I don't understand it. I just looked up Life by You on YouTube and there's an entire discussion about the comparison between the two and even one person who claimed that 1-3 was great but that Sims 4 single-handedly destroyed the series. I don't get it. I was a dedicated Sims 2 fanatic and promised myself I wouldn't play another Sims game. But since I've had Sims 4, I haven't been back to Sims 2. There are so many things that I prefer while playing, including building.

Why are people hating on 4 so much? I refuse to believe 4 "destroyed" the series. I think that's taking things a bit too far. Do you guys know? I'm really curious.

Oh, my! You really are in the wrong place to ask this. Overall this site is very negative about 4. People can and may write novels back about this. IMO do not care what others think. If you enjoy 4, play it. If you like it, that is all that matters, and do not worry about what others think. And that is true for any of us playing any versions. Play what we want to play.

From my viewpoint, The Sims 4 was built on empty promises and outrageous price tags. The community have suffered through so many blatant lies from EA that we can't help but be cynical towards The Sims 4 on a whole - even though I play it, I even at times enjoy it, and it's better now than it ever has been. It's still a hard, bitter sell.

There's still a lot of gameplay pits to the point it can feel like a void - you have to make your own fun rather than the fun just developing naturally and coming to you. For example, The Sims 2. You could rock up at a community lot and suddenly find yourself witnessing your Sims ex starting a fight with their new flame after seeing them flirt with another gal, and an all out brawl occurs while you're just trying to go home at that point and order pizza. Aaah. Good times. Sims 4? You're lucky to witness any fight without going out of your way or having a Community Neighborhood Action Plan on. Or a club dedicated to brawling, AND they have to be gathering at the time.

Despite me having invested so much time into the Sims 4 that I've developed a sunken cost fallacy towards it and don't feel able to leave, it absolutely deserves every bit of criticism it gets. Some feel the arrival of Paralives and Life By You is the only reason that EA are finally sitting up and actually trying to put effort into the game. Competition has been needed for this series/genre for YEARS. If anything, all of the finger pointing towards the Sims 4 is healthy.

If anyone believes $1000+ for a game and all of its expansions/kits/stuff/s*** is reasonable, they need to re-evaluate their money sense. It's just not worth it and it still isn't worth it. Hence the hate.

One thing though is if we add up the total costs for all the prior versions, they were a heck of a lot also. Someone back when added up the cost of 3 with all the store items and it was uber high. Also, darn near all of us buy for these games bit by bit over years. So it is spread out and not a one time expenditure. And everything we buy we buy by choice.

That's very true, but I feel like there was actual value in the previous packs for previous Sims games. Not excusing the business model on a whole in frankness, but even when a Sims 4 pack goes on sale I feel cheated somehow.

I mean, just look at this laundry list of bugs alone that was posted yesterday. The previous games had bugs, but The Sims 4 are breaking that record and then some.

(I love the Sims 4 camera bug. That tells me that no one and not even the devs bother with that thing - even they know it's poor compared to 3's.)

''Why is Sims 4 for getting so much hate?''

Because as a sequel to the Sims 3, the Sims 4 is supposed to be an UPGRADE, which it is not, and not only that, the Sims 4 is downgrade to the Sims 3.

I was just going to say this same thing. Sims 2 was a HELL of a lot when everything was said and done. Sims 2 cost about the same back then, too. Look back and check out how many expansions and stuff packs there were for 2. A LOT and we paid for them - some of us, full price when they first came out! That adds up to being about the same price.

I don't know, guys. I think that it's usually the case when a new game comes out or when you are already used to one game and love it, the competition or the older game is better for some reason or another.

I think that we've been so spoiled over the years starting with Sims 2 - cuz let's face it, Sims 1 was addicting, but not much spoiling there - that we always expect more.

Personally, I think the cost is not much different than Sims 2 and also, I really like the look of the Sims in 4 as opposed to 3. I've never liked the aesthetics of Sims in 3 and didn't get it to begin with. Plus, I love personal pools and other things that 3 doesn't have. I'm reading, too, that 3 has problems and bugs with it's game. The building tricks and tools are amazing in 4 and I heard that 4 actually has things that 3 doesn't. And, I'm a writer so I add mods to help drive story in 4. I've never had trouble with interactions and such, really, because, mods help with those, too.

In fact, I remember when 3 just came out and people were doing the same comparison between the 2 and 3. 2 was better at that point (and let's face it - 2 is STILL the breakthrough game and completely awesome!)

But thanks, guys. I was just curious why this was a thing, and I'm more in the know now.

You're right. But The Sims 2 and 3 didn't have 5 dollar 'Kits'.

I like The Sims 4. Warts and all. But I won't defend it when I know it's got a lot of issues going on. That's my viewpoint anyway - I wouldn't take all the hatemongering personally. In this case I feel like it's warranted, and you can always turn the other way from it.

I WILL say that while the kits are cool, they are a bit steep in price. However, another thing I love about Sims 4, is that all the bugs we had in 2, they fixed for 4 and we don't need mods and special object cheats because they worked all the good stuff into the base game. Not sure if they did that for 3 but I'm glad we have it in 4.

Warts and all? Me, too. That's true love and dedication right there.

And I don't take the hate personally. I just was confused as to why it was a thing. But now, I'm beginning to understand, at least, why people are so upset. I just think we've dealt with a lot of all that before with previous games, is all. And yeah, I can just walk away.

There is one bug in TS2 which is like a routing bug. The Sims cannot arrive to a designated spot even though nothing is blocking the way. There is a special object that deletes those invisible objects so that the Sims can move freely. I have encountered the same problem in TS4. The last time when I played TS4, the Sims in that game could not pass through doors or go inside the house and nothing was blocking the way. That made the game unplayable for me.

I am not saying that TS4 has the same problems as TS2. It does not, but it has different problems such as simulation lag, the piecemealing of content in DLCs and the absence of quality control (Dine Out is still broken).

Also, I can talk about the advantages (CAS) and disadvantages of playing TS4, but I already listed all of the disadvantages and I think solving problems, that are in TS4, is more important than praising TS4.

They did? Please do elaborate.

I personally just feel that Sims 4 has lasted too long. The previous games had 4-5 years long life span, Sims 4 is almost at 10 years(!) and it's been cracking under all the add-ons and instead of fixing the issues they just add more junk on top of it and hope it'll still last few more years of milking. That's why we keep getting stupid kits instead of stuff that would add any new gameplay elements, they likely fear that the game will finally break down. But like said that's just how I feel about it, I was ready for Sims 5 4 years ago, we should be hyping up Sims 6 soon but instead we're getting 4 new kits for Sims 4 with no sign of Sims 5 in the horizon yet. :/


I guess they might mean for example how in Sims 2 deleting Sim = corruption, but in Sims 4 doing so is fine since nothing in that game matters. Just delete whatever you want, it's all meaningless anyway!

Steep price? 5 bucks? People deserve to be paid for their products.

Look, all the Sims have bugs and something wrong with them. At this point, I'm not sure there are games out there which will ever be perfect or up to people's standards because they've gotten so high. I still enjoy the game and that's all that matters to me.

Looks like I'm outnumbered here, so here's me walking away, lol.

Please come back in another year and tell us how you feel about TS4

As someone else summarized nicely, as a sequel to Sims 1, 2, and 3, the community was expecting an upgrade. An improvement on all that came before plus a little extra.

It's not a surprise that the initial release in 2014 left a permanent sour taste in the mouth of long time fans. Things that had become staples of the game (toddlers, pools, ghosts) were missing and for a time, the developers insisted that we didn't NEED those things. When the community wasn't feeling listened to, instead of addressing that feedback appropriately, the devs threatened the community with "If you don't buy, then no future games" or whatever. (that guy is working on Sims 5 right now btw. Woo hoo.)

Content has become more and more picked apart and separated for the sake of money. A Sims 1/2/3 fan could expect an expansion pack to be pretty darn hefty and filled to the brim with content and new things to do and the occasional bug here or there.

A Sims 4 player can only hope it's not broken on release and that the devs will at least fix it within the next few months. (I heard Wedding Stories or whatever is still pretty broken with no word on fixes)

Let me elaborate on that. If the Sims 4 were like its previous iterations, I believe a "Season Pack" would've included that one piece of content where you can go hiking in the snow, the one where you can camp in the forest, the one where you can go to an island, the vacuum pack, the country kitchen pack, etc ALL in one. All of those little actives encompasses the whole idea of "seasons". Like, maybe it would've been split between a seasons and a vacation pack, but either way.... I don't think it'd be so divided.

As for pricing, the Sims 4 is WAY more expensive than Sims 2. Even adjusted for inflation.

In 2006ish, the base game, expansion packs, and stuff packs come out to about $490US. Accounting for inflation, that's about $730US today in 2023.
The Sims 4 all together right now costs just over $1000US and they are STILL releasing content for it so the cost will only get higher from here.

The Sims 3, when the cracks really started to show, is more in line with how crazy Sims 4 has gotten. But even still, just the base game, expansion packs, and stuff packs cost $670US. Adjusted for inflation, it's around $866US today. And then..... you've got the god awful store.... the most expensive the Sims has ever been. The blueprint for everything they want Sims 4 to be probably. The store items by itself is almost $2000US if I remember right. I love Sims 3 with all my heart, but the store was always a sign of what's to come.

So I think you should look at the distaste for Sims 4 as like a..... hm.... long term reaction to what the franchise has become and a growing concern of how much worse the series can get. Sims 4 is like ANOTHER nail in the coffin rather than the only nail in the coffin. Sims 3 was the alarm sound. Sims 4 is what the Sims 3 was trying to warn us about.

I'm not against people being paid for the work they do. (I break my back writing Fanfiction please buy me a coffee I mean just one even a bean lol.) But that's even considering if there's any work involved. People do more complex modding and art and writing - for FREE - than what's put into these things. It's just the value that gets me. 5 bucks is 5 bucks, sure. But there's 19 kits. 19.

$95 for everything so far. A couple of clothing items most people never use, 'clutter', and build mode items you can easily find a free moddable equivalent of. Even Sim streamers who own all the packs or get this stuff for free barely use this. The only one I'm okay with is Bust the Dust because it adds a gameplay element and required coding and new animations. How is that worth the same as Bathroom Clutter? Essentially a free mod behind a paywall?

I just bought Tales of Arise and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger HD (hello childhood) on sale for $35 together. I can guarantee I'm getting more enjoyment out of them, and more replayability over the years, than a stuffed toy palette swap and some new clothes for my Sims in these 'kits'.

Cooling off for a second here, of course you're free to spend your money on whatever you want. I just want to vent my point across that while 5 bucks is 5 bucks, it adds up, and you can drop 5 bucks on something that's more deserving of it. Like a modder who fixed a major issue in your game and doesn't get a stable wage, an artist who is between jobs at current and draws you something unique to help feed their family, or a writer who gives you entertainment off their own time and for free.

Edit: Me on the Sims 4 Kits ride:

Online Patches! Online Monthly Patches. Nine years of online monthly patches. Maxis. Modern Maxis. Shoddy, shallow, modern Maxis. Nine years of shoddy, shallow modern Maxis.

Nine years of shoddy online monthly patches from shoddy, shallow modern Maxis. That's what's different between original Sims, Sims 2, Sims 3 and Sims 4. The latter is going on for nine years and counting, held together - in the loosest of terms - by shoddy, shallow online monthly patches that have unquestionably done more harm than good when in the wrong hands, and those wrong hands being those of shoddy, shallow modern Maxis.

Shoddy, shallow, broken GPs.

Shoddy, shallow, broken EPs.

Shoddy, shallow, broken kits.

Shoddy, shallow, broken SPs

The paying customers are also the actual game/play testers as shoddy, shallow modern Maxis do very little of this and have no shame that they don't. Some folks wanna rush to the defense of poor, innocent Maxis and blame evil EA. I blame modern shoddy, shallow incompetent Maxis as much as EA.

Caught all older fans out, without letting any of us know, by turning a long running game with grown up comedy themes into a game for preteens. I don't even think that was a conscious decision slogged out in boardroom meetings, just a natural evolution of the way they went about hiring people, the agenda they had, for recreating modern Maxis specifically for TS4.

Anyone who buys anything for this game does it by choice. Just because something is offered does not mean you have to buy it. You cannot complain if you go to the grocery and buy 19 different bags of chips. As said, EA deserves to be paid for their work and it up to you to decide what to buy? If you think is excessive, do not buy all/any of the kits.

But it's my right to complain about things. I'm British.

I hear you, that's why I said in my previous post people have every right to buy what they want with their money. But money can speak volumes, and if you keep paying EA for such mediocre products, they'll keep putting out mediocre products. 'Co-destruction of value' in business terms.

- Action queue doesn't work properly. Dropped action queues, long autonomous actions (even with free will off) that don't even show up on the queue. Making Sims 4 give you the impression that you as player are not in control.
- Barely matching swatches for building objects (door colour not matching same style window,swatch colour not matching actual showing colour) making missing colourwheel even more annoying.
- Traits don't really matter, every sim is reprogrammed by emotions system and NAPs.
- Random spawning townies that bee line towards your sim when they can't even see them, but already are added to your action queue and you can't cancel them until they arrive. Making your sim forced to wait until they can do something else. Making every date or romantic interaction awkward. Making this game utter garbage.
- Point above is a prime example of the dev team adding in a new 'feature', with the nuance of a sledgehammer. Somehow they never thought about how this would mess with any lot that isn't a bar. NAP's are another good example of this.
- Your sim on a different lot can't do anything. You can't even send one to the library to study and the other finish a painting on your home lot.
- Fake houses as backdrop. Sims that walk from one end of the street to the other end, even your neighbours. You never see them enter/leave their own house. Which makes it look even more fake. The loading screen when visiting your neighbour (even in apartments!) makes this worse.
- Postcard neighbourhoods with too few lots.
- Cars that act like ghosts from the past (moving through your sim and you can't even own one).

Salt in the wound :
Too many lies in the past from Gurus and deliberately shitting on Sims 3 when anyone dared to compare Sims 4 with its predecessor.

Everything in this version destroys immersion for me. It is just frustrating to play.

Disclaimer : It has been a while since I played Sims 4. So if interested, I will check again and write a thesis named 'Why Sims 4 is objectively worse than Sims 2/3 from a gameplay point of view' instead. :p

IMO TS4 has long outstayed its welcome and too many mistakes have built up that crippled its potential as a franchise sequel; TS5 should have been released at least last year.

I firmly agree with a previous poster about the piecemeal state of the expansions. In Sims 2 things were contained to their respective themed expansion. Things wasn't as spread out over small game packs and stuff packs. Same with Sims 3. Of the top of my head I think about the Supernatural pack. You had zombies, fairies, witches and vampires in the same pack (sure vampires also came with Late Night). In Sims 4 there are separate game packs for all occults! (Sure, Sims 2 had a similair way of adding its occults. But they came with expansions not game packs.) Another thing I can think of is the Spooky Stuff pack. When Seasons came out it contained enough Halloween stuff to make the Spooky Stuff redundant. Then we have the various kits and stuff pack that adds one functional machine (like the Wallclimb or the icecream machine) and the rest is fluff. Reminds me of the old neighborhood packs in Sims 3 that maybe came with something like a pizza oven or chocolate fountain. But then they also added lots, stuff and Sims.

I'll say that Sims 4 does have its good sides aswell. It's smooth running and there's a lot of stuff to play with, but it lacks the soul of Sims 2. It feels empty. On top of that we have all these broken features. I feel like the modern day and its reliance on patching has made developers a little lazy. Back in the Sims 2 day, patching was made via the next expansion. Not some Origin patcher. I might be wrong though, maybe they did releases patches aswell. In my experience multiplayer games were the ones that got patched as they often relied on a server (like Battle.net). It wasn't until later that I realized that other games also received patches!

But anyhow, I'd enjoy Sims 4 at the end of the day. I have some 400 hours after all. But for me it tends to go in cycles. I get bored and stop playing.

This is something that just bothers me, but I can't blame anyone for it - not even Maxis. It may have been true with 2 and 3 (and I'm sure it was), but I don't remember because it's been ages since I played those games. It's just that, I've come across so many nice houses and buildings (whether from the Gallery or other sites such as The Sims Resource) that I would love to put in my game. However, as new buildings are made, so many of the construction parts are pulled from newer Game, Expansion and Stuff packs as they are released. I'm not talking about CC such as furniture or landscaping. I mean stuff like wallpaper and floors, construction beams, doors and windows, etc. that each new pack introduces (for example, the Country Kitchen and Courtyard Oasis kits). As someone said, "Just because something is offered doesn't mean you have to buy it." And so, when I come across a really nice building that I'd really like to download, but I don't have the packs used in its construction, I must make the choice if I want to give more money to EA just to have that download, or say the hell with it. I don't blame the creators. If I was a creator, I'd use all the tools available to me as well. But my creative ability is so lacking that I can't even build a decent outhouse. In any case, I know a lot of the packs I bought was not because I really wanted the pack, but because I needed it to complete a download.

Another reason is because I wanted more lots to build upon.

Oh, well.