I don't think it's controversial to say that the Sims 4 community almost collectively hates Journey to Batuu. There are a myriad of reasons and various content creators far more eloquent than I, as well as many lively internet discussions can attest to why it's so bad. Star Wars and the Sims 4 are just incompatible as a concept. The gameplay is doomed to fail. It comes off as a greedy cash grab. But you do know what franchise makes perfect sense and would be perfect for a a collab? So much so that various mods and custom builds already exist in Sims 4 community?Mother-effing Hogwarts. There's a sorting ceremony, afterwards your sim will only stay at that House's common rooms. It will work like Discover University but for witch/wizards. There's a goal your Sim can work towards (Winning the House cup) at the end of their stay at Hogwarts. Do good in your classes and you earn points, pull off mayhem and mischief and you lose points. So there's actually a challenge. They can make Hogwarts itself one whole district/world. Then Diagon Alley is another world, with Hagrid's Hut/the Forest/Quidditch Grounds the third district. Guys. This is such a missed opportunity. A Sims 4-Harry Potter collab would be straight fire. I don't know how EA never thought of this in the first place? They already tried to recreate Diagon Alley in Realm of Magic anyway. I guess that can't do that since another game dev is already working on a Harry Potter RPG but... We can all dream right?

I don't "hate" it, I just use the objects elsewhere but I would not visit the place because I have no reason to.

I don't want any more collaborations with fictional pre-existing universes whether it be Star Wars or Harry Potter. I like when the Sims has its own lore.

"haneul;c-17917945" wrote:I don't want any more collaborations with fictional pre-existing universes whether it be Star Wars or Harry Potter. I like when the Sims has its own lore.I would also prefer if they stick to their own sims universe and lore. Packs based on a franchise can be great if you are fan of that particular franchise, but will be less versatile and usable for playing other stories. I enjoyed playing batuu and still use some items (cas, hairs or the storage chest) but some aspects are so difficult to integrate in the rest of the game. That's where the pack fails most in my opinion. And then I haven't even mentioned the deliberate limitations build in to protect the franchise from our creativity, like no pets or occult powers on batuu. A pack with generic space content in line with sims lore would have been more usable in other parts of the game.When it comes to Harry Potter: playing a spellcaster in university was close enough. She lived in a dorm designed with RoM furniture, placed in the more old fashioned Britechester university neighbourhood. I had her choose one branch of magic to specialise, so that could substitute being in one of the houses. I used a mod to choose her roommates so they were all spellcasters. It had a Harry Potter vibe without being forced to stick to Harry Potter lore, it was my own story.

I really enjoy the Batuu pack and am happy they made it - I love Star Wars but don't play the other SW games because all they do is have battles. I was delighted to have the ability to LIVE my SW game using my sims. One game save is dedicated to my SF/SW universe, and the BB and CAS is quite versatile. That said, the decision to make that pack destination only with no build ability (other than 3 lots with cheats) was a terrible one. Plus no real aliens, no Jedi lifestyle, rabbit holes, and, as @Atreya33 mentioned, no occults or pets were additional huge disappointments - and no C-3P0 (probably because we can make Servos, but still!). I think at least some of those decisions were required by Disney not wanting us to mess up their playground, and the rest because to make all that, it would have had to be an expansion pack. Think of the outcry if they'd done that! :s I do agree, a more generic SF pack would have gone over much better, and I wish they'd do one.As for Harry Potter, my first thought was "oh cool!" but then I realized...we have spellcasters already. We can build or download HP type houses. And now that I think of it, the new Cottage Living EP will give us a landscape that would be suitable to create Hogsmeade, etc.Instead of a Harry Potter world, I wish they'd let the kids be spellcasters, too. Then we could create our own HP universe for ourselves.

"mewo13;d-991156" wrote:I guess that can't do that since another game dev is already working on a Harry Potter RPG but... We can all dream right? Are they? Maybe you should go to them and suggest they make their game more like a life sim. No, I don’t want a Harry Potter themed pack, or a Lord of the Rings pack, or a Hobbit pack, or anything that’s supposed to have its own fantasy story.

Revisiting the Batuu and future of brand tie-ins (AKA My argument for Harry Potter collabs)

Meela_Pasht
New Spectator
4 years ago
I don't "hate" it, I just use the objects elsewhere but I would not visit the place because I have no reason to.
Haneul33
Seasoned Adventurer
4 years ago
I don't want any more collaborations with fictional pre-existing universes whether it be Star Wars or Harry Potter. I like when the Sims has its own lore.
atreya33
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
"haneul;c-17917945" wrote:
I don't want any more collaborations with fictional pre-existing universes whether it be Star Wars or Harry Potter. I like when the Sims has its own lore.

I would also prefer if they stick to their own sims universe and lore. Packs based on a franchise can be great if you are fan of that particular franchise, but will be less versatile and usable for playing other stories.

I enjoyed playing batuu and still use some items (cas, hairs or the storage chest) but some aspects are so difficult to integrate in the rest of the game. That's where the pack fails most in my opinion. And then I haven't even mentioned the deliberate limitations build in to protect the franchise from our creativity, like no pets or occult powers on batuu. A pack with generic space content in line with sims lore would have been more usable in other parts of the game.

When it comes to Harry Potter: playing a spellcaster in university was close enough. She lived in a dorm designed with RoM furniture, placed in the more old fashioned Britechester university neighbourhood. I had her choose one branch of magic to specialise, so that could substitute being in one of the houses. I used a mod to choose her roommates so they were all spellcasters. It had a Harry Potter vibe without being forced to stick to Harry Potter lore, it was my own story.
Isharell
New Spectator
4 years ago
I really enjoy the Batuu pack and am happy they made it - I love Star Wars but don't play the other SW games because all they do is have battles. I was delighted to have the ability to LIVE my SW game using my sims. One game save is dedicated to my SF/SW universe, and the BB and CAS is quite versatile. That said, the decision to make that pack destination only with no build ability (other than 3 lots with cheats) was a terrible one. Plus no real aliens, no Jedi lifestyle, rabbit holes, and, as @Atreya33 mentioned, no occults or pets were additional huge disappointments - and no C-3P0 (probably because we can make Servos, but still!). I think at least some of those decisions were required by Disney not wanting us to mess up their playground, and the rest because to make all that, it would have had to be an expansion pack. Think of the outcry if they'd done that! :s

I do agree, a more generic SF pack would have gone over much better, and I wish they'd do one.

As for Harry Potter, my first thought was "oh cool!" but then I realized...we have spellcasters already. We can build or download HP type houses. And now that I think of it, the new Cottage Living EP will give us a landscape that would be suitable to create Hogsmeade, etc.

Instead of a Harry Potter world, I wish they'd let the kids be spellcasters, too. Then we could create our own HP universe for ourselves.
babajayne
4 years ago
"mewo13;d-991156" wrote:
I guess that can't do that since another game dev is already working on a Harry Potter RPG but... We can all dream right?

Are they? Maybe you should go to them and suggest they make their game more like a life sim.
No, I don’t want a Harry Potter themed pack, or a Lord of the Rings pack, or a Hobbit pack, or anything that’s supposed to have its own fantasy story.
EvilBnuuy
New Rookie
4 years ago
I personally have no use or interest in a Harry Potter World. I haven't liked HP since I was a teenager, and plus we already have Realm of Magic so I'm not sure how they'd incorporate another magic based world or pack without it just being a Realm of Magic V2. (Fans would likely complain that they would be paying for Realm of Magic twice, and I feel like it'd end up being controversial for anyone who isn't a fan of the series for that reason.) I agree with Isharell; it seems most HP fans have used Realm of Magic to enjoy fandom stuff in-game since I remember everyone making their own versions of HP characters and such, and the houses and whatnot. Everyone's found a sort of 'work around' for it for the most part.

I think it'd be the same case with a HP pack as it was with Batuu; The hardcore fans would love it, but perhaps everyone else wouldn't have too much interest. I'm not mad on Star Wars, but I do sort of like it. It's not got much use for storytelling though so I've only really spent time on Batuu in my freeplay save. It's a bit of fun for me, but not my favourite pack. I'm not sure I'd want another 'franchise' type pack again even if it was something I was crazy about.
EnkiSchmidt
Hero
4 years ago
Nothing against Hogwarts, but the way you want to set it up would put me off the pack. Having my sim sorted into a house by traits would only lead to stereotyping. Havin them sorted at all by the game instead of my me would lead to frustration, because the game cannot know my sims' full values and characteristics.
Being restricted to a world with a definite goal would not mesh well with rotational play. Goals in general aren't meshing well with The Sims, and Sims 4's aspirations were a huge mistake that only stifles creativity. Most prominently they gave Strangerville, in itself a decent pack, the reputation of "can play through in two hours, then nothing to do anymore", because players saw that stupid aspiration and did as told.

JtB could have been so much more, as a Star Wars collab it is a big wasted opportunity that would have worked better as a spin off. That's not even a question.
But the pack blends in surprisingly well with normal sims gameplay. Batuu has several village sized settlements that the player can create using existing Sims worlds (I use Sulani). Occasionally your Star Wars themed sims that work as maybe gardeners, military, criminals or astronauts will visit the capital, Black Spire, and involve themselves with the politics aka quests there.
Sharooonia
New Spectator
4 years ago
I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter stories but it's not really something that I would like to see in the Sims.

In real life I don't hate Star Wars, in fact I actually love the original three movies, I just don't want it in the Sims, it doesn't belong in the Sims, it doesn't fit in with anything else in the game and I despise that development time was wasted on it. It is the only pack so far that I have not bought and will never buy for my game.
logionX
Seasoned Hotshot
4 years ago
I think a lot of people want a Harry Potter collaboration.

That said. I don't think the sims should do collaborations. There are plenty of other things that people want for the sims4. It's pretty silly that we actually reached a point where we got spaceships and lightsabers but no cars or moving babies.

They took the time to animate a sim going into a spaceship and taking off, but not a sim going into a car and drive to work.
JustMeAlb
Seasoned Newcomer
4 years ago
One of my first thoughts when I first saw a trailer for Realm of Magic was Harry Potter. Granted it doesn't copy HP detail for detail, but to me it looks better for The Sims than a Harry Potter pack would be.

As for Journey to Batuu, as far as I'm concerned The Mouse killed Star Wars.