User Score
4.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2630 Ratings

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  1. Dec 9, 2021
    1
    Please stop making the DLCs, focus on sim5 with an open world. Make a game worth the price please EA.
  2. Feb 12, 2022
    1
    Решили не выпускать дополнение потому что в России есть законы против ЛГБТ но я то живу в Украине и у нас не запрещено. Разработчики называют Россией все СНГ страны.
  3. Sep 20, 2014
    0
    If EA wanted a bland tablet version of The Sims then it should have been honest and released it as such. Rehashing The Sims 2's insular format and regurgitating the game with most of the content stripped might be OK for an iPhone version costing a few bucks. There isn't even a 64-bit binary, which shows how seriously EA is taking anything other than the DLC diamonds dancing in its eyes. ToIf EA wanted a bland tablet version of The Sims then it should have been honest and released it as such. Rehashing The Sims 2's insular format and regurgitating the game with most of the content stripped might be OK for an iPhone version costing a few bucks. There isn't even a 64-bit binary, which shows how seriously EA is taking anything other than the DLC diamonds dancing in its eyes. To show us just how much it cares about quality art, the company has threatened that there won't be a Sims 5 if enough people don't fork over cash for this sad excuse for a game. We can only hope they'll follow through on their threat!

    And, as for some of the "critics'" reviews... two-three paragraphs of utter vapidity in a large typeface does not a credible professional review make. I love how cruddy titles like this get their ratings inflated by such puff pieces. And, the fluffiest most superficial one of them all won't even let anyone leave comments unless they're apparently part of some special little forum community. How... adorable. I registered for their site and it wouldn't even let me post a comment to the "review".

    The Sims 3 was barely enough of a change to warrant releasing it and this game positively absolutely fails to do anything other than offer a cheesy "emotion pack" that could have easily have been added to the previous title. The horridly bland corporate look of the Sims themselves is to be expected. Clearly, the blandness of SimCity 5 had to carry over. But, the utter barrenness of this "game" (really just a portal for DLCs), given its high price and the track record of EA in terms of the franchise and the SimCity franchise, must be some sort of new IQ test.

    F... not for anything but farce.
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  4. Feb 23, 2015
    0
    Compared to Sims 3 this game is basically missing everything that made its prequel good. And the list is too long to even remember and too long to write down expecting others to read. It is a travesty. I am glad I long ago made the decision to never buy ANYTHING from EA without first assuring myself that it is good by waiting for community feedback. After I had thus assured myself thatCompared to Sims 3 this game is basically missing everything that made its prequel good. And the list is too long to even remember and too long to write down expecting others to read. It is a travesty. I am glad I long ago made the decision to never buy ANYTHING from EA without first assuring myself that it is good by waiting for community feedback. After I had thus assured myself that Sims 4 was trash I tried a cracked copy (And I am not ashamed. EA deserves no support for crap like Sims 4 from anybody.) and rage quit/uninstalled after about 20 minutes, if it was even that long. Creating a sim was OK, but then the actual game started and by Helm it is bad!
    All I can say is that people who prepurchased this turkey are the real problem, not EA. They are the ones keeping companies like this alive and still able to prey on the consumer. If everyone would do what I do EA would either go out of business (Good riddance btw) or it would have to change its ways and offer quality and value for money when people buy their games. And no, not 400$ worth of heroin pump DLC releases, 12 expansions and 1500 patches later, but the base game you buy in the box. If that isn`t good you should go out of business. And Sims 4 is about as bad as it gets.

    PS: I love how the corrupt game reviewers (Who are undoubtedly getting bribes from EA.) are scoring this calamity of a game in the 70s while the actual customers are below 4 across the board. It actually deserves the big, fat zero I am just now going to give it.
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  5. Sep 2, 2014
    0
    When I first fired it up, I thought, 'wow, this looks promising!' The music was nice, the interface was improved and it was much faster than the previous games. Create-a-Sim looked good, too (at first). Then, I started to realize that this game just isn't that good. Create-a-Sim is a disappointment compared to previous games. There's no color wheel and there aren't even many colors toWhen I first fired it up, I thought, 'wow, this looks promising!' The music was nice, the interface was improved and it was much faster than the previous games. Create-a-Sim looked good, too (at first). Then, I started to realize that this game just isn't that good. Create-a-Sim is a disappointment compared to previous games. There's no color wheel and there aren't even many colors to choose from. There just aren't a lot of options and I had significantly more trouble getting my Sims to not look the same, even with the adjustments of facial features (which actually aren't that great because they are very limited).

    The game feels like a Sims game but it's missing a LOT. Not just content such as pools, outfits, colors, etc. but gameplay and options. The options are practically nonexistent. The camera doesn't work that well and there are zero options to adjust it! Have they never heard of options in video games?

    Overall, I'm just not a fan of this. It's a Sims game with better coding but 1/4 the amount of options and it brings very little to the table in terms of new or original content, just multitasking and emotions. Not worth the money.
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  6. Sep 7, 2014
    0
    You have to love EA's consistency in utterly destroying every franchise and IP in their library. EA has embraced the notion of releasing very basic functionality in all their games. In essence gutting each game until it's almost playable and then loading the backend with expensive DLC that provides the basic gameplay that should have been included in the original. With Sims 4, EA isYou have to love EA's consistency in utterly destroying every franchise and IP in their library. EA has embraced the notion of releasing very basic functionality in all their games. In essence gutting each game until it's almost playable and then loading the backend with expensive DLC that provides the basic gameplay that should have been included in the original. With Sims 4, EA is testing the waters. How far can they strip a game to the point that consumers outright reject the product? There's a lot of wallet gouging on the line here. This game is so gutted that it's been hammered by reviewer after reviewer for all the same boring reasons. I can only hope that gamers unite on this front, accept EA's challenge and refuse to purchase this game. This is the ONLY way that EA will change. Expand
  7. Sep 2, 2014
    0
    The only reason anyone would ever pay for The Sims 4: DLC Quest is if you feel EA hasn't been making quite enough money lately, and you want to reward them for stripping down Sims 3 to its bare essentials with nary an upgrade to be seen anywhere.
  8. Sep 3, 2014
    0
    I was always a Sims fan. Sims 3 was a huge step after the Sims 2.
    I was waiting the Sims 4 for a very long time, for many years.
    I was never so disappointed. Graphics is terrible. Why do they even call it new engine. It’s almost 2015 and iPad games look better. There are many features missing. It looks like iOS game, no a PC one. It feels like you playing Very early Alfa demo
    I was always a Sims fan. Sims 3 was a huge step after the Sims 2.
    I was waiting the Sims 4 for a very long time, for many years.

    I was never so disappointed.
    Graphics is terrible. Why do they even call it new engine. It’s almost 2015 and iPad games look better.
    There are many features missing. It looks like iOS game, no a PC one.
    It feels like you playing Very early Alfa demo version of the game.
    Definitely not worth your money.
    They should rebuild it or give every buyer a 2 years free of expansions.
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  9. Sep 3, 2014
    0
    giving it 0 since people are ignorant ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
  10. Dec 25, 2020
    0
    Initially, EA made the Sims 1, which was a good base game. Later, they expanded on the game, for which people were happy to pay.
    When the Sims 1 got bloated, they went to Sims 2; new engine, graphics, possibilities, etc. And they added expansions later. People paid, EA wins.
    When the Sims 2 got bloated, they went to Sims 3. Again, new, better, etc., with the addition of some odd
    Initially, EA made the Sims 1, which was a good base game. Later, they expanded on the game, for which people were happy to pay.
    When the Sims 1 got bloated, they went to Sims 2; new engine, graphics, possibilities, etc. And they added expansions later. People paid, EA wins.
    When the Sims 2 got bloated, they went to Sims 3. Again, new, better, etc., with the addition of some odd mechanics. However, it had less content, so it required some expansions to be fun. People complained, sales dropped

    Now, EA had a choice:
    1) Make a great game with new everything, and expand on it later. This would be the obvious, money-making choice.
    2) Continue with the Sims 3 idea, without enough content. This would be the bad choice.
    EA went for option 3: make the basic architecture of a game, but don't fill in anything. Then charge money for everything. The result is obvious; low sales, low reviews.

    It's not that we're spoiled after playing the other Sim games with all the expansions, it's that this new thing is practically unplayable; there's nothing to do. It is not fun. After seeing sales drop in Sims 3, I'm surprised they went this way.

    The answer to the current state of EA is simple; fire the managers, and let game designers make the choices again. Managers want money, now. They want Origin, because they don't want to pay Valve for putting games on Steam, but they also ignore the massive sales Steam brings. They want copy protection, and ignore that pirates will always find a way, while normal (non-pirating) people are the victims aggressive protection (also, note that Steam lowers piracy). They finally expect people to pay NOW for possible DLC LATER. Seriously, fire all of them, and start over making proper games.
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  11. Sep 2, 2014
    0
    Let me start off by saying I loved Sims 3 and I was very excited for this game. I played the Create a Sim Demo and I liked the new creation mechanics.

    Now that I've covered the only good parts of the game...let's move on to the negatives. That large city in Sims 3 is now missing. There are only a handful of places to go and you will be punished by long loading screens when you
    Let me start off by saying I loved Sims 3 and I was very excited for this game. I played the Create a Sim Demo and I liked the new creation mechanics.

    Now that I've covered the only good parts of the game...let's move on to the negatives.

    That large city in Sims 3 is now missing. There are only a handful of places to go and you will be punished by long loading screens when you actually do want to go somewhere. I ignored all of the bad press before that game released about the game not having toddlers or swimming pools. God I wish those were the only problems! There are still countless other things missing from the game.

    The level of customization took a long step back from Sims 3 and you can basically choose from a selection of 5 colors for most objects.

    The biggest disappointment in this game is the constant glitches. I've only played the game for a little over 5 hours and my characters are continuously unresponsive or walking into walls and getting stuck. I know there may be bugs on the first day with any game, but any amount of testing would have indicated this game was not ready. EA should have held back this 2014 title to make sure it was truly COMPLETED for 2015.
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  12. Oct 23, 2014
    0
    It's really good, y'know, if we were in some kind of alternate dimension where we were all enslaved by flesh eating robots. But we aren't, and it isn't.
  13. Sep 2, 2014
    0
    Well, what do we start. Hmm, this game is missing so much content that earlier sims series games had. Game has plenty of bugs, including babies meshes can bug really badly, similar to if you download some broken custom content in sims 3, Characters run trough each others, their hands clips through clothes, so called new smarter and emotional sims doesnt really show as they dont react ifWell, what do we start. Hmm, this game is missing so much content that earlier sims series games had. Game has plenty of bugs, including babies meshes can bug really badly, similar to if you download some broken custom content in sims 3, Characters run trough each others, their hands clips through clothes, so called new smarter and emotional sims doesnt really show as they dont react if someone has a baby, or if there was fire on the kitchen and your sims stand next to the fire, his moodlet is happy? Really happy when your house is on fire.. Sims doesnt also care about fire like they can drop their mug in the floor near fire and then leave the house. Also missing major things that sims 3 had like open world and create a style. Tiny worlds,Also less traits. There is also missing some other minor elements like toddlers, pools etc., no basements. Sims 4 actually mis over 89 features compared to earlier base games.(without expansions.) There is loading screens and they are annoying as they pop up all the time, because places are so small, they load pretty fast with my fast computer (5-10secons), but they come often also with only basegame, when expansions start to pop-up loading times will easily grow atleast 2-3x times longer, just like in earlier sim games. Expand
  14. Sep 5, 2014
    0
    As usual, EA has left out a lot of features that the predecessors had, most likely to sell them separately as DLCs. Also as usual for EA, the new installment doesn't have much better graphics than the predecessor, nor does it offer many new features. Everyone considering buying this game should remember what EA did to the SimCity series as well and should at least wait for a few moreAs usual, EA has left out a lot of features that the predecessors had, most likely to sell them separately as DLCs. Also as usual for EA, the new installment doesn't have much better graphics than the predecessor, nor does it offer many new features. Everyone considering buying this game should remember what EA did to the SimCity series as well and should at least wait for a few more reviews before deciding to buy this game. Complaining in some forums matters little to them, the only way to let EA know your opinion about the direction they took with this game and most games in general is not to purchase them.

    It needs also to be mentioned that EA still insists to use Origin as a DRM system, which means you have to install and run a completely unnecessary background software on your PC before you are even allowed to start the game. This also means that the game is tied to an account, so you can't resell it.
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  15. Sep 6, 2014
    0
    I've played the Sims since the original and have always bought the latest games, But EA have seriously messed up with this one. There's far too many features missing. Features that even the original game had! The only good thing is being able to build a pool.... Oh wait....
  16. Sep 21, 2014
    0
    Lack of swimming pools, toddlers, etc? Who cares. When a Sims game has so much strange content that it stops being a simulation, and becomes a "strange fairytale dollhouse" we get a new Sims game, with some of the content removed. I can understand that the functionality for swimming pools, etc. should be developed again, and toddler gameplay needs some more design. As I say it is natural.Lack of swimming pools, toddlers, etc? Who cares. When a Sims game has so much strange content that it stops being a simulation, and becomes a "strange fairytale dollhouse" we get a new Sims game, with some of the content removed. I can understand that the functionality for swimming pools, etc. should be developed again, and toddler gameplay needs some more design. As I say it is natural.

    But when a game feels almost empty, and even the press notices it... When the game not only feels empty, but you see they reserve even basic furniture models for later, so they can get more money... That wouldn't be enough for a 0 score. But how it gets old quickly, greed, and how it limits your building styles can reduce the score by 1 point each.

    Why it isn't a 7 then? Lets start with graphics. Solid colors with interesting shaders? Nice. And some can say we also got the most powerful create a sim. Too bad we only have a very limited palette, and for some, the new create a sim is unwieldy. -1...

    One of the core features of the Sims was access to mods,. The new create a sim mode seems to make modding much harder. So I would think it hurts its value... -1...

    As you see at this point, there would be a chance for 4 or 5, both above the average ratings. But Sims is a complex game, there can be issues, and to fully enjoy it, good support should be essential. EA is weak here, and their general practices doesn't focus on our fun, and we don't feel like valued customers.

    So even if all other things would be perfect it would be hard to give the game a score higher than 3. Any bug or issue cann reduce it. And the game isn't the next big thing either. You can say: it is easy to resize a room. I could point out, that if you have a story, houses on your lots will have their stories as well. It would be defined by how your sims built new parts, knocked down walls, etc. A button to resize a room can make your life easier, but it makes the game lot less engaging.

    Even after quie a few iterations for both desktop and mobile, we have family storylines, but we don't see the differences between generations, as the game doesn't have a timeline, no technical advancement happens.

    The game is still full of homeless sims, people who have no home, who live nowhere, come from nowhere.

    The amount of loading screens can be annoying, and while it feels fast now, it doesn't have to load a lot of content, and doesn't have to check a lot either. When you will have plenty of content installed it will be much, much slower, which is a major issue.

    Solid colors means right now the game doesn't have to load textures, and doesn't have to keep them in RAM. It looks good at first as it saves ram. But a lot of things won't work with solid colors. With extra content the game will use much much more resources.

    We hear how the game is 32 bit "as some might have old 32 bit systems". They wouldn't have a problem iif the game would have both 32 bit and 64 bit versions.

    The game uses solid colors to make sure you need less textures. The game uses loading screens so it doesn't have to load the whole town. Yet its resource usage is high for a 32 bit program, and there can be a wall. So it is a serious issue with performance and optimization.

    People who whine about swimming pools, toddlers, etc. point to the smallest problems with the game, and if you keep hearing those issues you might think they are the "most important ones" and think the game is decent. It isn't.

    And even if you would believe later it will become a good game with all the expansion, buying it right now is pointless. You will be able to pick up the game and some expansions in a bundle, and buy the rest at cheaper prices whe the game becomes good enough to compete with previous sims games.
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  17. Sep 2, 2014
    0
    What the hell? I bought this being really excited about getting the next generation of Sims games, but it really just seems like a fancied up version of the Sims 2 with LESS features. Where is all the additions Sims 3 brought? Why is so much gone now while there are still some objects and movement that are the exact same as in previous games? I feel really scammed for getting such anWhat the hell? I bought this being really excited about getting the next generation of Sims games, but it really just seems like a fancied up version of the Sims 2 with LESS features. Where is all the additions Sims 3 brought? Why is so much gone now while there are still some objects and movement that are the exact same as in previous games? I feel really scammed for getting such an incomplete product.

    I thought after Sim City, EA would be more eager to regain their trust with the customers, but I guess I was dead wrong. Unless you like paying more than 50 bucks for a Sims game that has less features than the freemium app on mobile, I would recommend you to throw your wallet at something else. EA does not deserve any money for this.
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  18. Oct 25, 2014
    0
    This game is very revealing to the husk of a great studio that Maxis used to be. Why not just make it into a simulation at this point? why even bother having user input? why did you idiots sell yourself to EA? Goodbye, you zombified corpse of a once great studio you.
  19. Sep 6, 2014
    0
    These 'critics' have clearly been paid off. The game is not worth £20 let alone the £50-60 it is going for. Don't let them get away with it. Save your money. They're now going to try charge you the Earth for DLC - DLC that should have been in the base game.
  20. Sep 9, 2014
    0
    So after ripping customers off with tons of Sims 3 DLC and expansions, the thieves at EA decide to wipe the slate clean and release a bare bones Sims 4, designed for the sole purpose of robbing customers again. EA is nothing but criminals, plus this game is terrible.
  21. Sep 7, 2014
    0
    EA paid metacritic official reviews to vote them with high score, but I will not do that,

    this game is exactly Sims 3 with a few new features, so... suks too much.

    And then we'll see 20 o 30 dlcs of this game with an expensive price... why EA? Sims 1 and 2 were great!
  22. Sep 4, 2014
    0
    A única coisa que eu gostei do The sims 4 foi o CAS porque o jogo todo é uma PORCARIA..
    Um downgrade enorme do 3 e até do 2, lamentável uma empresa tão grande como a EA desapontando os fãs da serie com essa bosta .. o resto do jogo vai vim em DLC...
    O pior TS de todos.

    EA sendo EA
  23. Sep 2, 2014
    0
    A waste of the time and money not just for me but for the dev. I pre-paid for this game for my wife and honestly she played for about four or five hours then went back to Sims 3. I could give you a giant list of her gripes and complaints but I see most other here have done that for me. If you don't own Sims 3 maybe this would be a tolerable buy but compared to Sims 3 this game seems toA waste of the time and money not just for me but for the dev. I pre-paid for this game for my wife and honestly she played for about four or five hours then went back to Sims 3. I could give you a giant list of her gripes and complaints but I see most other here have done that for me. If you don't own Sims 3 maybe this would be a tolerable buy but compared to Sims 3 this game seems to be a dud. EA it seems could have done much more with the Sims 4, pity it ended up as it did. Don't waste your cash. Expand
  24. Sep 12, 2014
    0
    Omg, I played this game over at a friends house. But my God, did Maxis not learn from SimCity 2013?
    I hoped that there where some new inovations to the Sims and new content. Some originality to this new game and not just a copy of the original with better graphics.
    But its even worse! It is a copy of his predecessors with less than the half of its content and possibilities. I
    Omg, I played this game over at a friends house. But my God, did Maxis not learn from SimCity 2013?
    I hoped that there where some new inovations to the Sims and new content. Some originality to this new game and not just a copy of the original with better graphics.

    But its even worse! It is a copy of his predecessors with less than the half of its content and possibilities.

    I allready decided not to buy any more games from EA, and till now I don't regret this decision. Only we as gamers can get this company on his knees and force them to make better games.

    DONT BUY ANYTHING ANYMORE THAT COMES FROM EA!
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  25. Sep 6, 2014
    0
    EA are absolute disgraces. Do not buy an EA game, do everything you can to make sure they don't get your hard earned money. Sims 4, yet another unfinished game they've released with the whole purpose of people purchasing DLC.
  26. Sep 4, 2014
    0
    I really wanted to like this game and have been anticipating it so much, its just such a huge let down that i think ill be much happier going back to the sims 3. I realize that this is a base game without any dlc or expansions but it feel like the the entire experience is centered around maybe the requirements so low it can run on any 15 year old computer. and the lack of varietyI really wanted to like this game and have been anticipating it so much, its just such a huge let down that i think ill be much happier going back to the sims 3. I realize that this is a base game without any dlc or expansions but it feel like the the entire experience is centered around maybe the requirements so low it can run on any 15 year old computer. and the lack of variety especially the removal of the create a styl feature seems intended to steer us to hey if you want more variety go buy it! Between that and the removal of the open world just did it in for me, im mean for real i cant even go for a walk around the neighborhood or to the store without facing a loading screen. Honestly i would take a 15 minute load screen any day over a load screen every 5 minutes while i play. When i lay this i feel like i get the similar vibe i got from playing sim city, (which is to roll out dlc for extra profit) fortunately the game flopped. I was hoping EA would learn something from that for the sims, NOPE! guess ill be skipping this generation. Expand
  27. Nov 4, 2014
    0
    If you like to throw your money on Premium smelly garbage, then this game is for you. However, In order to appreciate the full Aroma of Garbage, you have to buy all DLCs and expansions to spice it up.
  28. Oct 10, 2014
    0
    Most of the few things people are putting in positive about this game have drawbacks.
    1: It runs smoothly, but the constant loading times make it a large step back.
    2 The UI is simplified, that's probably because most of its features are gone. 3 The game has little content because it has non of the DLC's, so are you telling me that its become the standard for EA users to not even care
    Most of the few things people are putting in positive about this game have drawbacks.
    1: It runs smoothly, but the constant loading times make it a large step back.
    2 The UI is simplified, that's probably because most of its features are gone.
    3 The game has little content because it has non of the DLC's, so are you telling me that its become the standard for EA users to not even care that they are buying expansion packs for content that is not a new idea? The sims 2 added in many great expansions, and then they were all added in a second time, with some new ones (because there was less content than the sims 2 base game), and some of the good old ones never returned, now we will see these same ideas again in 60 dollar expansion packs and some new DLC that was sims 3 base game, and a few of the nice sims 3 expansions will never be seen again.
    Not to mention the awkward new building system and the generally ugly furniture lacking in variety and numbers, and the removal of cars and babies is just salt in the wound.
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  29. Sep 3, 2014
    0
    Massive Step backwards. Terrible graphics, no open world, more loading screens. Just awful. Only the Sims community would put up with less than half a game with the excuse being it will be fixed in paid DLC. Getting a refund.
  30. Sep 18, 2014
    0
    Wow, let me buy a skimped version of The Sims by paying more money for less content in favor of future DLC that will supposedly restore all the missing features and improvements because it's the fourth installment, therefore it should be better. Said no one ever.
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 75 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 75
  2. Negative: 2 out of 75
  1. Jul 23, 2020
    60
    While an enjoyable title that has been polished up and seems generally very modern, it cannot be expected that The Sims 4 is not going to be compared to The Sims 3. In this respect, it seems that while the game took a few steps forwards, it also took a few steps backwards by abandoning features that were very helpful and appreciated in the previous versions. It does have new features that people have been waiting for, such as emotions and more personality for the Sims. As for now, for some players it may not quite be worth to abandon The Sims 3 for it, but for new players looking for a first experience with the franchise, they may have an easier time navigating than former The Sims 3 players. People that have previously enjoyed the latter may be disappointed by the menus (Sim creation, building, or navigating town), as they have been so massively oversimplified that they are now actually confusing.
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 25, 2014
    80
    The Sims 4 is once again a new beginning. Needs more content and soon, please. [Oct 2014]
  3. CD-Action
    Oct 24, 2014
    40
    The Sims 4 is just a foundation of a game. How would you react if you bought a new Elder Scrolls game and realized that half of the cities are unavailable (because TES6: World Adventures is around the corner), there are only 4 weapons (TES6: Accessories), you can’t ride horses (TES6: Pets), there are only 12 quests (TES6: Careers), 2 guilds (TES6: Friends) and 3 spells (TES6: Supernatural)? [Nov 2014, p.50]