My First Pet Stuff Pack--Am I missing Something?

"cbartsch69;c-16395245" wrote:

"Netzspannung;c-16393749" wrote:

The bolded part of your comment shows that we have very different philosophies when it comes to spending money. Yours seems to be "What's wrong with auto-buy?" while mine is "buyer beware". I cannot say I understand why one would blindly trust any cooperation, but I am still glad I read your comments; it was quite enlightening.

Thanks! Just one caveat--I really only have a "What's wrong with auto-buy?" philosophy when it comes to the Sims, as it's one of the few/only games I play. With everything else in this wide world I'm very much a "buyer beware," "research extensively before spending a penny" kinda gal. The Sims is my one pleasurable luxury that I typically don't mind spending money on. When I consider how many enjoyable hours I spend playing, that $10 or $20 or even $40 I shelled out amounts to pennies for each hour.

There is nothing wrong with your option. Everything is fine. It is your choice and should be respected. I do also buy EPs and packs, even when I do not like this iteration at all. I'm desperately trying to like it, but I get bored.

I envy you if you like the game. I'm trying to.

Hey, I actually like Cool Kitchen SP, not exactly for the 'kitchen' part of the pack (which is ironically supposed to be the focus of it) but I use the CAS items from it often, especially that necklace with the YUUGE gem on it. You know what really is a pack that I think is a joke (apart from MFP) is Perfect Patio. You're essentially wasting $10 on a hot tub + extra that came along with it. I do however totally agree with you.

"Sk8rblaze;c-16393466" wrote:
Ever since this pack, I've found myself probably the most checked out of this franchise that I have ever been.

MFP really proved that these stuff packs are nothing more than a mere attempt at charging a good 10 dollars for a "special object", often a returning feature we've already had bundled with a stuff pack (or even base game) in the past, with some aesthetic fluff. To some people, the purchase is worth it, however, to myself, especially with all of the great games currently on the market, of all different genres, I can't justify it whatsoever.

Speaking of which, that is primarily what has taken me away from The Sims -- great games whose publishers allow the game to just flourish and improve. The Sims has stagnated and devolved into something I am just no longer interested in. I don't find myself compelled to wait months on end without content for, finally, a pack which adds a guinea pig object with different skins and limited functionality, giant rodent costumes, and content that should have been in the expansion I just purchased (which also lacked content in the "stuff" category"). Jungle Adventures and MFP were both let downs in my eyes, and they're just two little components of a much bigger mess that is TS4.

It's more than that. This is evidence EA is watching like hawks for every opportunity to nickle and dime the fans. It's the implication that gameplay quality is a bottom-tier priority while profit is prioritized over both consumer satisfaction and consumer trust.

People have spent over three years insisting Sims 4 will get better, and to it's credit, while 2017 wasn't exactly amazing, it was also by far the best year of the game's run.

This pack is evidence that the game is not a steady climb upward though. This is not a linear path, and that quality can fall again, just like it just did. The team isn't learning and improving, they're exactly where they were on release day. Nothing has changed, and as we can see, the team is clearly watching for any opportunity to do less work for more money. It sounds like Cats and Dogs sold really well (probably because for many people it'd be viewed as being symbolic that Sims 4 is finally "complete"), and how did the team react? "Well obviously we should utilize this moment to price gauge our loyal customers and destroy their trust for some more money!"

What happened here...? It can happen again. It will keep happening. What do you suppose is going to happen if Seasons sells more than Cats and Dogs...? They're certainly not gonna learn a lesson and just give us great content. No, we'll get more of this.

What the Sims team did by making this pack is they showed their hand. They made it clear this isn't about quality, this isn't about their "vision," this isn't about trying something new or any of that. It's about money. It's about doing as little work as possible for as much profit as possible. I mean, need I remind anyone that this pack delivered one small pet while Sims 3 had....I don't even know how many. Even Sims 1 delivered the hamster for free. The hamster in Sims 4 is the most expensive hamster of the franchise, no questions asked, and the title implies they'd like to repeat that process (if there's no outrage anyways; they were ABSOLUTELY testing the waters to see if they could get away with it) with parrots or turtles or the like.

Even the content or "gameplay" recycled is getting terribly predictable. It feels like any time they make a new pack now, what's their lazy filler to make the pack seem bigger than it is? "Here consumer, here's another collectathon."

City Living recycles base game content, has the most limited apartments of the franchise and seems to think food dishes count as meaningful content? It's ok, here's a snowglobe collection!!!

Cats and Dogs has practically nothing for the pets to actually do? It's ok, here's a feather collection!!!

Jungle Adventure could try to offer unique rewards and abilities for players to discover? It does that to some small degree, then pads itself with a RELIC TREASURE COLLECTION!!!!

My First Pet Stuff releases as a barely finished pack? Don't worry, here's POSTCARD COLLECTION 2.0!!! They didn't even bother coming up with a new collectible this time, and need I remind that Kids Stuff pack also had a collection to pad itself, as did Dine Out.

It just screams "lazy." They can only be bothered to provide low-resolution collectibles as a means of giving us something to do, but that isn't gameplay. That's just a time-killer. This isn't Super Mario or Banjo-Kazooie where there's some degree of challenge to finding all the collectibles. No, we make our Sims do a thing X amount of times and eventually we have all the things.

Add onto that other odd practices, such as the ever-increasing amount of low-framerate animations that seem to be popping up in newer packs (I've seen choppy animations in Laundry day, Fitness, Jungle Adventures and I vaguely recall Toddler Stuff and this pack may have them too; all the recent packs seem to have an animation or two that are noticeably choppy and poorly done), their increasing infatuation with easy-to-design 2D Wall decals, and design decisions like needlessly locking off tiny, pointless paths in Jungle Adventures to give the illusion there's more, and again: why should any of us believe the design of this game is anything but lazy? It's padded content after padded content after padded content.

This is not the attitude of a team that truly cares about this game. This is the attitude of a team that is carefully watching for any signs of "weakness" from the consumers, then concocting ways to exploit that and get more money for less work. The goal of Sims 4 is not to improve the quality of past features, but rather to improve the amount of money received for those same past features. That is their design philosophy, and they've made that painfully obvious now.

Personally I don't see a point in sticking around. The game isn't gonna get better, the game is still half-complete, and I have no interest listening to people lie through their teeth about listening to feedback and criticism, yet here we are over 3 and a half years later and we still see the exact practices and problems that we saw on day one.

Everything is made for money , the GP are the equivalent of the Store
This society came to a point that everybody is sick and tired of being taken for a piggy banks. I really wished minors pets came with cats and dogs.
I just understand the efforts of the gurus for bringing a little bit of good animations and maybe emotions on minor pets as they introduced the fears and the love for cats and dogs I find it so cute, and it can justify the separation is the schedule imposed by EA to the creators. Every months something news it reminds me of the store in sims 3 much more a real addition to the game. It's not for a reason they were elected as the worst world compagny. I don't think the creators have got time to dig their ideas because there are interesting stuffs in sims 4.
Same in sims 3 too much fun sometimes they missed some ideas.

"Movotti;c-16393111" wrote:
IT's totally unrealistic. My first pets were chickens, and lambs.
Why couldn't they have made a baby animal farm stuff pack, in place of this rubbish?

Those are hardly pets, just saying....

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/profile/DeservedCriticism: (Tried to quote you and it went all wonky!)

1) Totally agree! I wouldn't mind paying $10 for a new stuff pack if there were actually NEW STUFF in it. And I don't mean new skins for old objects (like the plethora of treadmills and other gym equipment we have), but actual new objects that add gameplay--and if you're going to pad it with new skins for existing objects (chairs, beds, etc.), you need at least twice as much padding. If the so-called "premium objects" like the hamster cage in this joke of a pet pack were glassware, it'd be shattered for the lack of padding it came with.

Also TOTALLY agree on the plethora of 2-D stickers we're getting. The hamster climbing tube stickers were the last straw for me on that one... It's like they those climbing tube stickers purely for their trailer, knowing/hoping people would mistake them for a fun, interactive object where you could take your hamster to play (like I did), so they'd think the pack had more to it than it actually did.

2) YES! I so agree with this ridiculous "collection" craze EA keeps trying to force on us. True, I've appreciated the collection part of the gameplay in Sims 3 and before as a sort of break from traditional gameplay, but in Sims 4 it seems like their aim is to overwhelm us with collections to complete so that we won't notice the limited gameplay features. Well, it didn't and won't work. It seems like the aspirations are easily completed and not very challenging (and the rewards that come with them are tired too, even the "new ones" are just mega versions of the old ones I never used anyway--I mean, steel bladder? If I use aspiration prizes to remove my sims' needs, what's the point of playing?)

OKAY, off the point tangent: Why CAN'T they add personality traits as purchasable prizes instead of all these lame remove/reduce needs prizes? I've always thought that it was lame that we could only have 3 personality traits. How AWESOME would it be if we could expand our sim's personality and abilities as they complete aspirations? Just make it impossible to purchase conflicting traits (like you can't have good and evil at the same time), and it should work fine. AND, you could even have a personality trait remover (that maybe wouldn't work to remove the three core traits you chose in CAS?), so if you purchased the "good" personality trait as an aspiration prize, but you want your sim to be corrupted by an "evil" sim, you can purchase a trait remover potion that deletes the good trait, so they can then purchase the evil one! If they'd implement something like this, there would finally be SOMETHING to spend all of those excess aspiration points on! It feels so much like, why bother completing aspirations after a while since there's nothing good to spend it on!

3) Yes, I get not wanting to stick around. I feel that from time to time with Sims 4, which is so surprising to me because I never felt that way with Sims 1, 2 or 3 (and yes, I've stuck with the sims since 2000!). At first I thought it was because I'm getting older and less interested in playing games... but I quickly realized that there's simply less to do in Sims 4 so it's much easier to get bored!

So why do I stick with it? Well, #1, I love the Sims (clearly!), #2 there are some fun things about Sims 4 that I really enjoy, like the toddlers, parenting pack, exploring the jungle, owning businesses/restaurants; swapping aspirations without losing progress, etc. -- but the real reason is #3....

#3--I switched from Windows to Mac and Sims 3 simply doesn't play well on a mac (thanks to the GB-limiting wrapper or whatever that caused repeated game crashes). So, I'm stuck with Sims 4 until I invest in a Windows gaming computer that can handle Sims 3 again. I certainly hope that's before they eliminate the Sims 3 store as I finally watched enough videos to earn store points so that I now own ALL store content for Sims 3. There's SO MUCH in the store that I never even got a chance to play with yet (and packs that I absolutely love and miss, like the Roaring 20s pack!!!, Oh, and islands, and the roller coaster in the theme park, and the farm, and a wider variety of career choices!!!) Ugh, there's so much I miss about it that I actually can't wait to get back to playing Sims 3 again!!!

And that's the sad state of things... I'm actually more excited by the idea of playing Sims 3 again sometime in the future than I am about playing Sims 4 which I could play this very second... But until I get that gaming computer, I'll toy around with Sims 4 and enjoy it. (Just not as much as previous versions of the game!)

Let's not forget that what drives all decisions at EA (and every business entity) is the almighty $. The upper level managers that make the decisions on what we get focus on ROI (return on investment), what will generate the most revenue. Add to that the fact that the lower expenses are, the greater the percentage of that revenue which is profit. So, all you posters that have been smelling financial rats, right on!

"Cynna;c-16391251" wrote:
I agree with everything that you said, OP.

In particular: You're dead on about no reactions whatsoever from the pets to all that frippery that they're forced to wear. Plus, the missing dog interactions were so disappointing. Playing tug with a dog is such a staple interaction. I miss it. And what dog doesn't have a bone?

Thanks. I know some were disappointed in the fact that C&D was just that, not pets with horses, et. al. I wasn't before I bought it, as I expected both cats and dogs to be much more interactive and developed as a result of focusing on them alone instead of a lot of animals.

Turns out, they weren't as interactive and developed as I would've liked, but I was still okay with it because I enjoyed the new world, outfits, objects, etc. But knowing that there was a pretty major, vocal segment who were upset with how C&D played, I did expect that this stuff pack (which is essentially an expansion pack for the C&D expansion pack) would somehow enhance the gameplay of C&D. It didn't and so now I'm more disappointed both in the Pet pack and C&D.

"LadyKyn;c-16391818" wrote:
Same with a lot of stuff packs some people like it and some people don't. Though it's been a lot more controversy than other packs. Can't force yourself to enjoy something if you definitely aren't feeling any use out of the pack.

I always hold off on buying packs til I see what comes in them in the build/buy mode and watch the live streams along with other youtubers and been very, very MEH with it. Probably won't ever buy it as it seems like the smallest pack to date other than perfect patio? Seeing as most stuff seemed like it should have been in C&D.

I'm the same way, some people like the EPs, some people don't and that's okay. I typically like everything EA makes and can find some value in every EP, SP, etc., that comes out even if I don't love the overall pack. Since that's the case, I typically just buy new packs because I know I'll enjoy them even if I don't love them. This pack changed that...

"Netzspannung;c-16392138" wrote:
While I agree with your general assessment of this pack, I don't agree with the practice of finding out what's in a pack after you buy it and reserving the right to be upset about it (the actual content and features, not talking about bugs detected later). A lot of things can be said about EA, the state of the franchise and the direction it's taking, when you look at the fact that they published this pack, but there is one thing I appreciate: we are given every opportunity to find out what's in a pack before it is released. I was very sceptical about the pack, so I watched the live stream (there is always a playback available) and I also watched a couple of reviews (EA provided early copies) on YT. I decided to pass. With anything you decide to spend your money on it is up to you to put in a bit of research.
This comment will probably be read in a harsh tone, which is not intended. I just don't understand why not all of us take advantage of the information sources before buying a pack.

As I mentioned in my previous reply post, I typically find something to like and enjoy in every pack, even if I don't love the pack, so I tend to buy them when they come out no matter what. I started doing that all the way back with Sims 1, continued through 2 & 3, and only hit bumps in the road with Sims 4.

Even when Sims 1, 2 & 3 were new, I'd read the grumblings about how people weren't satisfied with this or that pack. And I know there were people who did and still do get upset that EA isn't releasing the packs they want. That was never and will never be me. I'm always happy to get new packs and can find something to enjoy in every pack even if I don't love it as a whole (new hair, new clothes, new objects, new interactions, etc.). As I mentioned, this is the first pack in a long time where I can't find ANYTHING to really, truly enjoy. Not even one object or hair or anything.

When the disappointing Cool Kitchens SP came out with only one new counter set (and yes, the Patio SP was disappointing too, a bit), that did give me pause and after that I started waiting for reviews before buying. But it seemed like they'd learned from that mistake (and the disastrous 4-lot only Magnolia Promenade neighborhood), so I eventually reverted back to just buying packs when they came out.

Now, after being so disappointed in this tiny stuff pack, I'm going to hit pause on the auto-buy policy for awhile, and go back to researching packs before buying, until my confidence in EA is back up again.

But quite frankly, I'm not sure why anyone would think there's something wrong with my auto-buy policy in the first place. Sure EA has its faults, but generally I love 90% of their content for Sims, so why shouldn't I just buy it without researching it thoroughly before doing so?