URGENT Hobbies and Business Feedback
The addition of Small Businesses without a broader update to Retail, Restaurants, and Vet Clinics suggests that Get to Work, Dine Out, and Cats & Dogs have been relegated to "legacy packs." But this ...
Forum Discussion
This is an incredibly thorough analysis! I was planning on writing something similar myself. I agree with most of your suggestions for unifying business systems, but would like to expand on a few points and offer some alternative perspectives:
Areas of Agreement
✔ Unified Interfaces - Standardized menus/controls would dramatically improve QoL
✔ Employee Systems - Task assignment and promotion mechanics should be consistent
✔ Remote Management - All businesses should have equal off-lot controls
✔ Visual Indicators - Colorful skill icons and consistent signage would help immersion
Suggested Expansions to Your List
- Non-Official Businesses
- Sales Tables (multiple packs)
- Food Stands (Home Chef Hustle)
- Plopsy (Nifty Knitting)
- Wellness Services (Spa Day)
- Trendi (High School Years)
- Business Employment System
- All businesses should:
- Show employment status under the Jobs tab
- Allow family members to be hired as employees at any business
- Allow business owners of small businesses to choose people they don't know as employees
- All businesses should:
- Automated Retail Systems
- GTW retail shelves should automatically set items for sale (like B&H)
- Keep manual option for special cases and large items
- Room Assignment
- All business types should get the "Residential/Employees/Public" zoning from B&H
- Customer Flow Control
- Open/Close signs should have a "disallow new customers" option without closing the business
- Retail Integration
- Vet clinics should have functional retail shelves for pet items in addition to the vending machine
- Restaurants could benefit from merchandising displays
Alternative Perspectives
◈ Product Quality
- Retail/Small Businesses already handle this through crafted item quality
◈ Business Fees
- All businesses should have operating costs
- Premium fees for high-end establishments
◈ Restocking Systems
- Both automatic and manual methods should be toggleable
New Suggestions
⭐ Unified Branding
- Cross-pack icons/logo/signage for all business types - one of my biggest gripes is that I can't use a logo that appears in HCH in BH.
Your blueprint already covers 90% of what’s needed—these tweaks would perfect it! Maxis should treat this as a masterclass in business system design.
