Why does everyone hate city living?

I like CL but there's a lot of illusion there. It's smaller than it looks. I think people thought they were getting something... different.

@DeservedCriticism rent is fixed but doesn't include furnishings so it's easy to make a place more expensive.

City Living is my favorite EP.

I would invert the question and ask why people are so intent on telling 'everybody' what they supposedly hate? Are we so worried that the bottom of the casserole is going to burn?

Of course, there's nothing that "everybody" hates nor likes and that's especially true of a game with a massively diverse base like the Sims 4. CL had several missteps in my opinion due to time and money I'll assume because I don't think it has anything to do with talent. Not being able to customize Festivals and being severely curtailed in the ability to customize apartments led to a lot of discord and dissent, mine included upon launch of the game. Those feelings have lingered as people late to buying the pack have stumbled upon the issues at varying times and posted here and elsewhere about it leading perhaps to the perception that people are always complaining about the pack.

That said, at the end of the day and despite my complaints which still exist of course, CL is a good pack with great short to mid-range play ability and appeal and an excellent long term environment in which to stage your game. It's packed with a variety of objects and provides another truly different world from the rest of the Sims 4. San Myshuno does create a skillful illusion of a truly large city- the best to date in the series. No, you're not going to wonder around forty square miles of true city and we're NOT going to be able to do that until we all have a Cray on our desktop. However, what you can use and the backdrop that surrounds it, is done well and will immerse you in an Urban feel. I would say in all honesty that City Living is my favorite EP to date overall with Get Together a close second and Get To Work a somewhat more distant third.

Whaaaaat!? I love CL, it adds so much to my game!

I love:

* apartment living: especially the small problematic apartments. I like having a range of lifestyles reflected in my game like having a family stuck in a tiny flat, or having a young couple taking their first steps into the adult world! I don't want all my Sims to own their own detached home right off the bat.

* basketball: I was so excited to get this back and I've added the hoop to loads of lots, like parks and even in driveways in the suburbs. I love having another activity for my Sims to do with their friends, especially teenagers at the weekend, who I send to the park to play basketball with their mates.

* games console: this is such a typical object and it's great to have it back! Teens can spend hours locked in their room with their console, or the whole family can gather in the lounge for gaming night!

* Market stalls and vendors: I love these and basically have one on every community lot! I just wish they auto-hired an NPC.

* Flea market table and gallery wall: I LOVE retail in The Sims. I'm obsessed with it! I love owning a retail business with GTW but these objects give me a first step on the ladder, for Sims who are just starting out, or who just have a bit of junk to clear out of their inventories. They let me have retail on my home lot too!

* politics career: I've always loved this career, having two parties and having rival politicians campaigning against each other! I was using mods for this, but I'm pleased it was added officially and there are so many nice interactions that come with it.

* work-from-home option: I really like this! Just last night I chose wfh for my politician but sent him to 'work' at the town hall I'd built. I love that it gives me a way to play careers actively in a flexible way. I desperately want them to roll out this option to other base game careers, and all future careers too!

* This is a small detail, but I recently found I could buy paintings directly from the easels when townies autonomously painted around town. My non-artists now have some original artwork for their walls created by other Sims!

* A CITY!!! I just love having different environments to tell Sim stories. I like creating a background story and customising my Sims by their environment. So having a city is important to me. I love the Spice District the most and just wish there were a few more community lots in this area!

There's probably more that I'm forgetting about.

"Jestina;15604380" wrote:
My major issue with it at the moment is that it spawns too many Asian sims. By the second generation of my game, just about all the spawned sims are Asian or Arabic.

Ha ha! Me too! My game is spawning middle-eastern vampire Sims like crazy at the moment! I hope the devs tune down the new pack themed townie spawning a little. It's a bit OTT. :D

"keekee53;15604803" wrote:

"Jestina;15604380" wrote:
My major issue with it at the moment is that it spawns too many Asian sims. By the second generation of my game, just about all the spawned sims are Asian or Arabic.

Yeah this issue is ridiculous. I really miss sims spawning with regular names. It seems like every townie is Arab or Asian no matter what they look like either.

It really drives me crazy new features seem to be a little excessive. It is why I have about 10 no autonomy mods.

I bet the names you consider "regular" are considered abnormal in most Asian counties...

@Cinderellimouse loved your post.

forgot about the basketball. probably because i haven't played basketball. just one example tho of a lot of different things that CL gives us to do and places to go that weren't available before. wish sims desire to play basketball wasn't so strong that they will leave in the middle of a conversation to go shoot some hoops. guess if i want to converse with them, i'll have to join them in shooting some hoops. lol

the food stalls are a nice addition. i'm not a programmer so i don't have a clue how difficult it is, but i do wish that the game would put npc's in the booths and not townies.

a lot of the complaints are about the lack of content. the way i look at it, all the other towns have 4 venues and a park. personally, i rarely go to the museum or library. i'm more into the bar scene. CL gives us two karioke bars which i really enjoy visiting. CL also has a gym and art gallery, as well as a park which is unique in being set up for having weddings at. So CL gives us 4 venues like all the other towns. Except for the gym, CL gives us unique venues which gives us something different to do.

as Cinderellimouse so aptly put it: it's a TOWN! so best of all, i get lots of new townies to socialize with. in addition to giving us the ability to do a lot of things that we weren't able to do before.

i'm not into living in an apartment, but i do enjoy visiting the gym or karioke bar, and going to the spice festival. also love the ability now of giving your home or venues up to three traits.

It is okay, but was disappointed that I could not build or edit the apartments like in Sims3.

I like CL very much - the atmosphere of the public places in the evenings is unique in the whole series. I always visit the spice festival and I enjoy the singing skill. I only wish the city had more lots. Where will we place our washing salon when the laundry SP is released??

"luthienrising;15606667" wrote:
@DeservedCriticism rent is fixed but doesn't include furnishings so it's easy to make a place more expensive.

So if I have a Penthouse or an Apartment with 5 million worth of furnishings, it's still $3,500 a week or whatever in bills, regardless of property value? Yeah that's lame.

In my opinion the game needs to be "harder," not easier. It's not even about difficulty per se, but I always hated it that it was almost impossible NOT to be a millionaire in Sims 3 and I prefer it when my rich sims just have mansions, but only 40k in reserve or so. Sims 4 - one thing I can praise it for - has the best bills in the sense the average end-game mansion costs about as much as a level 10 career earns in a week, meaning only really rich sims can live there and keep a profit. Looks like Apartments throw that out the window though and just let anyone have a Penthouse.