Teens are boring

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263248" wrote:
The game is meant to be played as you want them to react. Of course, leaving the Sims to automously react is not going to give the response you may want. When I play, telling the story, I direct the reactions I think should occur. I do this by using my own imagination.

9 times out of time in my games if I leave the sims to react there is no reaction lol Clearly yes this is a game where you are meant to control every single reaction to every single event but I find that's dull after a while. What if I don't want to imagine my sim is angry she caught her spouse cheating? What if I want her to have a genuine reaction based on her personality and values? She won't. She will get a moodlet and that is it. That's definitely using your imagination alright to create a scenario that's not there.

For me its about balance. I don't want the game making major changes and decisions but basic things like teens sauntering in at breakfast I want a reaction even if its a very basic look of horror or eye roll or something. Why would I want to imagine in my head a scenario that's not there and give her emotions or feelings they clearly don't have? I.e say you are playing a sim who is very strict and the teen skips school and has poor grades. Currently there's no consequence for that and the player has to imagine a scenario or create a false scenario where maybe you have the sim do an angry interaction to the target sim. They may be angry but its not about the skipping school but its down to players imagination to pretend that the angry conversation is. But wouldn't it be better to have that scenario actually be a reality in the game? Wouldn't it be better to have the real thing than imagining? It's great some people can get over this barrier, for me its immersion breaking and limiting my imagination.

It's like when I watched a sims 4 LP, the sim was showing as "happy" and the youtuber kept saying how upset the sims was because of the argument that had just happened, how the sims was feeling so depressed she had to get out of there and cool off. All I kept thinking was "you can say she's miserable and sad till the end of time, she's anything but" For me it makes for more interesting game play when I don't have to imagine certain scenarios aren't what they are. I would rather have the real thing any day of the week.

"MidnightAura;c-16263310" wrote:

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263248" wrote:
The game is meant to be played as you want them to react. Of course, leaving the Sims to automously react is not going to give the response you may want. When I play, telling the story, I direct the reactions I think should occur. I do this by using my own imagination.

9 times out of time in my games if I leave the sims to react there is no reaction lol Clearly yes this is a game where you are meant to control every single reaction to every single event but I find that's dull after a while. What if I don't want to imagine my sim is angry she caught her spouse cheating? What if I want her to have a genuine reaction based on her personality and values? She won't. She will get a moodlet and that is it. That's definitely using your imagination alright to create a scenario that's not there.

For me its about balance. I don't want the game making major changes and decisions but basic things like teens sauntering in at breakfast I want a reaction even if its a very basic look of horror or eye roll or something. Why would I want to imagine in my head a scenario that's not there and give her emotions or feelings they clearly don't have? I.e say you are playing a sim who is very strict and the teen skips school and has poor grades. Currently there's no consequence for that and the player has to imagine a scenario or create a false scenario where maybe you have the sim do an angry interaction to the target sim. They may be angry but its not about the skipping school but its down to players imagination to pretend that the angry conversation is. But wouldn't it be better to have that scenario actually be a reality in the game? Wouldn't it be better to have the real thing than imagining? It's great some people can get over this barrier, for me its immersion breaking and limiting my imagination.

It's like when I watched a sims 4 LP, the sim was showing as "happy" and the youtuber kept saying how upset the sims was because of the argument that had just happened, how the sims was feeling so depressed she had to get out of there and cool off. All I kept thinking was "you can say she's miserable and sad till the end of time, she's anything but" For me it makes for more interesting game play when I don't have to imagine certain scenarios aren't what they are. I would rather have the real thing any day of the week.

I completely agree with this. I have to mod out those annoying "happy" buffs from the environment because it always interferes with giving you sim negative moods that you want them to have. This game needs balance. I think the people who love to control every single aspect of their game do not care about this as much. But as someone who loves when the characters express themselves in strong ways, we need improvement and hopefully it is coming. I must add that Sims 4 is my favorite of the series. This is just its weakest mechanic of it that I want to see improvement and nuance for.

"alan650111;c-16263317" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263310" wrote:

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263248" wrote:
The game is meant to be played as you want them to react. Of course, leaving the Sims to automously react is not going to give the response you may want. When I play, telling the story, I direct the reactions I think should occur. I do this by using my own imagination.

9 times out of time in my games if I leave the sims to react there is no reaction lol Clearly yes this is a game where you are meant to control every single reaction to every single event but I find that's dull after a while. What if I don't want to imagine my sim is angry she caught her spouse cheating? What if I want her to have a genuine reaction based on her personality and values? She won't. She will get a moodlet and that is it. That's definitely using your imagination alright to create a scenario that's not there.

For me its about balance. I don't want the game making major changes and decisions but basic things like teens sauntering in at breakfast I want a reaction even if its a very basic look of horror or eye roll or something. Why would I want to imagine in my head a scenario that's not there and give her emotions or feelings they clearly don't have? I.e say you are playing a sim who is very strict and the teen skips school and has poor grades. Currently there's no consequence for that and the player has to imagine a scenario or create a false scenario where maybe you have the sim do an angry interaction to the target sim. They may be angry but its not about the skipping school but its down to players imagination to pretend that the angry conversation is. But wouldn't it be better to have that scenario actually be a reality in the game? Wouldn't it be better to have the real thing than imagining? It's great some people can get over this barrier, for me its immersion breaking and limiting my imagination.

It's like when I watched a sims 4 LP, the sim was showing as "happy" and the youtuber kept saying how upset the sims was because of the argument that had just happened, how the sims was feeling so depressed she had to get out of there and cool off. All I kept thinking was "you can say she's miserable and sad till the end of time, she's anything but" For me it makes for more interesting game play when I don't have to imagine certain scenarios aren't what they are. I would rather have the real thing any day of the week.

I completely agree with this. I have to mod out those annoying "happy" buffs from the environment because it always interferes with giving you sim negative moods that you want them to have. This game needs balance. I think the people who love to control every single aspect of their game do not care about this as much. But as someone who loves when the characters express themselves in strong ways, we need improvement and hopefully it is coming. I must add that Sims 4 is my favorite of the series. This is just its weakest mechanic of it that I want to see improvement and nuance for.

We can only hope for improvement. It would make a huge difference to the game because it impacts on everything.

While I am willing to admit that sims don't always have reactions to what is going on in the game emotionally, there is also the other side of that coin, when they overreact or act out of character.

For example, in my recent sims 2 play, my happily married with 2 adopted children gay sim answered the door to an ex BF, he immediately began to passionately make out with him. A man he had not seen and had barely spoken to for literally years in game with his children and husband and the nanny standing right there! Husband was PO'd and relationship of years was tanked. This was so off putting for me as I felt it was out of character as well as unrealistic.

So, honestly, I prefer that sims don't have too much reaction, as opposed to way too much.

"MidnightAura;c-16263321" wrote:

"alan650111;c-16263317" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263310" wrote:

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263248" wrote:
The game is meant to be played as you want them to react. Of course, leaving the Sims to automously react is not going to give the response you may want. When I play, telling the story, I direct the reactions I think should occur. I do this by using my own imagination.

9 times out of time in my games if I leave the sims to react there is no reaction lol Clearly yes this is a game where you are meant to control every single reaction to every single event but I find that's dull after a while. What if I don't want to imagine my sim is angry she caught her spouse cheating? What if I want her to have a genuine reaction based on her personality and values? She won't. She will get a moodlet and that is it. That's definitely using your imagination alright to create a scenario that's not there.

For me its about balance. I don't want the game making major changes and decisions but basic things like teens sauntering in at breakfast I want a reaction even if its a very basic look of horror or eye roll or something. Why would I want to imagine in my head a scenario that's not there and give her emotions or feelings they clearly don't have? I.e say you are playing a sim who is very strict and the teen skips school and has poor grades. Currently there's no consequence for that and the player has to imagine a scenario or create a false scenario where maybe you have the sim do an angry interaction to the target sim. They may be angry but its not about the skipping school but its down to players imagination to pretend that the angry conversation is. But wouldn't it be better to have that scenario actually be a reality in the game? Wouldn't it be better to have the real thing than imagining? It's great some people can get over this barrier, for me its immersion breaking and limiting my imagination.

It's like when I watched a sims 4 LP, the sim was showing as "happy" and the youtuber kept saying how upset the sims was because of the argument that had just happened, how the sims was feeling so depressed she had to get out of there and cool off. All I kept thinking was "you can say she's miserable and sad till the end of time, she's anything but" For me it makes for more interesting game play when I don't have to imagine certain scenarios aren't what they are. I would rather have the real thing any day of the week.

I completely agree with this. I have to mod out those annoying "happy" buffs from the environment because it always interferes with giving you sim negative moods that you want them to have. This game needs balance. I think the people who love to control every single aspect of their game do not care about this as much. But as someone who loves when the characters express themselves in strong ways, we need improvement and hopefully it is coming. I must add that Sims 4 is my favorite of the series. This is just its weakest mechanic of it that I want to see improvement and nuance for.

We can only hope for improvement. It would make a huge difference to the game because it impacts on everything.

I agree. I have plenty of imagination, but when I buy a game, I expect not to have to use my imagination so much to make sense of things that are not as cause and effect as they should be. I might as well just use the game to take pictures only and write visual novels instead of actually play the game. That's what I usually do to immerse myself in the game anyway, but TS4 needs an injection of Drama and Danger.

#DramaAndDanger.

"CK213;c-16263393" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263321" wrote:

"alan650111;c-16263317" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263310" wrote:

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263248" wrote:
The game is meant to be played as you want them to react. Of course, leaving the Sims to automously react is not going to give the response you may want. When I play, telling the story, I direct the reactions I think should occur. I do this by using my own imagination.

9 times out of time in my games if I leave the sims to react there is no reaction lol Clearly yes this is a game where you are meant to control every single reaction to every single event but I find that's dull after a while. What if I don't want to imagine my sim is angry she caught her spouse cheating? What if I want her to have a genuine reaction based on her personality and values? She won't. She will get a moodlet and that is it. That's definitely using your imagination alright to create a scenario that's not there.

For me its about balance. I don't want the game making major changes and decisions but basic things like teens sauntering in at breakfast I want a reaction even if its a very basic look of horror or eye roll or something. Why would I want to imagine in my head a scenario that's not there and give her emotions or feelings they clearly don't have? I.e say you are playing a sim who is very strict and the teen skips school and has poor grades. Currently there's no consequence for that and the player has to imagine a scenario or create a false scenario where maybe you have the sim do an angry interaction to the target sim. They may be angry but its not about the skipping school but its down to players imagination to pretend that the angry conversation is. But wouldn't it be better to have that scenario actually be a reality in the game? Wouldn't it be better to have the real thing than imagining? It's great some people can get over this barrier, for me its immersion breaking and limiting my imagination.

It's like when I watched a sims 4 LP, the sim was showing as "happy" and the youtuber kept saying how upset the sims was because of the argument that had just happened, how the sims was feeling so depressed she had to get out of there and cool off. All I kept thinking was "you can say she's miserable and sad till the end of time, she's anything but" For me it makes for more interesting game play when I don't have to imagine certain scenarios aren't what they are. I would rather have the real thing any day of the week.

I completely agree with this. I have to mod out those annoying "happy" buffs from the environment because it always interferes with giving you sim negative moods that you want them to have. This game needs balance. I think the people who love to control every single aspect of their game do not care about this as much. But as someone who loves when the characters express themselves in strong ways, we need improvement and hopefully it is coming. I must add that Sims 4 is my favorite of the series. This is just its weakest mechanic of it that I want to see improvement and nuance for.

We can only hope for improvement. It would make a huge difference to the game because it impacts on everything.

I agree. I have plenty of imagination, but when I buy a game, I expect not to have to use my imagination so much to make sense of things that are not as cause and effect as they should be. I might as well just use the game to take pictures only and write visual novels instead of actually play the game. That's what I usually do to immerse myself in the game anyway, but TS4 needs an injection of Drama and Danger.

#DramaAndDanger.

I love your promotion of #DramaAndDanger as a game pack. I am your number one fan of this idea!! Let's make a noise and have a pack like this happen!

"kemisz;c-16263106" wrote:
I feel like, by the time I get a teen, I've already maxed out manners, empathy, responsibility and conflict resolution. The only things left to do is hit up the emotional control, raise some skills and get them to do some homework.

In that sense, yes, they can be quite boring and I often find myself wishing they'd just grow up already.

LOL I found myself wishing my teens would grow up already! I gave up on the homework issue long ago IRL. Now I just hope they make good adults
Now in the game there is not much to do with them. I do see a lot more happening when I make a house into a teen hangout, then they do more in the way of interacting with each other.

"sunblond;c-16263339" wrote:
While I am willing to admit that sims don't always have reactions to what is going on in the game emotionally, there is also the other side of that coin, when they overreact or act out of character.

For example, in my recent sims 2 play, my happily married with 2 adopted children gay sim answered the door to an ex BF, he immediately began to passionately make out with him. A man he had not seen and had barely spoken to for literally years in game with his children and husband and the nanny standing right there! Husband was PO'd and relationship of years was tanked. This was so off putting for me as I felt it was out of character as well as unrealistic.

So, honestly, I prefer that sims don't have too much reaction, as opposed to way too much.

What was he's aspiration may I ask? Because sims with the romantic aspiration in TS2 will cheat. Not to mention it seems he never got over his old bf. To me it seems like it has more character than not. Plus more drama.

I'm currently playing a solo teen living in San Myshuno; I'd love to have more teen-related activities just to give them a little more uniqueness.

While I do agree it would be nice to see teens fleshed out more, I think sometimes simmers like myself it does not occur to them how to play in new ways. There are a few things I've done to make the teen life stage more interesting in my game.

1.) GP Parenthood - I play up to their mood swings as much as possible. Ex. If they have the loud music swing, I put a stereo in their room and lock the door for every sim but the teen, have them jam out as much as possible, and learn to play an instrument.

2.) EP Get Together - I love to form teen only clubs. I usually make their main lot a teen hangout. I have a teen coffee club who go to internet cafes, a swim club who hang out by the pool, a spa club that tends to have snobby teen sims, and a karaoke club. I think my next teen club may be a movie club or a video game club. It's cool to see my teen sims begin to become more independent without their parents around and begin to create their own relationships. I also have a bowling club, book club, and paint club that teens to elders can join, which is nice because as in real life, sometimes as a teen you meet older people who have the same interests (like the sims, lol). I try to pick a club for my teens that relate to their personality traits.

3.) GP Dine Out - Ah, young love. I like to give my sims a high school sweetheart and will often take them out on dinner dates. I remember my awkward teen dates at restaurants and I like to put my sims through the same experience. Also, I like to have them continue a romantic relationship into young adulthood, but I would like to try to have a teen couple break up because I'm too nice for my sims and been trying to play a bit more out of my comfort zone. That, and you know...real life...

4.) GP Parenthood - I like to have my sims break curfew and go with their friends to somewhere like Ancient Ruins to have a bonfire and some late night swimming and maybe even getting that first kiss. I like to have them skip school the next day, because you know, teens always make great life choices...(not)


Does anyone else play teens in different ways?