Maxis going in wrong direction with expansion pack gameplay?
At first I was really excited for Snowy Escape mostly because of the setting/I grew up in Fernie, BC basically a ski resort town. Plus I love anime so it just works for me until I realized what lost opportunity it was.
Having literally re-installed the Sims 4 JUST for it, I found myself doing the same old gameplay I've always done in the Sims 4. By that I mean, skiing IS new - but just another athletic skill using new animations.
Even the "story packs" such as Star Wars and Strangerville are based on leveling/doing skill activities that already exist for the most part (like talking to sims with charisma skill).
Outside of the odd pack like exploring the jungle and the eco pack (literally changes the way you build) Snowy escape demonstrated Sims 4 packs are largely recycled gameplay with new names, paint and animations. The only real time we've gotten new gameplay or its changed the underlying game, is when they make packs based on OLD Sim packs (like university or seasons) but yet still cut back on content.
In contrast I would have LOVED if Snowy Escape actually let you MANAGE a sky hill, its slopes and allowed you to build resorts.
So for example manage ticket prices, get customer ratings, ect based on what slope difficulty and snow quality, are your slopes too icy? Ticket sales go down. Not only that but you'd be competing with neighboring ski slopes for business.
Don't want to manage, than compete to enter ski events or become a ski bum, get a job running at the mountain as an instructor, for safety or running the lifts. Or become a hermit on the backside of the hill in an off the grid house. So many options missed....
While I love "japan town" I would have loved it more if instead of a new neighborhood, it was a HUGE mountain to allow for all this, with multiple ski resort lots and lots for hotels ect at the bottom.
Not only that but it WOULD have two seasons (or 4 if u had seasons) which allowed for winter activities and summer activities - heck maybe even a summer camps to keep business up during the summer. YES SUMMER CAMPS. Send your kids or be a camp counceller.
I just realized that Snowy Escape could have been so much more than just a new neighborhood to level up skills and I think its because the Maxis teams have been stuck in a grove how they design Sims 4 packs - a range of activities based on skill advancement but not a new type of game play outside of really Eco living.
What do you think?
Having literally re-installed the Sims 4 JUST for it, I found myself doing the same old gameplay I've always done in the Sims 4. By that I mean, skiing IS new - but just another athletic skill using new animations.
Even the "story packs" such as Star Wars and Strangerville are based on leveling/doing skill activities that already exist for the most part (like talking to sims with charisma skill).
Outside of the odd pack like exploring the jungle and the eco pack (literally changes the way you build) Snowy escape demonstrated Sims 4 packs are largely recycled gameplay with new names, paint and animations. The only real time we've gotten new gameplay or its changed the underlying game, is when they make packs based on OLD Sim packs (like university or seasons) but yet still cut back on content.
In contrast I would have LOVED if Snowy Escape actually let you MANAGE a sky hill, its slopes and allowed you to build resorts.
So for example manage ticket prices, get customer ratings, ect based on what slope difficulty and snow quality, are your slopes too icy? Ticket sales go down. Not only that but you'd be competing with neighboring ski slopes for business.
Don't want to manage, than compete to enter ski events or become a ski bum, get a job running at the mountain as an instructor, for safety or running the lifts. Or become a hermit on the backside of the hill in an off the grid house. So many options missed....
While I love "japan town" I would have loved it more if instead of a new neighborhood, it was a HUGE mountain to allow for all this, with multiple ski resort lots and lots for hotels ect at the bottom.
Not only that but it WOULD have two seasons (or 4 if u had seasons) which allowed for winter activities and summer activities - heck maybe even a summer camps to keep business up during the summer. YES SUMMER CAMPS. Send your kids or be a camp counceller.
I just realized that Snowy Escape could have been so much more than just a new neighborhood to level up skills and I think its because the Maxis teams have been stuck in a grove how they design Sims 4 packs - a range of activities based on skill advancement but not a new type of game play outside of really Eco living.
What do you think?
