Problems with the Sims 4
1: Emotions and emotional animations
Emotions were heralded as the most revolutionary thing to happen to The Sims series since its introduction. Yet since day 1 we've been able to
turn them off. What's the point of having them at all when every new pack gives you 10 different options to override emotional states? Emotions are unimpactful, uninspired and extremely easy to control to the point where if someone dies you just need to take an inspirational shower.
The emotional animations are really really bad. When they have no emotional state Sims look normal.
But when they are confident they look like a serial killer. Angry, cartoonish angry. Sad, like they want to jump off a building.
Flirty like someone who should be in jail. I don't know if you've realized Sims team but The Sims Community likes realism.
Let me demonstrate. What have Sims players been asking for from the very beginning?
Not sleeping pods. Not Neighborhood plans. Not dancing skeletons. They have been asking for:
Cars
Pools
Toddlers
Terrain tool
Spiral Staircases
Laundry
Knitting
Pets
The Only exceptions are Occults. Because players love Occults. But this is where we start to get into the next issue.
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2: The Sims Team is extremely slow to fix issues and does not listen to the community
The Only time issues are ever addressed, or when new features are added is when the community is at Maxis throat ready to tear down the castle and behead the king. Why does it take so long for you to just acknowledge the simplest of issues? Why has it taken you over 7 years to ask us for saved games to try and figure out what is causing simulation lag?
In section 1 I mentioned players love realism with Occults as the exception. But after the longest running game in Sims history we have the least amount of Occults ever. We have the least realistic Sims ever with missing features but what does the team decide to spend their time on? 19 Stuff packs. Which again, just hammers home the fact that The Sims team has become tone deaf to the community.
Not only that but a large part of the community which have been stigmatized their entire lives had to wait until 2020 for a barely adequate representation of their skin tone and culture.
The game is still missing features base game should have shipped with. But again what is Maxis more focused on? Kits.
People hate kits. And I mean it. They hate it. Because quite frankly Maxis is more focused on releasing new "Bite sized content" than fixing issues within the game and the community because people will buy it anyway right? No. We are done. As a fan of the series since 2002, owning almost every game Maxis has ever produced, I can tell you right now I am ready to walk away. Because of how Tone Deaf Maxis has become.
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3: The Sims 4 is not balanced. At all
In every other Sims game you had to work to get what you wanted. You had to start from nothing and earn everything, overcoming hurdles, navigating issues and problems and creating a story for your Sims that gave them character. TS4's focus on character currently relies on Emotions. Which again since day 1 we have been able to disable with a single painting or trophy. Relies on repetitive gameplay due to the lack of objects and interactions. Tiny worlds that amplify all issues. Interactions that are extremely dull. Seriously. In Sims 3 I chose my social interactions with a purpose. In Sims 4 I've stopped caring. Why should I bother asking to learn about their traits when within 5 hours we can become best friends and learn all of each others traits. Social interactions have become meaningless.
The game is also extremely easy. Turning off core gameplay has become the defining feature of TS4. Emotions? Override them.
Money? Dust will make sure you never have to work a day in your life.
Death? Only temporary don't worry. Here are 9 different ways to bring you Sims back to life that are extremely easy, take no effort to obtain. And if that's still too hard, here are items that automatically activate upon death. No more level 10 gardening for Death Flowers, just buy them.
Friends? Don't worry just have your Sim talk to one person, walk away to get coffee and by the time you get back they will be friends without you having to do anything.
We are not asking for a Dark Souls game, we are asking for a SIMS game. Currently not only is Sims 4 a Sandbox where everything is given to you without any negative consequences, the Simulation part of the Sims 4 has been broken for years. In essence the Sims 4 today is a Sandbox disguised as a Simulation game that can't Simulate.
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4: EA does not respect you. At all
We know, regardless of whether or not you want to admit it that EA is 90% of the problem facing Sims 4. They do not respect Maxis. They don't care about the content released. They care about their bottom line and whether The Sims can continue to make shareholders money. And the result of that is not only a game that was meant to be a small online multiplayer Sims game for PC pivoting to the 4th game in the series after the SimCity disaster. But also things like Kits. Content splitting between multiple packs. The highest prices we've ever had to pay for packs in the entire series history. For all TS3 packs on day one of release you would have payed less than $350. TS4 is bordering on $1000. And for what? what do we get out of it? New gameplay, with items that disable the new gameplay.
I don't know if you've noticed but The Sims 4 is all you have left. My Sims is dead. SimCity is dead. Spore is dead. Spin off games are dead. The Sims 4 is currently the only game that Maxis makes. And yet despite that you still refuse to acknowledge issues, fix problems and to just be honest? The Sims 4 is currently the ONLY thing standing between Maxis becoming the next Visceral Games.
May I remind you that it took until Sims 3 University.. In the final year of the Sims 3's life cycle for Maxis' name to appear on the cover of the box. To appear in credits on the Sims 3 Website and for your logo to be shown on the intro video. EA does not respect Maxis. All EA is concerned with is if Sims can make borderline Fifa money.
I don't know if you realize this Sims team. But Sims 4 is currently the 2nd highest earning franchise for EA behind FIFA. To date Sims 4 has made over $1.23 Billion on Origin alone. Never mind Amazon, Ebay sales, physical sales. Console sales, Steam sales Microsoft Store sales. The Sims 4 has made the most money in the franchises history. But if you've been using that as a benchmark for success I'm sorry to say it no wonder the game has turned out the way it has.
Again TS4 has made the most money in the franchises history. But honestly we haven't noticed
Because quite frankly, where has that money gone? It most certainly has not been invested in the game. It has not been invested in Maxis, in fact you've been downsized.. 3 Times since Emeryville. It has not gone into new technology. It hasn't even gone into QA testing. We know every pack released is either released in a broken state that may be fixed at some point (some have never even been playable DineOut). Or its extremely unbalanced like Bust the Dust still is after 2 patches.
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I honestly do not have any hope for the future of the Series any more. I've put over 10,000 hours into Sims 3 alone let alone every other Maxis game. And the only hope I have left currently for Maxis is for you to either buy your own independence to self publish what you want and not your parent companies shareholders. Or for Microsoft to Purchase Maxis. Other than that if TS5 is more of the same you will be the next Visceral Games. And that alone should be enough to keep you up at night.
The Sims team has gone from "We will make the best Sims game ever!" to
"We will make the best Sims game we can". And that massive shift in mentality due to internal mismanagement and EA's greed has resulted in one of the most polarizing sequels in any franchises history.
EA Staff (Retired)