Sims Businesses and Hobbies Expansion Pack Negative thread.

simsimsereThat’s an interesting perspective. I’d been thinking along the same lines as i_love_frogs_11, but you’re right that it must take a lot of work to make this system compatible with all previous packs, including stuff packs. And if we’ve got those packs already, we do get added value from them, I guess.

It will be broken on launch. Mark my words.

Loving the tattoo system, it's what I was hoping for. But other than that... that's it? This feels like leftovers from Get to Work, with recycled content from For Rent. And Get to Work is still a broken, shallow, incomplete mess. Meanwhile, Sims 3's Ambitions looks like it will style over both packs.

There's barely any hobbies, and one of the hobbies is more of a career than something most people do in their free time. It's a good, fun career, but still a career. 

I expected knitwear, given the Nordic theme. But I'm so sick of basic, generic knitwear that looks like it could be from any pack. We have so much knitwear. Remember when we had like years of cozy knitwear clothing in nearly every pack? At least most of it doesn't look super awkward and bulky, like a lot of the fashion these past couple of years.

The pack name is bad, too. I know it's a nitpick, but Sims 4 pack names are  always super literal or follow a dumb "Get ____" or "____ Living" theme. Lovestruck's name gave me hope that they were at least going to try with names. But then they gave up like they always do lmao. For a franchise that built itself on endless creativity and chaos, having such uninspired names is so ironic. 

Tbh it's making it easier for me not to return to this franchise. I was interested in the concept of a hobby pack and was willing to come back, but between Get to Work leftovers, Sims 4's track record, the battle pass system, the FOMO bonuses, 30 million gameplay-less kits, and the constant po-ups and ads, I feel like The Sims is 4 just gouging me for money than genuinely trying to innovate and impress.

I am preoccupied with other releases, so I don't know a lot right now.

While the new small business system is interesting (giving the freedom of The Sims 2 Open for Business pack's businesses), there is one thing I'm concerned about: Retail stores and how does these play into it.

Get to Work expansion pack is just losing value if they include the selling things system too as photography was brought to base game and if these are the better stores, then what would be the point of the Retail stores...

So, I am interested in hearing how will the existing businesses (Retail store, Restaurants, Vet clinics) play into it and if they get improved too. For now, I'm returning to new games.

The name of the pack is “Business and Hobbies,” but I think the hobbies are a bit weak - tattooing doesn't really count as a hobby, and the only real hobby added is pottery. It would have been nice to see more musical instruments, sports, handcrafts, etc. added, but we'll have to wait for a gameplay trailer. The new feature of being able to set lot types by room seems like it has a lot of potential, but it also seems like it could be a source of bugs.

• Get Together Expansion Pack: Sims who are down to dance until the sun rises can create dance clubs and Sims who game until the wee hours of the morning can open arcades for like minded gamers. 

Okay but Maxis has to add these objects from the previous games :

• Pinball
• Throw Machine
• Whack-A-Mole game
• Mechanical Bull
• Claw Machine
• Dance Machine
• Hockey Table

KJHR0033 wrote:

The name of the pack is “Business and Hobbies,” but I think the hobbies are a bit weak - tattooing doesn't really count as a hobby, and the only real hobby added is pottery.

Agreed!

The hobbies part brings to me one specific expansion pack in The Sims series: The Sims 2 FreeTime. It's an expansion pack heavily focused on hobbies. Let's see what FreeTime has...

• Pottery (that's also in B&H pack!)
• Sewing
• Movies (that's in Movie Night stuff)
• Food, Gaming, and Dance competitions
• Soccer Goal
• Basket Ball hoop (that's in City Living)
• Restorable Car
• Violin (base game object)
• Synthesizer (music production station in Get Famous functions similarly)
• Activity table (base game + Parenthood)
• Ballet Barre
• Ant Farm
• Model Train Set
• Don't Wake the Llama game (Also featured in Get Together)
• Hiking and Jogging (Base game)
• Bug hunting (Outdoor Retreat)
• Teaching Nursery Rhymes to toddlers
• Birdwatching
• Tinkering (Get to Work)
• Aspiration Benefits and Secondary Aspiration (Former in Base Game kind of)
• Parenting skill (Parenthood)
• New careers:
  • Architecture (Dream Home Decorator and Eco Lifestyle)
  • Dance
  • Entertainment (Base game)
  • Intelligence (Base game)
  • Oceanography (Island Living)
• Secret Hobby lots and Hobby Instructors
• Genies

So yeah, some of them already exist in the game, others don't.

On Tattooing, I think sewing would have been awesome where you can design your own outfits, yet tthe tattooing system looks great. Recycling Werewolf painting, eh?

I will get this pack because it will add to my current game-play, but I certainly have some "negs" about it.

• It makes me feel like I am paying $80 for Get To Work. It makes the business part of Get To Work what it should have been in the first place and it recycles and repackages past game play. However, that is probably a good thing because this game probably can't handle anything new.
• Although I am happy for pottery, It doesn't have enough hobbies and the Ticket Kiosk should have come with Get To Work
• This would have been a great opportunity to give us the Restorable Junk Car and the Restorable Classic Car from TS2 and TS3. As well as give us cars in general. All EA has to do is give us an animated garage door, garage decor, and a short driveway object. The car can spawn onto the driveway with a short animation of the car driving in an out of the garage and the sim getting into or out of the car. Teleportation is a thing in the sims so why would it matter if the car teleports? 

There is no need to redo every world to connect streets to driveways and they don't need to show sims driving on the roads. However, it would be cool if they rework the NPC cars you see on the road with  cars that you can see the townie drivers inside. It would make me happy to see my other sims driving by as NPC drivers in the cars that they own, as well as other townies.

I think I have all the information I can get at this point with Business and Hobbies EP.  

Some said they thought that this EP is kind of a spin off of the FR EP.  If that is true, will that mean that if I get B&H EP, it won't function correctly because I do not have FR?    

I pose this question because I personally am not interested in managing an apartment complex, thus, I really don't want FR.  There are several other packs I do not have because I am totally not interested in their game play!  Some of the content I wish I had.

Also, I went through all the Compiled list of reported issues for FR, LS,  LD, and MWS today.  From what I have read, none of the issues for HR, FR, LSD, and Life & Death are still not fixed!    Someone said they thought that if you had FR before this new pack that it might function better?  Will it even function correctly with the current FR EP with all the known and unknown issues as it is now?  Or all the fixes for FR included with this new EP?   My biggest question is Bugs? Overall functionality?   I got MWS about 4 mo ago, over 2 1/2 yrs after it's orginal release,  after being told it was fixed!  It's not fixed.  On that note, I have never used CC or MOD's. 

rujuta4me- You won’t need For Rent to use the features of the B&H EP.  However, because B&H is using what appears to be the same room separation mechanic as For Rent to divide the Residential, Employee & Public areas of small business venue lots, it’s currently unknown as to whether the new lot type will also have the same bugs that For Rent has/had.