Collecting in Sims 4 has little sense and purpose

I realized recently that sims 4 is very limited in the usefulness of collecting almost anything. There is no way to track collections like in sims 3 world adventures. Bugs in outdoor escape, frogs and some crystals are used in making potions or herbalism, but that is it. Inventories are very messy so keeping anything there is equivalent to hoarding. Plants are useful in making meals etc, (would be nice there was a grocery store a player could make to actually have them sold, not just poof out of inventory which is not game play), but there is no use for shells, Sulani collectables, winter escape, pets and many other collectibles in the game. In sims 3 sims could make jewelry, clothing etc. Sims 2 game play was even more expanded in that regard. Also in large part because of open for business expansion and others. Sims 4 has few animation when it comes to exploration, ( you for example can’t see under water like in sims 3, now your sim just vanishes and you get a text message (what exciting game play is that. Nothing more exciting then a rabbit hole) and even jungles have more text exploration then animation and player engagement). This game is deficient in the way it interacts with neighborhood, actual self guided exploration and when you do collect things they are only good for selling and getting rid of. No achievements for completing collections, no way to track them and no purpose to collectibles themselves. Basically this game lacks engagement. Going on adventure with your dog equals reading way to long text about your sim having fun ( at least one of us did), jungle adventure is better since you get to unlock areas of the map (that’s cool), but once again too many rabbit holes where I stare at a screen. So the few things I get to see my sim find are basically only good for selling and enabling an emotional aura which is the worse idea ever. This game’s emotional system is atrocious so having rocks or feathers or what ever nonsense item influence the emotions of an already emotionally unstable sim and have every single sim in the dame react exact same way, making them more robotic and emotional clones that over write traits. (Making Unflirty sim, flirty for example) there are few traits and far between, having items over write the few we as players got is sad and boring. So to kill two birds with one stone perhaps it might be a thought to 1. Allow for more self guided exploration, more neighborhood option for finding collectibles, and animation as well as game play instead of boring text. This is a game not a book. I don’t want to read essays, I want to see my sim do things. 2. Have a way to track collectible items in perhaps a book of collectibles 3. Provide meaningful interactions with other sim about the collectibles (but perhaps only if you complete a collection etc providing a bit of challenge to unlock those features) 4. Once you have a way to track collectibles, perhaps making them count for something would be a nice addition to the game: a) maybe earning a trait for specific collections, those traits in turn should also impact interactions animations and game play, b) provide a better way to display collections or valuable items, and not have them impact emotions which is more annoying then fun (it makes all sims into clones and erases the slither of individuality we are given in our sims.), more displays, different ways to show them in sims homes etc c) make collectibles count! Make them more useful. Only a few have some purpose (the crown/ helmet was one way although I never use it because I don’t want my sim walking around with that thing on their head and once again I don’t want anything influencing emotions that overwrite the minuscule level of diversity). Have sim use them in making other items, selling them in actual game play (as opposed to poofing out of inventory or disappearing through ether after using the computer or even ploppsy, which is also extremely limited in actual game play. In a nutshell I am saying add animation, interactions, items, organization which equals actual game play. Also would be nice to turn screen shots into photos you can put in a frame I. A sims home. I know you can have a sim take a photo but it’s never as good and always on the wrong angle since you have little control over it. I’m just saying I’d like those screenshots like collectibles to have more use. Some people say you can, but it’s way to complicate and to me destroys immersion of the game.

PS: on a side note. Love Sulani. It’s beautiful. But, I feel it really missed in the potential it could offer. I love that my sim can swim in the ocean, but there is so little they can do there. Nothing really they can do together (someone will say you can snorkel together. My question is. Do they really snorkel together? It looks like you just send two sims to do the same activity but they just do it separate). It would be nice if they can take romantic walks on the beach, windsurf, surf, kayak, explore other islands (that should have unlocked). Explore under water (hint at a potential for game pack lol). There are so many unexplored possibilities. They can build sand sculptures which is cool but no different then buildings snowman in winter. Also, they can have a fire pit, which you have in outdoor escapes. And once again the creators took the fire dance and just transitioned it to snowy escape so they didn’t have to create another activity. Many of what I mentioned was available in previous sim games. I’m just saying this game is lacking sims individuality, animation, interaction and in turn game play. Build team you are great!