The I'm Bored Thread

"PrincessrozeeS;c-17373107" wrote:
Sometimes reality is not so good for creating game play the way the person wants to be inspired and create in their own game.

For me the Sims 4 also lacks character and by that I mean there seems to be very few special NPC's. Mrs Crumplebottom (in the Sims 2) with her prim ways and hitting Sims with her handbag lol. I used to get annoyed at times with so much fighting going on in the Sims 2 with NPC's on community lots, but the NPC's in the Sims 4 seem characterless. They arrive at a community lot, don't stay very long and even when one of them comes to speak with my playing Sim, unless my playing Sims stops what they are doing and introduces themselves they get no friendship status with that NPC.

I agree with you. I think one of the biggest issues with TS4 isn't that it adds realism, but adds it in seemingly random, annoying ways instead of what really makes it a game that mimics life.

I don't care about fish and flowers spoiling and it's a bit annoying when they do so so quickly -- just like it's annoying for Sims to always be drinking water. Is it realistic? Yes, but realism =\= good gameplay anymore than it equals good art. It's pedantic and overdone. We KNOW it's a lifesim and we know how the real world works, we don't need TS4 to narrate every minute detail.

At the same time, realism is lacking in the areas that give real life just that...life. The relationships and personalities are so minimal (perhaps as a 'design choice' in order so that the player may project their own imagination onto characters, but I don't buy it and don't think it's a good technique in Sims), and the game is afraid of making things too "real" because it might upset someone...I mean pets can't even die...and look I love my cat a ton but come on, is that real life? Enemies don't do much, anger is never really projected at any one sim for longer than a moment, etc. There are some short-term but no long-term consequences for things.

In essence, the game denies reality in the most substantial ways and only includes it with tiny details that do more harm than good. Pick realism or not, and stick with it but stop dancing around the middle because the game doesn't do either well right now.

I'm like you, I still play but not as much. It's frustrating and disappointing sometimes. It is the most fun when I put a bunch of rules and restrictions on myself to force it to be that way, but not necessarily on it's own.