Feedback / Vent: Sims 4 Constant Updates Annoys Me So Much

@ImDepressedOk but there is no other way to fix things or to make big changes in the game without updates.  It is just part of the process .  They did streamline some things with adding the Direct Xpress (I hope I remember the name correctly) drops , so that has helped us get a few free items without being too intrusive, but for actual bug fixes or major free content there is just no other way of doing things. 🙂

If you're getting daily updates - are you sure the update installed properly? Maybe it's the same one over and over getting stuck...

I usually get only one or two a month. And if two, one will be small. While I do generally spend a day or two testing after each update, usually I can just put my mods back in and keep going. Updates big enough to break all my mods are generally only a few times each year.

For this past week I've had SDX notifications daily and on Monday I had one when I opened up my game and then another one mid game that stopped me playing and told me to restart. I'm on Xbox Series S. It's never interrupted my game before so I think it's possibly a technical glitch with SDX. I was just about to ask around on here to see if it was a problem or if it's all working as intended. 

I hoped at first it might be adjustments to the console controls that we'd asked for and that maybe they were just fixing it in the background. I'm going to adjust my settings as it is currently set on checking for SDX hourly. So I'm altering that if it's going to start interrupting my game.

@ImDepressedOk are you on console or PC? Is this the same thing you are getting?

I wish we got comprehensive SDX info on here, like the informative patch notes so that we know what each one is for and so that we know if we are supposed to be getting them or if it's just having trouble installing them.

@simsplayer818 @ImDepressedOk I actually don’t remember any SDX drops at all this year? There was one at the beginning of December with the mean Sims fix and I think some CAS with logos for other games.

No, I’m on PC / Laptop. 

I don’t play it as often anymore, maybe thats why I get bulk updates every time I play?? Or maybe because I put it on the external hdd, when my laptop loads the EA launcher automatically opens and it recognise the game as uninstalled?? so when I restarted it by plugging it in and let the launcher reloads, it re-verify the files.

Whatever it is, my issues is that its just has frequent updates and I barely see any fix or changes. Maybe I just don’t pay enough attention to other details or I just don’t counter the bugs they are fixing meanwhile the ones I do have its just not fixed yet.

Today at least I noticed they patch the interactions panel (which I don’t understand why they don’t do it in the first place), they put it in sub - category like Talk > Jokes > Jokes About Fashion or Talk > Jokes > Silly Things >  Give Silly Gifts (I can’t really recall it but I think thats how it goes), which is very neat and easier for me to navigate. Usually the interactions is just all over the place. 

@PipMenace thanks for the info that's both interesting and concerning to me. The message I get says, to paraphrase that new content has been installed but that it won't be available until the game is restarted. If I don't restart and try to play my game it doesn't work properly and is really glitchy with sound issues and slow, flickering graphics. It happens a lot and with more regularity recently.

Unless it's working as it should but is only specific to players on my particular console. I'm going to ask about it on the thread for console feedback and see if it's linked to our ongoing technical problems.

Yeah, I only get updates once a month, twice max, and SDX drops aren't that frequent. I think that probably you have a whole bunch queued up--they're not cumulative, you have to install each one individually--and eventually they'll calm down and stop.

I've mentioned mine to EA on the Consoles thread. I'm going to start recording all of them to test if there's a problem. I do know it was twice on Monday 13th. I couldn't play from the HSY patch until January because it just crashed so it maaay have caused an issue 🤔... possibly. I've been playing daily since then and it has been a very regular thing getting these messages. Plus another player mentioned they get them if they do a Quick Resume, so maybe that's a factor. I don't know.

It's something I'm going to keep an eye on.

Except nothing big is actually getting fixed. Instead every update just creates more issues. I am a mod user and cc user. I have a gaming laptop with good speed and space. I have to check mods every time and no I refuse the play without mods for many reasons. Do you think it’s fun to spend all your time updating instead of playing? I choose mods that either fix bugs or features that function like bugs (for example sims constantly joining conversations and musical chairs. It’s just terrible coding, pushups, terrible conversation decisions, bad emotional response or lack of animation and response), or just add gameplay because EAs idea of game play is sending a sim into a rabbit hole or reading pop ups. The woke culture has robbed players of options that would allow people to just play the game they want in their own home. I do not under how people are offended by options. You don’t like it don’t use it. They are so inclusive they excluded majority. So tolerant they become intolerant. Why remove wife/husband? Why are gender roles stigmatized? Why not just include more options that functions the same way. The daily update is exaggerated but it’s been getting progressively worse. They updated at end of September and then updated to introduce a reaper event, broke stuff again and updated again. The event is so buggy it’s unbelievable it even came out. But that is the model of EA. Release it broken and figure it out later.   Why bother saying let us look at the entire game. I’d rather they just do that then keep updating and braking. So right now they just patched the patch and I am dreading going in because I know for a fact it fixed nothing and broke new stuff. I still been updating and now have to update since the update. I’m not even playing. It not only breaks mods, It breaks the game without mods and then help desk blames mods when mods are not even in game. There are bugs that exist since I can remember and we are talking about major issues. They keep releasing untested packs and patches that break the game rather than fix it. There are literally pack that came out that are so badly broken they are completely unplayable and yet EA still sells them and keeps making updates. I am referring to wedding stories (those this is just an example of atrocious game design because all expansions and game packs have unresolved issues and glaring features missing). It’s a poorly designed add-on. It’s designed as a micromanaging frustration rather then enjoyable game. And on top of that, even if you pause every second to micromanage the features they still don’t work. The game still doesn’t perform as intended (although who knows if there was even a strategy meeting and a project plan at this point, because as bad the design it is, it is also broken) That is a great example of how bad this has bee. No matter how many times they try to fix it it will never be fixed because this game is badly designed from the very ground. They need to fix autonomy. This game is supposed to be a simulation not a struggle to get anything to work. The game was sold in the idea that sims are smarter then ever. How? The bipolar emotional system? The lack of  basic features? They released an attraction system with Lovestruck. First it is not a new feature, but an extension of an existing preference system that doesn’t work all that well. I would even forgive the fact they recolor and repackage and call it new if it was only all encompassing and good, but they robbed players of options that make a good attraction system. Instead the option they gave players are sloppy, lazy, unimaginable and extremely unrealistic. I am not sure if it’s the woke agenda where they don’t want to offend the minority so they exclude the majority or is it just lazy or is the game so badly coded preferences (such as physical attributes) are impossible to implement. Funny enough modders did it so I’d say it’s probably one of the other reasons. They rush to get paid and then sloppy fix. Its unacceptable. So I completely understand where the poster is coming from. I just spend two weeks since last patch (without mods) to fix the game crashed and infinite load screens and they decide to release another patch. I’m not playing a game at all when my save files get butchered and broken with each update. How can you enjoy a game you spend more time updating then playing? Stop making excuses for sloppy workmanship. 

Honestly it’s not daily but I completely agree with you. I believe you should be able to buy a pack and enjoy the game until the new pack comes out. Too me even monthly updates are unacceptable. Now you patch the patch after the patch that broke the previous patch. I have mods. First because they actually fix many glaring issues that EA is ignoring, second because they actually add real game play and are more inclusive to options allowing players to choose how they want to play a simulation game. So no I refuse to play without mods. Mostly because the game without them is bad. It’s often lacking in animation, features, gameplay, options, creativity and most of all fun. Every time EA updates I have to check all of my mods (most of my mods provide more gameplay and actually fix problems than the expensive expansion and game packs). Once I update they patch again and I have to deal with the consequences when I finally got my game working just to see that the sloppy patch broke more then it fixed and not only mods. Recently patches have destroyed my carefully crafted save files. This game is not fun. It’s a disappointing mess that sucks out all joy. It is depressing because this is a game I played since I was a child. About 30 years of my life I been a loyal customer. I look at the post here and responses to your point and the fact people defend the butchery just shows that it’s not going to get better. EA is treating paying customers as play testers instead of hiring QC employees. It is clear they do not care to really invest in fixing, they just want it to work well enough to sell the next add-on and people excuse and eat it. I’m with you. It might not be daily but it sure feels like it when it takes you two weeks after the patch to create a brand new save after the old was broken so EA can patch again (because someone finally found one error and break 5 more in the process) and once again break the game and have you repair, reset, reload, factory rest just so they patch again and introduce bugs. This is what this game has been this year. The need to fix the game to minimally working levels has made many players frustrated and depressed. I loved this game. Too bad the current owner doesn’t know why I did.