The I'm Bored Thread
I don't think I'm the only one. I would like to hear from others like me who are bored with the game and or the entire franchise. I think my boredom is starting to spill over into the entire franchi...
Forum Discussion
So, this thread has gone quite a bit off topic, I guess.
As for the "who dictates what's happening with TS4": sure, we have Grant saying that Maxis and EA are the same. And it's true to an extent. But at the end of the day, the developers aren't likely the ones who decide the budget, who decide possible delays for packs if necessary. Chances are (and pretty big ones) that there are other people in play who hold them to whatever schedule is set, allocate funds for EPs, GPs, and SPs. They're also not the ones deciding work hours, staff hirings, and priorities for development, or what gets outsourced and what's done in-house.
So while yeah, they draw up plans and decide themes and the contents of packs, they don't have unlimited resources and 100% free reign to do whatever they want. They also can't make the packs unlimited when it comes to size. All of that influences what we can and can't get within any given DLC and sometimes it means that some features fall short. (yes, it would be easier if they dropped 32bit support but fact is that they didn't and they probably do have data that indicates that it would mean a significant player base loss).
Also, I'm not here for the mocking and diminishing of the taste and intelligence of "13-year-old girls". (this complaint being directed at the execs and "hardcore gamers", not at anyone here unless you do believe that 13yo girls' taste is restricted to Snapchat, Instagram, and pretty clothes.). The sexism in the gaming industry is unfortunately strong on all levels and all we can do is hope for and work on continued progress. As is, I think the bigger constraints on content are dictated more by the purity police, especially prevalent in the US (book banning, anyone?) that limits what can fall into the Teen rating category. Which unfortunately means less crude humor, less violence, fewer things like gambling etc. A lot of that is out of Maxis's and EA's hands.
Now, on topic about being bored with TS4:
This iteration, in my opinion, is very much aimed at people who want to create stories by themselves. So in that regard yes, it's lacking in-game mechanics that direct the storylines and provide obstacles without the player's direct input.
I'm one of those people who like that. I like creating my own stories, having my Sims do what I want them to do (for the most part). Sure, having more dire consequences to my choices would sometimes be fun but I would absolutely not like having random surprises throwing a wrench in my gameplay (this includes townies having independent relationships to the extent that some mods do and similar features). I play with aging off because I want even that decision in my hands. I'd like to have more options: likes and dislikes, fears, more detailed wants beyond whims, stronger reactions to mean or mischief interactions. But even so, the way the game is set up now suits me almost perfectly.
For those of you who are looking for more uncontrollable circumstances, more consequences, more gameplay influenced by the engine instead of being in the hands of the player, this naturally makes the game boring and unchallenging, yeah. The thing is, I don't agree that it means the game is generally bad. It just happens to have a different direction than other iterations of The Sims had. And whether that was a good or bad decision (and how that was made is a completely different discussion) is not a clear-cut thing. For some it's a step back, for others it's amazing. TS4 is a different style of game than anything. For me it's a blank canvas, an empty document (well, premade Sims and houses excluded, but then I tend to ignore those) that I can fill with whatever I want and that's what keeps my own interest alive.
To address OP's comments on innovation in the game: you mentioned multitasking and I do agree that that's the "big" thing for this iteration. The thing is though that it's not as visible an innovation as open worlds were or the 2D to 3D jump earlier in the series. It's more subtle and perhaps that's why it feels like it's smaller.
Another thing with innovation is how it affects game performance. While some of the flashier things would be great, there are enough people (and no, anecdotal "my game runs fine" doesn't discount the opposite) saying that their machines couldn't handle TS3 *because* of the open world, that the strain on computers was too much. I think if they'd kept the open worlds, the innovation needed would be even less visible: it would be improving performance for that feature and that would be done entirely under the hood.
Apologies, this got longer than I planned.
In conclusion: I do wish TS4 had both options: be the blank canvas that some people enjoy to play with that's letting them be in charge of their play as well as more direction for gameplay (like story progression and maybe a "more consequences" option) for those who are looking for that kind of challenge.
Maybe in the next iteration (if it comes), the innovative part of the game will be OPTIONS. As much as some people hate toggles, for a game like The Sims, being able to set your game up to what you want it to be is precisely the draw of it, I think.
As for the "who dictates what's happening with TS4": sure, we have Grant saying that Maxis and EA are the same. And it's true to an extent. But at the end of the day, the developers aren't likely the ones who decide the budget, who decide possible delays for packs if necessary. Chances are (and pretty big ones) that there are other people in play who hold them to whatever schedule is set, allocate funds for EPs, GPs, and SPs. They're also not the ones deciding work hours, staff hirings, and priorities for development, or what gets outsourced and what's done in-house.
So while yeah, they draw up plans and decide themes and the contents of packs, they don't have unlimited resources and 100% free reign to do whatever they want. They also can't make the packs unlimited when it comes to size. All of that influences what we can and can't get within any given DLC and sometimes it means that some features fall short. (yes, it would be easier if they dropped 32bit support but fact is that they didn't and they probably do have data that indicates that it would mean a significant player base loss).
Also, I'm not here for the mocking and diminishing of the taste and intelligence of "13-year-old girls". (this complaint being directed at the execs and "hardcore gamers", not at anyone here unless you do believe that 13yo girls' taste is restricted to Snapchat, Instagram, and pretty clothes.). The sexism in the gaming industry is unfortunately strong on all levels and all we can do is hope for and work on continued progress. As is, I think the bigger constraints on content are dictated more by the purity police, especially prevalent in the US (book banning, anyone?) that limits what can fall into the Teen rating category. Which unfortunately means less crude humor, less violence, fewer things like gambling etc. A lot of that is out of Maxis's and EA's hands.
Now, on topic about being bored with TS4:
This iteration, in my opinion, is very much aimed at people who want to create stories by themselves. So in that regard yes, it's lacking in-game mechanics that direct the storylines and provide obstacles without the player's direct input.
I'm one of those people who like that. I like creating my own stories, having my Sims do what I want them to do (for the most part). Sure, having more dire consequences to my choices would sometimes be fun but I would absolutely not like having random surprises throwing a wrench in my gameplay (this includes townies having independent relationships to the extent that some mods do and similar features). I play with aging off because I want even that decision in my hands. I'd like to have more options: likes and dislikes, fears, more detailed wants beyond whims, stronger reactions to mean or mischief interactions. But even so, the way the game is set up now suits me almost perfectly.
For those of you who are looking for more uncontrollable circumstances, more consequences, more gameplay influenced by the engine instead of being in the hands of the player, this naturally makes the game boring and unchallenging, yeah. The thing is, I don't agree that it means the game is generally bad. It just happens to have a different direction than other iterations of The Sims had. And whether that was a good or bad decision (and how that was made is a completely different discussion) is not a clear-cut thing. For some it's a step back, for others it's amazing. TS4 is a different style of game than anything. For me it's a blank canvas, an empty document (well, premade Sims and houses excluded, but then I tend to ignore those) that I can fill with whatever I want and that's what keeps my own interest alive.
To address OP's comments on innovation in the game: you mentioned multitasking and I do agree that that's the "big" thing for this iteration. The thing is though that it's not as visible an innovation as open worlds were or the 2D to 3D jump earlier in the series. It's more subtle and perhaps that's why it feels like it's smaller.
Another thing with innovation is how it affects game performance. While some of the flashier things would be great, there are enough people (and no, anecdotal "my game runs fine" doesn't discount the opposite) saying that their machines couldn't handle TS3 *because* of the open world, that the strain on computers was too much. I think if they'd kept the open worlds, the innovation needed would be even less visible: it would be improving performance for that feature and that would be done entirely under the hood.
Apologies, this got longer than I planned.
In conclusion: I do wish TS4 had both options: be the blank canvas that some people enjoy to play with that's letting them be in charge of their play as well as more direction for gameplay (like story progression and maybe a "more consequences" option) for those who are looking for that kind of challenge.
Maybe in the next iteration (if it comes), the innovative part of the game will be OPTIONS. As much as some people hate toggles, for a game like The Sims, being able to set your game up to what you want it to be is precisely the draw of it, I think.
