Parts of the city look too similar to San Myshuno, mainly because of the recycled buildings and similar colour palette. Honestly there are some models that I'd like them to stop reusing, as they are too recognizably sims-like and not generic enough to fit into every world.

Why would a near trillion dollar company not cut costs by reusing assets already comprised of mostly reused assets? It’s not like they’re doing luxury work or anything

In all seriousness, I hate how this feels BOTH recycled and light in content. At least when Maxis reused content in The Sims 2 (for example, the entire Restaurant system) they added to it, or tried to reintegrate the content into other things.

We don’t need another restaurant, but they didn’t even introduce self service dining or a dining service for a pack about romance and dating. For example, we have have Karaoke Bars, Cafes, Boba Tea/Thrift Stores despite having Dine Out & Get To Work.

Half The Pack is the other half of the relationship system from Growing Together, so what are we getting? I didn’t even see any new items to add to existing venues. I kinda miss when TS3 gave random gameplay items to justify the cost of the pack.

“We added skeeball to a pack about fame. Have fun.”

I wonder if the heart shape breath even vibrates in this game. Or do dancing sims, sad heart and glitches/bugs in this pack only?

Yes, the heart shaped bed vibrates.

I was watching Superior Simmer yesterday. In his video, he called rabbit holes "lazy holes". I had to replay that part twice as I thought I heard him wrong the first time. Lazy holes aside, he pointed out all the recycled content. Woo-hoo in a closet, star gazing, the world looks like the world from City Living, ect... Maxis is no longer denying they are doing this, so that's something, I guess.

I watched a non-sims related video last week that went into all the ways the gaming industry is messing with people. DLC was mentioned, but so was many of the other things that have come up in conversation around here over time. Sadly I can't post said video because it mentions the p word, but it was agreed across those involved in the conversation that a second Gamer Gate needs to happen. Gaming companies do the things they do because people continue to buy whatever these companies throw at them. I know, dead horse.

Superior Simmer

GAME PACK FEATURES AND RECYCLED CONTENT? THE SIMS 4 LOVESTRUCK EXPANSION PACK CONTROVERSY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p1qZC16A1M

NOT the "p" word!!

Let me think, greedy game companies, DLC fraud...... I know!! Is it Prudent? Pernicious? Parsimonious? Penny-pinching? Perfunctory? Pathetic? Perfectly good gaming series ruined? Pirating of Modders work?

Or just simply Plain old rubbish?

I will now go and lie down in a quiet dark room until I've calmed down....

Another p-word is "POOF!" which is what happens when posts spell out the forbidden p-word. Posts disappear into deleted post purgatory.

Unfortunately, I have enough elephants in the room and my circus is loaded with monkeys to not mention the p-word. I have my own taboos and stresses to not aggravate it over the ideas EA decided to run with.

Then again, the way life is, change is part of inevitable cycles. But then again when something isn't broken, don't fix it.

I just got back into The Sims 4 and I plan to get up to date on my games. They have a sale up to 60% on the packs (Expansion, Game and Stuff). Kits are still around $5.

Still, I admit I tried looking for Sailor Moon character parts and objects, but my go-to was infected with computer issues of a virulent nature. Ended up having to remove it from the drive to prevent further damage and run antiviral software to fight back

In any case, the nickel and diming is more obvious and less of a con as they now use real-world currency instead of a point system. I'm currently taking advantage of the sale right now as I don't collect physical dolls like I used to and I seriously need to get back to my Living Pokédex Project, Wild Beast Island in Animal Crossing New Horizons, and play with my Sims as of late.

Besides, the last time someone was "triple dog dared", it ended up bringing a fire department. (It's July and I am no fan of fireworks. Besides, Christmas in July!) In short, I will be aware.

Yeah, just p-off will ya.

Only kidding, or should that be "only pretending" in this instance? Love you really. Just couldn't resist, what with all this painstaking prolific pondering of p words.

Maybe I should go away too and take my pills. (And there it is again look!)

I started playing the Sims in November of 2000, when my cousin gave me her copy of the original game because she was bored with it. I was 5. Until TS4 I bought every pack that came out. When TS4 was announced, I even avoided as much news as I could about it because I wanted to be surprised (I still do this with Pokémon games but have learned my lesson with other games lol). I remember the first time I played TS4, I was disappointed I couldn't choose a premade family (my favorite way to play), but decided to make a self-Sim to explore with. Ended up dying of embarrassment in less than an hour (due to flirting and failing multiple times lol). I was shocked, but it was pretty funny. I only bring this up because it's the best memory I have of TS4. It's not like I didn't give it a shot. I own most of the expansions and a ton of the game packs and stuff packs, even several kits. I have over 2,000 hours of playtime according to the EA App, and I think that's actually an understatement because for a while there was a glitch where Origin said I had 0 hours no matter how long I played it and then it started from 0 when it got 'fixed', and before that I know I had over 2,000 hours as well. I finally uninstalled the game about a week ago after reading about some of the newer updates (the dreaded shopping cart icon) and packs (For Rent especially)... I knew it'd been a while since I'd played, didn't realize I hadn't played at all since last October. For me, the game is so broken and features so fragmented into multiple packs (giving us far less per-pack than older games in the series) that it's frustrating, and even in TS4's lifetime it seems like we're getting less and less each pack, and it's more and more broken each time as well.

I will say I did read some posts on Reddit from people who like versus dislike the game overall. I've come to the conclusion that the people who really still enjoy it are those who play only or almost entirely with CAS and/or BB. Those of us who mostly enjoy the life simulation part are most disappointed. And it makes sense – that's where most of the bugs are, after all! And, unfortunately, even after 10 years, all the Sims in TS4 seem so bland and similar to me. They have such little personality. Traits have almost no effect on anything. Even their emotions are odd – you can have moodlets adding to Happy +4 and Sad +5 and they're super depressed... I feel like TS3 actually had more nuance in this way, because if you had a good balance of negative and positive moodlets, your Sim's overall mood would be, well, balanced. If I look just at CAS and BB, the game is great. I love the gender customization and pronoun options they added. I was thrilled when toddlers returned, and even excited about infants (though those are gameplay features, too tbf). Hell, before TS4, every house I built in every game was just a giant square with some rooms lol. (I used to make my older sister build me houses for this reason). And yeah, TS3 certainly has bugs, but I've been amazed at how well it runs going back. I think the biggest issues I ever had with it back in the day was just that I had a computer that wasn't able to handle it all! I will say I love not having simulation lag, though.

Anyway, this is getting long, but I want to say that, for me, the Sims is all about the Sims themselves. I miss them having meaningful personalities. I miss them refusing to do things I tell them to because they didn't feel like it, I miss Sims rejecting each other's social interactions (it's so rare now, especially if they have a positive emotion). And every 'feature' TS4 has added to try to address this problem – likes and dislikes, lifestyles, etc. also really has very little practical effect on anything. Seeing the current state of the Sims just makes me sad. I'm glad there are people who enjoy it, but I think fans deserve better, especially given the exorbitant costs. And yeah, sales exist, but they're supposed to be deals, not "what the game is actually worth, but we know a lot of people will pay more so we'll charge more sometimes". Anyway, I've been reading this thread for a few weeks and needed to vent a bit lol.

@nicjmartin

Yeah, The Sims series does deserved better in terms of quality items, assets, gameplay, the list goes on.

I still have all 3 versions and every add-on in physical format, including the Katy Perry packs for TS3, which I could easily turn into a Hansel and Gretel story, given my A\V club skills from freshman year of high school.

In any case, the devolving nature of the franchise makes me wonder if TS5: Project Rene will even be worth it.

I got to thinking about what you said @Gargoyle Cat, and it made me wonder about something. Indeed this is a dead horse subject, but could it be because we can't help ourselves about what we do? We want what we want -- and we want it NOW. I hear that people will not buy the next new thing because of ". . . greedy game companies, DLC fraud...... I know!! Is it Prudent? Pernicious? Parsimonious? Penny-pinching? Perfunctory? Pathetic? Perfectly good gaming series ruined? Pirating of Modders work? . . ."
But I'm yet to hear someone say "I'm not buying it because I buy too much and I need to cut back on my compulsive spending. I need to quit being so impulsive with my money. I need to learn to deny myself a few things."

But no. We say, "I don't care if my iphone 19's camera is good enough for government work -- I WANT THAT iPHONE 20 !!!!"

Hence, companies comply -- shipping unfinished, untested, poor quality, built-in obsolescing products. And we eat them up . . . then complain because we have heartburn and camp in the bathroom because of distress in the lower tract.

Of course, we need to acknowledge that companies are required by law to make money. So, anything they put out has to be put out to keep the bank filled and owners happy.

Yeah. and because of that, I think it's just that they've got us well trained. So what if a product is high-fat, high calorie, artery-clogging, diabetes inducing, crap --- IT TASTES SO GOOD !!!"

And because we are so attuned to consuming, even if it ain't fat-filled, artery-clogging, etc. etc., like a Sims game, we rush to keep purchasing anyway.

I wonder, if we - I'm talking about the entire Sims community - had stopped buying Sims 4 additions at, say, Dine Out, and stuck together to not purchase another Sims 4 addition until we got more of what we want and think should be in a good package (I know, I know, there will always be stragglers who would buy any garbage EA/Maxis put out regardless -- but hopefully, that would've been only 1 or 2 percent of the whole) would EA/MAXIS have done much better than they've been doing? Would Parenthood have been better? How about Strangerville? Get Famous? Island Living? Or even Journey To Batauu (would it even exist) and especially Wedding Day? Would we even be thinking or talking about their shortcomings today?

Of course, something like this could never happen -- with anything. We've already drunk the Kool-aid (remember that?) We are too much of a consumeristic species, which is why the world is filled with so much garbage and cheap junk - especially from countries like China.

We can't help ourselves! We're brainwashed to buy, buy, buy. F the quality. Just buy it anyway.

Yeah !

Well, I hope you're finished with that room, @Flaygor. I'd like to use it for awhile, if you don't mind.

Which is why I switched to TS1, and I started to see why the game was a hit at its time. The whole building and CAS aspect was primitive and not so complex what you could do from next installment onward up to latest game, but the way you could experience the game by shoving in just small live ant-figurine people to interact with the enviroment and other "tiny ants"". H3ll, I find it a bit laughable how some expansions still hold up what, once again, nowadays fail to live up for (You can't deny how much cool objects are and activities you could do say in Superstar vs Get Famous or Showtime for that matter). Vacation EP didn't start out as lame camping map with a bear costume (oh lord, even Claire the Bear holds up as a memorable NPC than TS4 mascots of fursona gang). Magic Town, Entertainers, Three Vast Vacations Under One DLC, and effing functional stores (display racks) in a two-dimensional game? wow. I can't even name a single iconic thing TS4 except that blue santa and asian mascot, which are only memorable for their appearance/costume than special distinct NPC/AI-behavior. TS4 can even put Lady Gaga for fan service but only that she would do NOTHING, thereby still managing to not appease fans, because TS TEAM is so adamant to NOT be creative and exhibit the charm previous game designers could thing of. Nowadays, it's about take burglars away, take that, accuse dog house purchasers to be bad people, grunt about babies, swimming pools, etc. etc. The list goes on. I feel the studio there's a lot of NOs uttered than YES during brainstorm meetups.

What I'm saying, despite what Will Wright vision was for TS1 to start as a building game, he was open to creating a simulation game and here where we are now. The Sims themselves and things you could make storylines about, is what made us a community. Unlike what the game is today, you could play with dolls oppose to just dressing them with various toy pieces or having a build-a-dollhouse toy kit. The game didn't need fancy-smancy building options and a wide aelection of eye color options, hairstyles and makeup skin tones or whatever to be loved for what it was loved. TS1 was a great simulation game of its time, Sims being unpredictable and all that and sweet objects that you could repeadetly watch animation looping. How much of that you can get in TS4? I would say not much.

Many simmers are starting to wake up and long enough for past gameplay, that even they are slowly optimizing their computers to play older games, because they are fed up from EA’s and Maxis shit.

Given the fact that the previous games' charms are lost, I wouldn't be surprised if the naysayers have vendettas against pigeons dreaming about driving transit buses.

The sheer amount of wasted opportunity is due in no small part to not only prolong the inevitable obsolescence, but to rush something out the door when quotas are met. But let's face it, their quotas are subpar compared to TS1, which you spend quite a long time Simming with new things.