Lack of Long-term gameplay in TS4

"SimAlexandria;c-17560157" wrote:

"drake_mccarty;c-17560147" wrote:

"SimAlexandria;c-17560137" wrote:

"drake_mccarty;c-17560126" wrote:

"SimAlexandria;c-17560105" wrote:

"Duvelina;c-17560097" wrote:
Even if there was no chemistry, you could still match sims up though. It was just harder because they were incompatible. I don't think that's unrealistic either.

You could... BUT my particular stories (which I prewrite) called for it to not be hard and a quick connection. But anyways, it didn't work with my stories. I don't wnat any challenges in my game, my play style is easy, fun and relaxing with everyone happy 100% of the time and telling prewritten stories. Plus, SIms 2's UI (ugh with the horrible blue and cluttered loading screens)make it unenjoyable now too haha. Great animations, but just can't enjoy it anymore.)

For me, Sims 4 is better in terms of long term play because I don't get bored of it, SIms 1-3 I get bored quick so can't play them long term.

So the answer to the question is basically Yes, Sims 4 is good in terms of long term play... but not for everyone. Depends on play style.

I wouldn’t call game mechanics and simulation a challenge, because that’s not what made any of those games challenging. They were just simulation games, the outcomes to your actions and your choices were the main appeal and eliminating that has led to where we are now. A subset of players who are unhappy with the game being stripped of it’s identity, and a subset of players happy that it was. EA messed up because they could have easily made a spin off game that catered to storytellers using the same engine, same designs, etc. Instead they forced their players to accept a different kind of game, and when they didn’t they got new players.

If there is a Sims 5 they should focus on making a good simulation game first. They can turn off the AI and leave it a blank slate for players who want that, but making a blank slate and expecting everyone to settle has not been healthy for the community.

Those of us happy with it think EA improved upon it, not messed up. They didn't force anyone to accept a different kind of game because no one is forced to play the new game. They have different games, different styles, and people can play whichever they like best but no one is being forced into anything.

But Honestly Sims 5 isn't the question here. The thread is about the long term play of Sims 4. And the answer stands the same. Yes, it's great for long term play, but not for everyone. For some it is, for some it isn't, depending on how they play.

For a player such as myself, it's so great for long term play that there's probably not going to be any point in buying Sims 5 anyways since I'll be playing Sims 4 for another decade or two haha. So whatever the focus of Sims 5 is, it won't affect me.

I’m not here to debate, but Maxis didn’t spend all that time pre-release goading players into preordering and purchasing the game for nothing. Grant was pretty black and white about it, if no one buys this game there won’t be another one. His exact words. Well Sims 4 came super close to failure until EA put it on a constant discount and upped the Internet ads associated with it. So I’m glad you are happy with it, but they stripped the game of it’s identity and then had to discount it to get it to make money. So yes they did mess up. Now that they’ve brought on tons of new players who are content they may feel differently, but the actions of the studio prior to and immediately following release should make it obvious there were issues with the game being brought up by a significant number of players who were not happy with what they were seeing, hearing, or experiencing once it came out.

The fact that 6 years later people are still around complaining about the same things should also tell you Maxis messed up in making all sorts of damage control promises they never intended on keeping.

People complaining doesn't tell me that EA messed up. They are a business with a game that has made a lot of money, I fail to see a screwup anywhere. People complaining tells me that not everyone likes the same thing (common sense and to be expected with every game in existance). And sense, as a general rule, complainers usually tend to be the very loud vocal minority, it tells me there are a LOT of people playing this game silently that like it too. But anyways, that's completely off topic.

I'll repeat. Sims 4 has a lot of great long-term game play for some people, but not for everyone. And that's okay.

The silent majority is a fallacy argument. Silence =/= happiness or discontent. If someone isn’t offering an opinion, one shouldn’t be assumed. That is one of the fundamental issues the community managers have had this go around, and they have embraced that flawed argument and encouraged it’s use in that specific context.

I’m in no position to say a majority of players are unhappy with the game. The facts however can’t be refuted, and the facts are that this game was largely unsuccessful for the first couple years following it’s release and that’s not because happy people were silently playing and spending lots of money. It wasn’t successful by today’s standards until EA started pushing a free trial, a permanent mark down, and a steady cycle of discounts for the base game + DLC. I could go into a huge long paragraph as to why this happened, how it was predictable, and how they could have gotten in front of it before it exploded, but I’ll condense it to: they stripped the game of it’s identity. It’s the easiest way to get the point across, even the developers continuously refer to Sims 4 as a different Sims game. So I’m not sure contradicting the developers is a good argument to use in this case.

It’s great you find long term play in this game, but your experience is yours. It’s exclusive to you. Just how my experience is exclusive to me.