At The Sims 4 birthday celebration live stream, it was announced that The Sims 4 developers would be releasing continual “Laundry Lists.” These Laundry Lists are supposed to address the most reported issues that players have had while playing The Sims 4, and how they’re being fixed. Sims 4 players have been asking for this kind of transparency for a while now, so it’s nice to see the developer following through. However, transparency of this caliber can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.
Instead of players having to wait long amounts of time to hear from the development team, Laundry Lists will (hopefully) be published on a monthly basis. March 10 was when the first Laundry List went live, acknowledging a few different issues players have found within The Sims 4. It’s great that players will be able to keep tabs on what gameplay issues are being fixed with Laundry Lists. However, they also open up the developer to a lot of criticism and hate, with the latter being largely unwarranted.
According to The Sims global community manager SimGuruFrost, The Sims 4 Laundry Lists are supposed to come out once a month. This month’s Laundry List comprised 13 different bugs and glitches that the developer is working on fixing. Some were specific to certain expansions, like how some players are unable to harvest crickets or bugs with Eco Lifestyle. Others were relevant to the base game, where some players reported that the “Play Dolls With” interaction isn’t working in-game.
As long as players consistently report the bugs they experience, the developer will eventually address them. Laundry Lists aren’t to say that the developer only cares about the issues included — they’re just the most commonly reported issues of that month. SimGuruFrost even pointed out that the developer is addressing additional bugs not reported on the Laundry List, making the total number of bugs investigated 18, rather than just the 13 on the list.
Unsurprisingly, the developer wants to fix all the bugs and issues that arise in The Sims 4 and its numerous DLC. However, these issues may not be given priority if players do not report them as they happen. It seems the fastest way to make sure certain bugs are looked at is by reporting them on answers.ea.com and selecting The Sims 4. As long as players know how to explain the bug they’re experiencing, odds are the developer will address the issue eventually. In the meantime, other players may have found a workaround to fix gameplay until a patch permanently fixes the bug.
This transparency is something Sims 4 players have requested for a long time, so on the surface it seems like a good thing. Genuinely, it is a good thing that the developer is being up front about what issues are being worked on. However, it also opens up the floor to a lot of criticism and hate. Criticism can be helpful, especially when players are coming from a place of wanting to see The Sims 4 genuinely improve.
Hate, on the other hand, has no place in The Sims community. Hateful comments aren’t being left on the forum, but rather on Twitter when The Sims account makes announcements regarding Laundry Lists. SimGurus are also the targets of many vitriolic comments via Twitter as well. Being frustrated about the state of The Sims 4, especially when the game won’t run properly, is absolutely justified. Launching personal attacks at SimGurus or The Sims account won’t solve these issues any faster, though.
In some cases, it seems like no matter what the developer does, some players will just not be happy with the strides being made. Laundry Lists are a win for The Sims 4 community because they allow for more transparent communication between the developer and players. This communication will surely do more good than harm in the long run.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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