Forum Discussion
125 Replies
- Beardedgeek725 years agoSeasoned AceIf Spellcasters would be open in all worlds I would have to uninstall the pack; I want as little supernatural stuff in my regular play as possible (to the point that I wish you could block ghosts from existing at all).
Edit:
I really want toggles. But I want toggles for a lot of things, like official toggles for bar nights (I really don't get why even bother with "alien disguises" when every thursday in game you have 15 aliens openly going to a bar?)
As for Vampires; there was a lot of backlash, and I get that because Vampires have some of the absolutely best CAS and BUILD items in the entire game.
Also, it is one of the few supernaturals I DO like since they are so very well fleshed out (and also I admit I like vampires. Proper vampires, not the whatever Twilight is). - LiELF5 years agoLegendI believe the reason they are not using too many toggles is because it causes instability in the game. I'm pretty sure that's what I read from one of the devs. When you think about what toggles actually do, they change the course of the game. The more toggles you have, the more game shifts and combination of possibilities need to be considered, and the game needs to be programmed for it. When you have people trying out features and then toggling them off, the game makes that shift and it surely affects a bunch of game code. With everything else going on in a Sims game and the more heavy weight of packs, you start risking more issues and bugs as it is. Adding too many toggles most likely becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
If you look at how heavy Sims 3 became in only a few years, and how many crashing, freezing and corruption issues it had, it's an example of what can go wrong when you try to do too much, too fast, with too many possibilities.
So I think they've been reserving the toggles for more major and important features, to use sparingly, which is why the main Occults come in separate packs to begin with. - Beardedgeek725 years agoSeasoned Ace
"CelSims;c-17775281" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775249" wrote:
I believe the reason they are not using too many toggles is because it causes instability in the game. I'm pretty sure that's what I read from one of the devs. When you think about what toggles actually do, they change the course of the game. The more toggles you have, the more game shifts and combination of possibilities need to be considered, and the game needs to be programmed for it. When you have people trying out features and then toggling them off, the game makes that shift and it surely affects a bunch of game code. With everything else going on in a Sims game and the more heavy weight of packs, you start risking more issues and bugs as it is. Adding too many toggles most likely becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
If you look at how heavy Sims 3 became in only a few years, and how many crashing, freezing and corruption issues it had, it's an example of what can go wrong when you try to do too much, too fast, with too many possibilities.
So I think they've been reserving the toggles for more major and important features, to use sparingly, which is why the main Occults come in separate packs to begin with.
Thing is though LiELF, they said it's because of instability and then go and introduce toggles for N.A.P.s, eco footprint and thundersnow. I was prepared to accept the instability argument right up to the point they made it clear through their actions that instability only counts when it comes to supernatural players, but we sure can use them for every thing else.
'Major and more important features'. Eco footprint and NAPS certainly are major features. Is it important to turn off realism in a pack for realism though? More important than allowing occult players to actually play with occults? I would argue it's more important to allow players who want a specific theme to be able to play that theme without nerfs.
To be cynical I think it's a cost / benefit situation: If it is easier to handle the instability of a toggle than to try to patch buggy behavior like NAPs going haywire or 300 Sims freezing to death then they chose a toggle. Because it brings less work than trying to get unbalanced things they have unleashed under control. - LiELF5 years agoLegend
"CelSims;c-17775281" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775249" wrote:
I believe the reason they are not using too many toggles is because it causes instability in the game. I'm pretty sure that's what I read from one of the devs. When you think about what toggles actually do, they change the course of the game. The more toggles you have, the more game shifts and combination of possibilities need to be considered, and the game needs to be programmed for it. When you have people trying out features and then toggling them off, the game makes that shift and it surely affects a bunch of game code. With everything else going on in a Sims game and the more heavy weight of packs, you start risking more issues and bugs as it is. Adding too many toggles most likely becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
If you look at how heavy Sims 3 became in only a few years, and how many crashing, freezing and corruption issues it had, it's an example of what can go wrong when you try to do too much, too fast, with too many possibilities.
So I think they've been reserving the toggles for more major and important features, to use sparingly, which is why the main Occults come in separate packs to begin with.
Thing is though LiELF, they said it's because of instability and then go and introduce toggles for N.A.P.s, eco footprint and thundersnow. I was prepared to accept the instability argument right up to the point they made it clear through their actions that instability only counts when it comes to supernatural players, but we sure can use them for every thing else.
'Major and more important features'. Eco footprint and NAPS certainly are major features. Is it important to turn off realism in a pack for realism though? More important than allowing occult players to actually play with occults? I would argue it's more important to allow players who want a specific theme to be able to play that theme without nerfs.
Yeah, I think they felt they had to gauge how big and invasive a feature is, what it affects, and what the possibilities are. In the Vampires pack, they included garlic to ward off Vampires, so there was already a work-around in place, which is why it's complete nonsense to nerf them in the first place. Ninja had said that they specifically chose to put Vampires in a separate pack so that those who didn't want them could skip the pack. That was the original intent. To create an immersive Vampire experience for those who wanted it.
In the larger packs, if we look at the scale of how toggled features affect things, we see that certain weather has potential to cause multiple deaths in one swoop, so it has a toggle. The Eco pack has two toggles (which I use myself) because the environment and the Naps completely change entire neighborhoods of behavior on a worldwide scale, so that has a toggle. In get Famous, the entire Fame system is turned off because one single famous Sim causes a lot of disruption and can't even be properly interacted with. (This one I think was more of a design flaw and probably a waste of a toggle because it could have worked differently. Probably came from the Sims 3 celebrity complaints.) Now that I think about it, it seems toggles are only used in EPs. Maybe budget is also a factor, which kind of makes sense.
I personally like the way Occults were handled with Mermaids, similar to Sims 2 where the player can "activate" them by seeking them out and that "outs" them in the game. It seems like a good middle ground for everyone. Better than banishing Spellcasters to the magic realm. ?
In the end, with Vampires, I saw a complaint once (I think on Twitter) that I think was the real cause of the nerf, because someone overdramatically compared the break-ins to a certain horrible, criminal act in real life, and after that, Vampires seem to just show up at the door and do nothing. - LiELF5 years agoLegend
"CelSims;c-17775321" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775304" wrote:
"CelSims;c-17775281" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775249" wrote:
I believe the reason they are not using too many toggles is because it causes instability in the game. I'm pretty sure that's what I read from one of the devs. When you think about what toggles actually do, they change the course of the game. The more toggles you have, the more game shifts and combination of possibilities need to be considered, and the game needs to be programmed for it. When you have people trying out features and then toggling them off, the game makes that shift and it surely affects a bunch of game code. With everything else going on in a Sims game and the more heavy weight of packs, you start risking more issues and bugs as it is. Adding too many toggles most likely becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
If you look at how heavy Sims 3 became in only a few years, and how many crashing, freezing and corruption issues it had, it's an example of what can go wrong when you try to do too much, too fast, with too many possibilities.
So I think they've been reserving the toggles for more major and important features, to use sparingly, which is why the main Occults come in separate packs to begin with.
Thing is though LiELF, they said it's because of instability and then go and introduce toggles for N.A.P.s, eco footprint and thundersnow. I was prepared to accept the instability argument right up to the point they made it clear through their actions that instability only counts when it comes to supernatural players, but we sure can use them for every thing else.
'Major and more important features'. Eco footprint and NAPS certainly are major features. Is it important to turn off realism in a pack for realism though? More important than allowing occult players to actually play with occults? I would argue it's more important to allow players who want a specific theme to be able to play that theme without nerfs.
Yeah, I think they felt they had to gauge how big and invasive a feature is, what it affects, and what the possibilities are. In the Vampires pack, they included garlic to ward off Vampires, so there was already a work-around in place, which is why it's complete nonsense to nerf them in the first place. Ninja had said that they specifically chose to put Vampires in a separate pack so that those who didn't want them could skip the pack. That was the original intent. To create an immersive Vampire experience for those who wanted it.
In the larger packs, if we look at the scale of how toggled features affect things, we see that certain weather has potential to cause multiple deaths in one swoop, so it has a toggle. The Eco pack has two toggles (which I use myself) because the environment and the Naps completely change entire neighborhoods of behavior on a worldwide scale, so that has a toggle. In get Famous, the entire Fame system is turned off because one single famous Sim causes a lot of disruption and can't even be properly interacted with. (This one I think was more of a design flaw and probably a waste of a toggle because it could have worked differently. Probably came from the Sims 3 celebrity complaints.) Now that I think about it, it seems toggles are only used in EPs. Maybe budget is also a factor, which kind of makes sense.
I personally like the way Occults were handled with Mermaids, similar to Sims 2 where the player can "activate" them by seeking them out and that "outs" them in the game. It seems like a good middle ground for everyone. Better than banishing Spellcasters to the magic realm. ?
In the end, with Vampires, I saw a complaint once (I think on Twitter) that I think was the real cause of the nerf, because someone overdramatically compared the break-ins to a certain horrible, criminal act in real life, and after that, Vampires seem to just show up at the door and do nothing.
Of all the ways to turn things off, my preference has been Laundry Day. If you don't want laundry, simply don't add the items required. Maybe if garlic had been simply buy a garlic braid from build/buy and have one some where on the lot to prevent vampires spawning, that would have been less inconvenient for people? Though now we have the No Trespassing option they need to unnerf them imo. Or add a RoM item to enable using spells, like a wand case or some thing.
Definitely. Turn those Occults back up to eleven! Let them reign! - sallycutecat5 years agoRising Ace
"Onverser;c-17775220" wrote:
Also on the topic of s3 supernatural features that should return can they also let us change a sim into an occult in CAS again. It's very annoying how there's no way of turning a sim into an occult without going into game or creating a whole new sim.
Yes, the number of times I have gone in to CAS edited that first Sim to what I want them to look like, even planned their outfits, then when I go to make their merform, realise they're not a mermaid, and can not just change them into one. There should be a way to make them an occult, and turn them into a regular Sim too, in CAS. Then if we change our mind while making a Sim we can just make that change. If that's going to cause performance issues though, they could at least give us a copy to occult button so we don't have to make that Sim again. - I only just started playing the Sims (Sims 4 is my first unless you want to count freeplay) in December of 2018, so I wasn't around during the vampire nerf, and only just found out about it a few days ago. I've always wondered why I wasn't getting vampire break-ins when I read about them, but well that explains it all. And I only started following the pack release schedules and checking twitter and what not this past November
So since this is the first time I've seen reactions regarding an occult themed pack, this is the first time I can really give an opinion on the issue.
The way I've seen "realistic" players both on here and especially twitter react to this new up and coming pack (a stuff pack mind you) almost makes me want to start acting the way they do. I tend to be a quiet person who shrinks into the shadows during drama. If I don't like something, i'll ignore it. But considering the realism players are to blame for the only occults we have being so limited: well, it's starting to make me mad and I'm about ready to lash out and start acting like they do just to give them a taste of their own medicine.
I mean I'm not against their desire for a generations pack or farming (although I'd like to see it be more than just that) but after knowing that they're the reason vampires were nerfed, that spellcasters are tied to the magic realm and mermaids are so limited: part of me is hoping they miss out on something they really want. Or that a bunch of us occult players complain to the devs and get one of their features nerfed. Just to see how they like it.
I know it's petty, but this situation is starting to make me feel petty. If it comes down to choosing a team, I've already decided #TeamOccult.
If we can somehow convince the devs to reverse the damage done to vampires and spellcasters and mermaids, then maybe I can start being open minded again. I don't want to act petty, I really don't but the fact that realistic players did this to occults already and are constantly complaining whenever we get the tiniest bit of gameplay involving them needs to taken care of. - atreya335 years agoLegend
"CelSims;c-17775321" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775304" wrote:
"CelSims;c-17775281" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775249" wrote:
I believe the reason they are not using too many toggles is because it causes instability in the game. I'm pretty sure that's what I read from one of the devs. When you think about what toggles actually do, they change the course of the game. The more toggles you have, the more game shifts and combination of possibilities need to be considered, and the game needs to be programmed for it. When you have people trying out features and then toggling them off, the game makes that shift and it surely affects a bunch of game code. With everything else going on in a Sims game and the more heavy weight of packs, you start risking more issues and bugs as it is. Adding too many toggles most likely becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
If you look at how heavy Sims 3 became in only a few years, and how many crashing, freezing and corruption issues it had, it's an example of what can go wrong when you try to do too much, too fast, with too many possibilities.
So I think they've been reserving the toggles for more major and important features, to use sparingly, which is why the main Occults come in separate packs to begin with.
Thing is though LiELF, they said it's because of instability and then go and introduce toggles for N.A.P.s, eco footprint and thundersnow. I was prepared to accept the instability argument right up to the point they made it clear through their actions that instability only counts when it comes to supernatural players, but we sure can use them for every thing else.
'Major and more important features'. Eco footprint and NAPS certainly are major features. Is it important to turn off realism in a pack for realism though? More important than allowing occult players to actually play with occults? I would argue it's more important to allow players who want a specific theme to be able to play that theme without nerfs.
Yeah, I think they felt they had to gauge how big and invasive a feature is, what it affects, and what the possibilities are. In the Vampires pack, they included garlic to ward off Vampires, so there was already a work-around in place, which is why it's complete nonsense to nerf them in the first place. Ninja had said that they specifically chose to put Vampires in a separate pack so that those who didn't want them could skip the pack. That was the original intent. To create an immersive Vampire experience for those who wanted it.
In the larger packs, if we look at the scale of how toggled features affect things, we see that certain weather has potential to cause multiple deaths in one swoop, so it has a toggle. The Eco pack has two toggles (which I use myself) because the environment and the Naps completely change entire neighborhoods of behavior on a worldwide scale, so that has a toggle. In get Famous, the entire Fame system is turned off because one single famous Sim causes a lot of disruption and can't even be properly interacted with. (This one I think was more of a design flaw and probably a waste of a toggle because it could have worked differently. Probably came from the Sims 3 celebrity complaints.) Now that I think about it, it seems toggles are only used in EPs. Maybe budget is also a factor, which kind of makes sense.
I personally like the way Occults were handled with Mermaids, similar to Sims 2 where the player can "activate" them by seeking them out and that "outs" them in the game. It seems like a good middle ground for everyone. Better than banishing Spellcasters to the magic realm. ?
In the end, with Vampires, I saw a complaint once (I think on Twitter) that I think was the real cause of the nerf, because someone overdramatically compared the break-ins to a certain horrible, criminal act in real life, and after that, Vampires seem to just show up at the door and do nothing.
Of all the ways to turn things off, my preference has been Laundry Day. If you don't want laundry, simply don't add the items required. Maybe if garlic had been simply buy a garlic braid from build/buy and have one some where on the lot to prevent vampires spawning, that would have been less inconvenient for people? Though now we have the No Trespassing option they need to unnerf them imo. Or add a RoM item to enable using spells, like a wand case or some thing.
I totally agree. The way laundry is handled is very simple yet effective. If only we had something similar to allow spontaneous use of magic. "CelSims;c-17775321" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775304" wrote:
"CelSims;c-17775281" wrote:
"LiELF;c-17775249" wrote:
I believe the reason they are not using too many toggles is because it causes instability in the game. I'm pretty sure that's what I read from one of the devs. When you think about what toggles actually do, they change the course of the game. The more toggles you have, the more game shifts and combination of possibilities need to be considered, and the game needs to be programmed for it. When you have people trying out features and then toggling them off, the game makes that shift and it surely affects a bunch of game code. With everything else going on in a Sims game and the more heavy weight of packs, you start risking more issues and bugs as it is. Adding too many toggles most likely becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back, so to speak.
If you look at how heavy Sims 3 became in only a few years, and how many crashing, freezing and corruption issues it had, it's an example of what can go wrong when you try to do too much, too fast, with too many possibilities.
So I think they've been reserving the toggles for more major and important features, to use sparingly, which is why the main Occults come in separate packs to begin with.
Thing is though LiELF, they said it's because of instability and then go and introduce toggles for N.A.P.s, eco footprint and thundersnow. I was prepared to accept the instability argument right up to the point they made it clear through their actions that instability only counts when it comes to supernatural players, but we sure can use them for every thing else.
'Major and more important features'. Eco footprint and NAPS certainly are major features. Is it important to turn off realism in a pack for realism though? More important than allowing occult players to actually play with occults? I would argue it's more important to allow players who want a specific theme to be able to play that theme without nerfs.
Yeah, I think they felt they had to gauge how big and invasive a feature is, what it affects, and what the possibilities are. In the Vampires pack, they included garlic to ward off Vampires, so there was already a work-around in place, which is why it's complete nonsense to nerf them in the first place. Ninja had said that they specifically chose to put Vampires in a separate pack so that those who didn't want them could skip the pack. That was the original intent. To create an immersive Vampire experience for those who wanted it.
In the larger packs, if we look at the scale of how toggled features affect things, we see that certain weather has potential to cause multiple deaths in one swoop, so it has a toggle. The Eco pack has two toggles (which I use myself) because the environment and the Naps completely change entire neighborhoods of behavior on a worldwide scale, so that has a toggle. In get Famous, the entire Fame system is turned off because one single famous Sim causes a lot of disruption and can't even be properly interacted with. (This one I think was more of a design flaw and probably a waste of a toggle because it could have worked differently. Probably came from the Sims 3 celebrity complaints.) Now that I think about it, it seems toggles are only used in EPs. Maybe budget is also a factor, which kind of makes sense.
I personally like the way Occults were handled with Mermaids, similar to Sims 2 where the player can "activate" them by seeking them out and that "outs" them in the game. It seems like a good middle ground for everyone. Better than banishing Spellcasters to the magic realm. ?
In the end, with Vampires, I saw a complaint once (I think on Twitter) that I think was the real cause of the nerf, because someone overdramatically compared the break-ins to a certain horrible, criminal act in real life, and after that, Vampires seem to just show up at the door and do nothing.
Of all the ways to turn things off, my preference has been Laundry Day. If you don't want laundry, simply don't add the items required. Maybe if garlic had been simply buy a garlic braid from build/buy and have one some where on the lot to prevent vampires spawning, that would have been less inconvenient for people? Though now we have the No Trespassing option they need to unnerf them imo. Or add a RoM item to enable using spells, like a wand case or some thing.
Exactly. Or here's an idea. If realistic players really don't want occults "ruining" their game but can't bear skipping out on the packs: Don't create occults, delete the premade occult sims from your library, and just delete any that spawn. There you go: completely realistic game without intruding on other people's gameplay.
Otherwise though, I think of being able to turn things on/off would work out fantastically too.- Beardedgeek725 years agoSeasoned Ace@MeowchaFrappe I really find the pack very well made, it's just not interesting to me. I just wish I could turn on or off occults for different saves since i usually aren't interested at all and the only ones I actually care about, really, are vampires (part of it being that they are immortal and I tend to be too attached to my starter Sims to let them die which means cheating portions of youth or play with aging off...). But again I like vampires.
Edit: again, tho, there is some high quality build and cas stuff "locked" behind occults. Especially in the Vampire pack, which not only sparked the criticism of the vampire breakins, but also the idea (which I wish was implemented) that packs like this should have an option to only purchase the CAS and build stuff separately, so if you want the build stuff from vampires but no vampires you would buy all the stuff for maybe $10