Teens are boring

"Dracon;c-16263990" wrote:
>

MCCC makes teens more interesting in that you have the ability to make teens pregnant, and make them autonomously try for baby and/or Woohoo, that can result in them becoming pregnant. If a teen becomes pregnant, and when their parents find out, they get angry moodlets about their child becoming pregnant. Another mod I have is the Teen Prom Mod imported from content in the Sims 2 and 3 which is pretty fun since you get to meet a bunch of teens for your own teen sims to have friends, and even romantic relationships with, plus it brings ALL teens in ALL worlds to that venue, so that is pretty neat. I wish Prom was added to the game though officially. Hopefully that happens if and when a University expansion pack occurs

Well, I have MCCC mod so my teens can get pregnant. I just choose not to use that features because too many babies/toddlers stresses me out!

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263162" wrote:
Sorry the game does not provide you with teen activities you want. I actually like them as they are. I use my own imagination within the confines of gameplay though. That seems to be an uncommon way to play as I read others need the game to provide more since they can't imagine it. I also use that stage in life to skill them up for what future career I planned in my storyline. Maybe it is my gameplay style, own imagination, and personal values, but my game has lots of different types of teens. I have rebels, nerdy, preppy, and independent teens.

It's awesome that you can use your imagination to help expand the teen experience. It really is. I'm a huge proponent of imagination in Sims games.

With that said, I do wish the confines of gameplay, as you put it, weren't quite so confining. Playing at the park when you're a kid is great; you can have a lot of fun running around and pretending. But it can be even better with an awesome jungle gym, a swingset, and one of those spinning merry-go-round things.

Accepting that we have to rely on our imaginations cover for gameplay shortcomings is letting the devs off the hook IMO.

I think we need a lot more uniqueness in the life stages. I want playing a teen to be different in the same way playing a mage is different than playing a warrior in an RPG. Teens, elders, and children need the most attention as I see it.

#MakeTeensGreatAgain #MakeTeensMoreGreat (hashtag compaign)

"MidnightAura;c-16263246" wrote:

"SimTrippy;c-16263225" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263211" wrote:
I had him break his curfew. Other than a text from his Mother at 11pm, my sim strolled in at 4:30 in the morning to find his Mum dancing in the living room. She didn’t even look up or react to her teenage son breaking his curfew. He walked into the room with a bowl of cereal and started watching the kids network, no harm no foul. Was I meant to imagine that she was unhappy her son had been disobedient and stayed out till the small hours? I know, I know, I’m meant to cancel her dance interaction and have her “parent him” but the truth is I don’t really see the point other than to grind the character value bar one way or another. My sim didn’t care that her kid stayed out all night. Had I not made her react she wouldn’t have given a monkeys.

Yup, that's one of the worst things about parenthood - curfew. I mean, what's the point if no one really cares?

Although I find that IF they see them, they do often go there to say something about curfew, but 90% of the time they don't and I like you will not put in the effort to force a reaction :)

Exactly. It's one of the reasons I love the sims 2. Teens that sneak out have to make sure they aren't caught as their parents do care and will call them on it. (As I imagine most parents would) I mean even if you want to play the story of a parent that doesn't care you can cancel the interaction or keep the parent occupied if they aren't sleeping so they don't notice little Albert sneaking in at breakfast time.

There was a city-wide curfew for teens and kids in sims 3. I loved it when my kids would get brought home by the cops and their parents would chew them out afterward. It's just little things like that that are missing in 4.

"MidnightAura;c-16263211" wrote:
Parenthood improved teens but I agree they are still lacking.

I strongly disagree that if you think this you must have no imagination. In real life I’m a writer, I have plenty of imagination but my imagination and dare I say it is stifled in this game which is why I struggle with it as a story telling platform.

I had a teen who because I gave him the Mischief Aspiration the game gave him lots of mischief whims, all fine. Some of them targeted towards his Mum which I went with. I figured rebellious teen striking out at his Mum. His mum would get angry but as soon as the mischief interaction finished she would initiate friendly conversation. That limits my story telling and limits me I feel. I spent days fulfilling his whims to be mischievous to his mum and it took until the day before he aged to adulthood for the relationship bar to go red and for them to get the “disliked” marker. I’m guessing I was supposed to imagine that their relationship was difficult and certainly with all the mischief and mean interactions it should have been but it wasn’t.
During his teen years my sim (the same one) went through a rebellious stage.

Great! I thought. The reality of this rebellious stage was a weird zombie shuffle and lots of autonomous friendly interactions and hugs every time he saw his family members. The phase said he was supposed to challenge authority and not want to do his homework. But clearly no one told him as in between being super nice to his family, he automatically did his homework and extra credit and maintained his A grade in school and filled his responsibility bar to the top. I’m guessing I’m supposed to use my imagination there too and imagine he was being this smart plum, cheeky teen that needed a firm hand.

I had him break his curfew. Other than a text from his Mother at 11pm, my sim strolled in at 4:30 in the morning to find his Mum dancing in the living room. She didn’t even look up or react to her teenage son breaking his curfew. He walked into the room with a bowl of cereal and started watching the kids network, no harm no foul. Was I meant to imagine that she was unhappy her son had been disobedient and stayed out till the small hours? I know, I know, I’m meant to cancel her dance interaction and have her “parent him” but the truth is I don’t really see the point other than to grind the character value bar one way or another. My sim didn’t care that her kid stayed out all night. Had I not made her react she wouldn’t have given a monkeys. And the second the parenting interaction I choose her to use has ran, it’s back to one of them spamming friendly interactions on the other. To me that is limiting. That’s ruining the story I may want to tell. What if I don’t want them to be best buds until I say otherwise? What if I want her to be so annoyed by the presence of her son one of them walks away? They start being mean to each other? I don’t want to have to imagine that scenario and currently I do have to.

Teens need more to do for sure. The only thing separating my teens from adults and children is the friendly interactions like show off selfie, obsess about band etc. But these interactions don’t have any significant game play. I want to see my teens be able to have sleepovers, to go to after school activities, to have prom and graduate. I want to see them care about school (or not care) and to see them wanting to have their first relationship, first kiss with x. I want them to want to hang out with their friends and I wish their mood swings actually had a significant impact on their lives and relationships. I want them to sneak out and at the very least get a whim for it. All my teens want is to research vampires, buy a pool, buy a dishwasher, go for a jog, do push ups, buy a puppet theatre and watch the culture network. Which is the same whim list pretty much every sim of any age above toddler gets. I want them to behave like teens that isn’t pushed by me. I don’t want to have to pretend that my teens are something they are not basically.

Thank you so much for the detailed example.

I'll never understand the "Well, if you had a better imagination..." stance.

If I wanted to use nothing but my imagination, I'd spend much less money and buy some Barbies. At least, they wouldn't fight me every step of the way. If I think Barbie is angry at Ken, she's angry at Ken. If I think a Sim is upset with another Sim, they take a selfie, start up a conversation, then hug each other.

They prove me a liar every single time.

I think of of the reasons teens are a bit too boring for me is I don't like to micromanage my game. I love to sit back and watch what they do autonomously. I don't have pre-made stories that I have my sims act out. I love watching what the AI makes them do. I actually hate it when I have to cancel some action to make them do something they should have done themselves, like eating or going to the bathroom when they are playing an instrument or on the computer.

Maybe I just play totally different than most people? I don't know. I just figure if Maxis worked so hard to make a "life like" AI what's the point of not using it? Also, if I wanted to pretend my sims were feeling or acting one way when they clearly aren't, I'd just write a sims story or go play with some dolls.

"NorthDakotaGamer;c-16263705" wrote:
I guess since I play with everyone in my SIM worlds sharing my very strict conservative values, I see no issue with the way the teens are in the game. One of the skills all my played teens almost max out is always wellness, since I use the meditation mat as like a quiet prayer time item. I almost never use the mischief skill, so I hardly ever play rebellious teens.

So the reason you don't think the teens are boring is because.... you're boring? And dude, we get it, you only play very respectable, God Fearing teenage sims. Good on ya, buddy.

"Jenna2376;c-16264188" wrote:
I think of of the reasons teens are a bit too boring for me is I don't like to micromanage my game. I love to sit back and watch what they do autonomously. I don't have pre-made stories that I have my sims act out. I love watching what the AI makes them do. I actually hate it when I have to cancel some action to make them do something they should have done themselves, like eating or going to the bathroom when they are playing an instrument or on the computer.

Maybe I just play totally different than most people? I don't know. I just figure if Maxis worked so hard to make a "life like" AI what's the point of not using it? Also, if I wanted to pretend my sims were feeling or acting one way when they clearly aren't, I'd just write a sims story or go play with some dolls.

I'm sad to say that I don't think that EA spent enough time creating a "life-like" AI.

I created a household with a niece and an aunt. The niece was a teenager, still a minor. When her parents died, the aunt moved in to help her out. However, they didn't like each other at all. That was my initial set up. I used cheats to start them off as dire enemies. I expected a lot of drama and tension out of that household until the teen was old enough to kick the aunt out of her house.

Like you, I never liked to micromanage. I was the type of the player who liked setting up scenarios and watching them play out. I gave a little nudge now and then to make sure that Sims didn't die of starvation and such. However, I wanted to leave the "life choices" up to the Sims.

In the scenario that I described above, the two declared enemies couldn't stay away from each other. The aunt was constantly going to the niece to chat her up. Although the auntie was Evil and mean and I gave her a voodoo doll at the first possible opportunity, she and the niece ended up being besties.

Now, if that were a one off, I could live with it. I could use my imagination to say that the niece and her aunt found common ground and were able to overcome their differences to finally become genuine family. However, that is the outcome of every scenario, in every household. In the end, everyone ends up good friends who love each other dearly. It doesn't matter what the mix of traits and aspirations. It always trends exactly the same. At every opportunity, the game wants to push toward the positive, always.

Those are not always the kind of stories that I want to tell or to see. I shouldn't have to push so hard to get something other than a Disney ending. If I have conflicting traits and personalities, there should be some angst, no?

The answer is always: NO!

"Jenna2376;c-16264166" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263246" wrote:

"SimTrippy;c-16263225" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263211" wrote:
I had him break his curfew. Other than a text from his Mother at 11pm, my sim strolled in at 4:30 in the morning to find his Mum dancing in the living room. She didn’t even look up or react to her teenage son breaking his curfew. He walked into the room with a bowl of cereal and started watching the kids network, no harm no foul. Was I meant to imagine that she was unhappy her son had been disobedient and stayed out till the small hours? I know, I know, I’m meant to cancel her dance interaction and have her “parent him” but the truth is I don’t really see the point other than to grind the character value bar one way or another. My sim didn’t care that her kid stayed out all night. Had I not made her react she wouldn’t have given a monkeys.

Yup, that's one of the worst things about parenthood - curfew. I mean, what's the point if no one really cares?

Although I find that IF they see them, they do often go there to say something about curfew, but 90% of the time they don't and I like you will not put in the effort to force a reaction :)

Exactly. It's one of the reasons I love the sims 2. Teens that sneak out have to make sure they aren't caught as their parents do care and will call them on it. (As I imagine most parents would) I mean even if you want to play the story of a parent that doesn't care you can cancel the interaction or keep the parent occupied if they aren't sleeping so they don't notice little Albert sneaking in at breakfast time.

There was a city-wide curfew for teens and kids in sims 3. I loved it when my kids would get brought home by the cops and their parents would chew them out afterward. It's just little things like that that are missing in 4.

Yes! I love this feature, one of my teens in game at the moment is being a total pill to her mother as she has never made curfew in the whole 5 days she's been a teen. Needless to say her Mum is not impressed and their relationship is at rock bottom. Doesn't help the teen is going through a mood swing and berates her mum every chance she gets.

"Cynna;c-16264173" wrote:

"MidnightAura;c-16263211" wrote:
Parenthood improved teens but I agree they are still lacking.

I strongly disagree that if you think this you must have no imagination. In real life I’m a writer, I have plenty of imagination but my imagination and dare I say it is stifled in this game which is why I struggle with it as a story telling platform.

I had a teen who because I gave him the Mischief Aspiration the game gave him lots of mischief whims, all fine. Some of them targeted towards his Mum which I went with. I figured rebellious teen striking out at his Mum. His mum would get angry but as soon as the mischief interaction finished she would initiate friendly conversation. That limits my story telling and limits me I feel. I spent days fulfilling his whims to be mischievous to his mum and it took until the day before he aged to adulthood for the relationship bar to go red and for them to get the “disliked” marker. I’m guessing I was supposed to imagine that their relationship was difficult and certainly with all the mischief and mean interactions it should have been but it wasn’t.
During his teen years my sim (the same one) went through a rebellious stage.

Great! I thought. The reality of this rebellious stage was a weird zombie shuffle and lots of autonomous friendly interactions and hugs every time he saw his family members. The phase said he was supposed to challenge authority and not want to do his homework. But clearly no one told him as in between being super nice to his family, he automatically did his homework and extra credit and maintained his A grade in school and filled his responsibility bar to the top. I’m guessing I’m supposed to use my imagination there too and imagine he was being this smart plum, cheeky teen that needed a firm hand.

I had him break his curfew. Other than a text from his Mother at 11pm, my sim strolled in at 4:30 in the morning to find his Mum dancing in the living room. She didn’t even look up or react to her teenage son breaking his curfew. He walked into the room with a bowl of cereal and started watching the kids network, no harm no foul. Was I meant to imagine that she was unhappy her son had been disobedient and stayed out till the small hours? I know, I know, I’m meant to cancel her dance interaction and have her “parent him” but the truth is I don’t really see the point other than to grind the character value bar one way or another. My sim didn’t care that her kid stayed out all night. Had I not made her react she wouldn’t have given a monkeys. And the second the parenting interaction I choose her to use has ran, it’s back to one of them spamming friendly interactions on the other. To me that is limiting. That’s ruining the story I may want to tell. What if I don’t want them to be best buds until I say otherwise? What if I want her to be so annoyed by the presence of her son one of them walks away? They start being mean to each other? I don’t want to have to imagine that scenario and currently I do have to.

Teens need more to do for sure. The only thing separating my teens from adults and children is the friendly interactions like show off selfie, obsess about band etc. But these interactions don’t have any significant game play. I want to see my teens be able to have sleepovers, to go to after school activities, to have prom and graduate. I want to see them care about school (or not care) and to see them wanting to have their first relationship, first kiss with x. I want them to want to hang out with their friends and I wish their mood swings actually had a significant impact on their lives and relationships. I want them to sneak out and at the very least get a whim for it. All my teens want is to research vampires, buy a pool, buy a dishwasher, go for a jog, do push ups, buy a puppet theatre and watch the culture network. Which is the same whim list pretty much every sim of any age above toddler gets. I want them to behave like teens that isn’t pushed by me. I don’t want to have to pretend that my teens are something they are not basically.

Thank you so much for the detailed example.

I'll never understand the "Well, if you had a better imagination..." stance.

If I wanted to use nothing but my imagination, I'd spend much less money and buy some Barbies. At least, they wouldn't fight me every step of the way. If I think Barbie is angry at Ken, she's angry at Ken. If I think a Sim is upset with another Sim, they take a selfie, start up a conversation, then hug each other.

They prove me a liar every single time.

I agree. Unless you deliberately resort to manipulating sims emotions with things like mood paintings, mood decor etc your sims will probably never feel the correct emotion tied to the circumstance. Cheating sims I'm looking at you. Teenage sims with "mood swings" that mean didily squat.

"You just don't have imagination" is a poor defence of very poor AI and poor game play that has not progressed but is very weak when compared to its predecessors.

"Jenna2376;c-16264188" wrote:
I think of of the reasons teens are a bit too boring for me is I don't like to micromanage my game. I love to sit back and watch what they do autonomously. I don't have pre-made stories that I have my sims act out. I love watching what the AI makes them do. I actually hate it when I have to cancel some action to make them do something they should have done themselves, like eating or going to the bathroom when they are playing an instrument or on the computer.

Maybe I just play totally different than most people? I don't know. I just figure if Maxis worked so hard to make a "life like" AI what's the point of not using it? Also, if I wanted to pretend my sims were feeling or acting one way when they clearly aren't, I'd just write a sims story or go play with some dolls.

I feel you. I hate micro managing. I like to control of course but not to the extent of this: (Which happens all the time)

A teenager has just been caught "sneaking out" and by sneaking out I mean standing on the edge of his lot talking to another teen. The teens responsibility value is trickling into negative because he's breaking his curfew of 11pm and it's 11:08.

Teen re enters the home at 11:45 after standing talking on the street. Both parents are still awake and in the kitchen. Neither respond to teen breaking curfew other than to offer their teen a friendly hug in greeting automatically.

As a player my choice is:
A) Imagine parent is mad at teen and use any parenting disciplines for skipping curfew.
b) Ignore it, after all the parent doesn't care why should I?

If I pick A) I then have to make the teen react like a teen would. I.e react negatively or dismissive. Or I can ignore it and let theteen decide to start autonomously talking about vampires. If I don't make the teen react the most the teen will do is swear. Once teen does that the adult will not react unless I make them. The game then forces friendly socials.

If I go with b, nothing changes. There's no reaction, no consequence to the relationship, no consequence to the behaviour. The sims do not care.

I hate playing my sims games like this. I don't as a rule. If I set that scenario up in the sims 2 and 3 I will get a reaction. There will be consequences and I can intervene and cancel an interaction if I don't like it but half the fun of causing drama in The Sims is to enjoy the fall out. It's a huge anti climax when there isn't any consequence. Fair play to people that want to micro manage every single reaction but I don't. My style is I like to know I can micro manage if need be but with the sims 4 it feels less of an option in game play and more of a demand otherwise... nothing much happens other than friendly conversations regardless of personality.

I would like some things patched in for Teens. Then a pack for them that expands them.