per cent,” Knott-Craig says. “More tangibly, free Wi-Fi in townships allows the unemployed to look for jobs online and email CVs. Without internet access how do people find out about jobs or submit CVs?
    Education is obviously the other major benefit of free Wi-Fi, as kids and older students can study online, download textbooks, and generally access information about the world. How do you learn if your teachers are on strike and you have no internet access?”

    This the world we live in today and why should Sims 4 be behind the times? Maxis' older Sims games were of their time and the only way we could get some of those days back in Sims 4 is with a historical type pack.

    https://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/10/28/growth-free-wi-fi-transforming-life-africa/


    TS4 isn't behind the times, it's too limited in how my Sim should be able to live by my choice. But this is about family play and as I said they have forgotten about kids, family ties, such a funerals and graveyards, because as someone put it in a different thread this game was never meant to have any depth to it. It was a game where you just plopped down any Sim from the gallery into your Sims' house, to play for a few minutes for whatever reason then delete them. That is TS4's whole problem.

    But it is not a problem for them if they designed it (purportedly) that way is it? It is a problem for you.
  • friendlysimmersfriendlysimmers Posts: 7,542 Member
    i am a player that plays family but what i notice the most is the lack in choice of clothes for sims kids girls and boys say for those that plays with aging on i am a player that keep aging fully turn off, the first born daughter is getting married she ask her younger sister to be her flower girl (exemple here that i am using) like her brides mades her teen sister if the family is big wents her younger sister to wear a matching pink dress like her brides mades or peach colored depending on the theme of the wedding same exemple on the groom side of the family only diffrence matching tuxedos.
    If you went the sims5 to remain offline feel free to sign this petition http://chng.it/gtfHPhHK please note that it is also to keep the gallery



    Repose en paix mamie tu va me manquer :

    1923-2016 mamie :'(
  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    Anmirla wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ETA - In real time Sims 4 is supposed to be almost 50 years after Sims 2 - not the same Sims 15 years later. Sims 3 was Sims 2 sim 25 years later.

    If TS4 is about 50 years after TS2, then The Goths should be the descendants and not the family unit prior to Bella's "disappearance". Also, isn't Malcolm Landgraab (a teen), the Malcolm Landgraab who is an adult in TS2 from Bluewater Village? I don't play premades in TS4 so I don't know where all of them are falling in line with one another, but that timeline doesn't sync with at least some of the premade families.

    It’s been confirmed that the default new game of The Sims 4 is in an alternate timeline to The Sims 1/2/3.
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  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    i remember SimGuruGrant tweeting that family-gameplay doesnt really appeal to most players so they decided to release Parenthood as a game pack only. he also refused to update the babies when Lyndsay Pearson asked him to do so. he personally believes there's no immersion in playing with families and that directly affects the output of the game. so that explains it.

    it's Grant Rodiek decision why we are left asking for more family interactions.

    a family-oriented expansion pack, aka Generations could have been better than Get Famous..

    most of us obviously need more family oriented game play, a full expansion pack dedicated to that aspect i supposed. but no, they be releasing full expansion packs like get famous to cater more on rich instagram girls with rich daddies and stuff who are willing to throw their money at EA no matter how bad the pack is.

    I’d rather have The Sims 4 Hobo Living Expansion Pack than Get Famous.
    wB2Zykl.jpg
  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    Probably because they only want to appeal to Gen Z teens, which means nothing but social media, selfies, and parties

    I totally agree with you. It's sad to me that like 95% of this game is dedicated solely to single, young adult gameplay. Babies-kids and elders have barely anything to do or anything unique to them, and teens are just young adults with a slightly difference face. My only hopes for this game are that we can get a baby update and Generations-type pack to improve on the vastly lacking family play and non-YA life stages.


    This is likely because of TS4 original idea of being an always-online game like SimCity. If you look into “Sims Olympus”, this explains a lot of our current situation and why a lot of things are held back.
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  • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
    Cynna wrote: »
    Simburian wrote: »
    Give the community good cable and wifi connections and just wait and see the difference in the community. Countries in Africa, like South Africa are providing free wifi access to all their citizens. Future shopping? Amazon drone delivery? Here we come! We in the West are slow to catch up in our remote areas. We may hate it but it is coming.

    "“The World Bank says that for every 10 per cent of broadband penetration a country’s GDP grows by 1.28 per cent,” Knott-Craig says. “More tangibly, free Wi-Fi in townships allows the unemployed to look for jobs online and email CVs. Without internet access how do people find out about jobs or submit CVs?
    Education is obviously the other major benefit of free Wi-Fi, as kids and older students can study online, download textbooks, and generally access information about the world. How do you learn if your teachers are on strike and you have no internet access?”

    This the world we live in today and why should Sims 4 be behind the times? Maxis' older Sims games were of their time and the only way we could get some of those days back in Sims 4 is with a historical type pack.

    https://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/10/28/growth-free-wi-fi-transforming-life-africa/


    That may be the world that we live in, however, it does not correspond to intriguing gameplay. The simple fact that every Sim in a room is in a race to be the first to sit in front of the computer isn't entertaining, it's annoying. Then there's the ubiquitous obsession with the cell phones and taking selfies.

    EA is so into the dance party/selfie mystique that marketing didn't even bother to mention the feature that made Get Together a worthwhile EP -- the club system. (That info didn't come until much later.) The live performance with the EA suit and all of those gyrating dancers had to be the most cringe-worthy thing that I've ever seen EA do (other than the announcement of the inevitable Moschino stuff pack), all in the name of seeming on-trend.

    It's overdone and it gets old quickly. Meanwhile, EA leaves out the kind of stuff that reflects the majority of people -- family life, childhood escapades, teen curiosity, the sense of discovery, and painful awkwardness, or what happens after childrearing and work-life has ended. Those things never get old, they are never outdated because those are mainstays of general life. Yet, it's all missing.

    In its stead, TS4 keeps rolling out the same kind of 'modern' features that seem intended to create an army of borgs. For example, that thing where a Sim can influence other Sims to dress exactly like them. What the heck? Why?


    She was from Maxis - not an EA suit.

    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.

    In dreams - I LIVE!
    In REALITY, I simply exist.....

  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    Cynna wrote: »
    Simburian wrote: »
    Give the community good cable and wifi connections and just wait and see the difference in the community. Countries in Africa, like South Africa are providing free wifi access to all their citizens. Future shopping? Amazon drone delivery? Here we come! We in the West are slow to catch up in our remote areas. We may hate it but it is coming.

    "“The World Bank says that for every 10 per cent of broadband penetration a country’s GDP grows by 1.28 per cent,” Knott-Craig says. “More tangibly, free Wi-Fi in townships allows the unemployed to look for jobs online and email CVs. Without internet access how do people find out about jobs or submit CVs?
    Education is obviously the other major benefit of free Wi-Fi, as kids and older students can study online, download textbooks, and generally access information about the world. How do you learn if your teachers are on strike and you have no internet access?”

    This the world we live in today and why should Sims 4 be behind the times? Maxis' older Sims games were of their time and the only way we could get some of those days back in Sims 4 is with a historical type pack.

    https://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/10/28/growth-free-wi-fi-transforming-life-africa/


    That may be the world that we live in, however, it does not correspond to intriguing gameplay. The simple fact that every Sim in a room is in a race to be the first to sit in front of the computer isn't entertaining, it's annoying. Then there's the ubiquitous obsession with the cell phones and taking selfies.

    EA is so into the dance party/selfie mystique that marketing didn't even bother to mention the feature that made Get Together a worthwhile EP -- the club system. (That info didn't come until much later.) The live performance with the EA suit and all of those gyrating dancers had to be the most cringe-worthy thing that I've ever seen EA do (other than the announcement of the inevitable Moschino stuff pack), all in the name of seeming on-trend.

    It's overdone and it gets old quickly. Meanwhile, EA leaves out the kind of stuff that reflects the majority of people -- family life, childhood escapades, teen curiosity, the sense of discovery, and painful awkwardness, or what happens after childrearing and work-life has ended. Those things never get old, they are never outdated because those are mainstays of general life. Yet, it's all missing.

    In its stead, TS4 keeps rolling out the same kind of 'modern' features that seem intended to create an army of borgs. For example, that thing where a Sim can influence other Sims to dress exactly like them. What the heck? Why?


    She was from Maxis - not an EA suit.
    I don’t think that was the quintessence of that post.
    5JZ57S6.png
  • SucomSucom Posts: 1,709 Member
    bizuktag wrote: »
    I imagine the gameplay of TS4 is perfect if you're a tween/teen who aspires to be a young adult EA gamechanger.

    So many activities or ideas seem to revolve around instagram, livestreaming, influencers, likes, etc. It might be modern, but it's pretty dull, especially when so much of it involves Sims spending time doing isolated things with their phones or computers or streaming stations. Even activities that don't involve technology are fairly isolated (from the most recent pack - go sailing! Alone. Lay out on your towel! Alone. Lounge on a chair in the sun! Alone).

    The idea of sims sitting alone as you describe makes me think of online worlds where individual players would sit together on whatever is around and chat. Lounge on a chair in the sun alone made me think of words like Second Life and Kaneva (now gone). This feature must be a throw back from when they were going to make Sims 4 an online game.
  • SimKonfettiSimKonfetti Posts: 1,361 Member
    edited August 2019
    Cynna wrote: »
    I've ever seen EA do (other than the announcement of the inevitable Moschino stuff pack), all in the name of seeming on-trend.

    It's overdone and it gets old quickly. Meanwhile, EA leaves out the kind of stuff that reflects the majority of people -- family life, childhood escapades, teen curiosity, the sense of discovery, and painful awkwardness, or what happens after childrearing and work-life has ended. Those things never get old, they are never outdated because those are mainstays of general life. Yet, it's all missing.





    I agree. It's not the contemporary technology stuff that make the game not as good as previous games. It's the lack of LIFE gameplay in this life simulation. Of course, contemporary technology does belong to life and it does change the ways we communicate, it even changes the ways we think, but it doesn't wipe away family life, childhood and teenage experiences and having a good time with friends. It just changes it, I'd say it enhances it. Why can't children and teens be on their phones in bed at night and message their best friends or crushes? We don't even have things like THAT even though that's what kids do nowadays. They might not sneak out anymore, but they keep their phones under the blanket and talk to their friends that way, make plans about what to do after school tomorrow or when they want to meet for an online game of Fortnite. Our sims can't do that, even though this is what happens with technology. It enhances life, it doesn't reduce it or wipe it away. It changes communication and the way we think, but it doesn't stop us from communicating and thinking. Why can't you have an online photo album with family pictures for the family to comment and see on Simstagram (we can't even see our sims' simstagrams, we just see notifications)? I am sure I could come up with more examples, but the point is: social media and technology is not about doing things alone, for a lot of people it's about communicating with others and being creative.

    You still meet people even though you got a phone and well, yeah, people might look into their phones during dinner, but they still talk to each other too, they actually have dinner together. They still have jobs, they still go on family vacations, children still have non technological toys such as Lego (which can be programmed now!) and they still visit the playground with their parents. They still have sleepovers, there are still such things as boardgames and family boardgame nights, people still have barbecues and pool parties (the Sims don't even have much to do in pools), people still love each other and thrive by interacting with others, be it online or offline (so not even the Simstagram stuff is well done imho, you should see more of the interaction they have with other sims on Simstagram (not just a notification that tells you how many followers you won by posting a picture) and perhaps even VIEW their simstagram in game, write comments yourself, just CREATE something).

    TS4 was intended to be an online game. You don't need so much in-depth relationship LIFE gameplay in a multiplayer online game because it's the people who play that interact and build relationships and LIVE. So it doesn't have to be simulated with the sims, it just happens with real people playing. And this is what we are missing here because a multiplayer online game has been turned into a single player game and no one can change its engine now. I wouldn't like it as a multiplayer online game as I like my single player experience and I do hope TS5 returns to its roots.
  • shokoroseshokorose Posts: 66 Member
    edited August 2019
    Wow, a toddler leaving the house and sleeping on a bench and begging for food is kind of sad, but funny too. In real life, when I was a kid, My little brother got up one morning, took off his diaper and went cruising the neighborhood naked at the crack of dawn. My poor sleeping mom didn’t realize he could even get out. A neighbor recognized him and brought him home. This happened 45 years ago. today my mom would probably have gone to jail :o

    But back to Sims, I really think it depends on the parents and the child. My Sims always wake up when the baby cries and then practically trample each other to get to him. I sent my toddler off to play in the ocean to see what would happen. The father stopped what he was doing autonomously and want out to watch him. I thought that was sweet.
  • CynnaCynna Posts: 2,369 Member
    edited August 2019
    Dakota88 wrote: »
    Cynna wrote: »
    I've ever seen EA do (other than the announcement of the inevitable Moschino stuff pack), all in the name of seeming on-trend.

    It's overdone and it gets old quickly. Meanwhile, EA leaves out the kind of stuff that reflects the majority of people -- family life, childhood escapades, teen curiosity, the sense of discovery, and painful awkwardness, or what happens after childrearing and work-life has ended. Those things never get old, they are never outdated because those are mainstays of general life. Yet, it's all missing.





    I agree. It's not the contemporary technology stuff that make the game not as good as previous games. It's the lack of LIFE gameplay in this life simulation. Of course, contemporary technology does belong to life and it does change the ways we communicate, it even changes the ways we think, but it doesn't wipe away family life, childhood and teenage experiences and having a good time with friends. It just changes it, I'd say it enhances it. Why can't children and teens be on their phones in bed at night and message their best friends or crushes? We don't even have things like THAT even though that's what kids do nowadays. They might not sneak out anymore, but they keep their phones under the blanket and talk to their friends that way, make plans about what to do after school tomorrow or when they want to meet for an online game of Fortnite. Our sims can't do that, even though this is what happens with technology. It enhances life, it doesn't reduce it or wipe it away. It changes communication and the way we think, but it doesn't stop us from communicating and thinking. Why can't you have an online photo album with family pictures for the family to comment and see on Simstagram (we can't even see our sims' simstagrams, we just see notifications)? I am sure I could come up with more examples, but the point is: social media and technology is not about doing things alone, for a lot of people it's about communicating with others and being creative.

    You still meet people even though you got a phone and well, yeah, people might look into their phones during dinner, but they still talk to each other too, they actually have dinner together. They still have jobs, they still go on family vacations, children still have non technological toys such as Lego (which can be programmed now!) and they still visit the playground with their parents. They still have sleepovers, there are still such things as boardgames and family boardgame nights, people still have barbecues and pool parties (the Sims don't even have much to do in pools), people still love each other and thrive by interacting with others, be it online or offline (so not even the Simstagram stuff is well done imho, you should see more of the interaction they have with other sims on Simstagram (not just a notification that tells you how many followers you won by posting a picture) and perhaps even VIEW their simstagram in game, write comments yourself, just CREATE something).

    TS4 was intended to be an online game. You don't need so much in-depth relationship LIFE gameplay in a multiplayer online game because it's the people who play that interact and build relationships and LIVE. So it doesn't have to be simulated with the sims, it just happens with real people playing. And this is what we are missing here because a multiplayer online game has been turned into a single player game and no one can change its engine now. I wouldn't like it as a multiplayer online game as I like my single player experience and I do hope TS5 returns to its roots.

    Yep. TS4 Sims were only ever meant to be avatars -- empty vessels with no personality or motivations of their own.

    I don't know that the series will ever go back to its roots. EA still seems to be pushing for everything online, all the time, regardless of whether that platform suits the genre or not.

    Only time will tell, I guess.
    JoAnne65 wrote: »
    I don’t think that was the quintessence of that post.

    You missed the actual important points in the post. Oh and if you really want to nitpick, EA owns Maxis. Anyone who works at Maxis is technically an EA employee. It is like that for many workplaces where the corporate name is different from the store/company name.

    Thank you both for understanding the point that I was trying to make.
    I3Ml5Om.jpg
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    shokorose wrote: »
    Wow, a toddler leaving the house and sleeping on a bench and begging for food is kind of sad, but funny too. In real life, when I was a kid, My little brother got up one morning, took off his diaper and went cruising the neighborhood naked at the crack of dawn. My poor sleeping mom didn’t realize he could even get out. A neighbor recognized him and brought him home. This happened 45 years ago. today my mom would probably have gone to jail :o

    But back to Sims, I really think it depends on the parents and the child. My Sims always wake up when the baby cries and then practically trample each other to get to him. I sent my toddler off to play in the ocean to see what would happen. The father stopped what he was doing autonomously and want out to watch him. I thought that was sweet.

    You must have some patches I never installed. I stopped playing the summer after Parenthood.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • shokoroseshokorose Posts: 66 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    You must have some patches I never installed. I stopped playing the summer after Parenthood.

    Wait..what? You haven’t installed patches, and you don’t play the game? I’m confused ...if you haven’t installed patches, how do you know your game is so awful and broken? 🤷‍♀️
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited August 2019
    shokorose wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    You must have some patches I never installed. I stopped playing the summer after Parenthood.

    Wait..what? You haven’t installed patches, and you don’t play the game? I’m confused ...if you haven’t installed patches, how do you know your game is so awful and broken? 🤷‍♀️

    Unlike others, I had enough game breaking bugs in the summer of 2017 that I stopped buying. Seriously, my saves were wiped out due to the change in how to save, Origin required I reinstall it almost every month because it would fail, and I had enough bugs in all my packs I did own that I decided I would not invest anymore money in more bugs with every patch and or more bugs in every pack for the next eight years. I know they are still there because they are relisted on the help site all the time. Example: DO is still broken according to many here and on the help site, it was broken in 2017.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • shokoroseshokorose Posts: 66 Member
    Cinebar wrote: »
    shokorose wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    You must have some patches I never installed. I stopped playing the summer after Parenthood.

    Wait..what? You haven’t installed patches, and you don’t play the game? I’m confused ...if you haven’t installed patches, how do you know your game is so awful and broken? 🤷‍♀️

    Unlike others, I had enough game breaking bugs in the summer of 2017 that I stopped buying. Seriously, my saves were wiped out due to the change in how to save, Origin required I reinstall it almost every month because it would fail, and I had enough bugs in all my packs I did own that I decided I would not invest anymore money in more bugs with every patch and or more bugs in every pack for the next eight years. I know they are still there because they are relisted on the help site all the time. Example: DO is still broken according to many here and on the help site, it was broken in 2017.

    Well that’s really unfortunate. I can see why you are frustrated. I’ve had to repair the game a few times. Don’t recall having to re-install.
  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    shokorose wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    shokorose wrote: »
    Cinebar wrote: »
    You must have some patches I never installed. I stopped playing the summer after Parenthood.

    Wait..what? You haven’t installed patches, and you don’t play the game? I’m confused ...if you haven’t installed patches, how do you know your game is so awful and broken? 🤷‍♀️

    Unlike others, I had enough game breaking bugs in the summer of 2017 that I stopped buying. Seriously, my saves were wiped out due to the change in how to save, Origin required I reinstall it almost every month because it would fail, and I had enough bugs in all my packs I did own that I decided I would not invest anymore money in more bugs with every patch and or more bugs in every pack for the next eight years. I know they are still there because they are relisted on the help site all the time. Example: DO is still broken according to many here and on the help site, it was broken in 2017.

    Well that’s really unfortunate. I can see why you are frustrated. I’ve had to repair the game a few times. Don’t recall having to re-install.

    There were a lot of us Origin told to go back to the beta version of Origin and there were many of us who had to reinstall Origin often due to it failing to update. It was a huge thread here at one time, with many, many complaints.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • shokoroseshokorose Posts: 66 Member
    A Sims 4 Online seems beyond ludicrous to me 😱 there was a Sims Online years ago and it was awful. Imagine sims coming barging into your house and being rude only they were actual people behind the Sims. You couldn’t lock them out. For some bizarre reason the devs thought it would be funny to incorporate wrestling moves so people with high body score could come in your house pick you up, flip you around and slam you on your head...I kid you not. There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot to do either. That game didn’t last long.
  • badxwolfxrisingbadxwolfxrising Posts: 69 Member
    I think the depiction of kids (and ergo, families) is something that TS4 has always struggled with. One of my favorite challenges throughout all the different iterations of the Sims has been the 100 Baby Challenge or similar riffs on it. When TS4 came out I was super jazzed and bought it as soon as it became available but I noped the heck out when my first baby aged straight into a child. I was so turned off by that, amongst other things, that I didn't pick the game back up until earlier this year. For a life simulation game, I agree that the depictions of family life are very much lacking.
  • Renato10Renato10 Posts: 472 Member
    Hestia wrote: »
    Anmirla wrote: »
    Writin_Reg wrote: »
    ETA - In real time Sims 4 is supposed to be almost 50 years after Sims 2 - not the same Sims 15 years later. Sims 3 was Sims 2 sim 25 years later.

    If TS4 is about 50 years after TS2, then The Goths should be the descendants and not the family unit prior to Bella's "disappearance". Also, isn't Malcolm Landgraab (a teen), the Malcolm Landgraab who is an adult in TS2 from Bluewater Village? I don't play premades in TS4 so I don't know where all of them are falling in line with one another, but that timeline doesn't sync with at least some of the premade families.

    It’s been confirmed that the default new game of The Sims 4 is in an alternate timeline to The Sims 1/2/3.

    That sounds like an easy excuse for the result of a rushed game honestly.

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