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simooon2002's avatar
5 years ago

The flop that is called The Sims 4

I've not played the sims 4 for almost 2 years now after I basically just got bored of it. I tried many times to give it one more shot but I just really didn't feel like it anymore since I found it uninteresting. Due to quarantine I have revisited it and I made some houses and played for about 2 days.

I will start this thread with some positivity by saying that I do really like build mode. It's honestly the best feature of the game and I have become quit good at it after lots of practicing whereas in the sims 3 I never even knew how to begin building. (bare in mind that I was a lot younger) Besides building cas and its graphics are also really interesting and I find it just generally fun to play around with it and create backstories while making random sims. This I missed in the sims 3 cause it just simply took me ages to make a sim and it felt more like a task than an 'entertainment'.

The sims 4 its gameplay however is a whole other story. I know this has been said many times especially since the fiasco that is called eco living was announced, but the sims 4 just lacks every single piece of depth. There's nothing interesting to do and the relationships sims have don't affect their lives that much. My sims feel more like puppets that I have to completely control than interesting characters like in the sims 3. I have to completely rely on my imagination to make my sims's lives interesting which usually ends with my sims cheating on their spouses and beginning new relationships every single time I open the game. I find this really sad cause the sims 3 had such a special place in my heart and it was really a place where I could escape for me and do all the crazy things I couldn't do in real life. I really felt connected to my sims and usually played at least 2 generations. In the sims 4 however I can honestly say that although I have played with the new generation of my sims, I've never played long enough for my first generation to pass away.

The emotion system adds nothing to the gameplay and depth besides some random cartoony interactions that I just simply do not care about.
The townies are also really really really f'ing disappointing. I loved the sims 3 townies so much and I knew almost all of their names and their backstories and spends hours on just reading them on the sims wiki site. They had so much depth and were just so iconic. Whereas the townies in the sims 4 don't have any depth. They have a written backstory that usually doesn't even reflect on their relationships and they are so poorly done. I just simply cannot understand how they can release towns with sims that have no special relationships and are no different than they were in cas. (before playing them: no skills, relationships,...)

The graphics of the worlds are beautiful but many of them are way too small for them to be fun to play in like Magnolia Promenade and DSV. I get that because all of the worlds are in every save file that the game has to keep being runnable but then again I don't find it fair for players that really wanted for ex (like me) a Hollywood themed world and that have to pay 40 (may I repeat 40!!!) bucks on a world with about 5 residential lots. If Windenburg costs the same price as the other ones, the other ones should be of the same quality. In the sims 3 I didn't like that when you moved worlds you lost all of your contacts and that you couldn't visit your old neighbourhood but then again I much preferred this system cause it gave us way more freedom. Not only did we have an open worlds (which was great) but we also got new townies with every expansion pack that we got which made the game way more interesting for me aswel. It honestly feels like you need to edit the worlds in the sims 4 completely before you can play in them since there aren't many townies and cause the townies that are there are the same boring ones that we have in every save file. If I would have to choose however I still prefer the sims 3 system with the one world. (but an interesting QUALITY one)

Regarding to these complaints I've also seen some people defend the simgurus and producers and that they're very nice people and that the sims community is really toxic for them since we only get mad and always complain without being constructive. To that I want to respond that this isn't a hate message to the producers cause I can't point my fingers at whose fault this is and I don't really care. I just care about this game being worth the money and for it to be giving us the same (if not better cause cmon it's supposed to be a newer updated version) quality as the previous games cause how it is right now isn't working. I also don't care about the simgurus being nice or whatever, I mean I wish them all the best but their personalities and they like-ability isn't why they were hired, they are hired to make the sims 4 a good game and that's the only thing we should care about. And I also really hate how they are taking the negative backlash. They are handling it as if they are stubborn 10 year olds. They're completely ignoring and not responding to most of the complaints and if they are responding to it, it's in a making-fun kinda way. They make it look like the angry sims players are some evil monsters that are out to get them and they're taking it way to personally. This isn't about you. This is about the game and with all of the dislikes on the newest trailer you could OBJECTIVELY tell that it isn't the way it should be.

I would also like to include that the sims 4 expansion packs are way to expensive for what is in them. Back in the day the sims 3 ones were about 30 bucks I think while they hade SOOOO many content in them. Get this for example: Late night had a giant open city-like world that included apartments and a hills section for the rich. There was a celebrity system (that was way better that the one from the sims 4, don't @ me), a new film career with 2 options, the directing one and the movie star one. (so basically 2 careers) Next to this they also brought in vampires (which was a bit random but okay), night life (clubs,... altho they were empty most of the times) and last but not least sooo many townies that were just so iconic and had so many depth and a real story. Take Lola Belle for instance: she's SUCH an icon and has such a fun backstory. And even Matthew Hamming had a fun backstory which made people even question his sexuality. Can you imagine this in the sims 4? Imagine even questioning the sexuality of a sims 4 character. No. You can't. They're literally puppets.
In the sims 4 we had city living that brought in the apartments (that aren't even better than in late night cause we can't edit the building or add in new apartments) and some irrelevant careers that nobody cared about. We also had get famous that added a whack celebrity system and an acting career (not even directing) that I have never played cause it simply does not work cause I can't go to the gigs. +We had Vampires that added.. well.. vampires. And honestly even though I don't really care about them I don't hate this pack cause it was nicely done and only a gamepack. (night life was added in get together so here's another feature that was divided in another pack)


I needed to get this of my chest. To finish this long thread I would like to say that even though this might sound really bitter, I am not. I simply lost hope gameplay-wise and I'm not even angry about it anymore, just disappointed and I've lost hope. See ya
  • > @APotts said:
    > For example; I fondly recall the time my Sims 3 romantic superstar got caught cheating on the husband that he was crazy about. It happened when I was playing a different family, and when I switched back it was too late to avoid the divorce. I had to work for many Sim weeks to get the couple to reconcile, AS IT SHOULD BE! I could never make this type of memory in Sims 4, because Sims 4 has no consequence for cheating... for a game built off a emotions system that is sort of pitiful.

    The Sims 2 was mostly like that too lol apart from the Sims hating each other and then fighting whenever they saw each other then sim kids being sad about their parents splitting up but you could just make them happy again it was all forgiven and forgotten and they could see their parent that moved out, the sims still hate each other in The Sims 4. Some people want Story Progression too but i'd just turn it off i want to be able to keep my sims where i left off like a lot of other people and it was very easy to make relationships and for Sims to fall in love with any sexuality in TS2 as well. I feel all the extras in TS2 distracted people too much from noticing all this in the game and it did for me a bit too much too which is one of the reasons i don't want the extras now plus making money too easily definitely a problem but i feel like they give you too much on purpose so you'll just play, rinse and repeat without playing the game properly and having those Crafting Benches there especially it's like JUST because it's there you'll use it, get too carried away and before you know it you're rich even when you don't want all your Sims to be rich LOL.

    I like the Careers in TS4 because they made it more challenging and the levels evens out how much pay you want the Sims to get and with the long time awaiting Bill Tracking we can see how much they earn VS how much they're paying so you can better see how much the house costs in total so you can keep them at a certain Career Level at the right level of pay, the mostly costly thing about any build is Lights but since the Lights cover a much bigger radius of a room now and you can make them bigger or smaller you can save on money by reducing how many Lights you put around the house :) Lights always cost more in the older games too and i bet Off-Grid builds are super cheap to own. It's all in how you tailor your sims to the lifestyle you want them to have it's up to you do what you want with it.

  • "Renato10;c-17499567" wrote:
    TS2 apartments still the best to date but nowadays it seems that Maxis don't understand that apartments don't necessarily mean skyscrapers...


    Well... this aged like milk. It's nice they are including new apartments. Since we can't build them in any world it seems ok to do it!

  • "APotts;c-17512682" wrote:
    I agree with everything the OP says regarding Sims 4. An excellent and well thought out post. Bravo!

    I have the same problem, I think about playing Sims 4 whenever I have time for gaming, but more often then not I change my mind and play something else instead. When I get a new pack, I will try to start up the game, but often get bored quickly. However, I did stick with the game for a couple of weeks back when the Uni pack came out, which was something.

    It isn't that Sims 4 isn't a fun game, there is certainly fun to be had, but unfortunately the amount of money I have spent on Sims 4 vs the amount of fun I have had with the game makes it a poor investment. This is especially the case when I compare it to Sims 3. When I purchased a new EP for Sims 3 I knew it would expand my game a lot. The amount of fun I had with Showtime, Generations, Sims 3 Seasons and Supernatural was more than worth every penny I spent on those packs, and even though they were buggy at times I also really enjoyed Into the Future, Sims 3 University, World Adventures, and Island Paradise.
    Not to mention a couple of the Sims 3 store worlds Monte Vista and Midnight Hollow were simply amazing in my opinion. Oh, and I don't recall a problem with my nightclubs in Sims 3, they always got decent crowds. So I am lucky I guess.

    Of course, I know that I tend to have rose colored glasses when it come to Sims 3, and I have not forgotten, or forgiven, the huge list of still unpatched bugs which have given Sims 3 such a bad name, but really is the steadily increasing list of bugs in Sims 4 any better?

    Even though I haven't touched Sims 3 in a while, I still adore Sims 3, I made so many memories with that game. Things that I still think about and laugh about today, so many times while playing Sims 3 (and also Sims 2) things would happen that I didn't expect and it would just blow my mind, and it saddens me to say that with Sims 4 I just don't get that same connection.

    For example; I fondly recall the time my Sims 3 romantic superstar got caught cheating on the husband that he was crazy about. It happened when I was playing a different family, and when I switched back it was too late to avoid the divorce. I had to work for many Sim weeks to get the couple to reconcile, AS IT SHOULD BE! I could never make this type of memory in Sims 4, because Sims 4 has no consequence for cheating... for a game built off a emotions system that is sort of pitiful.


    Hahahah lmao I still remember all the times I typed in the resetsim cheat just because someone caught me cheating, it was amazing.
  • "Renato10;c-17518019" wrote:
    "Renato10;c-17499567" wrote:
    TS2 apartments still the best to date but nowadays it seems that Maxis don't understand that apartments don't necessarily mean skyscrapers...


    Well... this aged like milk. It's nice they are including new apartments. Since we can't build them in any world it seems ok to do it!



    Yeah tbh the eco living expansion actually looks decent in comparison to the other ones we had. I'm still not gonna buy it cause I know I'll get sick of the gameplay in less then a day but I like that they added some new apartments
  • Thanks OP for your insightful post! I agreed with a lot of your points

    In terms of my own opinion, I will say now that I can't compare The Sims 4 with The Sims 3 because I rarely played it. I kind of regret that now, but my laptop at the time just couldn't handle it. I don't think it would be fair of me to do so when I don't have a fully rounded experience to fall back on.
    I also can't comment on the Sim Gurus as I don't have Twitter and haven't read any exchanges between them and us.

    I will say that I love The Sims 4 and still appreciate it despite it's flaws. But I do have to use a combination of my own imagination, CC and mods in order to keep me invested. I'm right in the middle of my "addiction" phase, but I can't help but wonder once life goes back to normal will I play it as much?

    I have all EPs for 4 apart from Get Famous and Island Living and I have to say they were fun for a day or two and then I was back to finding the game bland & boring (I've yet to play Eco Lifestyle properly so who knows how long that will keep my attention!) I just wish the emotions were more substantial, the Sims had more intelligent AI and we had more traits. For some reason the earlier life stages (baby to child) are forgotten about a lot which can affect family gameplay. It would be great if the world was more dynamic and ever-changing, and we didn't have to go through a loading screen to visit next door's lot!
    However I do like the graphics, CAS, build/buy mode and the general gameplay...

    I definitely think the EPs, stuff and game packs are overpriced for what you get. I watched a YouTuber review My First Pet Stuff and I thought it was ridiculous that 1) it didn't come with Cats & Dogs and 2) a lot of the objects were simple recolours.

    I just wish EA put time, care and actual heart in to the games they put out - but maybe that's asking too much of a huge gaming company.
  • Well... regarding the sims they were more or less the same in TS2 as well and they definitely were in TS1 lol apart from the accents in TS2 i found them the same but i wasn't bothered about it apart from the NPCs always chatting and ignoring everything but Food, Pool Tables, Party Games, Computers or TVs LOL but it WAS the same. I never played TS3 but i feel TS4 is very TS1/TS2 inspired and then aspects of TS3 put in there but the sims aren't TS3 sims they're TS2 Sims again more or less except definitely less details in the game but i'm good with that, in TS2 you created their story and used your imagination to do it through how you made them live their lives, interact and dress with what type of Aspiration it was i can't believe people have forgotten already LOL, i've just recently been playing TS2 so my memory is still fresh but i wouldn't forget, i think looking for more and more realism in the game it's unrealistic to how much you can really programme the sims it's just not gonna get anymore realistic but watch some TS2 Gameplay you'll see more or less they're the same and use the same animations *shrugs*.