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SimmerGeorge's avatar
SimmerGeorge
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago

Rant from a Fan - Should we reconsider buying Eco Lifestyle?

Hey guys,

Huge fan of the Sims series here, playing since 2008. I wanted to start this discussion so I can get a few things off my chest. I am not trying to badmouth or sabotage the game in anyway. I simply want to discuss this issue with the community.

My experience with The Sims 4 has not been the best and I've always wanted to voice my opinion in the past, so with the announcement of this pack, I am finally here. After watching the trailer for this pack I was dissapointed. Unlike previous packs that were lacking, the trailers were still great. This trailer though throws a bad light on the pack because of the similarities in features from previous packs (ex. Get to Work, University, Tiny Living, Laundry Day you name it), but also because of the weak new features coming with this.

Aside from the trailer Eco Lifestyle seems to be following the same pattern previous packs have:

- First, it features the same Sims 4 utopian concept we've been getting over and over. It focuses around putting effort into creating a perfect world, cleaning up, using renewable energy sources, recycling and everything else sugar and rainbows. And to everyone out there saying it includes the polluted air, I'll say one thing. The point of the pack is to get rid of pollution so there won't be a lot of focus on the smoke.

- Second, the main features have again no depth. Candlemaking, renewable energies, recycling are all skills or things to do once or twice. In the past we got stuff like these as minor features, now they are marketed as the main features. How many candles are you gonna make, how much trash are you gonna pick up? We need more tools that give us freedom to create our own unique stories (ex. Create a holiday, Create a Club, Run a business). All of these give us a freedom to tell our own stories rather than play in predetermined paths.

- Also focusing more on visuals than gameplay. Needless to say the clothes and worlds always look great in packs but what's the point when you can't interact with your suroundings? As for the clothes, Sims need clothes that match their personalities not the other way around...
Sims can't even drive cars, yet there's pollution?

- Finally, a very high price tag. There are whole games out there that cost 40 dollars, complete games! How do you justify paying 40 dollars just for an expansion pack? The amount of features is nowhere near the amount we used to get in previous installments and even if we get less content, its quality and depth is also lacking.

This is why I think we as consumers should take a moment and rethink buying some of these packs. Like everyone out there I always want to have the latest pack for The Sims 4 but at the same time I realize that by paying more and more money I am hurting the franchise and the game I love. There is no point in complaining about a pack and a game after you have already bought it 'cause at the end of the day if it brings the company money they are not going to change it.

It's okay to be dissatisfied, it's okay to demand more, it's your hard earned money.

47 Replies

  • I expect they could do so much better, but maybe not with the Sims 4...? I don't know much about programming, but aren't they restricted because of how it was supposed to be an online game and they had to make so many changes to the base game in a short space of time? If that is the case, then they have certainly improved the game much more than I initially thought they would.

    I feel like they can only go so far with this version, and am hoping they actually get it right if they do a Sims 5 (though I am sure it will end up being some horrific multi-player/social media mess).

    But, for now, I am enjoying what is available in the game as-is and have been happy enough with the releases. Yes, some aspects are pretty poor compared to previous versions, but they have also brought us aspects which are superior too - otherwise I would still be playing the older versions.

    I need to play sims, it is basically the only computer game I really like. I have tried going back to the older sims games and I just can't do it because there are too many things about sims 4 now that I like better. And I see new packs coming out and there are always a lot of features to them that I would like in my game, so I cannot bypass them. I am not a completionist who buys the packs just because they are there. I really do want the advertised features added into my game.
  • "elanorbreton;c-17504367" wrote:
    I expect they could do so much better, but maybe not with the Sims 4...? I don't know much about programming, but aren't they restricted because of how it was supposed to be an online game and they had to make so many changes to the base game in a short space of time? If that is the case, then they have certainly improved the game much more than I initially thought they would.

    I feel like they can only go so far with this version, and am hoping they actually get it right if they do a Sims 5 (though I am sure it will end up being some horrific multi-player/social media mess).

    But, for now, I am enjoying what is available in the game as-is and have been happy enough with the releases. Yes, some aspects are pretty poor compared to previous versions, but they have also brought us aspects which are superior too - otherwise I would still be playing the older versions.

    I need to play sims, it is basically the only computer game I really like. I have tried going back to the older sims games and I just can't do it because there are too many things about sims 4 now that I like better. And I see new packs coming out and there are always a lot of features to them that I would like in my game, so I cannot bypass them. I am not a completionist who buys the packs just because they are there. I really do want the advertised features added into my game.


    I really really hope it's like that because it was supposed to be an online game but it's not. I really hope they can take it miles further with The Sims 5. I really want them to be passionate about creating innovation and not just selling us products because they know we need The Sims and we will buy anything.
    I'm like you I need to play this game but I'm always dissapointed, yet how am I supposed to replace it? There is nothing else similar out there. I feel really exploited sometimes.
  • For me if they would just fix the trait system to make sims behave different , and fix the whim so that it is dynamics depending on the trait and surrounding and not keep repeating the same whims, and make aspiration more interesting (instead of just a tutorial) they would have already make sims 4 the best sims ever for me. This is not much to ask.
  • Personally, I don't think any expansion pack is worth $40. The sales price (and sales happen often) of $20 seems closer to a fair price.

    EcoLifestyle, to me at least, only looks interesting for the possibility for a grungy world for less-than-honest Sims to live in. Too many of the worlds are pretty and perfect where Sims lead ideal lives. A world of filth would be so refreshing (again, in my opinion). But like the OP, I fear too much of the gameplay will be focused on the opposite, on making the world identical to every other world from the other packs: clean and pretty.
  • The last jam packed Expansion Pack that we got was Get To Work. To be honest I would rather have the current expansion packs than old ones.

    I mean in Get To Work, They added tons of features but none are fleshed out. The Scientist Career is awesome but aliens and their world are forgettable. They even only had like 5-8 interactions. Out of the three careers only One had function outside of the careers themselves. The Detective Career lacks Variety. Same three type cases, no sense of progression on higher ranks that should have provided different type of cases. None of the Doctor Career equipment are usable outside of Work, Sickness and doctor career has no connection other than work. The retail Store? No Home Business, The customers are not able to buy multiple things, Cash Registers have no gameplay value, and basically do almost everything you can already do in the UI, employees are practically useless, customers don't shop unless the blue bar is full. And many more gripes.

    If we compare the pack to Get Famous, That pack blows GTW away even if it has less feature. We only got one active career but sets have a lot of variety and changes the more you grow and level up. The acting career works outside and have value outside of the career itself and anyone can learn acting or act in public without being locked in the career lot. The equipment used outside of acting are functional outside of career like the style station compared to the X-ray machine in or Cell Gates in GTW. Fame and Reputation are tied to all of the skills and careers in the game alongside with opportunities to become famous in each one of them. We got a media Production as another part of new thing to get fame and even if it is small it did not disappoint. Which is surprising for me tbh. I prefer that type of EP's than Jam Packed EP with non are fleshed out.

    The only disadvantage of the current style of EP is if they chose a feature that is not worthy of an Major Highlight. Island Living focused on Conservationist and World, neglecting the gameplay of other features. City Living focused on festival that reuses the current objects because they want the simmers to "explore" the old unused content such as the programming skill. Hopefully this pack will be about gameplay just like Get Together, Cats and Dogs, Seasons, Get Famous, and Discover University did.
  • For me I was one of the few people being optimistic when it was first announced but honestly now it's out I'm really disappointed by the pack.

    The build-buy and CAS are amazing and honestly they make me want to play vanilla as there's so many nice items but the rest of the pack is terrible. 2/3 neighborhoods in the world are unusable for me as they have a grand total of two actual houses in each neighborhood and when you've got one neighbor that kind of defeats the purpose of "neighborhood action plans", and the amount of fake houses makes it feel like a ghost town.

    The saving the world system is atrocious, turning the world industrial is basically impossible and for some reason even if you fill every lot with highly industrial stuff it just goes back to neutral in five seconds, then turning the world eco is so boring. Place solar panels in every lot and then give gifts to people to activate a few one a week NAPS and woopee! World saved! Well atleast for 30 seconds until it automatically goes neutral again.

    Even when the worlds saved there's barely any difference, a few random sunflowers painted on the ground, a couple of trees around and that's about it. For 40 bucks its mediocre at best, glad I bought it online for $22 instead but even then I feel a bit ripped off. 100% the worst EP
  • Quite agree with the OP. Am also passing on this one, adding it to the not bought pile. From what I've been reading in the forums there are too many things in the pack that don't: fit my play style, work properly, make for a genuinely better gaming experience for me. Not keen on the price tag, either.

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