#sims 4 just seems to have some frothy CC makers and everything is behind patreons and paywalls

[tabbyphobos]

So I've been playing Sims 4 right? And I think I got it.

It has no SOUL.

They keep adding in new content all the time because they hear that people want better gameplay, but they don't mean "more things to do."

They mean that the repetition is showing.

The Sims franchise has always been about repetition. Get a job, go to work, come home, attend to needs, try to make friends or learn skills. Live suburban life. Sims 2 have us goals, which made our experience richer as we try to manage these little people with their own agendas.

(I can't speak to Sims 3; I hated the open-world forcing single-household gameplay, and the aesthetic was terrible imo.)

Sims 4 does this too, but... Why is EVERYONE embarrassed by mischief interactions? Why is EVERYONE scared of thunderstorms? I have an entire neighborhood full of people who are either aspiring to Joke Star or are Foodies, and going between them is basically like playing the same week over. (Johnny Zest, Steve Fogel, June Kay, and Amber Stein, if you wanted to know.)

And I've been sowing discord! Bob and Eliza are both looking elsewhere for romantic fulfillment and trying to keep it secret. Amber Stein and Armand DiAggro are engaged but Armand caught Bob flirting with her at Bob's house because she's there EVERYDAY. Charlie is a menace to society, even to his roommates! I mixed up who a child wanted to be enemies with and made him go full asshole on his dad! Alexander Goth is bald and I don't know why!

But the reactions are always the same: bland. Someone gets mad but does nothing about it, except suddenly hate an activity that they need to do for their job. People become sad and are just slower at eating. Nobody gets into a fight unless I direct them, and even when I do they go back to their corners; no additional slapping or insults.

There are no extremes. Nothing bad, but nothing good either. Nobody gets fired for a chance card. Nobody really fails at anything. And nothing great happens. Getting married coats money and requires more hassle than it used to. Having a baby when you haven't the room or the money is inconsequential. Burglars are back but they just leave sims sad; they even tell you exactly what they stole so you can just re-buy it.

And I have no reason to care about any of these people. The household bio is all the story you get. Travis has so little personality he's made of gray paste. Olivia grew up into... Not really as lively as she was as a kid. Did I mention that Alexander Goth is bald?

Even the blandest families in 2 had some drama going on. The Aspirs and the Bells basically did a partner swap in their youth. The Baldwins have Uncle Carlos and all his bitches to deal with. What about Jason Cleveland's predilection for men? You wanted to hang with these families, see where they go. Because they COULD go in any direction.

Everybody but June in the Funny Foodies corner is a C-Lister. No fluctuation. They are all doing the same things. The most exciting things to happen in the Sims 4 world was Vivian and Dennis got married and adopted a couple of kids before they died. And Bella Goth had a baby without my knowledge or permission. (Don"t even get me started about how mad that made me.)

Nothing happens unless you make it happen, and when it does, no one cares, especially not your sims.

Is this why all sims 4 gameplays seem the same? Builds. Legacies. Rags to riches. 100 babies. Are people trying to FIND the fun in the game? I don't blame them.

2 may require a level of frustration, but at least it has heart. Sims 4 is a life simulation by committee. The edges are all shaved off and the experience is beige, bland, and pointless.

Paralives cannot come out soon enough.