The Comparison Thread
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Forum Discussion
Excellent post, OP. Nice job. :) Although, I doubt that the moderators will allow it to stay. :/
It's true. TS4 requires so much pretending and so many workarounds in order for the gameplay to seem authenticate. The amount of energy that we have to expend, trying to make the game appear to be something that it isn't, is exhausting. It's a complete turn-off. That wasn't the case in previous games, especially TS2.
I really want to love TS4. I type my fingers until they ache, trying to express what it is that the game needs to feel like a Sims game. However, I fear that it's falling on deaf ears. It's too late and we're probably already too far down the road. It's already the sixth year of TS4 and there has been no movement in the direction of improving the Sims' personalities.
"CK213;c-17237023" wrote:
This is so important. <3
Playing the sims themselves is so underwhelming to me because they have barely there personality. Socializing with other sims is a dull affair.
I only play when new content is added. And my interest falls after I've played with the features that interested me.
This was clear to me when I learned more about Realm of Magic.
Great, I can play my sims and get things going for when ROM comes out.
Nope, I got bored and started playing Skyrim again. I will play when the pack comes out.
I did a little building, but I have the build far enough along that all I need is the new ROM content.
Personality and socialization is very important to me.
In TS3, sims with conflicting traits lead to a downward spiral of decaying relationships if they continued to express their traits to sims who are opposite of their personality. And those trait conflicts were also built into the socials if you wanted to build up the drama. So a neat sim could complain about a sloppy sims messes and ask them to clean up. The sloppy sim, in turn, would not be happy about being called out like that. If you want them build up their relationship to the point where the difference doesn't matter as much, you have to dance around their trait conflicts. In TS4, I find myself driven to perform generic mean socials if I feel something has happened that should have my sim annoyed.
I also have an issue how personality socials are buried in TS4:Spoiler
This is the social bloom for TS4.
It's the same for all sims and you have to dig deep for socials unique to your sim.
This is TS3 and notice the Special button at the bottom.
Open that up and you have all the trait socials that makes your sim unqiue to other sims.
You want their Irresistible interactions? You have all of them right there.
Is it time to be more charismatic? There you are.
If you want to use your TS4 sim's trait related socials you have to dig.
And dig...
And dig..., sifting through the common socials that all sims share as well.
And then probably not finding what you want because they seem a bit random in popping up.
I wish The Sims Studio would adapt this to TS4.
Sim traits feels so watered down in this game.
But I also find that sims don't display their uniqueness as much either. The other games have "personality tells".
If you observe sims long enough, you can figure out their traits. You can certainly tell a Couch Potato in the Sims 3.
They love sitting down on the couch or bed and enjoying some TV. I mean REALLY enjoying it.
It's true. TS4 requires so much pretending and so many workarounds in order for the gameplay to seem authenticate. The amount of energy that we have to expend, trying to make the game appear to be something that it isn't, is exhausting. It's a complete turn-off. That wasn't the case in previous games, especially TS2.
I really want to love TS4. I type my fingers until they ache, trying to express what it is that the game needs to feel like a Sims game. However, I fear that it's falling on deaf ears. It's too late and we're probably already too far down the road. It's already the sixth year of TS4 and there has been no movement in the direction of improving the Sims' personalities.
