"SimmerGeorge;c-17572694" wrote:
Can we like find a middle ground people? Can we just accept that The Sims 4 neither horrible nor perfect. Based on your personal opinion you can always find ways the game is the best by picking out the positive or that it's the worst by picking out the negative.
We need to get over our own opinions and try to understand what The Sims 4 does well and what it is lacking. This installment like all the previous Sims games does some things great and some other thing terribly. The problem with this game though is that a lot of things that a big amount of people thought were not "well-done" are features that are very important in a life-simulator (ex. lifestages, personalities, unpredictability etc.) So if you are asking yourself why the game is getting so harshly criticised even though you might love it this might be the reason.
The fanbase that existed before the sims 4 was a different one. Fans of the game became fans because they found what they were looking for in previous games and The Sims 4 was the first installment take that away and ditch things that were the reason why some people became fans in the first place. That meant that a part of the fanbase was not satisfied with those drastic changes and some decided to leave. However the Sims 4 managed to even out the numbers by getting new people into the community who did not really notice a change because this was their first game.
In short, with drastic changes in the game come drastic changes in the fanbase. People who liked the game before the changes leave and people who like the game after the changes join in.
However, no matter how much the game has changed it still has the "life-simulator" identity so even if you love or hate the game you have to be able to differentiate if the game is good/bad for you and if it is a bad/good "life-simulator" in general and compared to previous life-simulators by The Sims team.
For better understanding an example from another game:
"Years ago I played a game that was marketed as a RPG/Action game. Personally I loved the game so much but it was heavily criticized by the fanbase. It was my first game in that franchise, I hadn't played any previous ones but I loved the story and the characters and didn't understand the hate.
After thinking a bit I realized even though I loved the story and the characters the game was not a very good Action RPG and that was the problem. I didn't care about the Action RPG elements so I never realized how lacking they were. Do I still love the game to death? Sure. Would I recommend it to anyone who likes either Action or RPG games? Hell no.
I agree, Sims 4 (but add in "And all games in the series") are neither horrible or perfect, we just tend to disagree on WHAT Is lacking. There are things lacking, but for me it's different things than others think. I agree with lifestages, it is deifinitely lacking but I see a LOT of posts saying they don't want more life stages. I personally do not want more unpredictablity, or deeper personality, but I would LOVE free babies and non-mutual relationships for example)
I joined sims 4 later, when toddlers were released, but I did play since Sims 1 was first released, I just didn't get Sims 4 upon released, I missed the hype etc. I enjoyed it more than previous versions , silently unaware of the hate about it. I thought it was the greatest game in the series, still do. I was actually really surprised upon discovering the online community of players that others did not like it! Upon looking into it and seeing it never had pools or more importantly toddlers, that was totallly understandable but in my eyes, that was solved because toddlers were here now haha! I understand now people didn't like the personalities of the sims and as someone who had plalyed for almost 20 years (at that point, now it's more) I was very surprised because they seemed sooo much better than previous versions and still do. The entire game (other than animations) seemed better to me. I'm no longer surprised haha! Everyone has different opinions and that's fine, it's always been totally okay for me that people enjoy different games. I strongly dislike any action games, but don't expect others to agree, everyone is different. I just dislike it when people bash others, for liking any version of the game.
Criticism of any game is welcome, (1,2,3 OR 4) but yes, bashing players saying they are "wrong" in their opinions, (or as I've seen in these forums "Immature" "idiotic" and even "stupid") or demanding they explain themselves for having a diff opinion needs to end though. And so do blanket statements. When I see people post things like "Everyone hates this so why doesn't EA FIX IT" about things I like, then yes I'll step in and say that I like it and not EVERYONE hates it. (THis goes for "Love" too... not EVERYONE loves colourwheel etc) If someone says "This is a problem and here's why" or even "MANY people hate this" then yeah, criticise away haha, just don't bash those that this agree. And it works BOTH WAYS. I"ve seen people give decent critiicism in a civil manner on here and they've been told to "Just don't play then" and that's rude too as I can only assume people would only give criticism if they like the game/franchise. Otherwise why would they be here or buying the game?
But yeah, as a Sims 4 enjoyer, I do long for the day when a diff sims 5 forum is released and we can just play sims 4 in peace haha! (Criticisms allowed of course, but the "drama" and trolling and bashing hopefully moved on or gone)