Setting this up for questions. I know there are many at this point. I will update this post in the coming days with more detailed info but for now I'll put a few important resources/links here.
Please read the General Information About The Bug Reports Forum before posting. All the important info that you need to know is in there.
FAQ
I want to start with a little who is who. There are currently 4 parties you see interacting in threads
- Community Manager (Currently: EA_Cade & EA_Solaire) : Employed by EA the forums is their responsibility. Everything administrative, these are your go to people.
- SimsDirect: Maxis Account. You also see SimsDirect on social medial.
- Hero+/Hero aka Super User program: Community folks that have been around for a while and made a name for themselves by helping out (here it's mainly me). You can find more information about this here: The EA Community Superuser Program.
- Fellow users: You guys.
Bugs are issues in the game that shouldn’t happen and don’t work the way they were intended. Before reporting as a bug, you should always troubleshoot your own game to see if you can solve the issue yourself or if maybe it was just a misunderstanding. You can find a basic troubleshooting guide here: [READ FIRST] Troubleshooting your Game. The thread is a bit old but the tips are still valid.
When reporting here, make sure you make one thread per issue (exception Collections, see FAQ for that) and report in English (use a translator if necessary) . Also use proper punctation and write in paragraphs.
Please also check the compiled list and sort the forum by most voted to check if your issue was reported before making a new thread.
Things that don’t belong in the bug forum
- Technical issues like issues with missing packs graphics, crashing, game not loading, etc.
- Issues not tested on a game without mods/cc
- Gallery connection issues
- Questions about the game
- Feedback
- Personal note: Also ask yourself how much an issue influences your gameplay. Don’t just report for reporting sake. This game has so many major bugs that reporting every small thing takes away time from looking into bigger ones.
Good titles are very important for multiple reasons. Make sure to find a title that represents your issue best so that everyone knows what the thread is about by simply reading that. It’s also important for the search.
Be aware that the title is limited to 80 characters so here’s a few pointers what belongs in a title. If you’re unsure what to put, study existing titles and go by that.
There are two different kinds of tags: Title tags and thread tags. Title tags are added in brackets, thread tags are the ones you can pick from a list. Pack tags are the only title tags you should add. Do add thread tags but also only the ones that apply to the issue.
Titles and thread tags will be adjusted (including typos) if necessary.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Find a title that represent your issue. Titles like Help or my game is broken aren’t really helpful.
- Spell check the title. Typos can make someone not find your thread.
- Add pack tags. Leave them off if it’s more than 3 different ones. Don’t add a tag for Base Game. Most is base game.
- Add names of assets. For CAS: use the ones from S4Studio if you know your way around the tool.
- Add name of careers/aspirations/World/Lot/etc.
- Tags for platform are added if an issue turns out to be platform specific. You don’t need to add those.
- Don’t add your mod usage status to the title. Use the provided thread tags for that.
- Don’t add Sims 4. If you’re in the correct forum, everything is Sims 4
- Don’t add Happening since blabla. This info belongs in the text (exception: Fixed bug comes back with a later patch)
- Don’t add personal emotions
The new bug forum is a different kind of forum. It’s an idea board instead of a forum. This allows to set statuses to the bugs to better inform where a threads is at (more info on the statuses can be found in the thread linked above). Because of this, AHQ bug reports could not be migrated to the new forum. Instead a bug archive was created so that the info from AHQ doesn’t get lost.
The archive is read only but the bugs there are very much still active bugs. Issues reported there do not have to be re-reported. Maxis is still looking into them.
As everything, there’s an exception to re-reporting. Please do re-report under the following circumstances
- You have new info to add (not just I have this too)
- A thread had very few engagement. You can’t see the me too count anymore but the number of posts is usually a good indication.
- A thread didn’t have answers in about 2 years. It’s generally good to bump those if you still run into these issues (please don’t bump them if you don’t actually have the issue).
The new bug forum is a different kind of forum. It’s an idea board instead of a forum. This allows to set statuses to the bugs to better inform where a threads is at (more info on the statuses can be found in the thread linked above). Because of this, AHQ bug reports could not be migrated to the new forum. Instead a bug archive was created so that the info from AHQ doesn’t get lost.
The archive is read only but the bugs there are very much still active bugs. Issues reported there do not have to be re-reported. Maxis is still looking into them.
As everything, there’s an exception to re-reporting. Please do re-report under the following circumstances
- You have new info to add (not just I have this too)
- A thread had very few engagement. You can’t see the me too count anymore but the number of posts is usually a good indication.
- A thread didn’t have answers in about 2 years. It’s generally good to bump those if you still run into these issues (please don’t bump them if you don’t actually have the issue).
Different from AHQ, EA Forums works with tags instead of a template.
It’s nevertheless important that you provide as much info as possible.
- Always choose a tag for your platform (Mac, PC, Xbox or Playstation)
- Always choose a tag for mod usage (No Mods/cc, Removed, Mods, CC)
- Try to describe your issue as detailed as possible but don’t make it too lengthy.
- If you know how to make it happen, post those steps.
- Pictures are great, videos too.
- If you think it’s important to your report, add things like how long you’ve been seeing this and which pack you own (expansions/game packs mostly)
- If necessary you will be asked for further info.
Please be truthful about whether you use(d) mods or not. Mods and CC are a vital part of the Sim experience and there’s nothing bad about using them. For troubleshooting purposes it’s important to have this information. Also choose only one option each. No mods/cc means you have never used them (or not in a very long time).
Different from AHQ there collection threads for smaller issues that are similar and have a tendency to reoccur with every new pack. The me too count for these issues is usually small and they don’t get a lot of attention individually.
You can find the existing ones on the first post of the compiled list. Please do use them. If you make a new thread for something that has a collection, it will be closed as duplicate and you will be asked to re-post.
Collections have an index to help everyone find what’s broken. This is currently maintained in a separate thread by rory_nutt (Thank you): [INDEX] Collection Threads
Currently new ones are still created as needs arise. Please post here if you feel something could need a collection.
By reporting/posting in the bug forum, you’ve done the first step.
Maxis is aware of everything that’s [COLLECTION], [REVIEW], [UNDER INVESTIGATION], [NEEDS INFO] and [LAUNRDY LIST]. Same rule as AHQ applies: The more upvotes, the more important. It’s not the only factor that determines prisonization but that is up to Maxis discretion.
If Maxis asked for info, make sure to provide that.
If your thread is currently in the state of [TROUBLESHOOTING] the best you can do is keep up with what’s asked and provide the info so the issue can move forward.
If your thread as been marked as [DUPLICATE] make sure to post any important info in the linked thread or at least upvote the thread if you have nothing to add.
On patch day, it’s also good if you check issues you have reported if they were fixed despite not being in the notes. Report back if they were.
That’s not information EA provides. The statuses will give you some indication but they don’t give out ETAs when they fix something or how it’s prioritized. There are very rarely updates on social media for very pressing matters.
There are several reasons why a thread is closed down. Declined has a few reasons.
- Wrong forum: You’re better of posting in gameplay issues or tech to get the best help. Please make sure to post more technical issues in the tech forums. They are also forwarded to CM if they turn out to be a current issue that can’t be resolved by troubleshooting. You’ll be redirected to the correct forum.
- Wrong game: Yeah, this is for Sims 4 only. You’ll be redirected to the correct forum.
- Feedback: Usually if your thread is closed down by a CM then it’s not classified as bug. Repost in Feedback.
Usually it’s saves but you’ll find a post from a CM what info exactly is needed. There’s unfortunately now way to highlight the post. Please send your save via DM to the CM that asked for saves (and not to me).
It’s best to always tag me back (I try to tag you too) if I ask you questions and you answer. Please also bump your post if you didn’t get an answer in 2 days. I do take breaks so check back in this thread to see if that’s the reason.
If something is tagged as [REVIEWED] or [UNDER INVESTIGATION] there's currently no further info needed. CM will change it to [NEEDS INFO] if more info is needed.
Be also aware that I don’t read all the threads all the time. I usually only check [NEW] and [TROUBLESHOOT] and threads that pike my interest. Tagging me is the safest way for me to see.
Please do NOT tag me for administrative tasks. Always contact a CM for that.
The way I do the compiled list doesn’t allow me to mix the two forums.
The old compiled can still be found stickied in the Bug archive. The links should all work.
Currently doing the list is a lot of manual work. This is why I will only update it very irregularly. Please use the search forum and use the sorting and filter mechanism of the board to check if something was already reported.
Not every bug will appear on the list as that would be too much. If there’s no engagement, threads will be removed.
Be aware that the compiled list is an index for the community. Maxis has their own method to track things.
As with a lot of things, this is manual work. Threads were created before the migration and I only started doing that after. I’ve been adding info as I go along but I’m sure I missed a lot of them. Feel free to report them here if you want the me too count added. I might not have the info though.
I will read all the threads that are marked as [NEW] and decide what to do with them.
- Known issue: Status are set accordingly and bug archive will be adjusted.
- Further info is needed (asked by me or other users): Question is asked and status is set to [TROUBLESHOOT]. Please make sure to keep up with your thread. If there are no answers in 3 month, your post will be closed down.
- Issues that are on the wrong board, wrong language, multi reports, mod related or resolve themselves during troubleshooting will be closed down.
- Once all the info is available, the issue will be set to [REVIEW] so EA/Maxis can look into it further. Sometimes there are also still questions in these so make sure to check back.
There are a few type of issues that I won’t spend time on. Those are usually marked as reviewed so EA can look at them and decide what to do. Some might also stay on [NEW] for a while CM are checking them.
I will also keep up with threads in status [TROUBLESHOOT] and hope you do the same until your issue is either resolved or set to [REVIEW]
I do NOT decide If something is a bug or not. I will troubleshoot with you to find out if something could be a mod issue or a misunderstanding but if there’s no solution, it’s up to EA to decide if it’s a bug or not.
I also have no influence on how fast something is fixed.
Please use the following places depending on what your question is
- For general questions about the functionality of the EA forums: Questions & Feedback on EA Forums' functionality.
- For help with moving something/changing things about a thread and other administrative tasks: Contact a Community Manager
- For questions about the bug forum and how something is done: Use this thread here.
- For administrative questions about a certain thread: Use this thread here. Make sure to link the thread in question.
- If you're unhappy with the way your thread is handled, please check who updated your status. If it was me, you may DM me but don't be rude about it. Mistakes happen.
No. Questions always belong in the forum. You can use either Gameplay Issues and Questions or General Discussion for questions about the game or issues you might have that you’re not sure are a bug.
Please only send me a DM if I (not EA) asked you for a save game so I can check it out or if you feel I did you wrong.
Unsolicited DMs will be ignored.
