Well I'm glad you and others are excited for it, I hope it gives you what you are after.
I felt the same way when TS3 was announced but found the sims to be a huge disappointment. I hate how they look ,move, interact, no fears, no aspiration failure. I tried playing an asylum challenge and even there they were boring, recooking food, falling asleep in front of the toilet only to jump up again a moment later. I hate rabbit holes to places that I should be able to visit and lots of freezing and routing problems. I think the Sims 4 sims look better, but to me at least they look closer to TS3 sims than TS2 sims.

I just hope it doesn't last as long. I don't particularly like the look of the sims 4, and I don't really think it'll be better than the sims 3, but I don't want the disdain for it to last as long as the disdain for the sims 3 has lasted. Even now, with ts3 over and done with for the most part, there are still people that'll jump you if you say ts3 is better than ts2. I like both games equally, and I don't understand why a good amount of people still complain about ts3 at this point. It doesn't matter too much to me I guess, since I can play both games and enjoy them without constantly comparing them

I'll take that bet too.

Sigh.

I don't agree about the pre-TS3 hate either. I bought TS3 base game on the strength of TS2. I'm not buying TS4 partially on the strength of TS3.

To me it seems one of the main differences was that for Sims 3, EA were actually trying to do something different, something new, and something that was probably a lot of work to set up - open world was a big change from previous Sims games. There was definitely some trepidation in the Sims community about it because it was potentially a very big shift in gameplay style.

This time around, it doesn't seem like EA are really adding anything - they've taken away open world (a TS3 feature), got rid of CAST (TS3?), taken away/homogenised life stages (TS2 feature), downsized the neighbourhoods, got rid of basic features that were in Sims 1 (pools). Potentially they've also got rid of terrain tools.

From what we can see, TS4 just seems to be a stripped down version of all our favourite games because the team were rushed for time. I think that's a bit different from TS3, where the team were actually making effort to make big (sometimes controversial) changes.

Now, if these TS4 'emotions' they keep touting are actually amazing and wonderful, then that would be fantastic! I've always wanted my Sims to be a bit more multi-faceted. So far, the marketing has been focusing on 'bros' and 'weirder stories' and so, to me, emotions aren't looking all that wonderful at the moment, but maybe their marketing is just off, and actually when simmers get down to playing, we'll be blown away by the changes. Fingers crossed...

Okay I can only speak for myself. My absolute main point and major gripe in Sims 4 so far is that this new sequel is a suppose be an kick but major improvement than the rest. Not a step backward. I do not care about the graphics in this game. I wanted to do well since the beginning, it just feels a step backwards. Not only having CASt, Pools, open world, clothes shopping, groceries and toddlers are cut but other important features are also cut. stuff like this could be improved on. Also it's the principle of the whole thing. What if something you really love, that made a feature that work out in the long run and found out that favorite has been cut for good. Not to mention that it might not be patched nor even considered ever again? What happens if toddler,pools wont be patched nor considered in an EP?

An example is, in the Sims 3 I've seen most simmers begging for an real OFB EP since (I'm guilty of this too). There has not been an Ofb EP ever since. The only way you can get most stuff that function like OFB is to buy most of it from the store. This is disappointing. I feel it's going to be the same thing all over again. This is my fear that basic stuff like pools and toddlers OFB or any major stuff might not be in it period in the sims 4! I really hope I'm wrong but in the end it's all about trust to me. If I see most of the basic stuff that is patched like pools toddlers or a very good EP like OFB very soon then I will consider the Sims 4.

Another thing I'm not too happy about from a creators point of view and my major concern is that even though there is some tools out there now but where the news about an offical Maxis CAW to create neighborhoods or a body shop tool for recolors and whatnot!? I have been hoping that we will get it as soon as the game is released. again no news about this and doesn't seem like this important tools are not going to be in the Sims 4 at all. I'm also afraid that it will be a backlash against CC this time.

I hope you will understand why I am so hesitant and passionate to speak up about the Sims 4. I would personally hate it if the game doesn't turn up well just like the new Simcity and the gaming media sites trash this game for no reason.

I agree with almost everything in your post. I disagree, though, about it getting crappy reviews. If it gets trashed, it will be for all the reasons you articulated above, not for no reason. And I really hope that happens (if justified), as SC had decent reviews on release that only got lowered once folks started to actually play the game.

Which, TBH, I thought was suspect, as it was not only the online behavior that was so destructive to game play, but the poor implementation of agents, and the limitations on city size that were major flaws, and if reviewed critically, should have been apparent to the reviewers, even if their online portion ran perfectly on the super special reviewers' servers. So, chances are, TS4 will get decent reviews in the classic gaming magazines regardless of the absence of toddlers, pools, open world, and story progression, because the reviewers are unlikely to be simmers, and won't know the difference.

I remember back in 2009, before the release of The Sims 3, I could see more excitement than we can see now...
Lots of people were happy about TS2, it was a wonderful game and a respectable successor for The Sims 1.

We wanted to see how the game would evolve even more! The Sims 3 promised to take care of, at least, two major issues: it would bring an open world (and we would no longer be confined to our house) and would allow us to customize EVERYTHING (through Create-a-Style).
We would no longer have to worry about our furniture not matching, we would have more eye, hair (not to talk about roots, and stuff) and skin colors colors, we could chose shoes separately from the clothes, etc...
It seemed like a natural evolution for The Sims 2, in which it's predecessors problems would be solved, and we would still have the same "Sims" we thought we would.

Before TS3 release, it was a mix of skepticism and excitement.

Now, we have either pure hate, from those who played most of the previous games, and some excitement from those who only played TS3, and people who just use the game to build houses and don't care about the lack of gameplay features (although the pools and the lack of color wheel seem to be annoying to them). At least, that is how I see it.
Not to talk about those guys at the official forums. There are lots of people thrilling about it...

Given the new engine they spoke about and given all the rubbish we had to endure with Sims 3 crashes and wonky programming, I really expected a combination of all the really good innovative bits of all 3 previous games, humour, customization, depth of gameplay plus stuff like varying heights, (even if it were a couple preset heights for each age group) maybe gradual aging, certainly more age groups at least and really, with all the amazing progress in other game genres, I expected something really ground-breaking in this one of a kind life Sim / Sandbox.
I did not expect them to be telling us how blown away they always are about the creativity in the community and then remove so much of what makes our creativity possible.
I hate my options being taken away and I don't need to be guided along a path of how to play. Give us all the components and the freedom to make of it what we want. I just expected that to be more possible in this current day and age with all the new tech out there.
Very foolish of me

Just a reminder that Sims 3 kind of sucks. At least when you compare it to the quality of Sims 2.

If this wasn't EA, I'd still be cautiously optimistic. But since it's EA, nothing they say will hype up Sims 4 for me. I'll have to play it first.

I haven't been hyped up by EA since Spore. I'm still sad about Spore.

Edit: If you claim it's maxis and not EA, then I can remind you that Spore was Maxis and Will Wright.

But... but... Spore was amazing... wasn't it?

I spent more time in the pre-release spore creation program than I ever did in the actual game.

The Sims 4 doing the same promotional thing by releasing CAS early has me slightly worried.

Spore and Sim City are pretty similar in that they created a degree of hype they could never possibly live up to but ultimately were very solid games that scored primarily with an incredibly sleek UX design. I think this is something we'll see in Sims 4 as well. It's going to be more limited in scale, it seems, but also more streamlined in a good sense. I'm expecting it to be - in its unexpanded shape at least - to be complimentary to Sims 3 rather than a full-on replacement.

Huh? The complaints about Sims 4 are EA taking away basic features, such as pools and toddlers, not the new features.

The internet never forgets. You can see here, there was a lot less complaining about TS3 one month before its release than TS4.
http://www.modthesims.info/forumdis...25&daysprune=-1

I think the reason is because they've cut so much from TS4 that was in previous sims games while TS3 added so much. We did lose a few things in TS3 that we had in TS2, but most of them were minor and much of what we lost, we didn't realize until after the game was released and we started playing it. Loss of cut scenes is not nearly as big of a deal as losing a whole life stage, for example.

Personally I find The Sims 4 won't have much play time. Builders will build, creators will be busy doing CC, but there's not much actual game play to do cause there's nothing special. It looks pretty and sims have emotions. That's it.

I love the sims 3, I adopted it quite late on, so it still feels new.

Someone on here said that we should be seeing more of it at this time, especially 1 month to launch, and I completely agree.
Ts 2 and Ts 3 had loads of screenshots and game play video before release. Have we had many for this car crash?
Nil, neine, nope, nada, non

Except emotions though how can we forget . Stop it with emotions already ea, god dammit!

I've been playing since Sims 1 and there are always those who complain (for good reason or bad) and say they wont buy the game. Few stick to it. This time, however, I think a lot of people will actually NOT buy the game. Many will, just with the sheer number of people who buy the game, period. Not the same as Sims 2-->Sims 3, though, I definitely disagree. There are some things in Sims 3 that made the game worth it, as far as features not available in 1 or 2. This, despite it being more of a horizontal move than clear upgrade, as Sims 2,still did many things better than 3. I enjoy both games. For 4, it's less of a balance of pros and cons like with 2 to 3, than some of what we did like from 2 and/or 3 not being in 4 and what it is offering not being enough to make up for it.

I know, for me, my main gripe is the lack of innovation. Look at the leaps from Sims 1 to Sims 2, and Sims 2 to Sims 3. There were a lot of major changes happening there from the base games alone, even if a lot of the expansion packs had similar themes/items. Where, exactly, can we find that leap from Sims 3 to Sims 4?

You can't. Like many people have mentioned, Sims 4 seems to be a gigantic step back.

~*~*Emotions*~*~ does not a game make, I'm afraid. That is not the progress I'm looking for. Part of it, of course, but don't sell your entire game on that alone! The way they've handled the entire TS4 release is so strange and frustrating. I know big companies aren't exactly known to be up front but we know what had gone down with the major thematic shift for TS4. Treat your customers with respect and just be honest.

I really love that you shared this because it does illuminate the differences between the two releases. I only really spotted one negativity thread with only three pages. Everyone else was excited about all of the added stuff. Then again, maybe you could chalk this up to better advertising on EA's part, but it was definitely a different experience going from Sims 2 to Sims 3.

Back then, my major frustration with TS3 was the story progression: I just hated it -and I still do- so much because
a) I never play legacies, and,
b) I like micro-managing all the families in my hood because I am their Goddess.

BUT, apart from that I did like the open world, I did like the idea my Sims visiting their friends, etc. THEN when the game came out I realised there was a lot of text substituting for game-play, and I was really crossed when I found out that bistro and grocery shops were rabbit holes, although later my anger was somehow appeased by the new careers, so that my Sims could finally be writers, painters, inventors, or whatever.

Now, however, EAtards have gone too far: how exactly they expect to sell a life simulation game when they take out a life stage, namely toddlers? (I'm not a toddler-die-hard fan, mind you.) Since they call this TS4 shouldn't they have tried to combine the best of both worlds, TS2 and TS3, and release an amazing game? Nope! They thought that releasing a kind of facebook game is fine, and even finer to sell it at that price when half game-play has been taken out.

Other reason for me not to get TS4? Mr Cars-are-sooooooo-sexxxxxxxy-Rodiek. Dude, seriously?

*Clears Throat* Sorry not fitting in any of your neat, little categories. I have started with Sims 1, though that games style and soundtrack started to creep me out and weridly depress me around the time of Vacations/Unleashed. I returned to the series with Sims 2 and loved it and still play it. Played Sims 3 and hated it for many many reasons.

Now I'm looking forward to Sims 4 simply because Sims 2 starts to bore me and I need a change and it is not Sims 3.
I am bothered by some of the cut gameplay (Teen the same height as adult, no toddlers) But I am not surprised that things were cut, to me Sims 3 displayed a giant downgrade in game-play from Sims 2, so I guess I just expected it and wasn't that rattled when I heard about it, so it didn't cloud my anticipation for the game too much.

I am optimistic, but I'm not blindly optimistic, one part of me is filled with anticipation, another part of me keeps telling me this will be the same disappointment as Sims 3

It might also be my personal preference that a lo of the cuts don't bother me as much:

1) Semi Open world instead of the Completely Open World from Sims 3: won't miss it because I never really got into Sims 3, also I like my things smaller and more manageable, also like the fact that all the neighborhoods within a world have names, gives it more flavour, a thing I have sorely missed in Sims 3.
2)The lack of toddlers, they are cute, but man was it a hassle to teach them all their skills in the very limited time that was available to that (otherwise also pretty boring) lifestage. In Sims 2 I never bother with the potty training, in SIms 3 I cheated to have it done quicker so I'd be able to age them up into children faster. Plus I'm very sure EA/Maxis will deliver Toddlers
3) Pools....hardly ever built them and don't enjoy them much IRL, frankly as a coast dweller I am more disappointed we won't be able to swim in the sea/rivers/lakes and I was pretty pissed about that cut in Sims 3 as well, open world my arse, it ain't open if the openness ens at the shoreline.
4) Clothing/groceries shopping: erm.....guys does everybody conveniently forget that clothing shopping was also cut form Sims 3? And that, also in SIms 3 grocery shopping was not only rigged down with necessary micro management , took place in a shitty rabbithole you couldn't even customize, and was merely a placebo as you could still just pay money at your fridge? We don't know yet how our Sims get their food in Sims 4.
5) CaST: I hated it, it made the clothes look cheap, gave the developers an excuse to be lazy about meshes (the same mesh was used as a evening dress or a nightgown for instance, just with different presets) and bogged the game down. It also destroyed Sims 2 style genetics. Buck that!

So yeah I'll just take a look how the game is going to be.

I loved Spore with all my heart.

Well I don't think so.
Before sims 3 was released most of folks was excited about this game. Just quite few people complain about new features. I also was very happy about sims 3 and was about
With sims 4 everything is contrarily. A lot of people is disappointed, cuz they imagine sims 4 different that it is. This supposed to be better and improved version than previous sims games, but a lot of cool content is missing and probably will be never add (like CASt, open world, story progression).
Personally, I lost all hope for this game. First when I saw it, I was disappoinded with graphics, but deeply expected that gameplay will impress me. Then they start talking about content that wasn't added to game and I realized that I'm donne with this game. It hasn't got anything that could impress me. Even my friend, who is obsessed with sims games isn't happy at all and considering if it is worth to buy...

First: If there are mistakes in the text, i´m German and had english in school years ago, and no possibility to practice since then. I guess you can get what I mean.


I think the hate about Sims 4 does not exist in large part because of the game itself. Many here are playing the sims since the first or second generation. This means that we were much younger at the releases of the last few generations, which means that we were also easier to satisfy. We demand now far too much, and that is not only related to the game.
I also think that many have been "infected", have taken a different opinion from others and no own form blindness and repugnance which they have built. So it was for me at first, you simply read and you´re suddenly the same opinion. Until I have made more own thoughts on the information and features. I will not dare to complain about something I do not know in person yet and until then try not to let me pull down of the "bad" and to see the positive things in it.

A few examples?

Sure, I will CAStyle miss very much, but then maybe I do not consider myself more ETERNAL with the Colour Enhancement.

The open world in Sims 3 I found awesome, but unfortunately there are some things in mind that will not run optimally and which are (or could be) solved by the new part open world.
My computer (which is not a bad one) was simply overwhelmed after several addons. Although The Sims populated community lots, but not really lived together. More of a side by side live. For all the many sims in the huge neighborhood to calculate all the actions, that also consumes too much computing power. So if the little neighborhoods within the worlds now are better populated, and my computer has no problems with it, I am very satisfied. As long as the load times really stay so low.
2 Sure the game takes quite a bit of reality by simply teleporting sims to the desired plot, but I think that also has many positive effects. If I'm looking for a sim friend, I do not need 2 Sim hours to reach him, and then he eventually is no longer there. Is my family on a community lot, then I have not to wait 2 hours until they all got into the car and finally drive home together.
3 Thanks to the (hopefully) remaining computing power it may need not half a sim hour to start a conversation or to perform an action. When I get faster to the desired location and no longer waste so much time with the ways, then I might visit again community lots more often, and have way more time on one Sim day left for meaningful actions and interactions. In addition, they EA make the time slow down a bit. Many "realistic" actions have taken in the third part so much time that I have hardly run them ever. 1 hour or longer gather together the clothes to wash? 20 minutes to brush your teeth?
4 I will not comment about the matter of the rabbit holes, so the shops, schools, workplaces... I´ll rather make my opinion when I see it in game. Could of course be disappointing. But I get upset rather when the time comes and not waste so much hate already. Just as I do with the toddler and the pools. Honestly, pools I have hardly used anyway. Let's see how much I will miss about the toddler. It's not impossible that they could be added later. As long as I can expect a playable base game, I'm happy.
5 I think what most players overlooked are the opportunities to travel between the different worlds. This is awesome! We all had the problem that the more addons appeared the more content had to be placed in a neighborhood. Many lost their charme, or you had to cut back and could not get all addons at once to enjoy. Island paradise has shot down the bird for me (as we say in Germany) and forced to move completely (including to accept all the losses that entails) or a new game to begin. If I on wear the Sims 3 addons to the 4, then I see one thing: freedom. And realism. I live in a small town, and if I want to go partying then I go to the next bigger city and so on. This will be possible for me in Sims 4. With ONE sim, I can enjoy the benefits of ALL the addons and their features, without overloading my neighborhood or to make any concessions. My Sim Kids can move, but do not lose contact with me, I can visit them and they can come back, and yet we still know each other. Or I visit a friend for 2 weeks and can enjoy the island paradise, and may then return to my old life. Also a big plus for the computing power I hope thereby. Of these options, I'm simply amazed and find it a shame that so many overlook this or do not want to see the positive aspects in Sims 4.

Edit: i could also enable paparazzis, vampires, unicorns etc only in the neighborhood they make sense ^^

The new CAS is great and should not be swept under the carpet (German saying, again). I can well remember the basic version of Sims 3 with its lack of choices... I now have the opportunity to tinker realistic Sims with no CC in Sims 4. If I, however, think of Sims 3 without CC ... I did it for the sake of computing power and abandoned to play with CC, but I could not do without default skins and eyes. For the hair, yes they are a matter of taste. But compared to the Sims 3 hair I find it quite better. And if you do not like them, there will be probably more than enough CC available.

The glowing of the neighborhood I do not want to evaluate first. I look at it myself, how it will look on my screen at home. The emotions didn´t have impressed me, let's see how it "feels".


I think the gameplay of Sims 4 will surprise us all and we do not want to go back. The last games we have also loved, even though we may have had doubts before.


There are a lot more things I could write about… but i´m at my university and should now listen

The only complaint I had going into The Sims 3 was how it went back to being a blank slate and how there was no trace of weather/seasons. Oh, and the lack of open stores/restaurants, although I was not yet convinced that they wouldn't come back in an eventual EP.

Granted, I was slightly concerned about the story progression/open world thing, but I most certainly wasn't complaining. I was excited to get to try it out, because it was a different style of playing The Sims that I had always wanted to have the option of playing.

Overall, I was very excited for The Sims 3 and the features that it added.

To say that this is comparable to The Sims 4 is flat out silly. People are negative about The Sims 4 because it not only adds nothing of significance, but it took away many significant features.