when I install a mod for a game like Fallout or Elder Scrolls: modded quests, factions etc will inevitably feel "out of place" because the mod author cannot make base game NPCs acknowledge the existence of their mod.
This hits the nail on the head with what I'm struggling with. My Sims won't interact with my pets at all unless I force them to. I don't mind if I have to manually take my dog on a walk, whatever, but my pets are running away because I'm trying to take care of a household and no one will stop for 5 minutes to pet Fido. It will seriously help so much if they would just put auto-interact between my Sims and my pets as a standard. They legitimately don't have it at all in any of my games I've played (and I've played 7 households with pets), which is so weird to me. I do not understand why my households don't have it. I've seen other people say theirs do? Why won't mine do it?
In terms of CAP, the randomization and breeding every single time turn out insanely ugly. I can't get a cute animal out of breeding, I tried for about 10 minutes of just monotonously clicking, and there was no luck. You either get the presets, or like you said, try to ignore how ugly your randomized pet is.
Me too!!! This is the first iteration of Pets that I actually feel attached to the fur balls! I especially love the kitties. I also have my sims interact with the pets on their own so I am surprised with complaints about that. They especially interact if they have the "dog lover" or "cat lover" trait.
Me too!!! This is the first iteration of Pets that I actually feel attached to the fur balls! I especially love the kitties. I also have my sims interact with the pets on their own so I am surprised with complaints about that. They especially interact if they have the "dog lover" or "cat lover" trait.
I'm the same! I've got an itch to play but am stuck working tonight.* That's been normal for me over all the Sims years (I started running this business the same year The Sims launched!), but it's never been pets that I was missing. Right now, it's pets.
As I said in another thread, different strokes for different folks.
*Well, in a few minutes. Just waiting for the kettle to boil.
EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
My current 2 played sims don't have the Cat Lover trait and at times, I've had to stop them from interacting with their pet so they could get their work done.
I must say I agree with the OP I have given sims 4 the benefit of the doubt over my years here on the forums. I've defended it. I thought that it was unfair to judge a sims series by the release or even the first or second EP. Sims 3 base game was good but I couldn't replace sims 2 with all its expansions, it was a good leap forward but felt kinda shallow. My opinion didn't change even after world adventures, it took time for the game to flesh itself out to become one of (if not) the best installments in the series. I felt the same way at the release of the sims 2.
I've certainly waited awhile to see how this installment really turns out, but I must say I haven't been happy with the direction or progress. Its 2018 and I don't feel like the series has gotten any better or really set itself above its predecessors. Again I have tried to defend it and say that it has its good moments. But honestly we are approaching (have approached?) the halfway point (more or less) in the life cycle. But things haven't turned around, I was hoping the colossal reverence that pets usually has would be used to put out an amazing EP. But I was wrong. I'm really not sure if a turnaround is even possible at this point with 4 EP's down and only one EP a year.
40 dollars really doesn't feel like good value for these EP's. I feel like I'm forcing myself to get value out of them rather than enjoying the value I get out of them. Especially when I spent 40 dollars to get divinity original sin 2 in the winter sale. I'm 100 hours in and not even 75% finished, I'm loving every minute of it (I typically hate cRPG's too!). Its really hard to justify the money when games like, the witcher 3, divinity OS2, heck even Bethesda titles provide more value for cost.
Specs: i9-9900k, SLI 2080ti MSI SeaHawk EK X, 32g 3000hz Corsair RAM, 2TB M.2 Samsung SSD, EVGA 1600W. Custom loop done by myself with dual 560mm radiators.
In this iteration I prefer the game pack model to the expansion pack model because the expansion packs in TS4 seem extremely light and bare bones compared to other generations. It seems like things are being given to us more piecemeal than ever before (e.g. laundry came with an expansion pack in TS3, TS3 expansions had tons of content in each pack instead of being put into Stuff Packs - such as an occult & a big world in each pack, laundry, club systems, celebrities, hotels etc). TS4 EPs don't feel as fleshed out and I often feel that the systems that are there are not well done - for example, Get To Work active careers basically consist of following random objectives, Apartments are not editable, festivals are repetitive, Get Together clubs are somewhat fun but not very impactful, and in Pets, the pets themselves are pretty to look at, but very little can actually be done with them. Furthermore, the other iterations had more depth and nuance - liked other mentioned, cheating had a big impact on your Sims, there were attraction/reputation systems, and wants/needs that actually mattered (unlike whims). When I replay the old games I'm always shocked on how much there is to do and discover compared to TS4, and it's easier to play out my own stories due to the more detailed systems I just mentioned. Hence why I like GPs better - they focus more on gameplay and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth (usually).
When I got Pets I knew that it would be light gameplay-wise, but other than the vet career, I found that it added little to no new gameplay - teaching a pet tricks is inconsequential and quite boring, the relay course is eh, the new neighborhood is pretty but doesn't add any new game play. There isn't enough for Pets to do and that's a shame because I generally think they look very nice and the CAS is good - with the exception that some pets' fur looks blob-ish. I also think that puppies/kittens/cats were even further neglected than dogs, because there's not even any training you can do with them.
I think if they included a system of progression where your cat/dog was an absolute nightmare and went in the house, shredded all your furniture and you had to train it out of them, that would be a lot more fun. (I know they do that to some extent, and you can encourage/discourage them, but the changes in pet behavior seem slight). There could have been training competitions and dog grooming shows/dog shows. They could have done pet jobs where pets had to act in a commercial or work on a farm or something. Maybe pets could cheer up sims when they are sad. Sims could also be dog/cat breeders and that could be a stay at home job. They could have done a lot with the pack to make it more heavy gameplay-wise.
That all being said, I didn't expect it to be really exciting - and it's not really exciting (past the initial whee, look how cute they are - and they are very cute). Even Sims 3, with all the different animals, even with the horses etc. that didn't make the game exciting. I thought the horses in Sims 3 were extremely well done but I got bored with them after a short while.
However, I think my expectations are different from other people; for me it's about expanding gameplay in more subtle and immersive ways. It's also about time management. Pets make life harder for Sims. Especially the dogs, who demand to be walked nearly every day (kinda realistic there). It's more of an overall additive effect. And yes, this makes it expensive and probably not worth it to a lot of people. Still worth it to me, though. And strange but true I am enjoying Laundry Day as much as many other packs.
Well then here's the problem with today's gamers. They pay 40€ for an E X P A N S I O N P A C K and they buy it for the subtlety of gameplay. This folks is what's making EA release this trash. That should be expected in a SP not EP. I haven't bought Cats and Dogs yet because I don't want to. I
If I have the money and I choose to spend it how I want to spend it, even if it's for something that others think should be in a stuff pack or given away for free - then it's not a problem. The gamers are not the problem. In fact, there is no problem, it's all a matter of perception.
I do like Brindleton Bay, but I like the aesthetic of the scenery a lot. I do think it is small so it isn't my favorite world but I do like it a lot. I'm not done with exploring it because I still haven't been to the lounge, the downtown or some of the coastal houses. I turned Salty Paws Saloon into a Dine Out restaurant, it is now a low-brow seafood diner. Oddly enough, as a result, I send a lot of non-pet owners to Brindleton Bay. I also recently let Salim Benali's teenage son who doesn't have any pets spend the night in the nautical museum. It is quaint, charming and vaguely creepy when the music plays in an empty dated museum at 3 am. It vaguely suggests the setting for a Stephen King-style of story if someone wanted.
I'm just saying that sometimes I have played with the town without involving the pets. I also have a lot of pets that aren't in BB. Likewise, sometimes I completely ignore the pets even though I have the new pack and the game doesn't spam me with too many moodlets about it. Actually, my game has also toned down the CL townie names, actually. I still have issues with mismatched townies and names but not too many. I've actually noticed new townies with names like "Rosey Miller". I still get diverse townies but it is more of a mix.
I do agree with you about the weird focus on the absurd. At times, it almost feels like the developers are making fun of the players or are sarcastic about the game. I'm referring to the silly pet diseases, the weird jokes caused by the effects of some of the pet treats and some of the costumes. I guess it seems like there is a snarky element. That said, I know that there are plenty of people enjoying those features. I'm a more realistic player so I've only drawn on a pet to add realistic brown patches. I will admit that some of the pet sweaters/hoodies are really cute and have grown on me even though I would never do that to a real pet.
When it comes to CAS, I will give the pack credit. I haven't tried to design my own pet much because all of the cats in my game have been rescues or strays. All of the dogs have started with a breed. I might edit the specific dog slightly, but I generally try to keep them looking very much like their breeds. I guess I'm saying that I haven't done heavy structural editing of pets. I really like the amount of breeds that have been included in the pack. I was really expecting them to skimp and just offer a few popular breeds but the pack really does offer variety in that respect. I'm open-minded when a household chooses a pet and I've found that I have a great amount of choice among a wide range of breeds including rarer ones. I really do appreciate that and it makes choosing a pet for a household a lot of fun. When adopting, I now have a routine with regard to how I handle the home visit. I view it as a candidate interview and not as a definite adoption because one of my households tried adopting a cat who was aggressive and immediately hissed and hated my adopter. I thought it was great to have that surprise of not knowing how the adoption appointment would go. Since then, I know that the adoption appointment isn't a guarantee of a perfect match so I consider it a prospective preview. I'm just saying that adoptions are not too repetitive.
As for cats vs. dogs, I find that the lower maintenance of the cats works for some of my pet owners very well because they are less needy. The dogs tend to take up a lot of time and attention, which I'm not complaining about. There are just households where they have a lot of other interests and for some of them, a cat is a good option. They don't ignore the cat at all but they aren't constantly shuffling it outside. I guess I'm someone who sends their sims to proactively cuddle their pets including the cats because it is part of the immersion for me.
I agree though that CD does feel a bit thin for an EP with a world that is a bit small compared to what we expect from an EP. I've compared it to how large and varied Windenburg is but then I thought about how creating the cats and dogs themselves probably took a lot more effort than the creation of the GT clubs system. I especially felt like that when there were a bunch of bugs after the release but some of those have been addressed. I do love and miss the horses so I completely agree about that. I spent a chunk of my TS3 time pretty much running a horse farm where the owners lived for the horses in a high-performance show barn. It is possible that they may be parceled out into another pack which is the modus operandi for this iteration.
That all being said, I didn't expect it to be really exciting - and it's not really exciting (past the initial whee, look how cute they are - and they are very cute). Even Sims 3, with all the different animals, even with the horses etc. that didn't make the game exciting. I thought the horses in Sims 3 were extremely well done but I got bored with them after a short while.
However, I think my expectations are different from other people; for me it's about expanding gameplay in more subtle and immersive ways. It's also about time management. Pets make life harder for Sims. Especially the dogs, who demand to be walked nearly every day (kinda realistic there). It's more of an overall additive effect. And yes, this makes it expensive and probably not worth it to a lot of people. Still worth it to me, though. And strange but true I am enjoying Laundry Day as much as many other packs.
Well then here's the problem with today's gamers. They pay 40€ for an E X P A N S I O N P A C K and they buy it for the subtlety of gameplay. This folks is what's making EA release this trash. That should be expected in a SP not EP. I haven't bought Cats and Dogs yet because I don't want to. I
If I have the money and I choose to spend it how I want to spend it, even if it's for something that others think should be in a stuff pack or given away for free - then it's not a problem. The gamers are not the problem. In fact, there is no problem, it's all a matter of perception.
That all being said, I didn't expect it to be really exciting - and it's not really exciting (past the initial whee, look how cute they are - and they are very cute). Even Sims 3, with all the different animals, even with the horses etc. that didn't make the game exciting. I thought the horses in Sims 3 were extremely well done but I got bored with them after a short while.
However, I think my expectations are different from other people; for me it's about expanding gameplay in more subtle and immersive ways. It's also about time management. Pets make life harder for Sims. Especially the dogs, who demand to be walked nearly every day (kinda realistic there). It's more of an overall additive effect. And yes, this makes it expensive and probably not worth it to a lot of people. Still worth it to me, though. And strange but true I am enjoying Laundry Day as much as many other packs.
Well then here's the problem with today's gamers. They pay 40€ for an E X P A N S I O N P A C K and they buy it for the subtlety of gameplay. This folks is what's making EA release this trash. That should be expected in a SP not EP. I haven't bought Cats and Dogs yet because I don't want to. I
If I have the money and I choose to spend it how I want to spend it, even if it's for something that others think should be in a stuff pack or given away for free - then it's not a problem. The gamers are not the problem. In fact, there is no problem, it's all a matter of perception.
Some like it hot
I do get your point... and I agree that there could definitely be improvements. I just don't like the implication that the people who buy or like the pack are the problem.
I was hesitant at first but it grew on me. The vet career was predictable just like the active careers but fun when you first give it a go. Not something I would engage in often though. I don’t regret buying it. I feel like that’s what I judge everything on now.
Was it so bad I wish I got my money back, the answer is no. I also bought it for $20 less than retail lol.
What I will say is I added a dog to one of my households recently, did all the trainings and gave him the auto pet bowl. Now he’s more of a nuisance than anything else. He always wants to go for a walk! His little icon is orange and I’m still annoyed I have to click on him and actually ask him what’s wrong. When he runs away, I don’t even put up the flyer to find him. I’m debating daily if I want to delete him or sell him. It’s just not fun. He’s like a house guest no one interacts with unless he’s crying and carrying on.
I was really disappointed that babies of the animals I painted that it was either or for their color combo. In normal dna if you have a pet and they have black spots and white skin, then another parent has brown with black or white strips. Then a child of this combo could have any number of versions of these colors. Like one kid might be brown but have black spots. Or White with black stripes. With pets there is no combo such as this. So, it does not feel like dna but more just a sold paint. I cannot say how much this upset me. I remember sims 3 pets when they had babies their coats were very diverse and different. Otherwise it is ok.
Honestly, OP - I wish that reviews/rants of yours could reach a wider audience. You're kind of like another LGR. Are you considering expanding your reviews onto blog posts or youtube?
That all being said, I didn't expect it to be really exciting - and it's not really exciting (past the initial whee, look how cute they are - and they are very cute). Even Sims 3, with all the different animals, even with the horses etc. that didn't make the game exciting. I thought the horses in Sims 3 were extremely well done but I got bored with them after a short while.
However, I think my expectations are different from other people; for me it's about expanding gameplay in more subtle and immersive ways. It's also about time management. Pets make life harder for Sims. Especially the dogs, who demand to be walked nearly every day (kinda realistic there). It's more of an overall additive effect. And yes, this makes it expensive and probably not worth it to a lot of people. Still worth it to me, though. And strange but true I am enjoying Laundry Day as much as many other packs.
Well then here's the problem with today's gamers. They pay 40€ for an E X P A N S I O N P A C K and they buy it for the subtlety of gameplay. This folks is what's making EA release this trash. That should be expected in a SP not EP. I haven't bought Cats and Dogs yet because I don't want to. I
If I have the money and I choose to spend it how I want to spend it, even if it's for something that others think should be in a stuff pack or given away for free - then it's not a problem. The gamers are not the problem. In fact, there is no problem, it's all a matter of perception.
It's not a matter of perception and it is a problem. I'm personally not fine paying an outrageous amount for less than the bare minimum as are most people. Being fine with that is what caused microtransactions to be so popular in the first place. Little to little EA will put less and less and make us pay the same if not more, and it's something I will not stand.
Next we will have 10$ loot boxes with a chance to get 1 clothing item or a hairstyle.
Oh my GAWD you're the most eloquent, passionate smartest simmer I have ever stumbled upon! I LITERALLY could NOT agree more with every single thing you just said! Like thank you for being so... YES
Sims can't even leave a lot together with their Pets! They both leave on their own accord! I realized the EP was nothing more than , as you said, just a way for them to defend themselves, like ''Oh but we did make pets'' and get their undeserved money.
My Sims won't interact with my pets at all unless I force them to. I don't mind if I have to manually take my dog on a walk, whatever, but my pets are running away because I'm trying to take care of a household and no one will stop for 5 minutes to pet Fido. It will seriously help so much if they would just put auto-interact between my Sims and my pets as a standard. They legitimately don't have it at all in any of my games I've played (and I've played 7 households with pets), which is so weird to me. I do not understand why my households don't have it. I've seen other people say theirs do? Why won't mine do it?
That's odd to me as well, because I've played pets quite a lot and in every household my Sims would autonously interact with their pets, so to me it seems like the auto-interact is definitely included in the game. Though I do think it could be a bit more than it is (usually they will only do a few interactions with them, the others will not happen autonously, which I think is a missed chance).
Personally I don't find Pets that terrible, but my expectations from a pet pack are never that high, I never expect shiny bright new things, I mainly just want... pets. When it comes to pets expansion packs I'm not all that hard to please. I would've loved it if they had included more things, I do feel like it's not entirely finished, but I bought it and I have fun with it nonetheless. I can understand quite a few of the complaints, though. I often feel like Sims expansion packs aren't finished or well thought out, which is why I usually don't buy them unless they're on sale and at least half the price cheaper than they usually are. Because the expansions from TS4 have always felt even more overpriced than the ones from TS3, to me, lol.
That all being said, I didn't expect it to be really exciting - and it's not really exciting (past the initial whee, look how cute they are - and they are very cute). Even Sims 3, with all the different animals, even with the horses etc. that didn't make the game exciting. I thought the horses in Sims 3 were extremely well done but I got bored with them after a short while.
However, I think my expectations are different from other people; for me it's about expanding gameplay in more subtle and immersive ways. It's also about time management. Pets make life harder for Sims. Especially the dogs, who demand to be walked nearly every day (kinda realistic there). It's more of an overall additive effect. And yes, this makes it expensive and probably not worth it to a lot of people. Still worth it to me, though. And strange but true I am enjoying Laundry Day as much as many other packs.
This so much. I was waiting before posting to see if anyone would bring this up. I don't spend my sim's day, using the cat wand, buying pet toys, buying pet beds. I do that once and it's done. Just like for my real life dog, I don't go out everyday and buy a new pet bed or new pet toys. For me, my sim pets are just there. Part of the family and part of everyday routines. Right now my sim is at one of the festivals and the pets are home alone. I feed them twice a day, send them out to potty, play with them, take the dog for a daily walk. I don't care about the training skill. Haven't even tried it out once. Don't particularly care about the vet business, just want to be able to take my pets to the vet when they're sick. Like I do with my real life pets. I may give it try eventually but I'm in no big hurry. And just like in real life sometimes I feel a bit guilty that I'm not paying enough attention to my pet. Same thing goes for Laundry. I do laundry in the game a couple of times a week. I don't do laundry every day, all day. Same thing goes for restaurants. I don't want to manage a restaurant or work in a restaurant but I do send my sims out to eat several times a week. They are all real life features that make the game more realistic and immersive for my playing style.
Just finished the thread and wanted to add that I rarely pay attention to moodlets other than to occasionally check what one is if it it hidden. I can't imagine counting and keeping track of moodlet points.
Holy smokes that's a long post. I dind't read it all but from the first couple of paragraphs and title, it seems like you're unhappy with pets. I got it the week it came out. Meh. I have them in my game but none of my playable Sims have owned a pet since the first day. I'd rather play with my own dog. I'm curious as to why the lots in Bridle Bay are so unremarkable. In all of the other worlds, the default lots are great. These look great from the outside but in terms of decor, I think whoever created them sort of phoned it in.
Ever since I saw the first trailer for Pets, I was immediately skeptical because unlike Vampires, Pets wasn't showing us anything new and interesting. If everything you say about the pack is true, then that combined with the fact that I don't see a reason to buy it, means I won't be getting it anytime soon.
I used to be fan of the Sims 4, usually giving it the benefit of the doubt, but the more time goes on, the more I realize how little the devs cared about the game. The cultural name generator is ridiculous, the way Sims ignore interactions when they're walking somewhere is annoying, the emotion system is absurd, the Sims have no personality, the game feels unfinished, etc.
Most of the fun I get from the game are from mods. If you told me to play the Sims 4 without them, I'd tell you I'd rather uninstall the game.
Currently, I've moved on to a superior game. I'll likely come back to the Sims 4 since I still do love the CAS, graphics, and animations, however I'm pretty much ready for a Sims 5. But I digress.
I hold no interest for Pets and I do not expect the next EP to be any better.
In some ways I agree with you, OP. But I think they added some cool features such as cats being able to hop on the counters and eat food, or lay on top of the fridge. I love the Lynx household because I played her as a single crazy cat lady who spoils her cats and never has luck with love, and I added a dog to a family focused household I made that completed the picture...with that said...
It wasn't worth $40, perhaps $30 would have been more reasonable, but alas, inflation. I do really like the veterinarian career and the fact you can actually take your animals to get fixed. I do agree, however, that it doesn't feel as "fleshed out" as it should have been compared to Sims packs in the past.
I'm frustrated that this of all packs requires higher minimum requirements. I cannot see the logic of being able to run San Myshuno completely fine on 2GB of memory, but having a NPC animal requires 4GBs. I had to uninstall C&D after I got tired of the crashing, and am now in the process of shopping for a new PC. Laundry Day is only 2GB thank goodness...so it seems new gameplay is not necessarily the situation for the new requirements. I could see if there was an expansion pack similar to World Adventures (which it look like we may be getting) and a more open world like Granite Falls to require higher specs, but not freakin cats and dogs.
As usual, I do agree with everything you have stated @DeservedCriticism. In your last two paragraph's you have summed up exactly how I am feeling with the Sims 4 as a whole, especially with these two statements:
"On that note, I'll just say....why should we continue to care about this game if the developers don't? You want me to care about a game, you show me you care about it so I'll have faith in it as a product."
And
"People notice passion products, and people buy them and play them because those are the most fun to play. Those devs showed they cared about their product, loved making it, and were willing to dedicate the time, care and/or the money to make a great product. Sims 4...? It just repeatedly sends the impression the only thing the team is passionate about is making money, so I would not be surprised if people start jumping ship to other games if this continues."
The team decided that "we" do not need to control our pets this time. Maybe that is why the pets do not interact autonomously with our sims or each other? Every lot in the new world has a foundation, yet puppies and kittens cannot climb foundation stairs? Was this an oversight or by design?
For me, it is not about "hating" a particular feature or pack, but more about if features are offered in a pack or patched in, then they should work as intended. I, as a player, should not have to hope that a modder has fixed broken features (retail, the sales tables from city living, clubs, etc.) and have to spend hours looking for mods that may fix the issues that have been repeatedly reported in the game.
I personally choose not to use mods until the game is finished being developed because I don't want to have to worry about updating mods or cc all the time. Every month the game gets a patch, and it seems that the only fixes are cosmetic with an object or clothing, but most of the gameplay issues that are reported just get ignored and even worse, not even acknowledged by the Sims Team month after month.
Without any sales, the Digital Deluxe game was $70.00 US dollars. Four Expansions at $40.00 each, which equals $160.00. Five Game Packs at $20.00 each, for a total of $100.00, and 13 stuff packs at $10.00 each for another $130.00.
This is a total investment of $460.00 for this game so far, and every pack, as well as the base game, has broken content. I personally don't consider it hate for paying customers to demand and expect the Sims Team to fix the game that they develop and are making a profit from.
In some ways I agree with you, OP. But I think they added some cool features such as cats being able to hop on the counters and eat food, or lay on top of the fridge. I love the Lynx household because I played her as a single crazy cat lady who spoils her cats and never has luck with love, and I added a dog to a family focused household I made that completed the picture...with that said...
It wasn't worth $40, perhaps $30 would have been more reasonable, but alas, inflation. I do really like the veterinarian career and the fact you can actually take your animals to get fixed. I do agree, however, that it doesn't feel as "fleshed out" as it should have been compared to Sims packs in the past.
I'm frustrated that this of all packs requires higher minimum requirements. I cannot see the logic of being able to run San Myshuno completely fine on 2GB of memory, but having a NPC animal requires 4GBs. I had to uninstall C&D after I got tired of the crashing, and am now in the process of shopping for a new PC. Laundry Day is only 2GB thank goodness...so it seems new gameplay is not necessarily the situation for the new requirements. I could see if there was an expansion pack similar to World Adventures (which it look like we may be getting) and a more open world like Granite Falls to require higher specs, but not freakin cats and dogs.
Cats always had the ability to jump on counters in previous games. In TS4 there are simply more places for them to jump to.
I agree with a lot of what you said. I think I bought the game when Origin was having a holiday sale, so I didn't pay the full price for it. And I'm glad I didn't, because previous Sims pets games have never really been my favorite, and this one was no different.
I haven't yet created a pet, the only thing I've done is adopt (or transfer a pet that was already in another house to mine), but I've found them to be pretty bland and boring. I thought it was fun in the beginning when I just had a single sim, and devoted most of my day around the dog I had adopted. I did find the whole training thing to be extremely boring after a while, and even after I went around and upgraded my appliances around the house to produce less noise, I found my dog still whining about it (maybe that was a glitch Idk).
The minute I wanted to have a family I found them to just be a extremely annoying. There was no interactions between other pets in the household or humans unless you forced them. And as they got older, they started getting sick even more, and having newborns and toddlers to look after, trying to travel in between times you're not taking care of them to get your pet looked at, just for it to roam around the house and whimper at the dishwasher, and to just get sick a week later wasn't really a top priority. I found myself putting the other one up for adoption after the one died, deleted all objects for them in my house (like dog bowls, toys, and beds) and moved on with my life.
I found the Vet job to be just as boring as the other "careers" you could have, so I played it for a few days and then never touched it again. Not surprised at the lack of new gameplay. The interactions are cute, but wear off after seeing them repeated. I'm just going to start buying the additions only when there's sales, so I don't feel as bad at how lame they are.
Comments
This hits the nail on the head with what I'm struggling with. My Sims won't interact with my pets at all unless I force them to. I don't mind if I have to manually take my dog on a walk, whatever, but my pets are running away because I'm trying to take care of a household and no one will stop for 5 minutes to pet Fido. It will seriously help so much if they would just put auto-interact between my Sims and my pets as a standard. They legitimately don't have it at all in any of my games I've played (and I've played 7 households with pets), which is so weird to me. I do not understand why my households don't have it. I've seen other people say theirs do? Why won't mine do it?
In terms of CAP, the randomization and breeding every single time turn out insanely ugly. I can't get a cute animal out of breeding, I tried for about 10 minutes of just monotonously clicking, and there was no luck. You either get the presets, or like you said, try to ignore how ugly your randomized pet is.
Me too!!! This is the first iteration of Pets that I actually feel attached to the fur balls! I especially love the kitties. I also have my sims interact with the pets on their own so I am surprised with complaints about that. They especially interact if they have the "dog lover" or "cat lover" trait.
I'm the same! I've got an itch to play but am stuck working tonight.* That's been normal for me over all the Sims years (I started running this business the same year The Sims launched!), but it's never been pets that I was missing. Right now, it's pets.
As I said in another thread, different strokes for different folks.
*Well, in a few minutes. Just waiting for the kettle to boil.
I've certainly waited awhile to see how this installment really turns out, but I must say I haven't been happy with the direction or progress. Its 2018 and I don't feel like the series has gotten any better or really set itself above its predecessors. Again I have tried to defend it and say that it has its good moments. But honestly we are approaching (have approached?) the halfway point (more or less) in the life cycle. But things haven't turned around, I was hoping the colossal reverence that pets usually has would be used to put out an amazing EP. But I was wrong. I'm really not sure if a turnaround is even possible at this point with 4 EP's down and only one EP a year.
40 dollars really doesn't feel like good value for these EP's. I feel like I'm forcing myself to get value out of them rather than enjoying the value I get out of them. Especially when I spent 40 dollars to get divinity original sin 2 in the winter sale. I'm 100 hours in and not even 75% finished, I'm loving every minute of it (I typically hate cRPG's too!). Its really hard to justify the money when games like, the witcher 3, divinity OS2, heck even Bethesda titles provide more value for cost.
When I got Pets I knew that it would be light gameplay-wise, but other than the vet career, I found that it added little to no new gameplay - teaching a pet tricks is inconsequential and quite boring, the relay course is eh, the new neighborhood is pretty but doesn't add any new game play. There isn't enough for Pets to do and that's a shame because I generally think they look very nice and the CAS is good - with the exception that some pets' fur looks blob-ish. I also think that puppies/kittens/cats were even further neglected than dogs, because there's not even any training you can do with them.
I think if they included a system of progression where your cat/dog was an absolute nightmare and went in the house, shredded all your furniture and you had to train it out of them, that would be a lot more fun. (I know they do that to some extent, and you can encourage/discourage them, but the changes in pet behavior seem slight). There could have been training competitions and dog grooming shows/dog shows. They could have done pet jobs where pets had to act in a commercial or work on a farm or something. Maybe pets could cheer up sims when they are sad. Sims could also be dog/cat breeders and that could be a stay at home job. They could have done a lot with the pack to make it more heavy gameplay-wise.
If I have the money and I choose to spend it how I want to spend it, even if it's for something that others think should be in a stuff pack or given away for free - then it's not a problem. The gamers are not the problem. In fact, there is no problem, it's all a matter of perception.
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
I'm just saying that sometimes I have played with the town without involving the pets. I also have a lot of pets that aren't in BB. Likewise, sometimes I completely ignore the pets even though I have the new pack and the game doesn't spam me with too many moodlets about it. Actually, my game has also toned down the CL townie names, actually. I still have issues with mismatched townies and names but not too many. I've actually noticed new townies with names like "Rosey Miller". I still get diverse townies but it is more of a mix.
I do agree with you about the weird focus on the absurd. At times, it almost feels like the developers are making fun of the players or are sarcastic about the game. I'm referring to the silly pet diseases, the weird jokes caused by the effects of some of the pet treats and some of the costumes. I guess it seems like there is a snarky element. That said, I know that there are plenty of people enjoying those features. I'm a more realistic player so I've only drawn on a pet to add realistic brown patches. I will admit that some of the pet sweaters/hoodies are really cute and have grown on me even though I would never do that to a real pet.
When it comes to CAS, I will give the pack credit. I haven't tried to design my own pet much because all of the cats in my game have been rescues or strays. All of the dogs have started with a breed. I might edit the specific dog slightly, but I generally try to keep them looking very much like their breeds. I guess I'm saying that I haven't done heavy structural editing of pets. I really like the amount of breeds that have been included in the pack. I was really expecting them to skimp and just offer a few popular breeds but the pack really does offer variety in that respect. I'm open-minded when a household chooses a pet and I've found that I have a great amount of choice among a wide range of breeds including rarer ones. I really do appreciate that and it makes choosing a pet for a household a lot of fun. When adopting, I now have a routine with regard to how I handle the home visit. I view it as a candidate interview and not as a definite adoption because one of my households tried adopting a cat who was aggressive and immediately hissed and hated my adopter. I thought it was great to have that surprise of not knowing how the adoption appointment would go. Since then, I know that the adoption appointment isn't a guarantee of a perfect match so I consider it a prospective preview. I'm just saying that adoptions are not too repetitive.
As for cats vs. dogs, I find that the lower maintenance of the cats works for some of my pet owners very well because they are less needy. The dogs tend to take up a lot of time and attention, which I'm not complaining about. There are just households where they have a lot of other interests and for some of them, a cat is a good option. They don't ignore the cat at all but they aren't constantly shuffling it outside. I guess I'm someone who sends their sims to proactively cuddle their pets including the cats because it is part of the immersion for me.
I agree though that CD does feel a bit thin for an EP with a world that is a bit small compared to what we expect from an EP. I've compared it to how large and varied Windenburg is but then I thought about how creating the cats and dogs themselves probably took a lot more effort than the creation of the GT clubs system. I especially felt like that when there were a bunch of bugs after the release but some of those have been addressed. I do love and miss the horses so I completely agree about that. I spent a chunk of my TS3 time pretty much running a horse farm where the owners lived for the horses in a high-performance show barn. It is possible that they may be parceled out into another pack which is the modus operandi for this iteration.
Some like it hot
I do get your point... and I agree that there could definitely be improvements. I just don't like the implication that the people who buy or like the pack are the problem.
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
Was it so bad I wish I got my money back, the answer is no. I also bought it for $20 less than retail lol.
What I will say is I added a dog to one of my households recently, did all the trainings and gave him the auto pet bowl. Now he’s more of a nuisance than anything else. He always wants to go for a walk! His little icon is orange and I’m still annoyed I have to click on him and actually ask him what’s wrong. When he runs away, I don’t even put up the flyer to find him. I’m debating daily if I want to delete him or sell him. It’s just not fun. He’s like a house guest no one interacts with unless he’s crying and carrying on.
It's not a matter of perception and it is a problem. I'm personally not fine paying an outrageous amount for less than the bare minimum as are most people. Being fine with that is what caused microtransactions to be so popular in the first place. Little to little EA will put less and less and make us pay the same if not more, and it's something I will not stand.
Next we will have 10$ loot boxes with a chance to get 1 clothing item or a hairstyle.
Sims can't even leave a lot together with their Pets! They both leave on their own accord! I realized the EP was nothing more than , as you said, just a way for them to defend themselves, like ''Oh but we did make pets'' and get their undeserved money.
Personally I don't find Pets that terrible, but my expectations from a pet pack are never that high, I never expect shiny bright new things, I mainly just want... pets. When it comes to pets expansion packs I'm not all that hard to please. I would've loved it if they had included more things, I do feel like it's not entirely finished, but I bought it and I have fun with it nonetheless. I can understand quite a few of the complaints, though. I often feel like Sims expansion packs aren't finished or well thought out, which is why I usually don't buy them unless they're on sale and at least half the price cheaper than they usually are. Because the expansions from TS4 have always felt even more overpriced than the ones from TS3, to me, lol.
This so much. I was waiting before posting to see if anyone would bring this up. I don't spend my sim's day, using the cat wand, buying pet toys, buying pet beds. I do that once and it's done. Just like for my real life dog, I don't go out everyday and buy a new pet bed or new pet toys. For me, my sim pets are just there. Part of the family and part of everyday routines. Right now my sim is at one of the festivals and the pets are home alone. I feed them twice a day, send them out to potty, play with them, take the dog for a daily walk. I don't care about the training skill. Haven't even tried it out once. Don't particularly care about the vet business, just want to be able to take my pets to the vet when they're sick. Like I do with my real life pets. I may give it try eventually but I'm in no big hurry. And just like in real life sometimes I feel a bit guilty that I'm not paying enough attention to my pet.
Just finished the thread and wanted to add that I rarely pay attention to moodlets other than to occasionally check what one is if it it hidden. I can't imagine counting and keeping track of moodlet points.
I used to be fan of the Sims 4, usually giving it the benefit of the doubt, but the more time goes on, the more I realize how little the devs cared about the game. The cultural name generator is ridiculous, the way Sims ignore interactions when they're walking somewhere is annoying, the emotion system is absurd, the Sims have no personality, the game feels unfinished, etc.
Most of the fun I get from the game are from mods. If you told me to play the Sims 4 without them, I'd tell you I'd rather uninstall the game.
Currently, I've moved on to a superior game. I'll likely come back to the Sims 4 since I still do love the CAS, graphics, and animations, however I'm pretty much ready for a Sims 5. But I digress.
I hold no interest for Pets and I do not expect the next EP to be any better.
It wasn't worth $40, perhaps $30 would have been more reasonable, but alas, inflation. I do really like the veterinarian career and the fact you can actually take your animals to get fixed. I do agree, however, that it doesn't feel as "fleshed out" as it should have been compared to Sims packs in the past.
I'm frustrated that this of all packs requires higher minimum requirements. I cannot see the logic of being able to run San Myshuno completely fine on 2GB of memory, but having a NPC animal requires 4GBs. I had to uninstall C&D after I got tired of the crashing, and am now in the process of shopping for a new PC. Laundry Day is only 2GB thank goodness...so it seems new gameplay is not necessarily the situation for the new requirements. I could see if there was an expansion pack similar to World Adventures (which it look like we may be getting) and a more open world like Granite Falls to require higher specs, but not freakin cats and dogs.
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MLady Azzera - Sims 4 Speed Build Collection
City Living Foreign Food Guide with Descriptions **NEW** Selvadoradian Culture Recipes
"On that note, I'll just say....why should we continue to care about this game if the developers don't? You want me to care about a game, you show me you care about it so I'll have faith in it as a product."
And
"People notice passion products, and people buy them and play them because those are the most fun to play. Those devs showed they cared about their product, loved making it, and were willing to dedicate the time, care and/or the money to make a great product. Sims 4...? It just repeatedly sends the impression the only thing the team is passionate about is making money, so I would not be surprised if people start jumping ship to other games if this continues."
The team decided that "we" do not need to control our pets this time. Maybe that is why the pets do not interact autonomously with our sims or each other? Every lot in the new world has a foundation, yet puppies and kittens cannot climb foundation stairs? Was this an oversight or by design?
For me, it is not about "hating" a particular feature or pack, but more about if features are offered in a pack or patched in, then they should work as intended. I, as a player, should not have to hope that a modder has fixed broken features (retail, the sales tables from city living, clubs, etc.) and have to spend hours looking for mods that may fix the issues that have been repeatedly reported in the game.
I personally choose not to use mods until the game is finished being developed because I don't want to have to worry about updating mods or cc all the time. Every month the game gets a patch, and it seems that the only fixes are cosmetic with an object or clothing, but most of the gameplay issues that are reported just get ignored and even worse, not even acknowledged by the Sims Team month after month.
Without any sales, the Digital Deluxe game was $70.00 US dollars. Four Expansions at $40.00 each, which equals $160.00. Five Game Packs at $20.00 each, for a total of $100.00, and 13 stuff packs at $10.00 each for another $130.00.
This is a total investment of $460.00 for this game so far, and every pack, as well as the base game, has broken content. I personally don't consider it hate for paying customers to demand and expect the Sims Team to fix the game that they develop and are making a profit from.
Cats always had the ability to jump on counters in previous games. In TS4 there are simply more places for them to jump to.
I haven't yet created a pet, the only thing I've done is adopt (or transfer a pet that was already in another house to mine), but I've found them to be pretty bland and boring. I thought it was fun in the beginning when I just had a single sim, and devoted most of my day around the dog I had adopted. I did find the whole training thing to be extremely boring after a while, and even after I went around and upgraded my appliances around the house to produce less noise, I found my dog still whining about it (maybe that was a glitch Idk).
The minute I wanted to have a family I found them to just be a extremely annoying. There was no interactions between other pets in the household or humans unless you forced them. And as they got older, they started getting sick even more, and having newborns and toddlers to look after, trying to travel in between times you're not taking care of them to get your pet looked at, just for it to roam around the house and whimper at the dishwasher, and to just get sick a week later wasn't really a top priority. I found myself putting the other one up for adoption after the one died, deleted all objects for them in my house (like dog bowls, toys, and beds) and moved on with my life.
I found the Vet job to be just as boring as the other "careers" you could have, so I played it for a few days and then never touched it again. Not surprised at the lack of new gameplay. The interactions are cute, but wear off after seeing them repeated. I'm just going to start buying the additions only when there's sales, so I don't feel as bad at how lame they are.