Ha!, earlier today they took down and rewrote the Belgian translation for that "something is growing" graphic they've been showing for the last few days, because it specifically mentioned the word fairies twice. Don't want to reveal the secret too soon? However, the world pic in @matrix54 post above, the central image has three distinct fairies, normal sim size adults but with with wings, one even doing magic on another sim.

Make up your minds Maxis, do you want to tell us or not ffs? Too late.

I enlarged it a bit here - https://simsasylum.com/tfm/index.ph...-coming-to-ts4/

Ultimately many Sims 4 worlds reuse too many Willow Creek assets and lighting and end up looking like variants of it.

The new world doesn't look like New Zealand, likely more like a Dragon Valley world that has no real-life references.

the world is basically Glimmerbrook but more colors and oversaturated, lol

Unfortunately EA has destroyed main features of the business & hobbies pack with the latest patch:
https://forums.ea.com/idea/the-sims...screen/12213613

I wanted to build a cohesive hood where everyone is employed at custom businesses but employees are deleted after every loading screen. Why EA, why??

As so many packs are broken right now I don't have any hope they will fix this. Does anyone know if there is a mod fix for this? Because it's such an important feature of the new pack.

Or maybe it's their selling point for new packs. "Let them get hyped for the new pack while we destroy the old one with a patch so that they can look forward to the new one"

I don’t understand how 1, 2, and 3 all had bigger packs, more interwoven gameplay features, and larger worlds but never had find many issues and broken packs at once.

By definition, this is an abusive relationship. Do other business even work? I remember when 4 actually ran well but wasn’t the best gameplay wise yet still ran smoothly.

Then, around My Wedding Stories, everything went to shit and we never recovered. Then, selling refeshes or major patches as Expansion Packs. Then, selling game packs as Expansion Packs. Stuff packs have come and have nonegone. Kits are more prominent than ever. Creator kits are a thing. Now, half of expansion packs are reused content (Business and Hobbies basically Get Famous and Get Together) and UI while actual new gameplay objects and systems are sparse. Enchanted By Nature is looking very Outdoors Retreat refresh and Fairy Gamepack.

What is happening?

They aim to maximize profit with minimal effort. Since they focus on Sims 4 for the next billion years, they need to release new content constantly to keep shareholders happy.

That’s capitalism: endless growth at all costs. But as we all know, quantity doesn’t equal quality — and EA’s handling of Sims 4 is a textbook example of that.

I spend most of my time building. I like business simulators but even businesses and hobbies got stale. There are no businesses to actually run and experiment with and the business rewards don’t feel impactful. Older business content doesn’t integrate into the new system and old business items were never updated. This is with the understanding of their business model.

There still isn’t even a way to grocery shop in person, even from a UI menu, without setting up a whole store.

I feel absolutely nothing towards Enchanted By Nature. I feel like it’s missing the elements of normalness to tie this to being a life simulator.

I also think it’s WILD needing to pay for sleeping on the ground or bathing in a pond, or eating ingredients (can’t we already do that?) but sure.

Ailments feel ridiculous and aggressively whimsical. I didn’t notice a lot of new gameplay items either.

The lack of new ways to transition between floors or build is also crazy.

Edit: Oh no, I don’t want it. There’s a very strong lack of living in nature outside of foraging. We can craft furniture in the base game but why can’t we craft shelter and other means to support ourselves beyond building a house? What if it’s raining? Where do I sleep?

The game already has raining indoors, so... Yeah, yeah. Low hanging fruit.

The only new thing in this EP is the fairies themselves. Everything else is recycled, right down to spraying the plants animation. I suppose there may be new build / buy / CAS stuff, but they could have made a game pack, just like vampires and werewolves.

As history has proven time and time again, when Maxis sells a pack with a world for a EP for TS4, most of their resources go to the world itself even if it looks like another world or mix of other worlds that they've already created.

This pack is $30.00 of set dressing with additional skill tree things and possibly a few other minor, forgettable do-dads so they can claim this pack has "new" game play.

The Sims 4 Enchanted By Nature pack trailer is here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0DgLK72zrk

I wonder if they ever fix the weather inside bug.. But I guess not because otherwise they wouldn't release new worlds without snow.

The illness and curing mechanic is a refreshing addition in the new pack. Unfortunately, the rest feels like a standard game pack pretending to be an expansion.

Unfortunately, this is not new. In fact, this was a feature from the very first pack release for 4.

Sims who are out in nature run the risk of getting a variety of ailments, which then require Herbalism to solve. Then, the second pack, Get To Work, introduced actual sicknesses into the game which require medicine to get rid of.

Sadly, the two have no real overlap. Now, we’re getting a 3rd pack that does the same thing.

Honorable Mention goes to Cats & Dogs, which also get sick the same way Sims do (but horses do not).

Any time I see a quest board in an expansion pack, it just feels like they ran out of ideas (or budget) for content.

Expansion packs of late have been taking entire CHUCKS of content from previous packs and using them as new features. That should only be done to supplement new content (like Life & Death). Instead, it’s the whole pack (Businesses & Hobbies, Lovestruck).

They couldn’t think of anything else - ANYTHING - to add to this pack that doesn’t already exist? Even potted (which is a selling feature btw) plants are basically plants on tables. I’m surprised we got Flower Pressing. There’s even a way to make items… but it’s to make candles and decor. We already have candle making.

They should have taken cues from Castaway Stories and have Sims craft ways to create furniture from nature since we can sleep outside, which uses content that already exists in the game.

Without needing a crafting bench, Sims can gather resources to create items from natural resources. Click on the ground, and select “Create…”, and a UI pops up for Sims to make things to survive: Tents (or various sizes), Bassinets, Cribs, Bonfires, Fish traps, Water Containers, Planters, Torches, Pet Feeders, etc.

They can add new items, like entertainment items or crafting items that then craft other items...

But noooo…

That's cause we never held them to the standard to not make shortcuts. From lackluster gameplay went to buggy mess of a game. Fun, shiny and up-to-date stuff don't always uphold very so often. Buying a pack just so you can have your Sim finally sleep on the ground won't really teach anyone really. Getting a second open for business pack neither will fix the already broken system that's been used for apartments in For Rent. Neither will buying more upcoming packs will fix up the whole glitchy core game. You get what you buy.

Completely agree. Even as a non-player, when I finally have the patience to engage with a system and I find it incompatible I with told systems, lackluster or simply doesn’t work, it makes me not want to play.

Even building can be frustrating because of questionable swatches on otherwise normal items or a lack of expected content. For example, there isn’t a Mission or Spanish style counter in the game, but there have been 2 packs that added Spanish architecture to the game. The base game has Spanish assets. They didn’t even color the base game tiled counter to match the tile colors.

There was always an air of “modders will supplement what’s missing” but at least there was actual content. Why do players have to add their own business and hobbies?

And just as equally with TS4 packs, you buy what you already got. Rehash after rehash after rehash. Broken pack on top of broken pack on top of broken pack. Over and over and over.

Didn't Lyndsay Pearson or some other Sim Guru do an interview a while back where they admitted they're reusing old game mechanics in the new packs because Sims 4 is too bloated to add anything really new?

People have already noticed that the foraging and sleeping on the ground animations are similar to the Werewolves pack.

What would be so bad, if they just concentrate now on fixing the game and all the packs? This would take them a year or two and people would still buy the packs that are already available. There is so much content now and all the cc creators would keep the game alive too.

No money in that!

It's gone far beyond money now. They could have all the money in the world, but they'll still lack the brainpower.

EA fixing their game is like asking in my country to allow gay people to marry in church. You would need to pinch yourself to check if you’re dreaming if that was happening.

If the sims had a high five mind to stop buying packs altogether, then Maxis will consider fixing the game so they don’t lose the figures.

Reusing content is fine. I’m 100% magic reusing mechanics, as long as they are used to SUPPORT new content.

For example - Talent Badges in 2. This was a great workout for the skill system in 3. This enabled employees to have specific minor skills. This was carried over into Seasons & Freetime. They were never treated as a highlight, but were in Open For Business.

I’m okay with the holiday system in 4 being repurposed for events. It’s actually smart for so because it makes planning more personalized as it was for holidays already.

I support foraging and sleeping outside as reused content given the content change. It’s fine, but it feels slapped on. Everything non fairy related feels slapped out to call it an expansion pack. I even suggested other elements that can be reused and still feel fresh, like crafting basic items from common resources, like making a basic tent to sleep in from leaves and wood. Even make recolors for different places, like Sulani, San Myshuno, or Granite Falls.

Natural Living would have been much better. Focus on living in nature and fairies make it more whimsical and fun.

The Sims is still a life simulator. Cottage Living is farm/garden-to-table. Outdoor Retreat is camping. Natural Living would quite literally be about Sims (people) who living in natural houses and living amongst nature, which is why I suggested turning natural resources into items without a crafting table. This could apply to cities, islands, jungles, forests, etc., and is great support content for all of the landscapes Sims have - making do with the resources available to you to live. It would add survival aspects to a life simulator and keep things basic, which the Sims have never done before.

Content will be developed to support living in nature to make a clear divide between camping, farming, and living in the wilderness. It could be an exciting addition and would translate well across many existing worlds.

Nope. Focus on fairies.

I should make a post to really details what I mean, because Enchanted by Nature doesn’t feel like it’s expanding, just adding.

Oh, look, glass walls. Not the pack I expected them in, but I’ll take it.

There will be a plantsim update tied exclusively to the new pack, which means it won't be free. As you all know, this has caused a lot of controversy.

Link to SatchOnSims' video.

DLC for DLC in its many forms are 'normal' for this game at this point.

Don't buy X pack if you don't have Y pack because stuff in pack Y won't work.

Monthly challenges are the same way. If you don't have packs X,Y, and Z, not all the rewards will show up.

Blah, blah, blah. Just another day for TS4 and EA kissing their Wall Street overlord's butts.

My issue isn't that PlantSims got an update, it's that the update is lackluster.

Plants on rooftops is nice but I can do without it. However, having glass walls is amazing (except on curved walls, but what does work on those), but why are they 2 simoleons each? They actually function really well (stares at the "Glass Walls" in Into The Future), but there's a line between floors where glass walls touch. Not the end of the world but still annoying.

Now we need glass floors. I can see Lilsimsie now - "I Made An Entire House With Only Glass!"



Edit: There's actually some very nice (and hidden) additions to CAS.

- New Head Accessories Category + New Bow Item
- Glossy Skin Overlay
- Unlocked Occult Eye Swatches
- Updated Eye Lash Swatches