SHOULD PETS TAKE UP A SIM PLACE IN A HOUSEHOLD

they are as you say in your options .. a member of the family.. like with the babies, which are technically seen as objects till aging up to toddlers. So even though you can't control them.. (taking the discipline out of the equation) they're family too

@PastelMermaid
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Sims 1 and 2 pets were not controllable and took up slots - so what is the difference? Sims 3 was the only game that had controllable pets - which was also the only game where pets were actually sims. So I don't get the issue with pets taking slots as they always have - especially when it was not an issue with the first two games of the series.

If we are going to base all the games off of Sims 3 - then by all rights having loading screen and no open world should be an even bigger issue - never mind not have any transportation at all nor real roads in Sims 4 - seem far more important than sims slots with the sim furry members. Pets ARE family in most peoples eyes and to me make sense.

I think if people want to carry on over this kind of issue in this game of all the games then they should be far more concerned over the tiny lots and lack of space compared to all the other sims games for our sims to live than wanting to have more sims to have a spot in the household when we have less livable spots to place houses and less room to comfortably have more sims plus pets to live on these smaller lots. Average size of Sims 3 lots were 40 x40 - why not complain about that? How many empty 40 x 40 lots do you have in Sims 4?

Perhaps better yet - we should just remind ourselves this is not Sims 3 - it's Sims 4, and like all the Sims series none of the former were even meant to be exactly the same as the present series anyway. If anything Sims 3 was the exception - in many ways.

In my view if I had any complaint about controllable sims - it would be the lack of controlling my human sims at home or on other lots when I am following just one of my sims from the household. To me that is the bigger issue. When I go with one sim - why do all my sims at home stop doing what I told them to. To me that is the bigger problem - and keep in mind that our sims are supposed to actually be controllable - yet they aren't really if you can only deal with one at a time. In real life that would be chaos!

In this iteration, I think it is pointless for the pet to take up a slot. You can't control them, you can't see their needs, you can't see their skills, etc

Seriously, no point even having them take up a slot because there is nothing to see. I can't remember pets in sims 1 but in Sims 2 at least I could see their skills, needs, their character so it made more sense.

I voted no not because I don’t believe a pet isn’t a member of the family but because previous games increased the maximum number of sims and pets you could have in total. The sims 4 hasn’t done that. The fact that cats and dogs are just avatars is a different issue.

I don't mind that you can't control them, it just bothers me that they take up a slot in your household. With the baby at least they eventually get older and you can control them. Also, if you can hire a live in butler and have it not take up a place in your household than you should be able to do that with the pets as well. I know some people will say "but the butler isn't family!" and I agree but, to me its essentially the same thing because you can't control either one.

As much as I love my pets, I need more household space for controllable sims. Or at least make a separate space for pets.

I consider my pets as part of the family lol

I don't really care one way or the other. I never find myself wanting to go over the limit of 8, even with pets. So it makes no difference for me.

Although I will say I don't think them being controllable or not has anything to do with how that decision should've been made

If EA/Maxis can do it without upsetting what Ram, etc., is needed to run the game ok, otherwise leave it as it is.