Forum Discussion

7 years ago

Did I just pay for a"butler" that isn't, functionally, a butler at all?

I didn't see a "search" function to see if this had been addressed - tech support just sent me a link and told me to create a post. So... Sorry for the length. I'm copying it from a comment I made on a longer post in the other Sims4 forums.

I guess the short version is this: Is the "butler" function supposed to be essentially useless, nothing like an actual butler, and frustrating as hell, or am I doing something wrong? There are essentially no controls / interface to give the butler instructions, and what little there is seems to not work most of the time.

On an unrelated note (unless I'm meant to start a new thread) there doesn't seem to be a way to alter the effect strength in terrain modification on the XBox

Pasted:

I'm pretty livid. I feel like the pack should have been advertised with warnings about it's functionality. IRL, mine wouldn't have been merely fired, she would have been fed to the lions. 😉

To illustrate situation: She has her own assigned and well appointed quarters, with her own bathroom, her own desk and a separate chair for sitting / reading / television, clock, book shelf, TV, bed, dresser, full-length mirror, etc., with the door set so that only she has access - so she has her privacy as well.

Here are a few of my complaints:

* First action as the new butler - plop herself down on my couch and watch some TV.

* She seemed intent to stay up all night, doing nothing, so I sent her to sleep.

* In the morning, I asked her to make breakfast. She did. Then she went into the dining room, and ate it.

* After that, I guess she fancied a good read, so she went to her mistress' bookshelf, got a book, went into her mistress' office, and plopped down in the easy chair to read it.

* The toilet in the main bathroom was an abomination. When I asked her to clean it (which, without instructions, I did by asking her to clean something, then asking her to clean something while her mistress stood right next to the toilet.) I got a dialog saying she couldn't reach it (it was not blocked by anything visible, on the floor, on the wall, or on the ceiling - the commode is used all the time) or that she had yet to finish her current task, which was, evidently, standing in the kitchen, staring at the wall. For hours.

* Evidently, she likes a good cocktail. She's fond of making them for herself, and sitting around drinking them.

* Answering the door seems to be beneath her.

* Later, her mistress needed to use the restroom. This was made difficult by the fact that the butler was in her bathroom enjoying a nice bath. She was fired, on the spot.

From a programming point of view, it would seem trivial to be able to have the butler NOT become an otherwise unemployed house-bum who felt entitled to use the common areas in the main portion of the house. "Use This", "Do Not Use This", "Use Everything But Things Restricted From", or "Use Only Those Things Assigned To" commands could be added. Don't use the facilities in the main house for your own off time should be a default setting. Even setting certain tasks on a schedule should be easy - do the gardening and the main cleaning while the employer is off at work (if they do) or whatever. You should be able to click a dirty or broken thing and have a "Clean/Fix This" option come up. If there's an obstruction stopping them from getting to it, it should be highlighted in red.

A "working relationship" selector could be added - if you want a bosom buddy who happens to wash a dish now and then, so be it - but if you want Downton Abby, where the butler bygod knows better than to address their employer by their first name, that should be easily available.

Hours should be able to be set - where the butler will retire to their quarters at a given time and show up ready to work at a given time. You should be able to set rules as to whether they can be called during their off hours. They should be able to ask for time off, if they want to leave the grounds.

I know I'm late to the party, but my first Sim is just reaching the last quarter of her "adult" phase, and this and "dine out" were my first add-ons (because you can't go eat at a restaurant without spending an extra $20 - that's reasonable. 9_9). And the way these two "work" (or, rather, don't) make me feel like there's really no point in ever buying the other five or six add-ons I wanted.

gameplay issue

14 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
7 years ago
@Duchess_Morgan I moved your thread because you originally posted in a more general section, not one for Sims games. I believe I saw your post in Origin technical issues, which is for problems related to the Origin app itself, not within a game that Origin is running. Or it might have been in EA general questions, which deals with EA-related information rather than games.

Either way, Sims 4-related issues get moved into a Sims 4 section, where the helpers have actually played the game and will be able to offer specific advice and tips, as happened here.
Duchess_Morgan
7 years ago
@puzzlezaddict Eep! Sorry! And thank you.
Duchess_Morgan
7 years ago
(edit: this isn't really meant to generate a "fix" at this point, it's just a funny story shared to vent a little frustration. The console version _is_ showing me some legitimate bugs, but I'm not sure there's anything anyone can do.)

I played a bit more. The whole thing is... Not so good, huh? I now have a butler, a maid, a gardener, and a nanny - which, inexplicably, you have to call several times a day, every day?

The previous butler became so obsessed with the principal's bathtub that they just essentially never left the bathroom unless someone else chased them out to use the facilities. It was an interesting study in phycology how much it infuriated me when they'd strip down for a bubble bath. I decided the easiest way to * (odd - the word for removing something with a quick, sharp, sudden movement is profanity?) them out of there was to hop into build mode and pull the bathtub out from under them, but (unsurprisingly) this did nothing to curb their desire for it.
I finally fired her (and got charged a bit over 1,100 for her final day? That's a really good wage to get drunk and sit in your boss's bathtub) and locked the bathroom door - which, predictably, just inordinately aggravates me to have to do. The new butler is also 95% useless, only occasionally doing something in her job description seemingly on accident, or if someone specifically tells her to. She also spends most of her time goofing off, or staring into space (which I've noticed the two principals doing more and more now as well - I thought maybe it was part of being an "elder" but the "adult" one does it too. I've also noticed some animation glitches, like a sim just standing still with a screwdriver stuck through her hand while "repairing" something)

I decided the principal sim in that household should probably spawn, so someone will get the house and money - though, probably not as much money as I initially thought. In the modern US or Europe, those kids would never have to work - they'd just live off the royalties of mom 1's numerous bestsellers and other excellent books. In Sim-land, I'm thinking those books probably become public domain the second mom 1 dies. I mean... She worked the better part of an afternoon on some of those books! 😉

So, mom 2 has never had a job. The bills are around $5k/wk for the house, and the breadwinner _might_ live until the kid is a YA. I don't think they get to keep the house. 🙂

Anyway, the kid will probably be a serial killer - it's difficult to watch happen, even in a cartoon video game, but I've let it run for a while, For Science.

I've seen her just bawling her eyes out, trapped in her high-chair, filthy, dirty diaper, hungry, at least three need-bars zeroed. Mom2 is working out, and wishing she could steal something (somehow my rich author sim managed to find a klepto to fall in love with - go figure), mom 1 is having senior moments in her office, the (also senior) butler is reading a book on how to be a butler - which she may learn, just before she dies. The maid - who knows. I think I've actually seen him, once. The nanny is chatting with mom 1, between making several family meals and cleaning up some of the numerous piles of filth the maid and butler haven't touched. No less than three sims with program responsibility for caring for the poor little urchin have stood next to her and commented on how bad she smells, before going on to other things.

Sim Protective Services need to come in here, take the kid, and feed all the adults into a wood chipper. This would make a really dark youtube channel.

And, when I loaded the game, it gave me that tip screen again - when you hire a butler, consider letting the other help go, 'cause the butler is going to handle all that stuff! :: stares in bitter, derisive laughter::

'Course, I guess it's true. The butler is at least as good at ignoring her duties as the maid and the nanny, combined. The gardener, she's a mensch. Those plants look great. Everyone else should crowd into the workshop and set it on fire. 🙂
Nozladi
Rising Veteran
6 years ago
Thank you!!! I jumped off my couch to give this a standing ovation. It's aggravating at the least and infuriating at most. I also hate that the Butler is considered an employee; they are, but it doesn't separate them from a maid for the purpose of locking doors. AND, btw, I gave the Butler's quarters the SAME upgraded tub and he would STILL use mine. The Butler won't do laundry. He'll take it out of the dryer, but never put it away. The maid does the laundry. But she CAN'T get in my room!! I had to delete hampers because they'd effect moods with their green smoke signifying nasty odors.
As far as answering the front door, the task designation is all or nothing. There isn't a real reason why an algorithm couldn't be created to have the door answered and a yes or no command box pop up to be chosen by the Household members. Or even create a friends list that allows us to mark whose allowed in the house.
At least mine cleans and isn't drinking all day. He sometimes cooks. Which isn't too inconvenient. And he cleans up the yard, deck, and front porch after the dog.