Bugs and The Sims 101 - Everything you need to know! - Discussion

@slytheringoddes 

Sorry but how would they know which bugs you personally is affected by?.

@jpkarlsenThat's why I started my topic. So people can express ALL of their issues into a single post, which can then be compared to others, which could possibly lead to finding common ground or potential patterns.

Also, do you know how my topic got here? It has nothing to do with this thread lol

Hi @slytheringoddes,

Your post has been merged with this thread as it appears you have feedback on how the current bug forum functions.

If instead you were looking to get the bugs you're seeing in-game reported, you'll want to follow these steps:

• Please first read over the compiled list of bugs here- if the bug you're looking to report already has a thread, instead of creating a new one, you'll want to post your information in that already existing thread.
• Each bug you're experiencing will need to be posted in a separate bug thread- this is so we can properly report and track any issues you're seeing. Each bug is not always related to the other, so in order to help with the investigation process and to get each bug resolved, they'll need to be posted out separately. 

@slytheringoddes 

Unfortunately, while the long list of individual bugs is overwhelming (ugh, yikes!) that's just the way software development works. They can't work on "overarching toddler problems" as a general topic, they have to focus on individual specific issues. (I say this as someone who works for a non-game software company. I DO NOT work for EA.)

This might be a big heavy, but: https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/tip/9-techniques-for-fixing-bugs-in-production  To quote the opening section:

"Despite best practices and developers' diligence, bugs are an inevitable part of software development. Accordingly, so are defects within live software. A bug -- particularly a defect in production -- is a problem because it poses the risk of losing customers."

I would agree that bugs are inevitable.

"IT organizations have many ways of fixing bugs in production. The variety of techniques reflects a range of tolerance for risk and how urgently the team wants to push out new features. Bug fixes can vary depending on the type of product and its mission criticality. The magnitude of a bug can also determine whether it gets an immediate fix or not."

So, if you look at the second paragraph and think of The Sims 4, think of "how urgently the team wants to push out new features," and consider the risk tolerance for a video game as opposed to, say, a medical system or self-driving car. The worst thing that'll happen if your video game gets a bug is your game will crash, or your Sim parent will fall in love with their toddler (ew), or your married Sims will turn into siblings every time they enter CAS (sigh). Those three things are upsetting, but they won't kill anyone and happen infrequently enough that they probably won't stop people from buying the game.  Things like "I cannot save my game" or "I cannot load my game" will, in fact, prevent people from playing (or buying!) your game and need to be fixed quickly.

I hope that helps, and I'm sorry you're frustrated! I have "favorite" bugs, too. Guess which ones.  😉

@slytheringoddes 

I've gone ahead and split your original post into it's own thread under the General Discussion board. 

You're more than welcome to discuss and compare any bugs you're seeing with other members of the community, but please keep in mind if any new bug reports are posted there, they'll be split off and moved appropriately so we can track and review those. 

I can only speak for myself, but it feels as if, from what I have been reading and also experiencing, that many of us feel unheard. That unless a bug is a major one, like with the aging, everything else is being ignored. We love this game, does what we feel and need to know not concern you EA? We aren't even told if something is being worked on, concerns don't seem to be acknowledged in any way whatsoever. Please, communication is good, not just occasional press releases that tell us very little. We need to know if what we are talking about here is taken seriously or should we give up and move on. I hope I don't get banned for this, as I am being sincere.

I've been told that I'm excessively sanguine about the whole thing, but...

In my don't-work-for-EA experience, they will likely have a series of meetings where they discuss our feedback, maybe send it back to software design for Wants and Fears and maybe send it to QA for bugs, schedule teams to work on creating a new set of functional requirements (assuming they decide to implement changes), and assign developers. This will not be a fast process.

I do believe that our feedback matters--unless they've decided that Haters Gonna Hate; I like to think that they know I'm not a hater by now! I also think it'll be slow. ☹️  The bigger the company, the slower and more risk-averse they tend to be.

Whatever you do, Sims Team, please hug your QA people (and maybe hire more, assuming budget).

Thank you, it's just that in my opinion, if we were clued in a bit on what's going on, it would help things greatly. (I'm trying to be optimistic, when there isn't much these days for me to feel that way about.)