I have about 12 hours in the game. Here are my thoughts.
THE GOOD:
+ Runs smoothly
+ Sims look great
+ More difficult and interactive careers. Let's try and make more common careers more interesting, as well - like the doctor in TS3 expansion Ambitions.
+ Children more interesting to play with their own aspirations and "career" goals in school
+ Dates are fun!
+ Pregnancy more realistic looking and feeling
+ Emotions generally a good addition
+ Load screens make the game run very quickly; I don't mind that it make the world seem more closed. If anything, I'd like to get rid of load-screens between locations within my neighborhood.
+ Challenging to manage multiple Sims.
+Multitasking! Makes gaining social fun and more realistic.
+ Connection to online community in game works much better than previous attempts
+ Beautiful neighborhoods.
+ The housing design is MUCH IMPROVED. THANK YOU AND KUDOS. Especially wonderful is the new roof design and the option to change the height of walls, foundation. I've never had so much fun making homes. Too bad there isn't much room for me to make many houses.
THE BAD:
+ Unable to MEET OTHERS at work or school; for my young sims, particularly, "meet classmates" was a way for them to meet friends. While there are options to talk to friends/co-workers in TS4, this only affects the social need and doesn't actually introduce my Sims to their neighbors. Along with the closed world, this makes it difficult for my Sims to meet others - especially if they work often or have strange hours.
+ No Create a Style - it's getting difficult to keep my houses from looking all the same.
+ NEIGHBORHOOD AGING seems skewed. A few hours in, most of the people who I met at the bar or library were elders. Please don't make me wait for a great mod to come out to see this fixed.
+ NO CUSTOM LIFESPAN
+ No TODDLERS. It seems strange to age from bassinet to little, capable human. I'd like some more time with my kids.
+ Like all of the other games, I want the option to ask a Sim his or her age.
+ Teens need more Teen-specific goals/aspirations - maybe like the children? It feels too similar to YA.
+ FUN NEED is difficult to maintain.
+ NO FAMILY TREES - I'm a legacy player and this is killer.
+ BABY/BASSINET - It'd be good to be able to multitask with the kid - talk on the phone, watch TV, etc.
AND...OF COURSE...
+ There should really be MORE here for the price. I know that this is a new game, but come on guys. I have spent a lot of money in the last decade on TS1, TS2, and TS3 (I own every EP, most of which I bought near release. And all I got were some weird looking lamps ;). Please, as a gift to your very devoted fan base, include some of our general desires in an update rather than charging 40-60 dollars for another game. I do not want to wait for a "Generations" to get toddlers or family trees. I have faith that, despite its rather lack-luster introduction, this game will end up being spectacular. I'm sure that I won't be able to go back to TS3 after some expansions start to come out. Until then, it's going to be difficult to stay interested as a legacy player without toddlers, family trees, paintings/pictures of Sims.
EA Staff (Retired)
