I guess everybody in this forum wants the franchise to be as good as it can get. Some are disappointed because TS4 is a bit downgraded (not in every aspect though). For example, TS4 does not have a colour wheel, CAST, open world, wants and fears and so on (there is a lot of features missing that were in the previous iterations). There is also a noticable lack of detail, such as the lack of NPC transportation. There is no firetrucks, school busses or carpool for work.

Yes, I can see how an adult that has played the game since TS1 thinks less of the following iterations, if all the things I've heard about the two first iterations is a common experience, they seem very interesting. I think there is a fine line between wanting and realising reality though, and the later iterations are clearly not made only for old-timers.

I'm not sure what the thread is for actually, but I'm not interested in venting, since I think it completely takes over every sims forum and leaves no space for anything else. If another expansion pack comes, I'll maybe create a new thread instead, calling it "Positive ..." :P

I am a person who can see both the good and bad in things like 4 and this EP. And once again as no open world, and ever longer loading screens, I get irritated when have to pick a lot to go to in another area so I can get to some of the off lot areas to try to do/find things. Then when get somewhere I have to hunt for the accessible areas, I have no real idea where my Sim is in the world compared to how easy it is in 3. And, and, and....
And when building the room system can be nuts as the game cannot tell what a room is at times and doing walls have to be done over and over. And the game deletes items on the lot. I added a front door at least 4 times as the game kept deleting it.

I was willing to spend the sale price to get the EP and am having some fun with it, but each time I am back in 4 it makes me appreciate 3 even more, again.

Andes, if you want just positive comments about things, this is the wrong place/site.

I just wish the conversations here and elsewhere were more specific, and focused on details in the game, instead of pointing out the bits missing. It gets really boring, when all I want is to chat about a silly little game.

This forum is filled with very experienced, very discerning Simmers, who discuss this game in detail. If things are liked, it is said. If no, it is said. Many people take Sims very seriously as have spent/dedicated significant amounts of time and money to this series. It is more than a silly little game to many. There are baseline expectations that need to be met according to many of the players.

daisylee, I don't need only positivity I want calm interesting chat about a game. And despite not appreciating all about the sims, I think it gives such a bad impression of a place and of the persons saying them, to only focus on ranting, so I chose not to. We all know what is wrong anyway, it doesn't need to be said in a repetitive way,

Edit:
My impression of this section, the general discussion, is the opposite of that; that most who post here actually do think it is a bad game, and in very crude terms express this over and over. Most who post in this section are not creators, and have done nothing for the game, that is visible on this forum. The other parts of the TS4 section are silent, the building section, the picture section. There are at most 50 people here at the same time. I think you willfully misunderstands me if you think I don't know what MTS is; but the conversations here, in the general section, is exactly what I said they were.

I think what you say is correct in some ways, but I will just say that this a battle you will never win. I have been here 16 years. The discussions regarding 4 will stay the same as they are now. People here have their opinions and will express them whether others agree or not. It is an open discussion.

I got this EP. Some will not. We each are able to do as we want.

That is not surprising, but I'm not sure why I'm being told that nothing will change - am I interpreted as a knight in armor trying to strike down a couple of trolls? Or am I being told that the trolls do own this section, and therefore I rather not waste my opinions here, everyones beside the uncomfortable ones, ey? :P
I think it would be good if all who complain will refrain from buying the packs, the massive lack of profit would surely change EA's ways!

Jokes aside, I also got the EP, and I have all the others too, and get a lot of entertainment from most of them.

You know if your intentions are just to passive aggressively shit on people who use this space to air what they want to say you don’t have to come here. I can provide you several websites that cater exclusively to your interests, the first and most mind-numbingly obvious being the official Sims 4 forums. This space does not censor you for serving your qualms, your praises, or everything in-between regarding Sims 4; something which can’t be said for other Sims sites.

If you are looking for calm, interesting discussion then look around because there’s plenty of it here. Maybe the issue is that you don’t feel people want to discuss what *you* want to discuss, and that’s something only you can come to terms with. The best way to see something get improved is to really hammer the point across. Nothing gets better when you don’t talk about it, and if it’s sounding like beating the dead horse then blame the studio for failing to satisfy the interest of those players.

I think some things in 4 are done well. I liked that I could raise a window higher to put over a kitchen sink. I moved the whole house a few times. There are some good things. There also are bad. I think that most of us who dip into 4 at all feel this way. Some of the things in this EP are fun to try. Other things like a tiny world with pretty much nothing else to do bug me. I already changed one residence to an inn/restaurant for at least one other place to go that is inside other than the one pub/place.

This game brings in Sims from all the worlds which looks rather absurd to me, so do we actually need many residences in these tiny worlds? My Sim wants to go to a museum for example, and of course there is none.

I also have for the first time ever, the inn, a lot where the Sim cannot use the toilet. She gets right up. Tried 4 bathrooms in that place. Same for all. She is fine using all at home. Yes, this game drive me nuts when there are things like that.

TS4, is more than a 7/8 year story of woe, such that MTS comments section can vie on the bitter side more than the sweet. It's over two decades worth. As Carl said in one of his youtube guides - himself quite disappointed and disillusioned with TS4 at this late stage after being so up beat and hopeful about it in the earlier stages - the reason TS4 is so negatively received and reviewed all this time later, it just doesn't seem to stop, is because of TS3, TS2, and even original Sims. They were so much more... just better in terms of execution, when compared to TS4. We know, indisputably, indefatigably, TS4 could have been better if EA allowed Maxis more room to move.

If TS4 was the only thing they ever produced, there would be no chatter round here at all. A ghost town after seven years of lackluster, or "Meh" as one of the greatest advocates, reviewers and lovers of the franchise, LGR, had to - almost with tears in his eyes - admit when the game was in its second year. He has not changed his views since.

And we have certainly been led a merry dance, hoping that great improvement finally comes. Maxis releasing in stages ghosts, swimming pools, basements, toddlers. Keeping the hope alive that they are trying, that it will get better. But it just isn't happening. As much as every sim fan here hopes. It just isn't happening. And at this late stage, not likely to ever be more than it is; Shallow. Great ideas introduced in TS4, that we would hope to see in future iterations, but the game just bogged down with shallowness. A combination of many factors, already talked about, discussed and argued till the cows come home. And another reason with sticking to TS4, even if it is to mostly complain, is because of TS5. The story goes on. And the bitter sweet reception of it goes on. And if the folks who visit this site to comment are more discerning, such that reporting more often what they view as bad than good. Then great. It's needed. After all, this is a site for mods. And what are mods for? Bringing more variety to the game? Making the game better? Improving the game? Fixing the game. Ridding the game of annoyances? All of the above. And all needed more so for TS4 then previous iterations. Any wonder that is going to have a direct correlation to the types of general comments that are made in this TS4 section.

IMO the game is shallow also. It does not hold my attention long. I never had that issue with the prior versions. I am working on too many 3 worlds in CAW as love to do them. I never get bored in 3. I play totally legacy style in 3 and even with all the building I have done, hundreds if not thousands of lots in this series, doing worlds, my family in 3 is well over 30 generations. I quit at about 6 in this version. One thing that still TOTALLY bugs me is the non teens and they have never fixed that. That ruins family play for me. I pretty much play a single to play a new pack/EP a while or couple then leave 4 for months.

This EP has a beautiful world, and some of the themes are fun and have been wanted by the community for years, but the small scale of the place, what we can do, what is new, and so on, just isn't enough. I have not tried a llama yet and may like, but again, I do not stick with things long enough to complete much in 4. I get bored and head right back to 3. And minor detail that over half of my 4 games/saves were wiped. I lost one Sim in 3 that could not get home from a vacation. Other than that, do not recall losing anything in the prior versions other than a few lot crashes in the 20 years of this series.

I don't like folks to sugar coat things for me. It makes me gag. So, when I do want to get caught up on what's new in TS4, I come here...and then I don't have to worry about my gag reflex being triggered.

I'm someone whose feelings about TS4 tend to go back and forth. Currently, I think it's been doing pretty good. I've really enjoyed the last two expansion packs. But...I'd be kidding myself if I didn't admit that most of my continued interest in the game is thanks to the modding community, who've seriously been carrying this game for the past....what's it been? Seven years?

So as far as the "TS4 Rules VS TS4 Sucks" debate, I'm firmly in the middle. I think it's pretty good, even as far as non-modded features go, it has a lot of neat quality of life improvements (and has, hands down, the best CAS in the franchise). But I also think it sucks. They waited WAY too long to start giving this game anything even remotely resembling depth, and most of their attempts just kinda...fall flat.

Nowhere is that more painfully highlighted than in the added "likes/dislikes" feature in CAS. A feature that SHOULD have been really good, but is almost completely useless if you don't have that dream home decorator pack (I'm still waiting for a sim's favorite color to matter). It's, once again, another thing that modders had to tweak in order to give it the depth that it should have had from the start. And that will always be TS4's biggest problem. Without the modding and CC community, this game would not be able to hold my attention the way that it does. I've said it before but it's worth repeating: TS2 and TS3? I want mods. TS4? I need mods!

@drake_mccarty Your post is aggressive and rude, and contradictory to your argument that there are calm conversations here. This section I call 'general discussion', because that is how it is treated - but it is surprisingly named "gameplay strategy and discussion for The Sims 4". The threads being alive in here is the news about kits, which keeps getting repetitive complaints; the 'I hate EA' which mostly attract only one member; a thread posing as general chat but explicitly according to the original post being about bashing the sim developers; a thread about a possible contender to the game, constantly bashed as well; some help threads posted in the wrong sections; and this thread, which is now derailed to be about 'whether players like The Sims 4 or not', but according to the name and original post is a trolling attempt to revive a thread getting closed down because of continuous flaming. Please show me those 'calm' conversations - a link or description of the thread will be fine, I'll find it.
You are misinterpreting me, my posts and the chat previous in this thread, which started with a righteous complaint that everytime anyone says anything positive about the game they get backlash for it - on the section for the game, in a forum explicitly about the game iterations.

Are you the site owner? Or one of the members proven to be level-headed and kind, and creators, and therefore picked as staff? Have you seen anything in the rules section that I've missed, to prohibit me from posting here? Given your tone, and the fact that you meddle in a conversation, attacking another member without any kind of context, I'm sure you've done that before, and perhaps it is to members such as you I need to credit the incredibly low visits to the site. I think it would be too easy to scare off all the young people that play the game The Sims 4.

@Gargoyle Cat The same question applies to you - are you any of those things, and therefore have a right to, try, to explicitly drive me away? As a non-creator you certainly take up a lot of space on this forum, filling it with your bile. Is this the calm, interesting, detailed discussions asked for?

People don’t care that you have positive opinions about the Sims 4 in your posts. The problem is you can’t seem to separate that from vaguely shitting on people who don’t share your same view and then turning around and calling them aggressive when they tell you that your shit stinks.

The last version of this thread got shut down because members were picking fights with each other, like you’ve been doing in this thread and others.

I’d love for this thread to go back to it’s original purpose like you claim you do, but you’re definitely not helping in the “righteous” way you think you are.

@Alunn I am not directing my post to you, and by answering it you burst into something you do not have the context of. By quoting me you deliberately break the rules, and by repeating the crude language of the member I respond to you are lowering yourself to their level. You also choose to continue an argument that is per se derailing, and have nothing to do with the thread or the original surfacing of it. If you want the thread to be about 'news about EP' you best not get involved at all, and wait for news of any expansion pack. All the posts since the threads surfacing has been derailing.

You are incorrect, the predecessor for this thread got closed down because one member kept flaming, harassing, quoting and derailing the thread by attacking one other person, whose only fault was that they got tired of all the complaints. That created a landslide of flaming, with all attacking one person. I reported it, and it got closed down.

If you don't like a dissenting opinion on the game, then you are at the wrong site. With that said, please turn this topic back to gossip about what new shiz is coming to TS4 and stop picking fights with other players who do not agree with you about TS4. I have no qualms about deleting the whole thread.

Oh my, oh my, oh my. UM ... to get back to the latest EP, for those of you who are playing it, did you fence the chickens or let them free roam? At 2:44am that is the most crucial question I can pose. Enquiring minds have to know. As something actually on topic here. Sigh. Moving on.....I am sure I will not be able to sleep trying to decide what is best. :D
For those in US, Happy Thanksgiving. Be thankful we have computers and can have Sims, right? Many in this world cannot.

edit: HL you beat me to getting back to topic.

I always fence the chickens, mostly since I do want them, but I don't want to send my sims running after the chicks, or to have to deal with the foxes attacking them. I have several lots where I combine the fox lot trait and the rabbit tree though, and enjoy those little glimps to the natural world..

You took my question seriously, but that is OK. I have them fenced now as when one was in the house in the dining room.... well, that just would not do.

Yes, what else to do, when grasping at straws..! It is still not in line with the purpose of the thread though, if there is any, but I have no gossip about any packs at all, sorry to say.
Chicks in the house seems a bit funny, I'll try that on one lot, preferably with a silly sim, perhaps my 'deserted rundown house'.

Yes, I'm sure they focus on kits for easy profit, as has been stated in the kits thread, and this as well, that I'm hoping for this to mean that bigger projects is undergone by the majority of their work force. I'm hoping this will be the kind of 'fixes' and touches that the refreshes are in kind, and bug fixes; but of course would like any kind of expansion pack, mainly because they come with a world, and I love building and making up a theme for the lots and sims. Music and performances would be nice, particularly if it was fixed how sims react to 'shows', to sit down and be quiet and still for a longer time would be nice for instance. Werewolves too, of course, because reasons.

Edit Oh, and that the space between the performer and the audience were elongated, so that the sims don't need to stand so close; and that they stop throwing money at the performer - it's suitable for street performers, but not in my opera house.

An EP about living in space might be interesting but I don't really see a way to do it well considering how the game is set up now. And I am still waiting for a world builder, but am sure that will never come. I am ready for 5 if done well, not likely though, and not an online game solely.

Why wouldn't it be likely? It depends on how it is setup doesn't it? I'm not really interested in space themes, but would still buy it if it were a world, but it could just be a space themed world, couldn't it? Like the Batuu one, but editable.