Unpopular opinions about ts4

"LiELF;c-16219720" wrote:
Wow. Unpopular opinion is unpopular. Lol

I just wanted to pop in again because it seems like some people have either read through my post regarding gameplay too quickly, did not read it entirely, or misunderstood it. I highly recommend going back and reading that part again carefully, just for clarification.

@aricarai thank you for responding to so many posts, I feel that you really "get" what I was trying to say. :)

I did state in my post that gameplay was important. I also stated that the term means something different for each person, and that's why it's so important to be as specific as possible when trying to state what you want in game. The point was that some people's idea of "gameplay" is not the same as another's, and I've seen some people yelling for "gameplay", but then go on to describe something that isn't actually playable, like weather. Yes, weather can be a very important part of the game, as it brings immersion, ambience, realism, and even adds to simulation. But I wouldn't call it gameplay. See what I'm saying? Another example is my own request for a fear emotion. Sim emotions aren't gameplay either, they are more simulation. But the lack of a fear emotion leaves a large, gaping hole in the mechanics of the game for me.

Part of the problem that I see when we generally demand "gameplay" is that it's such a generic term that the devs don't know what we're asking for. Look, in Cats and Dogs, we got a brand new playable career, the veterinarian. That's gameplay. But did it make all those who asked for "gameplay" happy? Nope. But it actually IS gameplay. And sure, there are a lot of people having fun with it and others who say they've always wanted it, but many feel that it's just recycled mechanics and would rather have had... wait for it.... doghouses, toys, and pet beds. Yes, *objects*. I have actually seen posts where people would have sacrified actual gameplay for a load of objects that they felt were important, or for an animation of dogs sleeping on Sim beds. But just because these things aren't "playable", per se, it doesn't make them any less important to simmers or the game.

Anyway, I hope that helped to clarify my "unpopular opinion" for some people. It is, after all, supposed to be "unpopular", and if you disagree, you disagree.

Did I win the thread for "most unpopular opinion"? Lol

That is very well said.

You nailed the difference between gameplay and simulation. TS is one of the very few games with this problem because it's very specific in what it provides. Other games are all about gameplay only - TS is made of many smaller components and people value some of them over the others but tend to put them all in the same box calling them "gameplay" because, well, TS is a game and we abuse that term not really paying much attention to what it actually means. People asking for seasons when asked about their prefered type of gameplay are the best example IMO.