Highlights
- Project Rene needs to learn from past mistakes and listen to player feedback in order to improve DLC.
- Project Rene as a life simulation MMO needs to consider including basic animals like cats, dogs, birds, lizards, and hamsters in the base game.
When it comes to DLC in The Sims 4, there are some packs that the community agrees are let-downs, like the Horse Ranch expansion pack. Players were hoping for them to be included when Cottage Living came out, but they were nowhere to be seen. When horses, sheep, and goats came with the Horse Ranch pack, many fans were willing to brush this off as an unfortunate cash grab for Sims 4 players.
But with Project Rene, the fifth installment in the Sims mainline games, comes a chance to rectify that mistake. It's important to show customers that learning from mistakes and listening to the players is easily done. In Project Rene's base game, animals should be included for adoption. When it comes to adding extra, it should include one pack with a large variety of animals instead of spacing them out three at a time in packs that fit its aesthetic like Sims 4 Horse Ranch or Cottage Living did.
Horse Ranch Dropped the Ball For The Sims 4
The Sims 4: Horse Ranch's release didn't live up to player hopes and revealed a troubling pattern for the series that it needs to break.
How Project Rene Could Do Animal Packs Better
Sims Base Game Inclusion of Animals
Since Project Rene is taking the game in a different direction from other Sims titles and is going for an MMO, it should approach its base game inclusion in an MMO-style way. A lot of life simulation games already have basic animals in their base game for players to get to see and play with. Something like Sims 4:Cats and Dogs would've already been in those games as basic pet options. From there, there might be a way to buy either pet bundles for more or something similar. Some basic pets players may want to see in the base game include:
- Cats
- Dogs
- Birds
- Lizards
- Hamsters
Expanding on Project Rene's Base Game
When it comes to this new Sims game, the developers need to look at it as a life simulation MMO instead of a Sims franchise extension. Though players know EA won't give players everything they ask for, a different perspective on how it does its expansion packs and how often it listens to fans are two things that could use some tweaking. If Project Rene is going to see an expansion pack with farm animals, the pack it does that with should be a combination of Cottage Living and Horse Ranch. It would be nice if this hypothetical pack did things the way Stardew Valley does it—a game that focuses on farming more than anything but could help out with cottage and ranch aesthetics.
Due to the nature of a multiplayer game, it can be hard to find a good balance between releasing DLC, updating the base game, and eventually leaving certain things up to dedicated Sims modders. However, The Sims 4 cannot leave out certain things from the base game, such as pets and pet items. It would be understandable if it went with the approach of adding cats and dogs to the base game, with a later base game update to include lizards and hamsters, but those two pets should not feature in DLC.
It might also be better if Project Rene held surveys or polls to vote on what new expansions players want to see, so it can better deliver to players as updates go on. Plenty of other games that have big playerbases or multiplayer offer surveys to see what players are looking for. One game Project Rene could take note of here is Genshin Impact, which frequently puts out surveys asking for player feedback. It's important that the new Sims installment does not drop the ball when it comes to packs, since it could easily land itself in a sticky spot.
