Needy Pets
I assume this isn't a bug but more of a design flaw - so this seems the most relevant category in which to post. Has anyone else noticed how overly-needy pets are in the game? I'm specifically talking about cats and dogs. Even the ones with traits that should make them chill - like aloof and lazy and such. I can spend literally the whole day - 8+ hours - walking or training my pet, playing with, brushing, pampering, bathing, talking to, giving treats... and the instant my sim stops to feed themselves or bathe or do anything not pet-centric; suddenly my pet is depressed and mopes about and I get the notification that they are considering running away from neglect... WTF? What the actual F? I feel like pet AI should be refreshed/redesigned/touched up - whatever. Pets should not be this narcissistic. They should be at least slightly better at self-soothing and entertaining themselves. They should not require absolutely endless owner interaction. This is especially true with multiple pets - why are they not better at playing together or snuggling together - or just focusing more on each other and less constantly focusing on the human sims. While we're at it - could they actually be trained to use their pet beds? Not only are those things ugly and flat - they serve no purpose as no pets ever sleep on them. They will always choose human furniture instead. And can you blame them? When given the choice to nap on a piece of cardboard on the floor or a fluffy, comfy couch - there is no choice at all. While we are refreshing - new pet toys please. Perhaps part of the reason they are bored is because their only toys are balls and squeakers. How about plushies for pets? Chew ropes and rings? Rubber bones for dogs. How about wind-up mice toys for cats to chase? Also, as part of their AI refresh, might be nice to see them programed to occasionally do weird and random things... as animals do. But "random", "sporadic", and "occasional" seem to be foreign concepts in the world of sims; as most everything the AI does is in infuriatingly predictable and repetitive patterns. A cat couldn't do a backflip off the couch once in a blue moon. It would wind up doing the backflip 12 times a day every time it came near the couch.