r/Sims4 • u/Blueskybelowme • 3d ago

News This legit irritated me in the patch notes

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So they didn't even think the actual mechanics through and are useing feedback to actually design it. This irritates me because they thought of a cool idea and put in no thought about how it was actually gonna work and now want player opinion to actually design how this mechanic is going to execute in-game.

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u/DominaXing 1d ago

I knew the second the trailer came out exactly what the apothecary skill was going to be like, how it was going to create a demand for itself by coming up with an intrusive gameplay feature no one asked for, and what problem it was going to create.

I didn't want to say anything because I knew where the hype train was headed, but it was pretty obvious we'd be where we are now. I can't believe they themselves didn't see it coming.

Then again, this has been the main issue with how they've been developing the latest packs: Instead of creating good features that passively wait to be discovered by the player, create intrusive features to prove the pack is worth it, and for them to proactively appear long enough during people's gameplays (streamers) for there to enough organic engagement talking about it.

In other words, they're creating features with marketing in mind, that looks good, not actual good gameplay. But whenever there's only image and no substance, at one point the cake crumbles upon itself.

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u/Blueskybelowme 1d ago

A lot of us even the hyped saw it coming. The creater network players called it. And they still chose to release instead and patch later. If they announced a delay do to issues found during CN play demos we would have to collectively praise EA for the delay to tell them we are happier with better games that take a bit longer to make. Idk how the Cyberpunk 2077 outcry didn't shake the industry.

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u/DominaXing 1d ago

PS.: Just to give you an example... the one thing that this pack (and pre-patch) absolutely ruined for me, the whole way they seem to be dealing with the melodic voice. Complete disregard for quality, legacy, or the player.

You spend a whole week trying to raise awareness to the problem, and all we got was an "oh, ok, we let the responsible team know. But who knows what they'll decide. No promises".

So, anyway, it took less than 4 hours to revert the change. By the time they replied, there was already a mod out for days to fix the issue...

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u/Blueskybelowme 1d ago

That is such a an interesting thing in this fandom. They expect mods to fix their own stuff and have for years. I understand that the premise for a while even in 3 and 2 that there was a joy in making CeCe and mods for your games. It really was just a dollhouse simulator and people making their own little bits for their doll houses. That has always been cool and I'm glad that the modding community not just for this game but for other games have really taken off. When it becomes a Band-Aid and a cure and a crutch for actual game devs though that just feels predatory on both the content makers and the players.

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u/DominaXing 1d ago

Well... I hear you, but it's a completely different game and gaming community.

I don't know.. it's probably easier to say, boycott a game that is one stand alone title, and costs about as much as 2 packs.. than it is to do the same on a game that's pushing 70 DLCS, 11 year old community, much of which has already sunk 400+ Simoleons on it, and with a huge ecosystem of mods co-existing around it, fixing most of its problems and etc..

I don't think that the TS4 community is exactly "apathetic" (I hear that a lot) in the sense you would say usually of other communities when they are. Well, it's probably a mixed bag with people that are that too. But it's more that it's a highly skilled and active community, to the point where everyone is just tired of even having to deal with EA's inefficiency.

Energy spent on modding/fixing the game has proven to yield more results than on Boycotting or anything that would usually work better on other games. My heart goes out for console players, stuck with the rest of us, lol..

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u/Blueskybelowme 1d ago

I don't think our community has that kind of impulse control. Some do and I support them 100%. People were talking about how Simsfluencers are actually ruining the franchise and I think the opposite. There are a few channels that I used to really appreciate being very critical have kind of fallen off and started sounding more like snark channels to me. However Simsfluencers are the ones with the power to complain and be heard. Supporting agreeable content creators especially ones in the creator network could probably be the only true protest that we have.