There’s an unspecified 3x1 drink station. I can’t imagine it’s another coffee shop.

I wonder if employees can work at existing bars/drink stations or if we need to hire the NPC again…

Cars, and most worlds, most lots, being visually incompatible to support the basic idea of a car driving out of a residential parking space or garage onto an adjacent road - if there even is an adjacent road- (Many worlds and their lots have no such adjacent roads.) The game, the worlds, the lots, just have not been designed from game release to have that as a credulous visual aesthetic scenario. In fact every lot, even those in Willow Creek, built with roads coming into the area of suburban homes, have been purposely designed to be totally unfriendly, uncooperative to the idea of cars driving off a residential lot via a lowered curb onto an adjacent road. Maxis have gone out of their way to say, NO, NO, NO since the get go. Whatever makes you think they'll change their minds on that now? They made it a visual no-go from the start. Dream on if you must, but what, you can't take a less-than-subtle hint that's been there from day one?

Though in the world that came with Get Famous, we had decor cars parked curbside, that kind of almost hints at here's where we get credible cars we can interact with. Driving them off the residential lot is for shit aesthetically, but if they are already parked curbside, then that's doable, right?! Maxis would then have to give us an in game building tool such as T.O.O.L for sims (players) to place an off lot object that sims can interact with off lot. Chances of that happening, zero. Cars? Forget cars.

Other than horses and spellcasters broomsticks, the only way to ride a "vehicle" for sims to get into/onto and leave the lot and travel elsewhere (Much like the Sims 2 mechanic) in a visually credible way, would be to invent flying cars like those in Back To The Future, or the alien ufo cars from Sims 3.

Yeah, sure, I've modded the frick out of the Alien Wormhole travel device as the very means to credulously travel to any lots, whether secret hidden, in another Star Wars galaxy or normal lots around the world, because cars just never make sense visually on TS4 lots due to the world and lot design. We'd need the likes of Emit Relevart to turn up to introduce that malarkey - of credible flying cars. And, hey, what do you know, talk of the devil...

I can't but agree. Sims 2 didn't have cars from the start but it did have taxis. All lots in Sims 2 required a road or they wouldn't place. The game was designed for cars and is the only one so far that properly animated them. Despise loading screens!
While Sims 3 shipped with cars, though lots could be placed more freely. In their case cars is pretty much required for the game to be open world.

While Sims 4 had none of it. The base worlds at least had most of their lost connected to roads... but later worlds ran their own thing. Another pet peeves I have with the way the Sims 4 worlds are designed is that they place the portals so far away. My Sim has to run past two three lots to go home. That takes time.

I’m struggling to understand how Sims actually purchase items with the retail services. There’s no register. I saw the self service terminal, so I hope that’s not the primary form of payment for items.

Also, what was that construction site? Is real estate a thing? I think I saw the transfer of a lot from one Sim to another. I would love real estate. I might actually play the same.

I hope there’s a QA. Based on the business activities, we should be able to create a ton of business, right? I need a full list of activities.

Well, the most logical scenarios, - for TS4 mechanics - is what could be both an Open For Business venture, while also being a Hobby pursuit at the same time? Since they are making both in same pack and god knows if mutually exclusive. I predict Astronomy skill and Chocolatier skill, but both being hobby and business relative. Will hobbies be separate from business? Mutually exclusive?

Given what we have long since come to accustom as TS4 coding and planning for new packs. - (Shallow, reusing existing game features, on and on.) - I think its going to be a pain in the ass from learning a hobby skill on it's own merits, such as making chocolate sweets, from having twenty different townies you don't even know phone you up and ask where your confectionery store is open. This pack may be different, of course. But the Maxis mechanics don't seem to change much over the DECADE of TS4. Nor will they over the next DECADE to come. (Yet they will promise much. But you gotta stick around for the DECADES to see that they do. Good luck with that. (Restaurants? Why even bother.)

EA only understands one language. We know this, they know this, but somehow it is played as a surprise when things go side ways.



https://www.marketwatch.com/story/o...d=mw_quote_news

If people in this community want to shake things up, many know what needs to happen. Knowing and doing are comparable though to reading self help books and never applying what is read. Will the doing part ever happen in the sims community? Nope! Andrew Wilson is all but making a public announcement. He's telling people how to get his attention; mansplainin' if you will.

1.5 millions players were 'engaged' with the roll out of the new Dragon Age. Maybe Maxis should lend out some of their precious Yibs so the new Dragon Age can get some love. Best game, ever!

Sorry, not sorry. Andrew Wilson loves to dangle low hanging fruit with the expectation that the masses will show up in herds and hand over their wallets. How the mighty have fallen. It is hilarious and all of it is their own doing. Good games sell themselves. I don't need to be paid a 5% commission and Google ad revenue to say that...


EDIT: Some more of Andrew Wilson admitting to failing on their part.

EA CEO says a "more meaningful update" of Apex Legends is in development

"The trajectory of the business of that franchise has not been headed in the direction that we have wanted for some time"

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ea-ce...-in-development

Open For Business had more hobbies…

Toy Making
Robotics
Flower Arranging
Styling

Ambitions had more hobbies…

Sculpting
Tattooing
Styling
Inventing

Get To Work, inconsequentially, came with more hobbies.

Baking
Photography
Inventing
Chemistry

Here, we get 3…

Tattooing
Pottery
Candy Making

There’s a drink station no one is talking about (and no sim has used), so I’m holding out hope there’s a 4th “hobby” or another business opportunity.

At least with B&H, we can have an actual photo studio business unlike in Get To Work. Before. sims would prioritize buying something instead of taking photos. My question now is how do we sell wall art (like paintings) to Sims? It’s not a “retail surface.” Why can’t I designate what’s for sale with an interaction?

Hiring is also weird. We have to know the Sim before we can hire them instead of skill based hiring from the business management panel. Yay. Nepotism. You can also assign them 5 tasks to complete so I hope they actually work. They can’t do sales, so I can’t fathom what the other 5 tasks can be. With retail, Sims refuse to use barista bars and the like, so maybe they will now?

I can excuse the limited pack offerings for them turning 10 years of content into businesses:

- Can I hire performers and sims autonomous watch them? Can I hire a Sim to tell joke, read poetry, or sing regularly? Like, a live music venue or a comedy club?

- How does food work? Can Sims be told to eat on the lot and not just buy food? Can I put out a buffet and Sims eat from it? Can I create a Boba Tea shop? Will Sims order food from the chef station themselves? Can I hire a sim to man these stations?

- Is there any club rules overlap with business activities? Can I direct Sims to eat popcorn and watch a movie like we can with clubs? Does this work when I visit the lot?

- Will we get more activities with more packs? Can we combine activities from a gym, spa, and onsen to make a wellness center? Can I add tea drinking?

- If we target children, can we run a daycare center or have at home babysitting?

This pack could potentially be as powerful as the club system for emergent gameplay, especially if the lots work when we visit them. If sleep is an option (like Get To Work), you can probably create a hotel. Or a resort or amusement park if water activities are enabled for use.

The build buy leaked and it is VERY lukewarm. Lots of duplicates, lots of simple items, lots of random items (so many chairs).

Gameplay Items:
Open/Closed Sign
Open/Closed Menu Board
Tattoo Table
Pottery Wheel
Pottery Kiln
Candy Maker
Ticket Machines (Modern & Less Modern)

Returning Gameplay Items:
Vendor Stalls
Sales Table
Bicycle
Cook Book
Sales Wall
Barista Bar
White Board

There’s also a new microphone, upright piano, and guitar. That’s nice. The new bistro table and umbrella set are also nice.

There’s a whole set of curved fairy lights. That’s nice.

It’s feels very “Nice, but-“, but I don’t hate it.

Where are all the new hobbies in this pack? Hobbies being plural suggests that there is more than one.

Satch pointed out that there is only one new hobby in this upcoming pack. He was excited about this pack initially.

The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies ALREADY has controversy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-VsaFxIr80

Sims in TS4 can already cook. Making candy is not a new hobby. They are recycling animations.

Apparently the constant recycling content isn't bad enough. Now Maxis has to be loose-y goose-y with pack names to make them look like more than they really are. This path has already been worn out with traits. Loves the outdoors vs oudoorsy.

Wash, rinse, repeat clap

Candy Making and Pottery.

They could have squeezed in something minor in there. I’m hoping there are non-object related hobbies that Sims can engage in, or new activity table games to flesh out the hobby part.

This could include birdwatching, or kids playing cops and robbers or something. With the table, they could add new board games or card games.

Maybe base game hobbies got a revamp? New woodworking items, new types of paintings, new types of clay models, new craft table activities. Maybe there are new collectibles to finds/trade, like stamps or cards.

I’d love to see perks added to skills, like mastering fitness will let you take an energy drink which will max out your energy after w workout. Mastering woodworking will let you make anything in the buy catalog. Mastering Video Gaming or Programming will let you make video games (I think this is a thing already but you get it). Mastering homestyle cooking will make food raise motives. Mastering gourmet cooking will make food never spoil. Mastering mixology will let you create drinks.

You get the idea.

There could be more. Is there more? Probably not lol

I read somewhere that they're apparently planning a big overhaul to skills, which perhaps ties in with this pack?

I'd really like to have the skill journal from TS3 back.

And we gotta thank the genius, that in their minds who created the base game “golly, lets make two worlds that have roads which used to have enterable cars from day one”. What point does it serve apart from visual aesthetic like the fake drops? Of of course - to hide shortcomings of it.

Anyway. Aside from readressing the same complaints from here, PS4/PS5 fandom is unhappy that they the servers are down while EA has the audacity still release a trailer labeled for that console. Lol - they sure love to maintain respect and trust with their fandom.

ETA2: it’s probably not EA’s fault but PS’es.

Also, expansion pack where you can like: build house business, do pottery and tattoo? Wicked! Snatch says he is excited, but like I don’t get it. Are the bar for simmers in TS4 is set so law that they bought and praise like the lord for being bread crumb? The players are so starved!

I’m relatively uptight when it comes to 4. I’m interested in the pack, but apprehensive. They are cutting every corner imaginable with the pack of budgets

Pack integration and side activities are key to this pack being a win.

I’m still in shambles that they didn’t even attempt to repurpose existing content to bleed blood from stone to make new content.

Light example: Bird Watching and nature watching. Identify birds (an anctual animation from Growing Together) and purchase exotic pet birds like we have in Life & Death (with less features). That, or add different additional wide life to find and collect.

Reuse the styling stations from Get Famous to do styling and piercings while being able to charge for them.

Use the cupcake machine to create confectionary chocolates and treats like those in Lovestruck. Imagine those little heart shaped boxes!

Use bike animations to create a workout bike.

Use an existing workbench and existing gameplay items to create toys (interactive and decorative).

Use some of the pottery wheel animations to create a sewing machine and add create decor and toys with extra UI to create basic garments to sell later. Reintroduce mannequins to sell the garments and put them in a little clothing THAT ALREADY EXISTS in the color of the garment to sell.

Sometimes, the basics are fine. While having a pottery wheel and a kiln are great, I now have two items for one hobby which could have been 2 different hobbies. I can’t imagine all of these would take a ton of work.

And it wasn’t expressed prior, but maybe we can purchase additional homes? It wasn’t explicit in the trailer but we’ll see.

In the vid they showed nothing relating to old lady sewing or neighborhood watch/spy/secret agent/private detective/burglar/whatever-the-heck. Do you think they might be coming in the kits? Kits with gameplay last- and only - seen since Bust the Dust. A shallow, empty, hobby/business pack because we've also got My First Hobby Kits coming out at the same time? Ouch.

I know it's the 25th anniversary birthday shenanigans, but do they think we're actually getting drunk on the 25 hour livestream crap and time travel dude events that we won't notice them pulling off that shit... again?!

I think the mysterious person is part of the pack (probably
Someone who sells counterfeit or low quality items), but we have a pack about businesses and hobbies and if sewing is released in a kit shortly thereafter, the community will revolt.

I would love a kit about WFH careers with new aspirations and career rewards gameplay objects.

I can see oceanography as a career and you unlock a new underwater camera, underwater photos, a large aquarium for museums and aquariums or upscale venues (to hold 10 fish), new exotic fish to collect and study (or cook), and that large underwater depth tank (from TS1) for career progress or fun - with a new death by drowning. That’s fun.

@matrix54

You always have such great ideas. I don't know why there aren't any creative people like you working for EA. The things you mention and what we finally get in the game are so apart from each other. When I read your suggestions I think, this would be so cool. And then I realize it's Sims 4 and EA. It won't happen.

Be careful with that. Maxis hasn't acknowledged the presence of MTS in a long time, but that doesn't mean they're not listening.

Has anybody else noticed how clunky TS4 is? Sims in TS4 sometimes cancel the interactions on their own and that is kind of annoying because there is no need for it (I think). I don't know how to describe it. I guess I do feel tired after playing TS4 only for half an hour. I guess that I just dislike the game which is a shame because the game does have some good elements to it (the toddler and infant update, build and buy, CAS, the club feature, improved or less boring skills).

I heard the game is even worse when you have all the DLCs because the menu is littered with features.

It is not just that; I have like a dozen of mods to make it more interesting. But, I still feel tired (maybe bored), which is weird.

Anyone see this article from today?

New Information Leaks On The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies
https://simscommunity.info/2025/02/...bies-leak-info/

I’m sure EA comes here and reads ideas from us.

I suggest something similar to this a while ago (selling SERVICES instead of Items, unlike GTW), but I feel like the team doesn’t know how to be lazy to effectively generate good will.

I actually went to school for Game Development & Design. Game ideas, projects, and plans and the like literally fall out of me (if you couldn’t tell by the little project I keep forgetting to remove in my signature when learning to code lol). I chose not to work in the industry about a decade ago because, while in my junior year, I felt the industry moving away from actual game development and more so towards the current corporatized development model we have now. I view games as an artistic medium and I believe in giving value to players and getting creative with a budget. “Game Designers” are now people who use gameplay as a means to facilitate monetization platforms - I want to design games, not weekly log in events.

We were in a class learning about player psychology in tandem with gameplay and I found it intriguing but also saw how dangerous it could be. We’re sort of in that loop now, being fed bread crumbs waiting for basic features like a pool table.

This was also around the time Skyrim released. I will never forget how buggy and unfinished the game was, but it released to critical acclaim. Sure, the bugs were funny but this was also at the expense of the final product. It put me off but people keep buying it, so…

Credit where credit is due, I’m okay with retail being retail light if the business system actual works. I tried doing tests with the club system that this appears to be based off of - One club for employees, one club for customers. It works (talking aside), but I have one request of the Sims team… that Sims can indirectly control employees. For example:

“Ask to… cook… many” {UI}
“Ask to… perform… singing”
“Ask to… greet… nicely”
“Ask to… create… pottery… one” {UI}
“Ask to… create… flower arrangement… few” {UI}
“Ask to… lecture… fitness”
“Ask to… tend… massage table”
“Ask to… tend… bar…”
“Ask to… tend… coffee bar…”
“Ask to… tend… stove”

This is sorely missing. This actually felt like management and running a business, not just sending a Sims away for skills. Since Sims can self checkout, this is the only thing left for a business to do. What the point of running a dance club and having staff if I have to hire a generic bartender or DJ?

Hopefully, they do a basic update at minimum to Get To Work as well. Running a retail store is awful and still feels like an afterthought years on.