Carl's review of Dream Home Decorator pack is out

I think one of the biggest problem with this pack from watching the livestream and the gamechangers is that when you come to a lot and are expected to redesign a room, you can chose any room you like change. So you can turn the kitchen into a bedroom and the Sims will like it and you leave the household and they have no longer a kitchen...

"Dijktafone;c-17900990" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900987" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900977" wrote:

"Naus;c-17900962" wrote:
@Dijktafone the question is WHY we have to do things properly? The game should already account for Sim players trolling and give you an appropriate (bad) score just like The Sims 3 does. It simply shows a serious lack of depth when a career that makes up a small portion of an EP was able to take this into account and the $20 pack wasn't.

It's also really hard to compare the two because THE PRICING has to be considered as well. You're paying $20 for 1/8 of a $40 EP. So you're literally paying TWICE as much for... what? Two new animations? A before/after slideshow?

The Sims 3 Ambitions had five active careers (Interior Designer, Ghost Hunter, Firefighter, Stylist and Private Eye), a semi-active career (BG Doctor), a rabbit-hole career (Education), twonew skills with tons of new items (Inventing and Sculpting both include a dozen of exclusive items), the tattooing skill and system (the best tattoo system ever seen in a Sims game), a new world with 82 lots, new lifetime wishes and rewards, SIX new traits, the LAUNDRY system, new outdoor entertainment such as the trampoline and Gnubb game, consignment shops, junkyards, detonation, new upgrades for electronics, plumbing and appliances, an overhauled real estate system, earthquakes and meteor strikes, and much more.

It's just INSANE the amount of content a Sims 3 pack would have vs. what The Sims 4 offers. And on top of that, the content is buggy AF.

What Ambitions gave us is all about how much% of it are we using. Personally, to this day, only home design and Stylist. Not to discount this E.P., it's one if not MY favorite of TS3.

Why do we have to do things properly? Because we have to set a standard relating both to give informed intel to the audience onto which, 'hey here's the difference between both'. Also because some players actually take it seriously? Somebody took 45 minutes to redisign the Partihaus Household. Kudos to them. Also, that proves serious players exist, so let's tell them what they get for being serious.

A review should be neutral, exposing pros and cons in the same video. 'Here's what you get, here's what you have to work against'. This gives the veiwer the tools to decide. Nobody's judging them if they want or not this expansion. It is their choice/mistake to make.

I don't agree with you. I think what ambitions gave us is... what ambitiions gave us. It's your choice to not use it all. But with DHD, we don't have those choices...

Also, the motto for the sims games is to play with life however we want. The game must be prepared for all kinds of players and reward and punish the player accordingly. But once again we have to restrain ourselves because it seems that we now have to play with life the way the team decided...

Yes, absolutely, its a matter of choice. Thanks for pointing out the fact that those who like the home designer career above all should be better informed than 'put poop on the floor and they'd like it.' And IF they feel like 20$ is worth it, above 40$ and many unsuded features.

And for the former... no it isn't irrelevant for the reasons I mentioned. It's up to the buyer to assess if one part of it without the other is worth the asking price.

My point is simple. Global Quantity =/= used quantity.

So you've edited your comment and i missed the last two paragraphs before. About the last one, it's so subjective... how is a company able to establish a price? Global quantity is factual while used quantity is personal...
I get that whoever thinks that personally it is worth it, so then it is, at a personal level... but as a community we can only discuss global quantity...

"texxx78;c-17900997" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900990" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900987" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900977" wrote:

"Naus;c-17900962" wrote:
@Dijktafone the question is WHY we have to do things properly? The game should already account for Sim players trolling and give you an appropriate (bad) score just like The Sims 3 does. It simply shows a serious lack of depth when a career that makes up a small portion of an EP was able to take this into account and the $20 pack wasn't.

It's also really hard to compare the two because THE PRICING has to be considered as well. You're paying $20 for 1/8 of a $40 EP. So you're literally paying TWICE as much for... what? Two new animations? A before/after slideshow?

The Sims 3 Ambitions had five active careers (Interior Designer, Ghost Hunter, Firefighter, Stylist and Private Eye), a semi-active career (BG Doctor), a rabbit-hole career (Education), twonew skills with tons of new items (Inventing and Sculpting both include a dozen of exclusive items), the tattooing skill and system (the best tattoo system ever seen in a Sims game), a new world with 82 lots, new lifetime wishes and rewards, SIX new traits, the LAUNDRY system, new outdoor entertainment such as the trampoline and Gnubb game, consignment shops, junkyards, detonation, new upgrades for electronics, plumbing and appliances, an overhauled real estate system, earthquakes and meteor strikes, and much more.

It's just INSANE the amount of content a Sims 3 pack would have vs. what The Sims 4 offers. And on top of that, the content is buggy AF.

What Ambitions gave us is all about how much% of it are we using. Personally, to this day, only home design and Stylist. Not to discount this E.P., it's one if not MY favorite of TS3.

Why do we have to do things properly? Because we have to set a standard relating both to give informed intel to the audience onto which, 'hey here's the difference between both'. Also because some players actually take it seriously? Somebody took 45 minutes to redisign the Partihaus Household. Kudos to them. Also, that proves serious players exist, so let's tell them what they get for being serious.

A review should be neutral, exposing pros and cons in the same video. 'Here's what you get, here's what you have to work against'. This gives the veiwer the tools to decide. Nobody's judging them if they want or not this expansion. It is their choice/mistake to make.

I don't agree with you. I think what ambitions gave us is... what ambitiions gave us. It's your choice to not use it all. But with DHD, we don't have those choices...

Also, the motto for the sims games is to play with life however we want. The game must be prepared for all kinds of players and reward and punish the player accordingly. But once again we have to restrain ourselves because it seems that we now have to play with life the way the team decided...

Yes, absolutely, its a matter of choice. Thanks for pointing out the fact that those who like the home designer career above all should be better informed than 'put poop on the floor and they'd like it.' And IF they feel like 20$ is worth it, above 40$ and many unsuded features.

And for the former... no it isn't irrelevant for the reasons I mentioned. It's up to the buyer to assess if one part of it without the other is worth the asking price.

My point is simple. Global Quantity =/= used quantity.

You completelly miss the point... if you want, go back in this thread and you'll understand why the poop and why the kitchen reno with no kitchen appliances and/or counters...

I don't miss any point, nor do I have any to make. I'm not paid by E.A., and I never said wether I felt like this E.P. is worth the asking price or not. Matter of fact, I didn't reviewed the seats.

Now, now people... once more, it's not because you can that you should. For the players who don't yet own this expansion, we also can tell hem that it will be well recieved if they renew the kitchen. Right? Yes!

Client doesn't like cooking? Just don't renew the stove and fridge. Easy. There's many other things to do around, while having fun and being serious. One CAN change the counters, the wallpaper, the floor, even breaking the walls between kitchen and the diding room to make an open space.

Personally I feel like it's easy to understand why some who posted here felt 'under-informed'.

So you've edited your comment and i missed the last two paragraphs before. About the last one, it's so subjective... how is a company able to establish a price? Global quantity is factual while used quantity is personal...
I get that whoever thinks that personally it is worth it, so then it is, at a personal level... but as a community we can only discuss global quantity...

100% right. But it is another debate altogether than a review. It falls under the 'is this GP worth the asking price'.
Here's how, as a community we feel about it.

I hear you and the many others who feel like, "no, because..."

But again, it's the buyer' decision/mistake to make.

How much do they like TS4? How forgiving are they with the A.I. being in another zipcode than the sim's body?

Only THEY know. I'm advocating for giving them a 'tour' of this G.P., not influencing the decision.

: I hope I don't feel bias, but here's how it is on this thread. Some feel like this G.P. is a rob, and their arguments are valid. But by my account there's also two players (at least) who feel underinformed. I tried to cover the information part as best I could in a previous post is all.

"Dijktafone;c-17900977" wrote:

Why do we have to do things properly? Because we have to set a standard relating both to give informed intel to the audience onto which, 'hey here's the difference between both'. Also because some players actually take it seriously? Somebody took 45 minutes to redisign the Partihaus Household and were proud of it. So, kudos to them. Also, that proves serious players exist, so let's tell them what they get for being serious.

Carl covered/showed/discussed doing it properly. The problem, though, is that there's nothing to show because there's no depth, so you may have missed it. Nothing matters except the likes/dislikes and the budget. You don't have to follow any room guidelines at all. You don't get any points for that. The game doesn't care and the actual designing part is just build mode... and there are lots of videos on that already.

It's a very simple pack.

Carl used to have very in-depth guidelines. For Sims 3, on his site so much research had been put into things like nectar and what the best formulation was, etc. etc. But with Sims 4, it just doesn't matter. Your traits don't matter when you design a house, talking to the clients doesn't matter (except you can get fired if you're rude), taking good pictures doesn't matter, adding personal objects doesn't matter, picking items that suit the room doesn't matter, etc. etc. Only 2 things matter: likes/dislikes and budget, so what could he say?

"Dijktafone;c-17901009" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900997" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900990" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900987" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900977" wrote:

"Naus;c-17900962" wrote:
@Dijktafone the question is WHY we have to do things properly? The game should already account for Sim players trolling and give you an appropriate (bad) score just like The Sims 3 does. It simply shows a serious lack of depth when a career that makes up a small portion of an EP was able to take this into account and the $20 pack wasn't.

It's also really hard to compare the two because THE PRICING has to be considered as well. You're paying $20 for 1/8 of a $40 EP. So you're literally paying TWICE as much for... what? Two new animations? A before/after slideshow?

The Sims 3 Ambitions had five active careers (Interior Designer, Ghost Hunter, Firefighter, Stylist and Private Eye), a semi-active career (BG Doctor), a rabbit-hole career (Education), twonew skills with tons of new items (Inventing and Sculpting both include a dozen of exclusive items), the tattooing skill and system (the best tattoo system ever seen in a Sims game), a new world with 82 lots, new lifetime wishes and rewards, SIX new traits, the LAUNDRY system, new outdoor entertainment such as the trampoline and Gnubb game, consignment shops, junkyards, detonation, new upgrades for electronics, plumbing and appliances, an overhauled real estate system, earthquakes and meteor strikes, and much more.

It's just INSANE the amount of content a Sims 3 pack would have vs. what The Sims 4 offers. And on top of that, the content is buggy AF.

What Ambitions gave us is all about how much% of it are we using. Personally, to this day, only home design and Stylist. Not to discount this E.P., it's one if not MY favorite of TS3.

Why do we have to do things properly? Because we have to set a standard relating both to give informed intel to the audience onto which, 'hey here's the difference between both'. Also because some players actually take it seriously? Somebody took 45 minutes to redisign the Partihaus Household. Kudos to them. Also, that proves serious players exist, so let's tell them what they get for being serious.

A review should be neutral, exposing pros and cons in the same video. 'Here's what you get, here's what you have to work against'. This gives the veiwer the tools to decide. Nobody's judging them if they want or not this expansion. It is their choice/mistake to make.

I don't agree with you. I think what ambitions gave us is... what ambitiions gave us. It's your choice to not use it all. But with DHD, we don't have those choices...

Also, the motto for the sims games is to play with life however we want. The game must be prepared for all kinds of players and reward and punish the player accordingly. But once again we have to restrain ourselves because it seems that we now have to play with life the way the team decided...

Yes, absolutely, its a matter of choice. Thanks for pointing out the fact that those who like the home designer career above all should be better informed than 'put poop on the floor and they'd like it.' And IF they feel like 20$ is worth it, above 40$ and many unsuded features.

And for the former... no it isn't irrelevant for the reasons I mentioned. It's up to the buyer to assess if one part of it without the other is worth the asking price.

My point is simple. Global Quantity =/= used quantity.

You completelly miss the point... if you want, go back in this thread and you'll understand why the poop and why the kitchen reno with no kitchen appliances and/or counters...

I don't miss any point, nor do I have any to make. I'm not paid by E.A., and I never said wether I felt like this E.P. is worth the asking price or not. Matter of fact, I didn't reviewed the seats.

Now, now people... once more, it's not because you can that you should. For the players who don't yet own this expansion, we also can tell hem that it will be well recieved if they renew the kitchen. Right? Yes!

Client doesn't like cooking? Just don't renew the stove and fridge. Easy. There's many other things to do around, while having fun and being serious. One CAN change the counters, the wallpaper, the floor, even breaking the walls between kitchen and the diding room to make an open space.

Personally I feel like it's easy to understand why some who posted here felt 'under-informed'.

But why should i play like you or the devs think that i should play?

About the review, it didn't tick all the buttons, but there are plenty of reviews that ticked those other buttons... what Carl did was expose something that no other reviewer did and the career ended to be extremelly flawed. For that reason it was informative and very helpful. So glad he was brave enough to do what others didn't.

"Dijktafone;c-17901009" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900997" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900990" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900987" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900977" wrote:

"Naus;c-17900962" wrote:
@Dijktafone the question is WHY we have to do things properly? The game should already account for Sim players trolling and give you an appropriate (bad) score just like The Sims 3 does. It simply shows a serious lack of depth when a career that makes up a small portion of an EP was able to take this into account and the $20 pack wasn't.

It's also really hard to compare the two because THE PRICING has to be considered as well. You're paying $20 for 1/8 of a $40 EP. So you're literally paying TWICE as much for... what? Two new animations? A before/after slideshow?

The Sims 3 Ambitions had five active careers (Interior Designer, Ghost Hunter, Firefighter, Stylist and Private Eye), a semi-active career (BG Doctor), a rabbit-hole career (Education), twonew skills with tons of new items (Inventing and Sculpting both include a dozen of exclusive items), the tattooing skill and system (the best tattoo system ever seen in a Sims game), a new world with 82 lots, new lifetime wishes and rewards, SIX new traits, the LAUNDRY system, new outdoor entertainment such as the trampoline and Gnubb game, consignment shops, junkyards, detonation, new upgrades for electronics, plumbing and appliances, an overhauled real estate system, earthquakes and meteor strikes, and much more.

It's just INSANE the amount of content a Sims 3 pack would have vs. what The Sims 4 offers. And on top of that, the content is buggy AF.

What Ambitions gave us is all about how much% of it are we using. Personally, to this day, only home design and Stylist. Not to discount this E.P., it's one if not MY favorite of TS3.

Why do we have to do things properly? Because we have to set a standard relating both to give informed intel to the audience onto which, 'hey here's the difference between both'. Also because some players actually take it seriously? Somebody took 45 minutes to redisign the Partihaus Household. Kudos to them. Also, that proves serious players exist, so let's tell them what they get for being serious.

A review should be neutral, exposing pros and cons in the same video. 'Here's what you get, here's what you have to work against'. This gives the veiwer the tools to decide. Nobody's judging them if they want or not this expansion. It is their choice/mistake to make.

I don't agree with you. I think what ambitions gave us is... what ambitiions gave us. It's your choice to not use it all. But with DHD, we don't have those choices...

Also, the motto for the sims games is to play with life however we want. The game must be prepared for all kinds of players and reward and punish the player accordingly. But once again we have to restrain ourselves because it seems that we now have to play with life the way the team decided...

Yes, absolutely, its a matter of choice. Thanks for pointing out the fact that those who like the home designer career above all should be better informed than 'put poop on the floor and they'd like it.' And IF they feel like 20$ is worth it, above 40$ and many unsuded features.

And for the former... no it isn't irrelevant for the reasons I mentioned. It's up to the buyer to assess if one part of it without the other is worth the asking price.

My point is simple. Global Quantity =/= used quantity.

You completelly miss the point... if you want, go back in this thread and you'll understand why the poop and why the kitchen reno with no kitchen appliances and/or counters...

I don't miss any point, nor do I have any to make. I'm not paid by E.A., and I never said wether I felt like this E.P. is worth the asking price or not. Matter of fact, I didn't reviewed the seats.

Now, now people... once more, it's not because you can that you should. For the players who don't yet own this expansion, we also can tell hem that it will be well recieved if they renew the kitchen. Right? Yes!

Client doesn't like cooking? Just don't renew the stove and fridge. Easy. There's many other things to do around, while having fun and being serious. One CAN change the counters, the wallpaper, the floor, even breaking the walls between kitchen and the diding room to make an open space.

Personally I feel like it's easy to understand why some who posted here felt 'under-informed'.

So you've edited your comment and i missed the last two paragraphs before. About the last one, it's so subjective... how is a company able to establish a price? Global quantity is factual while used quantity is personal...
I get that whoever thinks that personally it is worth it, so then it is, at a personal level... but as a community we can only discuss global quantity...

100% right. But it is another debate altogether than a review. It falls under the 'is this GP worth the asking price'.
Here's how, as a community we feel about it.

I hear you and the many others who feel like, "no, because..."

But again, it's the buyer' decision/mistake to make.

How much do they like TS4? How forgiving are they with the A.I. being in another zipcode than the sim's body?

Only THEY know. I'm advocating for giving them a 'tour' of this G.P., not influencing the decision.

: I hope I don't feel bias, but here's how it is on this thread. Some feel like this G.P. is a rob, and their arguments are valid. But by my account there's also two players (at least) who feel underinformed. I tried to cover the information part as best I could in a previous post is all.

So again, you've edited your comment and i missed the last part... sure, we're just discussing. I think no one is trying to make the other's mind into nothing. Well i know im not. Like i said before i get if people love a feature and are happy with it the way it is, it's great for them...

"texxx78;c-17901020" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17901009" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900997" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900990" wrote:

"texxx78;c-17900987" wrote:

"Dijktafone;c-17900977" wrote:

"Naus;c-17900962" wrote:
@Dijktafone the question is WHY we have to do things properly? The game should already account for Sim players trolling and give you an appropriate (bad) score just like The Sims 3 does. It simply shows a serious lack of depth when a career that makes up a small portion of an EP was able to take this into account and the $20 pack wasn't.

It's also really hard to compare the two because THE PRICING has to be considered as well. You're paying $20 for 1/8 of a $40 EP. So you're literally paying TWICE as much for... what? Two new animations? A before/after slideshow?

The Sims 3 Ambitions had five active careers (Interior Designer, Ghost Hunter, Firefighter, Stylist and Private Eye), a semi-active career (BG Doctor), a rabbit-hole career (Education), twonew skills with tons of new items (Inventing and Sculpting both include a dozen of exclusive items), the tattooing skill and system (the best tattoo system ever seen in a Sims game), a new world with 82 lots, new lifetime wishes and rewards, SIX new traits, the LAUNDRY system, new outdoor entertainment such as the trampoline and Gnubb game, consignment shops, junkyards, detonation, new upgrades for electronics, plumbing and appliances, an overhauled real estate system, earthquakes and meteor strikes, and much more.

It's just INSANE the amount of content a Sims 3 pack would have vs. what The Sims 4 offers. And on top of that, the content is buggy AF.

What Ambitions gave us is all about how much% of it are we using. Personally, to this day, only home design and Stylist. Not to discount this E.P., it's one if not MY favorite of TS3.

Why do we have to do things properly? Because we have to set a standard relating both to give informed intel to the audience onto which, 'hey here's the difference between both'. Also because some players actually take it seriously? Somebody took 45 minutes to redisign the Partihaus Household. Kudos to them. Also, that proves serious players exist, so let's tell them what they get for being serious.

A review should be neutral, exposing pros and cons in the same video. 'Here's what you get, here's what you have to work against'. This gives the veiwer the tools to decide. Nobody's judging them if they want or not this expansion. It is their choice/mistake to make.

I don't agree with you. I think what ambitions gave us is... what ambitiions gave us. It's your choice to not use it all. But with DHD, we don't have those choices...

Also, the motto for the sims games is to play with life however we want. The game must be prepared for all kinds of players and reward and punish the player accordingly. But once again we have to restrain ourselves because it seems that we now have to play with life the way the team decided...

Yes, absolutely, its a matter of choice. Thanks for pointing out the fact that those who like the home designer career above all should be better informed than 'put poop on the floor and they'd like it.' And IF they feel like 20$ is worth it, above 40$ and many unsuded features.

And for the former... no it isn't irrelevant for the reasons I mentioned. It's up to the buyer to assess if one part of it without the other is worth the asking price.

My point is simple. Global Quantity =/= used quantity.

You completelly miss the point... if you want, go back in this thread and you'll understand why the poop and why the kitchen reno with no kitchen appliances and/or counters...

I don't miss any point, nor do I have any to make. I'm not paid by E.A., and I never said wether I felt like this E.P. is worth the asking price or not. Matter of fact, I didn't reviewed the seats.

Now, now people... once more, it's not because you can that you should. For the players who don't yet own this expansion, we also can tell hem that it will be well recieved if they renew the kitchen. Right? Yes!

Client doesn't like cooking? Just don't renew the stove and fridge. Easy. There's many other things to do around, while having fun and being serious. One CAN change the counters, the wallpaper, the floor, even breaking the walls between kitchen and the diding room to make an open space.

Personally I feel like it's easy to understand why some who posted here felt 'under-informed'.

So you've edited your comment and i missed the last two paragraphs before. About the last one, it's so subjective... how is a company able to establish a price? Global quantity is factual while used quantity is personal...
I get that whoever thinks that personally it is worth it, so then it is, at a personal level... but as a community we can only discuss global quantity...

100% right. But it is another debate altogether than a review. It falls under the 'is this GP worth the asking price'.
Here's how, as a community we feel about it.

I hear you and the many others who feel like, "no, because..."

But again, it's the buyer' decision/mistake to make.

How much do they like TS4? How forgiving are they with the A.I. being in another zipcode than the sim's body?

Only THEY know. I'm advocating for giving them a 'tour' of this G.P., not influencing the decision.

: I hope I don't feel bias, but here's how it is on this thread. Some feel like this G.P. is a rob, and their arguments are valid. But by my account there's also two players (at least) who feel underinformed. I tried to cover the information part as best I could in a previous post is all.

So again, you've edited your comment and i missed the last part... sure, we're just discussing. I think no one is trying to make the other's mind into nothing. Well i know im not. Like i said before i get if people love a feature and are happy with it the way it is, it's great for them...

Well exactly! The point is to clarify things, no matter the end result. For the rest, the 'negative' thread gaining some traction over the 'positive' thread gives a good insight as to what does the community feels about it as a whole as the G.P. is running; at least on these forums.

For me it comes to economics first, quality second and then quantity. I couldn't care less what Joe Stuff likes or dislikes for in the end it is what I want and expect if EA/Maxis want me to buy what they selling. Economically for me the pack is not worth $19.99 at face value and may be worth $9.99 if I was in the mood to support the Sims 4. The emotions are over the place so quality takes an hit there. You only get one career that barely makes this an GP and for me it is an weak career at that but for me this is nothing new as almost every pack EA/Maxis had developed is gimped and this is not the first misstep. I would compliment if there was need to and right now there is no need to compliment. It is an under average pack for me and I am not even going to waste my time comparing to Ambitions.

It seems to me that people are using two very different criteria for evaluating the 'value' of the pack to them personally:

subjective (e.g. will I enjoy this pack's gameplay?)

objective (e.g. Am I getting value for money in this purchase? I'll compare it to EA's definition of a game pack)

Both methods are equally valid.

The problem come when there's not enough information available to use either method reliably.

Imo Carl's review was brief and a bit reductive, but the points he made were valid and relevant. He used humour to illustrate those points. You might not like that or the tone of his delivery (it being irreverent) but he's points were still valid.

My opinion is EA is using the career as game pack material for sale purposes. When the career is not qualified to be considered game pack material. From the likes and dislikes, to the not knowing which room to change, to the higher career levels being buggy and not able to be completed.

EA dropped the ball on this GP especially when the game already has requirements for needing restrooms, kitchens, etc., for some types of lots. I've never built a rental lot from the list of lots you can build but I assume that you would need to make the lot livable for sims.

The career needs to have requirements for rooms, which rooms to change, should never ask for a level to be added to an apartment lot, should not allow you to delete a wall in the wrong room and not allow you to replace it, (from James Turner's review), and should allow you to build an extra level or room if part of the job.

Carl, James, anyone that didn't praise it, could have made all the above more noticeable which likely would have affected the sales of the pack, if they wanted to. They were nice because if I had reviewed the pack, EA would still be putting out the fires. EA's putting out less qualified packs and I as a customer is noticing this.