Sims 4 University: FEATURES that SHOULD be in the Pack

Would be pretty cool if Uni had cars.

I think they should include Shower WooHoo in University, since we could WooHoo in the fraternity‘s shower!

edited

@MadameLee - are we only supposed to give suggestions that Movoti approves of? Lovely life for him, sucks for the rest of us. (It's not even Movotti's thread!)
Edit: Gosh, that was harsh. :( I apologise for snapping MadameLee, I think I completely misread what you were saying. I actually love all the "American" type things that came with Sims 2 Uni - like cheerleading, dorm life, Greek houses, Secret Societies etc. Things like that weren't my personal uni experience, but I still hope they're return some of these features in Sims 4.

@Movotti - never heard of residential colleges? They're all over the place, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Perth, even smaller country towns with Unis- even the town I live in now where my husband works at a University has residential colleges. Most people I knew lived in residential colleges at least the first year, even ones that lived in the Uni town. It's pretty common for Aussies to leave their home town, even go interstate to get their tertiary education. I lived in QLD for high school, but went to NSW for Uni. All of my high school friends went off to Uni and stayed in residential colleges. I met a lot of my friends from all around Australia that way. A percentage of accommodation is put aside for overseas students, but the majority is taken up by us. It's not "odd" at all. You must live in a town/city that has a Uni. Most Australians don't.

Here you go, read about Sydney's colleges, just one example of hundreds. Colleges of Sydney

"Simalleyaile;c-16803253" wrote:
@MadameLee - are we only supposed to give suggestions that Movoti approves of? Lovely life for him, plum for the rest of us. (It's not even Movotti's thread!)

Look at you! Sticking words in my mouth!

never heard of residential colleges?

Yeah, they're full of international students, plus a handful of rural students, almost all are first and second year students, cos they're bloody expensive, and no one wants to remain in them if they don't have to live in them.

They're all over the place, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Perth, even smaller country towns with Unis

I live in a small city that has one, for the rural students, and the international students, cos no one else wants to waste their money on paying for shoddy accommodation when they could go home to their own bedroom.

Most people I knew lived in residential colleges at least the first year, even ones that lived in the Uni town.

And that is the opposite to my experience.
I know of 5 people who lived in dorms. Three were from the country, and only lived in the college for as short a time as possible, and the other two were international students, one was on an exchange and so it was part of the exchange, the other moved out as soon as he found a friend to move in with, because sharehousing tends to be more cost effective.

It's pretty common for Aussies to leave their home town, even go interstate to get their tertiary education.

It's common for aussies to leave their home town for uni, if they live in a rural town, but if they live in a major city, most do not move interstate. A, its too expensive, and B, the majority of courses are already available in their home state. If they're moving out of state for uni, they're vastly more likely to be moving out of the country too.

I lived in QLD for high school, but went to NSW for Uni.

How lovely for you!

You must live in a town/city that has a Uni. Most Australians don't.

Wrong!
75% of Australians live in a city that has at least one university campus.
31% of Australians live in remote or rural areas, but of them 45% live in larger towns, regional centres, and smaller cities.

Sydney alone has 30+ campuses!


My point is, I'm not saying that residential colleges don't exist in Australia, just that it's not used by the majority of students. Living at home is far more common for at least the first year, and share housing is more common for the rest of their tertiary education.

Of course, everyones experience is different, which is why I don't want us to be forced to have our sims live on campus, I never said I didn't want the option of it. I'd really like the option of having sims be able to raise a family, while attending uni. I'd like the option of sims being able to attend uni, to up-skill, while still living at home, and working. I'd like the option of a young adult to attend uni, while living at home, and raising a younger sibling. You can't do these things when you're forced to live on campus to attend uni.

Why are people getting so upset over someone asking for more options? Do you really want the game to be so restrictive in what you can do in it?

Movotti - have a read of my words again:

"Also, include a RENTAL system we can build just a regular house and have room-mates we have no control over (NPC's). (I lived in College for the first three years of my degree, then rented an apartment for the final year - would be good to have different kind of residential options available to us, yes including study-from-home in any world. Where you live definitely gives you a different kind of Uni experience).

What do you think we're arguing about here? We're not. One sentence in my many other words revealed I lived in a college in Australia - (which you thought 'odd' for some reason).

I start off saying I'd like to customise as much as possible, use the word options etc because I'd like to have different experiences with my sims. Some will live in dorms (or as I'm used to calling them: colleges), some hopefully will get to live in campus in houses with room-mates, others will study from their home residence. So I'm not sure why you think I'm trying to restrict our gameplay. It'll be up to each player what the 'majority' if their students do. I just hope - personally - that the Uni pack comes with residential options (and not just a 'dedicated lot' experience like the Science Career etc.), but something a little more like Sims 2 uni experience.

"stilljustme2;c-16804010" wrote:

"PlayerSinger2010;c-16803287" wrote:

"Simalleyaile;c-16803253" wrote:


@Movotti - never heard of residential colleges? They're all over the place, Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Perth, even smaller country towns with Unis- even the town I live in now where my husband works at a University has residential colleges. Most people I knew lived in residential colleges at least the first year, even ones that lived in the Uni town. It's pretty common for Aussies to leave their home town, even go interstate to get their tertiary education. I lived in QLD for high school, but went to NSW for Uni. All of my high school friends went off to Uni and stayed in residential colleges. I met a lot of my friends from all around Australia that way. A percentage of accommodation is put aside for overseas students, but the majority is taken up by us. It's not "odd" at all. You must live in a town/city that has a Uni. Most Australians don't.

I think we had something similar at my university, and I'm in the US. I didn't live in one because they didn't have one for what I eventually got my degree in, but if I remember correctly they had separate dorms for people that were majoring in music, science, education, broadcasting, etc... I think most people only stayed in them for their first year before choosing to move off campus and into their own houses/apartments.

I attended a university that had dorms, but also had a large "commuter" population -- people who lived in the surrounding towns, some with full-time jobs who took classes in the evenings. The dorms weren't really themed as such; a couple of them were open over the winter break (the school had a long "intersession" during January, regular instruction resumed end of the month with the new semester) for international students who couldn't afford to travel home (though most ended up visiting with their roommates' or other friends' families) and for those involved in sports (like basketball players) that were played during that period.

In the US, we have a wide range of education options, and I'd love to see those reflected in the game. We also have 2-year "community colleges" where students live at home and take classes; they're also good for people who are making a career change (either voluntarily or after being laid off) to pick up new skills or hone existing ones. Some careers might not require a full 4-year degree (though that would still be an option). Online degrees could be another option. I'd like a University pack to be more about the education process and less about the constant stereotypical "party hearty" scene that's been portrayed in movies. Classes themselves could be rabbit holes, but more active work outside of class, more than just reading a book. Science students could be required to do lab work, or go out and look for collectibles like crystals or frogs. Writing students might be required to write research papers (talking to other students, library work, etc.) -- and just being lazy and relying on Simipedia would get you a bad grade. :D

I love your ideas. I hated Sims 3 university because it revolved around YA social life. Fraternities and sororities didn't appeal to me when I was a student, and are even less appealing now that I'm 'middle-aged'.

"CeCeDot;c-16808279" wrote:
-2 types of degrees: bachelor and master. Without a degree, getting a high position within your careers becomes more difficult (maybe certain positions like doctor needs a degree). With a bachelor degree, you start at level 3 of the career with a high earning. With a master you start at level 6 with also a high earning. A master takes longer to get than a bachelor.
-compatibility with other pack careers.
-commute from home to college or stay at a dorm/rented place.
-graduation ceremony
-special student clubs if you have Get together
-people with a low amount of money can get a scholarship if they apply for it, same with people who have high grades in middle school.
-reworked grade and middle schools for kids and teens.

Yep, it will be nice to introduce more type of degrees.. But, I slightly disagree when you mentioned that the Master's Degree took longer than a Bachelor...

Career wise, it is nice if they start at level 6.. But, I think it will be too far stretch, because having a Master is an optional, so do a Bachelor's degree... just that, it will be better to have one so that the Sims can level up faster.. :)

the head master

"CeCeDot;c-16808273" wrote:
I completely agree. I live in Belgium, we do have student associations which are like clubs but they are not rivals. They are like your drinking buddies and they do some fun activities like sports, but not always competitive. Some schools have their own dorm, but not mascots. Most people commute or rent a place in the city. Cheerleading is such an American thing, we only know of it because of American movies. And sport events only happen in middle/high school and not in uni.

This sounds very much like how uni is in Australia, or at least, in my part of Australia, and the parts that most of my friends are from.

"MadameLee;c-16808466" wrote:
If we have to have the private school return with the "Game" only have a twist on the game and be able to bribe or pull strings in their job to get the head's family member into a job

I like that idea.

"Simburian;c-16808497" wrote:
I hated the Sororities and Fraternities idea in the old games. They could be included in the GTW club system if Simmers must have them. We've had too many tragedies and scandals with so called student rites.

Or have them tied to the celebrity system, and completely optional.
I don't get the appeal of them. I've only ever seen anything of them in movies, or heard bad news about them irl.