A Sims 3 Experiment

For the last several months (maybe even longer), I've had a hard time completing Sims challenges that I start. Yes, I know I've never been good at seeing the challenges through, but I feel I used to be much better at carrying them on for a decent amount of time. I've also tried playing without a challenge or a goal of blogging, but that doesn't work either.

I has assumed it was because of my mood. For the past year or so, I've struggled to keep my spirits high as some life challenges (not the fun kind) were presented to us. We navigated a lot of them, and while they aren't all gone, we have more resources (both time and financial) to tackle the rest. My spirits have been on the rise. However, I find myself unmotivated to play the Sims 4.

I really want to play the Sims. It is, afterall, my favorite game of all time. However, I seem to be on this cycle of: being super excited about a new challenge, planning/dreaming about it, finally getting the time to play, and then not being able to commit for very long and stopping play altogether.

Then, I had an epiphany. As someone who has championed the Sims 4 from the start when confronted with the naysayers, it hadn't occurred to me that I might be trying to play the wrong version. I had firmly believed that the lack of content was because it was a base game and that I had felt exactly the same when the Sims 3 came out. The Sims 4 has been fine...it is a good game. It runs 10 times better than the Sims 3. The emotions are interesting. It's smoother. Lots are filled with more Sims. But something is missing...or maybe several somethings. My passion and enthusiasm for my favorite game of all time doesn't carryover to the Sims 4.

The realization of my problem came in two steps...first, the next expansion for the Sims 4 was leaked. City Life....meh. I'm sure it'll be GOOD just like Get to Work and Get Together were GOOD...but I'm a family player. My favorite expansions were Generations, Seasons, University and Pets. I want to play a realistic life story...I do not care about wealth, clothing, stardom, or parties. The current expansions would be fine if we had some of the other things the game is lacking. But they are continually producing content that I'm just sort of excited by. In the Sims 3, I was obsessing over some expansions. Also, toddlers are the cutest thing in any version of the Sims.

Next, I watched this video from the Lazy Gamer, which describes my feelings almost exactly.

After that, I started wondering if The Sims 4 is my problem. I headed over to the Sims 3 forums only to find a super active community with other simmers who had the same experience I did. They are all loving the Sims 3 again. I also found out the the Sims 3 store is still open.

So...tonight I'm going to be installing the Sims 3. I'm going to start with just the base game. At the suggestion of some other Simmers, I'm going to make a release schedule for myself with the additional content. That way I will have a constant trickle of new and interesting content, while not being overwhelmed (by content, loading time, or download/install time).

Of course, I will be blogging this experiment. And I'm certain I'm not done with the Sims 4. Who knows how long this will last, and if I still have any readers left, LOL.

I recall with great fondness Dumpster Dan and Brady the Mooch....I long for a revival of those good ole days.