Discussion on recent SimGuru statements on Twitter

Personally, I think she acted with complete professionalism and took responsibility. Regardless of who actually approved the project, she shielded her team from the harassment, as evidenced by the multiple threads attacking her. To me, that’s honorable. I legitimately do not understand people calling for her resignation/termination or saying that she acted inappropriately. It makes me question what professions these people have worked in—if everyone that made a poor decision or a genuine mistake no longer had a job, I doubt very much that anyone would.

I do not like the idea of the pack. I doubt that I will like its execution. However, it is a concept that does appeal to some players.

I’m less looking for new and innovative content and more for a revamp that will give sims personalities that actually cause them to behave in different ways based on their traits. I don’t know much about game design, but it seems as if emotions have totally overridden traits to the detriment of creating unique individuals. This makes it fundamentally difficult to create the stories that players might want to tell.

"username3645937;c-17639824" wrote:
I dont like this pack, ive said that already here. But the way people discuss and put down the gurus/devs is disturbing to me.Seriously, at the end of the day i think simmers are WAYYYY too intense about this stuff. Its just a game. Some themes youll like and some you wont. That doesnt mean they arent working on anything else :|

Exactly. It's rumored that cars will be added via patch within the next 7 months and that better babies are also being worked on. They're also working on skin tones. So clearly, they do listen to feedback but everybody gets so tense when a pack isn't exactly what they want. Just ignore the themes you dislike and wait for the ones you like.

"So_Money;c-17639902" wrote:

"OEII1001;c-17639862" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17639853" wrote:

"OEII1001;c-17639848" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17639845" wrote:

"OEII1001;c-17639829" wrote:

"So_Money;c-17639820" wrote:

"OEII1001;c-17639748" wrote:

"Simpatsyann;c-17639729" wrote:
I thought she was completely professional. She’s the Executive Producer, not a community manager.

I thought that her response was textbook perfect. She stated that she understood their position, and then explained her position. One does not have to agree with her position, but her conduct was neither unprofessional or condescending.

I think that’s what bugs me about it. It’s like they’re reading answers from a How to Deal with Customers 101 textbook. It’s a bog-standard tactic to placate the other side, but under the surface I don’t believe they care about the other side’s feedback.

If they do, you say they're talking down to you. If they don't you say they're unprofessional. It seems like a carnival game where you lose no matter what.

I’d rather they didn’t engage at all. Or at least own their decisions in a way that says, “We’re going to do what we think is best." At least that way they’re not stringing people along for years.

And if they don't engage at all then they're "ignoring the player base". It's set up so that you guys have a grievance no matter what.

You certainly wouldn’t hear me saying that. And they’re already ignoring the player base. They’re just doing it while keeping people sweet with promises and understanding. Meanwhile they do whatever they please. What’s the difference?

They haven't made any promises. They didn't make a promise about toddlers, vampires, weather, etc. In fact, they've been very good about not sending those sorts of messages. But that hasn't stopped you all from inserting subtext into everything. That's where all of this comes from. You can see it right here. The forums are all aflame with people saying that she said things she didn't, that she was being unprofessional when she wasn't, and that her tone was condescending when that wasn't the case. What's more, you're calling it "useful feedback".

This is the sort of thing that I'm referring to when I say that this community has a corrosive effect on the soul. You're not listening, you're reacting, and you're railing against things that weren't said and promises that were never made. And the community thinks that it is righteous for doing so. It's cool if you're not into The Sims 4, but it isn't cool to argue against things that never were. That's not fair.

https://twitter.com/SimGuruLyndsay/status/1300841632489639936?s=20
Right here in this tweet she promises the community that feedback is being taken into account. Plain as day.

Okay. So they probably are taking feedback into account, right? We don't know what they're working on behind the scenes. Only time can prove that, because we already know they can only say so much and nothing about future content.

"username3645937;c-17639824" wrote:
I dont like this pack, ive said that already here. But the way people discuss and put down the gurus/devs is disturbing to me.Seriously, at the end of the day i think simmers are WAYYYY too intense about this stuff. Its just a game. Some themes youll like and some you wont. That doesnt mean they arent working on anything else :|

Did you ever wonder why Will Wright asked people to leave his office when they came to him with ideas for The Sims?

Did you ever wonder why The Sims was so successful? Because it wasn't an adventure game, nor a safe space, nor a trend simulator nor a story driven/rpg. Did you ever wonder why The Sims had so many hardships and things in it that those Sims had to deal with and over come? Because he believed the down side of life and failstates were much more interesting than all those things TS4 is about, such as a trend simulator, adventure simulator and or a safe space. No one can even say what TS4 is supposed to be, six years ago it was a soap opera according to Rachel Franklin. Who knows what it is supposed to be tomorrow. But my opinion? It's a slap happy, all over the place, nonsensical soapbox that floats between what they want to play in a game and what they want to convey to young minds in a game, rather than a satire of a life simulator. I will say this, it seems Lyndsay has forgotten what they used to build, maybe they don't want to build life simulators anymore. What I don't see is a life simulator so she is right about that, it is all the stuff she claims, and it's not The Sims, because she has forgotten the Sim.

"Cinebar;c-17640761" wrote:

"username3645937;c-17639824" wrote:
I dont like this pack, ive said that already here. But the way people discuss and put down the gurus/devs is disturbing to me.Seriously, at the end of the day i think simmers are WAYYYY too intense about this stuff. Its just a game. Some themes youll like and some you wont. That doesnt mean they arent working on anything else :|

Did you ever wonder why Will Wright asked people to leave his office when they came to him with ideas for The Sims? Did you ever wonder why The Sims was so successful? Because it wasn't an adventure game, nor a safe space, nor a trend simulator nor a story driven/rpg. Did you ever wonder why The Sims had so many hardships and things in it that those Sims had to deal with and over come? Because he believed the down side of life and failstates were much more interesting than all those things TS4 is about, such as a trend simulator, adventure simulator and or a safe space. No one can even say what TS4 is supposed to be, six years ago it was a soap opera according to Rachel Franklin. Who knows what it is supposed to be tomorrow. But my opinion? It's a slap happy, all over the place, nonsensical soapbox that floats between what they want to play in a game and what they want to convey to young minds in a game, rather than a satire of a life simulator.

EXACTLY! ? Say it louder for the people in the back!

Will Wright had a vision, he knew what he wanted his game to be and it stuck to that vision.

Sims 4 wants to be a safe space where we can all learn and grow, a safe space from bullies. (Community manager’s words not mine) a game about drama, a representation game where we can all make ourselves live our best lives and now it wants to be a very poor RPG lite.

This is the problem. Sims 4 can’t be jack of all trades. It’s not working.

"username3645937;c-17640728" wrote:

"Finbar659;c-17640722" wrote:

"Sindocat;c-17640569" wrote:
When a "fan" community becomes toxic and hateful, a responsible Executive Producer will take as much responsibility as she can for her studio, to shield her creatives from the kind of atrocious attention that has become all too common toward game designers. This is a courageous stand, and a generous one - even if she has staffers to screen her mail and social media - and I applaud her for it. She is Executive Producer. The buck stops with her.

Don't like the pack? Fine. Don't buy it. Play something else.

Hateful conspiracy theories and badmouthing developers? Uncalled for.

And we won't buy it <3

The issue is that why the game isn't being created like previous game in depth. It's lacking terribly.

That's not hate. That's just a negative feedback.

It's odd if you have to describe to her as some sort of hero. Like what if she was telling the truth? What if she is responsible? We don't fully know what's happening behind that office.

To be fair and tell the entire story , everyone knew before sims 4 was released that there werent any toddlers and a lot of things from Sims 3 had been removed. The time to "not buy" the game , was back in 2014 :|

No, Ryan and Rachel came out and promised they were going to make all our dreams come true, and hinted at, conveyed, implied they would add toddlers, pools, ghosts, etc. etc. if we would just go ahead and stick with them and buy the base game. And promised, conveyed, implied they would not charge extra but patch the game with those things. Some of us waited to see if they lived up to those boasts and bought the game after they added ghosts and pools etc. We waited forever (three years) to see the toddlers. But after that, any more implying this or that would come later, was no longer believed after we saw how much they don't intend to improve on traits and or personality or life simulation. If we look at the game compared to the others how is EL, JA, SV, SW, IL, or any other pack actually life simulation? We expect a few packs about other life states, and people can buy those or skip them but we do expect a life simulator 99%. I'm not here to buy a trend simulator, or a safespace, nor a adventure simulator or any other type genre. Period. The first 'life simulator' of The Sims not to have a graveyard. The first not to have cars other than imaginary FX, the first not to have reasons to like another Sim, (even TS1 had a small attraction system based on interests). All these years spent on other genres and trends to make us buy another product or believe in some cause they care about. Time wasted in my opinion. But their purses are full and running over, so it's clear no one who is buying really cares about a life simulator but enjoys a trend simulator and or an adventure simulator over a life simulator.

Remember there are minorities in every society and community.
If minorities aren’t listened to or treated well in society it’s called discrimination.
If minorities in a gaming community get something they asked for or are excited about, they are called ‘NOBODY’ by the majority. As in: ‘NOBODY asked for this.’

Lyndsay responded well.
Sure we could argue that the timing of this pack is rather unfortunate, considering the pile of bugs that are still present in game.
But this could be said for any pack.
If this was a winter holiday, wedding or farming GP, the majority would be over the moon, conveniently forgetting about all the bugfixes or lack of a personality system. Except for the die hard complainers. They don’t play the game anymore and yet they’re the loudest. I’ve seen them all over the forum except for the ideas corner. ‘Because it doesn’t matter anyway, they don’t listen to us’.

Give it a rest. This pack will sell. It’s a theme a minority asked for. A minority of the overall 20 million players. It’s a $20 GP for crying out loud. Don’t look at it, if it hurts your eyes.

You’ll get your skin tones, however I can almost guarantee that not everybody is going to be happy with those either, unless they change the CAS tools.
Maybe we get babies and cars. Not everybody will be happy with those.
Maybe we get better personalities. Not everybody will be happy with those.
What happened to the lack of swimmable oceans? I haven’t heard anyone nag about that for a long time.
I still want my dive lots and my create a world tool and cars.
Anyway, the list goes on.

Unfortunately the Sims 4 is not going to be the Sims 1,2 or 3. It never was and it never will be.
Maybe those of you who are constantly upset about it, just have to come to terms that The Sims 4, possibly the most experimental title in the franchise, is just not for you. You should know after 6 years.

Right now, a minority is happy to get this pack. Believe it or not. I know, crazy right?

So please stop saying the pack should be cancelled or the executive producer should be replaced. What a lot of nonsense. Take a breath of fresh air instead. It’s a great day.

"username3645937;c-17640728" wrote:

"Finbar659;c-17640722" wrote:

"Sindocat;c-17640569" wrote:
When a "fan" community becomes toxic and hateful, a responsible Executive Producer will take as much responsibility as she can for her studio, to shield her creatives from the kind of atrocious attention that has become all too common toward game designers. This is a courageous stand, and a generous one - even if she has staffers to screen her mail and social media - and I applaud her for it. She is Executive Producer. The buck stops with her.

Don't like the pack? Fine. Don't buy it. Play something else.

Hateful conspiracy theories and badmouthing developers? Uncalled for.

And we won't buy it <3

The issue is that why the game isn't being created like previous game in depth. It's lacking terribly.

That's not hate. That's just a negative feedback.

It's odd if you have to describe to her as some sort of hero. Like what if she was telling the truth? What if she is responsible? We don't fully know what's happening behind that office.

To be fair and tell the entire story , everyone knew before sims 4 was released that there werent any toddlers and a lot of things from Sims 3 had been removed. The time to "not buy" the game , was back in 2014 :|

"Don't buy it" doesn't cover the excuse on why the features were stripped from a brand new "successor" of The Sims 3

"username3645937;c-17640829" wrote:

"Finbar659;c-17640826" wrote:

"username3645937;c-17640728" wrote:

"Finbar659;c-17640722" wrote:

"Sindocat;c-17640569" wrote:
When a "fan" community becomes toxic and hateful, a responsible Executive Producer will take as much responsibility as she can for her studio, to shield her creatives from the kind of atrocious attention that has become all too common toward game designers. This is a courageous stand, and a generous one - even if she has staffers to screen her mail and social media - and I applaud her for it. She is Executive Producer. The buck stops with her.

Don't like the pack? Fine. Don't buy it. Play something else.

Hateful conspiracy theories and badmouthing developers? Uncalled for.

And we won't buy it <3

The issue is that why the game isn't being created like previous game in depth. It's lacking terribly.

That's not hate. That's just a negative feedback.

It's odd if you have to describe to her as some sort of hero. Like what if she was telling the truth? What if she is responsible? We don't fully know what's happening behind that office.

To be fair and tell the entire story , everyone knew before sims 4 was released that there werent any toddlers and a lot of things from Sims 3 had been removed. The time to "not buy" the game , was back in 2014 :|

"Don't buy it" doesn't cover the excuse on why the features were stripped from a brand new "successor" of The Sims 3

It covers not buying games that you don’t support . It also would have made more sense for certain players to have skipped sims 4 entirely . Again, not every game is for everybody.

I am allowed to support the sims franchise that I am rooting for?

I am allowed to give feedback even if I don't support or even own certain packs even if it is Star Wars.

"username3645937;c-17640829" wrote:

"Finbar659;c-17640826" wrote:

"username3645937;c-17640728" wrote:

"Finbar659;c-17640722" wrote:

"Sindocat;c-17640569" wrote:
When a "fan" community becomes toxic and hateful, a responsible Executive Producer will take as much responsibility as she can for her studio, to shield her creatives from the kind of atrocious attention that has become all too common toward game designers. This is a courageous stand, and a generous one - even if she has staffers to screen her mail and social media - and I applaud her for it. She is Executive Producer. The buck stops with her.

Don't like the pack? Fine. Don't buy it. Play something else.

Hateful conspiracy theories and badmouthing developers? Uncalled for.

And we won't buy it <3

The issue is that why the game isn't being created like previous game in depth. It's lacking terribly.

That's not hate. That's just a negative feedback.

It's odd if you have to describe to her as some sort of hero. Like what if she was telling the truth? What if she is responsible? We don't fully know what's happening behind that office.

To be fair and tell the entire story , everyone knew before sims 4 was released that there werent any toddlers and a lot of things from Sims 3 had been removed. The time to "not buy" the game , was back in 2014 :|

"Don't buy it" doesn't cover the excuse on why the features were stripped from a brand new "successor" of The Sims 3

It covers not buying games that you don’t support . It also would have made more sense for certain players to have skipped sims 4 entirely . Again, not every game is for everybody.

Why would anyone NOT want to support Sims 4 in 2014? The developers were literally promising the moon so people would buy it, promising they would right their wrongs. They deceived people, and 6 years later you gloss over that to ask why people supported such a problematic game. Maxis literally tried hard to sell this game to Sims 3 players even going as far as telling us a substitution for CASt was in the works. It’s been 6 years, where is that? Maxis has earned every bit of backlash they are getting. The past is catching up to them whether they want to acknowledge their role or not.