Uncontrollable Pets - Good move or bad?

I like it. They do have better personalities and I like having my Sims guide them to tell them what to do. What puppy takes itself outside to do business? What cat stops itself from scratching furniture or sitting on counters? That's what makes pets, pets. I want a pack for The Sims where my Sims are still number one but their lives can be enriched. Not an animal simulator.

WAY BETTER. I have played the expansion for about 5 hours so far and I am in total agreement that they have more personality and are more interesting this way. I actually feel attached to the pets! In Sims 3 I was bored to tears with the pets - especially the cats. There is so much life to this expansion and I am very happy to own it!!

I would love it if someone could explain to me: Why was it impossible to give cats and dogs the same personalities, while still making them controllable?

Nothing would have needed to change, right? So why not give the option? Those who want the pets to be autonomous could just leave them alone. Those who want the pets to do a specific action, at a specific moment, in a specific place (storytellers) could have had the option to do so as well.

Why is everything always either/or with this version of the game when BOTH would have been the ideal solution?

I have not bought the game, but I've watched the LP's that have come out so far and I've noticed a lot of bugs to pets not being playable and how they won't care for themselves. It seems you sim has to tell them to eat/sleep/use the bathroom, so I think it would have been better to just make them controllable.
Edit: I bought and played the game and my opinion is still the same. It's very frustrating to have to tell you dog to eat and go out to the bathroom all the time. I've also not seen any of this awesome personality they raved about as the reason they couldn't be controlled. Mine are all very boring. Three puppies, two dogs, an elder cat, and an kitten and they do nothing exciting at all.

Well, what can I say. It's the first game build around animals which I truly enjoy. Good Job, EA. This is exactly how it's done. Narrow Focus on few aspects of a theme with fleshed out mechanics! Please Keep it this way.

Unfortunately I have not had enough time to completely experience the Content yet (of Course not), however, the vet Career ended up being amazing as well from what I can tell. Just as I expected: It's a huge improvement over the System they tried in Get To Work. Indeed, they listen after all.

"Cynna;c-16147823" wrote:
I would love it if someone could explain to me: Why was it impossible to give cats and dogs the same personalities, while still making them controllable?

Nothing would have needed to change, right? So why not give the option? Those who want the pets to be autonomous could just leave them alone. Those who want the pets to do a specific action, at a specific moment, in a specific place (storytellers) could have had the option to do so as well.

Why is everything always either/or with this version of the game when BOTH would have been the ideal solution?

It's because if you control them you'll be clicking around for task for them to do but you won't notice the small things they do. Most people cancel making mess and such. Even sims have small things they do that people don't notice cause there too busy looking for the next task to do.

"Cheekybits;c-16147910" wrote:


It's because if you control them you'll be clicking around for task for them to do but you won't notice the small things they do. Most people cancel making mess and such. Even sims have small things they do that people don't notice cause there too busy looking for the next task to do.

I wouldn't notice the small things they do? Why not? If there are other Sims on the lot, the pets won't be under control all of the time, just like Sims aren't under control all of the time. So why wouldn't I experience these "small things" when I'm not controlling them?

"mirta000;c-16147915" wrote:


Did you not notice all the awesome sims animations and their AI just because you could control them? Did your children stop making messes in parenthood just because you could control them?

Exactly.

What really turns me off is not even being allowed to click on the pet so that you can find them. In the live stream, the kitten was sitting out on the curb while they were looking all over the house and couldn't find it. In every single game up to now, that could have been remedied by a simple click on the kitten's portrait.

It's good that they've given a whistle command. However, suppose you don't want the animal to come to you because you just want to, you know, observe the small things that they do? You can't if it's so difficult to find them.

In the other games, I'd right click on the animal portrait so that the camera would follow them around and I could see all the mischief that they got up to. I didn't have to control them, but I could observe. That's suppose to be the entire point of this EP -- observing the animals. Yet, we can't even find them, in situ, so to speak without scouring all over the neighborhood for them? Come on, EA!

I was looking forward to this EP so much. I loved Pets and Seasons in every game and I'm so disheartened by the control scheme.

I think that not being able to control the pet makes the experience more organic. And while it is inconvenient to not be able to see our pets' moods and learned behaviors/tricks, that does make it feel more realistic.

Unlike a person, your average cat or dog does not carry a résumé, nor can you ask it "Do you know how to potty outside?" and get an affirmative "yes". It's also really up to guessing what your pet wants when it's whining. It could be hungry, it could be lonely, it could need to go out, which is why they gave us the "What's wrong?" interaction.

If I don't know what behavior a pet has learned, well... if it learned not to do something, then it won't do that thing, right? If I catch it doing that thing, it obviously hasn't learned not to do so, so I must train it not to.

I think it was the best way every dog and cat I had adopted has had a different personality. My dog in my current is always around people and wakes my sim up every morning to start her day sometimes at 3am and my cat loves sleeping outside and playing with garbages around the house.