The four things I miss the most is NPC's that have been in the game since Day 1, carpools/school bus, consequences for actions, & challenges!
It's hard for me to believe that we still don't have a fireman in this game after 4 years. Or burglar or police. I think this game is lacking in that area...too many classic features that we've had since The Sims first came out is missing. Carpools falls into this category as well. We've had carpools since The Sims first came out. I will never get used to watching my Sim just walk off the lot. Even though the carpool isn't a deal breaker, it added that touch of realism to see my child Sims get on a bus or adults go to work. Yet, the Devs create this way deep intricate Laundry system....& this is just my opinion....it's freaking laundry...clean/pristine, warm/dry, damp, etc....all these combinations that you can have for laundry or a talking toilet that just doesn't make sense....like laundry was cool to add, but how much of the budget was spent on this way deep system that could have gone elsewhere. I understand that not all features carry over from iteration to iteration, but to cut out things that have been in every Sims game since the beginning & focus on stuff like a talking toilet or super duper intricate laundry system....just doesn't make sense to me.
As it relates to things missing that affect my gameplay....consequences is number 1 on my list! I don't know how many times my Sims will get into a fight to just hug each other a minute later or a spouse will cheat & they'll have a happy conversation 2 seconds later. This game's selling point from the beginning was emotions & the Sims in TS2 had more emotion than our Sims have now. For anyone that played TS2 will probably remember the fury system....where if you had another Sim mad at you....don't even think about trying to hold a positive conversation...& the angry Sim would steal your newspaper, kick over the trash, etc. Now...I'm not saying it has to be over the top...but y'all get my point. Just react & stay in that emotion for awhile. My Sim cheated on his wife & she caught him....& she went over to him & slapped him! I was like 'yes, finally'. I haven't seen something like that in my game in forever! But then she went over to hug him autonomously & I'm like 'noooo, you're supposed to be angry, don't hug him'.
& then by challenge....what I mean is that for me, this game is way too easy! I think the earlier versions of the game were more challenging. & I think they were more challenging because there were consequences for things. It wasn't easy to make friends. It wasn't always easy to have romantic relationships. It wasn't easy to make money. Raising kids & having a family, had their challenges. Not to keep going back to older games...but TS2 is a great example. If a Sim you were trying to be romantic with didn't like your Sim or there was something that turned them off (turn ons/turn offs)....good luck on trying to get that romantic relationship to work. I could go on and on by how TS4 is too easy....but using something as basic as relationships gives an idea of my perspective.
Lastly, I'll add that I miss danger! Even with some of the things that are considered "dangerous" in TS4....it's too easy to fix the problem. Like the poisonous dart in Jungle GP. I was like 'yes finally' my Sim can die of poison. But oh no, just buy the antidote on the computer & you're all good. The only danger that I love that I think TS4 did a great job on is the Pufferfish. My teen Sim died from that & it caught me completely off guard. I think the game needs more of that kind of stuff.
