I miss the storylines / back stories...
šš¼ š„ STORY-TELLING, MEMORIES & RELATIONSHIPS š£š¤Æ
Hey guys; sorry this is going to be a long one... Im not trying to drag The Sims team but does anyone else feel like after Sims 2; the developers have kinda dropped the ball with the storytelling element?
I know the idea behind Sims 4 is to create anything we want but Iām very much a āfamily / story-tellerā player so I thought we could share our views and maybe get our voices heard. (After all, this group is a large community of fans and Iād like to think the Maxis / Electronic arts team keep an eye on customer feedback in some way whether it be from this group, forums, social media etc) therefore I just want to open the dialogue to help illustrate what we, the fans are wanting from our Sims experience.
From my perspective the most important element Iād like to see improved in the Sims is the storytelling possibilities.
1:A - Storylines & character backgrounds; I find the Sims 4 pre-made characters extremely dull and lacklustre. They seem to have no depth to them; almost as if the develops quickly rushed through the process of making pre-made families to fill a town at the last minute.
To elaborate, itās hard not to compare them to the characters we seen in Sims 2 where we had numerous pre-developed storylines going on such as the Pleasantview Love saga which involved a range of the townās cast, the disappearance of Bella Goth, The Mysterious events in Strangetown. Although they werenāt overly complex storylines; they were still engaging and added an element of drama to our games. Weād all play out different scenarios for example, did Dina get her hands on Mortimerās fortune, did Cassandra and Don get married?
The character backstories from Sims 2 were a fundamental part of the gameplay for me - as I entered the towns; I loved reading the āgossipā and finding out about the family histories; I found it a charming aspect of Sims 2 and canāt understand why they stopped putting in as much effort with later games? I canāt imagine thereās much difficulty for the developers to sit down and discuss mini-storyline ideas or how some families could be connected and then implement them into the games?
The Sims 3 saw a few storylines although they were not as strong including the Alto/ Landgraab rivalry, the unhappy pairing of Morgana/ Thornton Wolff and the subtle implication he would cheat with Jamie. The storylines in Sims 3 were not as strong, they were still present but it took more imagination for example Kennedy had a pregnancy book in her inventory and was single suggesting possible adoption etc. I donāt feel as though they were as strong as Sims 2 but at least there was some effort to give the characters a bit of a back story.
However, in Sims 4, I found myself seriously disappointed with the pre-made characters and families. It appears no effort has gone into creating compelling characters who have an interesting past. One of the families; I attempted to play is the Pancake family but they are so dull? Their whole story is based on the fact one is a slob and one is neat? Zzzz
1:B - Memories are vital for storytelling/ progression and should be included in the base game. Not sure if weāll ever get real memories in the Sims 4 but I think another one of the reasons the storytelling is more difficult is because the characters have no āpastā; nothing to tell us what theyāve been through, what experiences theyāve had so itās harder to identify with them. I loved reading about their childhood, when their parents died and their memories growing up, I found it charming and used it to imagine their back stories and make judgements about them.
I do hope we see memories in Sims 4 soon probably from a generations-like expansion pack and I think this would greatly improve gameplay! Iād like to look back on my Sims memories and reflect on ātheir lives.ā
1:C - Relationships and Family trees arenāt as clear in the Sims 4. For example, Step-parents arenāt included as such in a Sims relationship; they may as well be Strangers? I find this odd. Also, the whole lovers, true love, soulmates I just think is confusing the way theyāve set it out. Iād like to see a more concise relationship such as relationship types exclusive, casual etc and also to see the full list of a simās family tree rather than some being hidden?
Although the Sims 4 is visually beautiful and I can accept certain things arenāt possible with this game; I just donāt understand why the developers canāt write a bio or create some interesting relationships between Sims. Surely It wouldnāt take too much time or effort?
Iām definitely one of those people who like creating my own sims and their storylines; however, I always enjoyed making my families interact with townjes and merging their lives but I find it impossible with the Sims 4 cast.
What do you guys think?
Hey guys; sorry this is going to be a long one... Im not trying to drag The Sims team but does anyone else feel like after Sims 2; the developers have kinda dropped the ball with the storytelling element?
I know the idea behind Sims 4 is to create anything we want but Iām very much a āfamily / story-tellerā player so I thought we could share our views and maybe get our voices heard. (After all, this group is a large community of fans and Iād like to think the Maxis / Electronic arts team keep an eye on customer feedback in some way whether it be from this group, forums, social media etc) therefore I just want to open the dialogue to help illustrate what we, the fans are wanting from our Sims experience.
From my perspective the most important element Iād like to see improved in the Sims is the storytelling possibilities.
1:A - Storylines & character backgrounds; I find the Sims 4 pre-made characters extremely dull and lacklustre. They seem to have no depth to them; almost as if the develops quickly rushed through the process of making pre-made families to fill a town at the last minute.
To elaborate, itās hard not to compare them to the characters we seen in Sims 2 where we had numerous pre-developed storylines going on such as the Pleasantview Love saga which involved a range of the townās cast, the disappearance of Bella Goth, The Mysterious events in Strangetown. Although they werenāt overly complex storylines; they were still engaging and added an element of drama to our games. Weād all play out different scenarios for example, did Dina get her hands on Mortimerās fortune, did Cassandra and Don get married?
The character backstories from Sims 2 were a fundamental part of the gameplay for me - as I entered the towns; I loved reading the āgossipā and finding out about the family histories; I found it a charming aspect of Sims 2 and canāt understand why they stopped putting in as much effort with later games? I canāt imagine thereās much difficulty for the developers to sit down and discuss mini-storyline ideas or how some families could be connected and then implement them into the games?
The Sims 3 saw a few storylines although they were not as strong including the Alto/ Landgraab rivalry, the unhappy pairing of Morgana/ Thornton Wolff and the subtle implication he would cheat with Jamie. The storylines in Sims 3 were not as strong, they were still present but it took more imagination for example Kennedy had a pregnancy book in her inventory and was single suggesting possible adoption etc. I donāt feel as though they were as strong as Sims 2 but at least there was some effort to give the characters a bit of a back story.
However, in Sims 4, I found myself seriously disappointed with the pre-made characters and families. It appears no effort has gone into creating compelling characters who have an interesting past. One of the families; I attempted to play is the Pancake family but they are so dull? Their whole story is based on the fact one is a slob and one is neat? Zzzz
1:B - Memories are vital for storytelling/ progression and should be included in the base game. Not sure if weāll ever get real memories in the Sims 4 but I think another one of the reasons the storytelling is more difficult is because the characters have no āpastā; nothing to tell us what theyāve been through, what experiences theyāve had so itās harder to identify with them. I loved reading about their childhood, when their parents died and their memories growing up, I found it charming and used it to imagine their back stories and make judgements about them.
I do hope we see memories in Sims 4 soon probably from a generations-like expansion pack and I think this would greatly improve gameplay! Iād like to look back on my Sims memories and reflect on ātheir lives.ā
1:C - Relationships and Family trees arenāt as clear in the Sims 4. For example, Step-parents arenāt included as such in a Sims relationship; they may as well be Strangers? I find this odd. Also, the whole lovers, true love, soulmates I just think is confusing the way theyāve set it out. Iād like to see a more concise relationship such as relationship types exclusive, casual etc and also to see the full list of a simās family tree rather than some being hidden?
Although the Sims 4 is visually beautiful and I can accept certain things arenāt possible with this game; I just donāt understand why the developers canāt write a bio or create some interesting relationships between Sims. Surely It wouldnāt take too much time or effort?
Iām definitely one of those people who like creating my own sims and their storylines; however, I always enjoyed making my families interact with townjes and merging their lives but I find it impossible with the Sims 4 cast.
What do you guys think?
