Latest / The Plumbob Report / Roofs, Recolors, and Rival Life Sims: The Plumbob Report Goes Wide

Transcript

Roofs, Recolors, and Rival Life Sims: The Plumbob Report Goes Wide · The Plumbob Report

• 0:12
  [Becca Hartwell] And welcome back to the Plumbob Report.
• 0:15
  [Danny Reyes] Danny here,
• 0:16
  [Danny Reyes] and Becca's basically vibrating already.
• 0:18
  [Becca Hartwell] Have you seen this week's patch notes?
• 0:21
  [Danny Reyes] Oh, I've seen them. The Grim Reaper's getting benched a little.
• 0:25
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 0:26
  [Becca Hartwell] We'll get into what changed,
• 0:27
  [Becca Hartwell] plus a new headache builders are already routing around.
• 0:30
  [Danny Reyes] Motherlode energy right there.
• 0:32
  [Danny Reyes] We've also got mods to talk about,
• 0:34
  [Danny Reyes] including one that's splitting the community.
• 0:37
  [Becca Hartwell] That paywall debate,
• 0:38
  [Becca Hartwell] yeah.
• 0:39
  [Becca Hartwell] Plus some toddler CC I can't stop staring at.
• 0:42
  [Danny Reyes] Oh,
• 0:42
  [Danny Reyes] and EA rolled out this whole Stack and Save thing,
• 0:46
  [Danny Reyes] too.
• 0:46
  [Becca Hartwell] Convenient timing,
• 0:48
  [Becca Hartwell] right?
• 0:48
  [Becca Hartwell] After Build Your Bundle disappeared?
• 0:50
  [Danny Reyes] Speaking of competition,
• 0:51
  [Danny Reyes] Paralives just dropped fresh patch notes.
• 0:54
  [Becca Hartwell] You're gonna push back on the hype a little,
• 0:56
  [Becca Hartwell] I already know it.
• 0:58
  [Danny Reyes] Somebody's gotta ask the hard questions.
• 1:01
  [Becca Hartwell] Fair enough.
• 1:02
  [Becca Hartwell] We're also checking out a new cozy farming sim with a spooky twist.
• 1:06
  [Danny Reyes] Wait, really?
• 1:07
  [Danny Reyes] Vampires and pumpkins?
• 1:09
  [Becca Hartwell] Pretty much.
• 1:10
  [Becca Hartwell] And we'll touch on inZOI's delay too.
• 1:13
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 1:13
  [Danny Reyes] I'm hyped.
• 1:14
  [Danny Reyes] Where do we even start?
• 1:15
  [Becca Hartwell] Let's start with those phone notifications finally shutting up.
• 1:20
  [Danny Reyes] Thank God.
• 1:21
  [Danny Reyes] Kick us off, Becca.
• 1:27
  [Becca Hartwell] We want to hear from you!
• 1:29
  [Becca Hartwell] Submit questions via the web form in the description or give us a call at 747-677-1037 and leave your question.
• 1:39
  [Becca Hartwell] Don't be shy,
• 1:41
  [Becca Hartwell] our AI assistant makes it super easy!
• 1:48
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 1:49
  [Becca Hartwell] so I muted my Sim's phone last night and I nearly cried tears of joy.
• 1:54
  [Danny Reyes] The notification spam?
• 1:56
  [Danny Reyes] Finally?
• 1:57
  [Becca Hartwell] Finally,
• 1:58
  [Becca Hartwell] Jess Bosque covered this for Softonic.
• 2:00
  [Becca Hartwell] The update dropped June 30th and now you can mute calls,
• 2:04
  [Becca Hartwell] alerts,
• 2:05
  [Becca Hartwell] festival reminders,
• 2:06
  [Becca Hartwell] basically everything.
• 2:08
  [Danny Reyes] I was getting buzzed every four seconds about some rando's birthday party.
• 2:13
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 2:13
  [Becca Hartwell] And Justin Wagner over at PC Gamer pointed out the Grim Reapers.
• 2:17
  [Becca Hartwell] They toned down his recruiting too.
• 2:19
  [Becca Hartwell] He's not sliding into your sims' DMs every five minutes anymore.
• 2:23
  [Danny Reyes] Wait,
• 2:24
  [Danny Reyes] the Reaper got a cool-down added?
• 2:26
  [Becca Hartwell] Basically,
• 2:26
  [Becca Hartwell] yeah.
• 2:27
  [Becca Hartwell] Less,
• 2:27
  [Becca Hartwell] hey,
• 2:28
  [Becca Hartwell] wanna die, spam.
• 2:29
  [Danny Reyes] That's giving Sims 2 in the best way, honestly.
• 2:32
  [Danny Reyes] Remember when death actually felt rare?
• 2:35
  [Becca Hartwell] Don't get me started on that tangent.
• 2:37
  [Becca Hartwell] I will not stop talking.
• 2:39
  [Danny Reyes] Save it.
• 2:40
  [Danny Reyes] But Boris Piletskiy at IXBT Games said this...
• 2:44
  [Danny Reyes] That this patch also killed the endless loading screen bug.
• 2:47
  [Becca Hartwell] The one where you'd stare at a Plumbob spinner for actual minutes?
• 2:51
  [Danny Reyes] That one.
• 2:52
  [Danny Reyes] People have been begging for that fix forever.
• 2:55
  [Becca Hartwell] And Games.gg covered it too,
• 2:57
  [Becca Hartwell] so this wasn't some quiet little patch note.
• 2:59
  [Becca Hartwell] It was everywhere!
• 3:01
  [Danny Reyes] When four outlets write about your notification settings,
• 3:04
  [Danny Reyes] you know EA touched a nerve.
• 3:06
  [Becca Hartwell] A nerve that's been raw for years.
• 3:09
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 3:10
  [Danny Reyes] but,
• 3:10
  [Danny Reyes] and I hate that there's a but.
• 3:12
  [Becca Hartwell] Here we go.
• 3:14
  [Danny Reyes] Sims Community reported the same patch broke Roofs,
• 3:18
  [Danny Reyes] like actually broke them.
• 3:20
  [Becca Hartwell] Wait, broke how?
• 3:22
  [Danny Reyes] They're investigating,
• 3:24
  [Danny Reyes] according to the Sims Direct Teams statement,
• 3:26
  [Danny Reyes] but Builders are posting screenshots of roofs just glitching, floating,
• 3:30
  [Danny Reyes] disappearing.
• 3:32
  [Becca Hartwell] The Autonomy really said choose violence,
• 3:35
  [Becca Hartwell] except now it's the architecture doing it.
• 3:37
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 3:38
  [Danny Reyes] You fix the doorbell and take out the whole roof.
• 3:41
  [Becca Hartwell] One step forward,
• 3:42
  [Becca Hartwell] one gable at a time.
• 3:44
  [Danny Reyes] I mean, come on, it's very The Sims energy,
• 3:46
  [Danny Reyes] though.
• 3:47
  [Danny Reyes] Nothing's ever just fixed.
• 3:49
  [Becca Hartwell] Totally.
• 3:49
  [Becca Hartwell] But that's the whole community vibe,
• 3:52
  [Becca Hartwell] isn't it? Something breaks, and within a day, somebody's got a workaround.
• 3:55
  [Danny Reyes] Builders are already swapping tips on which roof styles are safe to use right now.
• 4:00
  [Becca Hartwell] No official fix,
• 4:02
  [Becca Hartwell] no patch,
• 4:03
  [Becca Hartwell] just people figuring it out on their own.
• 4:05
  [Danny Reyes] Which honestly says more about this fan base than any...
• 4:08
  [Danny Reyes] Any patch note could.
• 4:10
  [Becca Hartwell] The community just keeps building,
• 4:12
  [Becca Hartwell] broken roof or not.
• 4:13
  [Danny Reyes] Absolutely.
• 4:14
  [Danny Reyes] So if EA's roofs are falling apart,
• 4:17
  [Danny Reyes] what's everybody actually building with instead?
• 4:25
  [Becca Hartwell] Speaking of builders solving problems,
• 4:27
  [Becca Hartwell] can we talk about this build tour I found?
• 4:30
  [Speaker 3] Which one?
• 4:31
  [Becca Hartwell] 516 Rosewood Avenue.
• 4:33
  [Becca Hartwell] You two posted the walkthrough Sunday and the kitchen nook alone is giving Sims 2 in the best way.
• 4:39
  [Speaker 3] There it is.
• 4:41
  [Becca Hartwell] I'm not even sorry.
• 4:42
  [Becca Hartwell] It's earned.
• 4:43
  [Becca Hartwell] That built-in bench seating,
• 4:45
  [Becca Hartwell] the little reading corner.
• 4:46
  [Danny Reyes] Okay, but real builders making real things is the fun kind of content,
• 4:51
  [Danny Reyes] not the kind I want to yell about.
• 4:52
  [Danny Reyes] about
• 4:52
  [Becca Hartwell] Uh-oh, what now?
• 4:55
  [Danny Reyes] Jellypaws.
• 4:56
  [Becca Hartwell] Oh,
• 4:57
  [Becca Hartwell] here we go.
• 4:58
  [Danny Reyes] So Jellypaws dropped this Universal Recolor mod and Simscommunity covered it Wednesday.
• 5:04
  [Danny Reyes] Big promises.
• 5:05
  [Danny Reyes] Recolor basically anything in the game.
• 5:08
  [Becca Hartwell] That sounds incredible,
• 5:09
  [Becca Hartwell] though.
• 5:09
  [Danny Reyes] It would be, except it's locked behind a Permanent paywall.
• 5:13
  [Danny Reyes] Not a one-time tip.
• 5:15
  [Danny Reyes] Permanent.
• 5:15
  [Becca Hartwell] Wait,
• 5:16
  [Becca Hartwell] permanent as in Forever,
• 5:18
  [Becca Hartwell] even after it's finished?
• 5:20
  [Danny Reyes] Forever.
• 5:21
  [Danny Reyes] And Sims Community pointed out modders have already built free color wheel tools for CAS and build and buy.
• 5:27
  [Becca Hartwell] So the free version kind of already exists?
• 5:30
  [Danny Reyes] Basically, that's the whole argument brewing right now.
• 5:33
  [Danny Reyes] Charging forever for something the community's proven it'll build for free.
• 5:37
  [Becca Hartwell] I mean...
• 5:38
  [Becca Hartwell] People gotta eat.
• 5:40
  [Danny Reyes] Sure, but a permanent lock on tools that already exist elsewhere?
• 5:44
  [Danny Reyes] That's not sitting right with me.
• 5:46
  [Becca Hartwell] Fair.
• 5:47
  [Becca Hartwell] Let's go somewhere happier.
• 5:49
  [Becca Hartwell] Maker packs.
• 5:49
  [Danny Reyes] Oh, the marketplace drop?
• 5:51
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims Community said Thursday two new teaser packs went up free,
• 5:55
  [Becca Hartwell] one paid.
• 5:56
  [Danny Reyes] EA testing the waters again.
• 5:59
  [Becca Hartwell] Two free packs isn't nothing,
• 6:01
  [Becca Hartwell] Danny.
• 6:01
  [Danny Reyes] True, still watching whether free stays free or funnels people toward the...
• 6:06
  [Danny Reyes] For the paid one.
• 6:06
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 6:07
  [Becca Hartwell] speaking of stuff I actually love,
• 6:09
  [Becca Hartwell] loveAMARAs toddler custom content.
• 6:12
  [Danny Reyes] The kids'
• 6:12
  [Danny Reyes] stuff collection?
• 6:13
  [Becca Hartwell] OwlWolf covered it today.
• 6:15
  [Becca Hartwell] Full Maxis Match toddler line and the little sweater sets are chef's kiss.
• 6:20
  [Danny Reyes] Oh, you and toddler custom content,
• 6:22
  [Danny Reyes] I swear.
• 6:23
  [Becca Hartwell] Toddlers get ignored constantly in this game.
• 6:26
  [Becca Hartwell] Someones got to show up for them.
• 6:28
  [Danny Reyes] Oh,
• 6:29
  [Danny Reyes] before I forget,
• 6:30
  [Danny Reyes] forgetStack and Save.
• 6:30
  [Becca Hartwell] Wait,
• 6:31
  [Becca Hartwell] the EA App thing?
• 6:32
  [Danny Reyes] SimsCommunity announced that Thursday.
• 6:34
  [Danny Reyes] Stay two replaces Build Your Bundle,
• 6:36
  [Danny Reyes] stacks your discounts right in the App.
• 6:39
  [Becca Hartwell] Actual convenience from EA?
• 6:41
  [Becca Hartwell] A miracle!
• 6:42
  [Danny Reyes] I did a double take reading it.
• 6:44
  [Becca Hartwell] As with all this creative energy floating around the community,
• 6:47
  [Becca Hartwell] it makes you wonder what's happening outside EA's walls.
• 6:51
  [Danny Reyes] Right,
• 6:52
  [Danny Reyes] because it's not just modders patching gaps anymore.
• 6:55
  [Becca Hartwell] Exactly. There's a whole other life sim building from the ground up.
• 7:00
  [Becca Hartwell] and up.
• 7:01
  [Danny Reyes] And it's comin'
• 7:01
  [Danny Reyes] for the crown.
• 7:03
  [Becca Hartwell] Um!
• 7:08
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 7:08
  [Becca Hartwell] shifting gears completely,
• 7:10
  [Becca Hartwell] because I want to talk about the elephant in the room.
• 7:13
  [Becca Hartwell] Paralives.
• 7:14
  [Danny Reyes] Oh,
• 7:15
  [Danny Reyes] here we go.
• 7:16
  [Danny Reyes] You've been saving this one.
• 7:18
  [Becca Hartwell] I have!
• 7:18
  [Becca Hartwell] So Paralives just dropped their July patch notes and Sims Community covered it Thursday and this isn't small stuff anymore.
• 7:27
  [Becca Hartwell] This feels like they're actually building something real.
• 7:30
  [Danny Reyes] Building something real or just making more promises?
• 7:34
  [Danny Reyes] That game's been coming soon for years.
• 7:37
  [Becca Hartwell] Fair,
• 7:37
  [Becca Hartwell] but DualShockers put out this list.
• 7:40
  [Becca Hartwell] Ten features they say completely change
• 7:42
  [Becca Hartwell] change what we should expect from a life
• 7:44
  [Danny Reyes] Hmm.
• 7:44
  [Becca Hartwell] sim.
• 7:44
  [Danny Reyes]
• 7:44
  [Becca Hartwell] Shayna Josi wrote it,
• 7:46
  [Becca Hartwell] and some of these are things Sims players have wanted since like Sims 2.
• 7:51
  [Danny Reyes] Give me one.
• 7:52
  [Becca Hartwell] The customization depth:
• 7:54
  [Becca Hartwell] sliders on basically everything; furniture,
• 7:57
  [Becca Hartwell] walls,
• 7:58
  [Becca Hartwell] even how a Sim's personality shows up physically.
• 8:01
  [Becca Hartwell] Sims 4 CAS is good,
• 8:03
  [Becca Hartwell] but this sounds like it goes further out the gate.
• 8:06
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 8:06
  [Danny Reyes] that's actually interesting,
• 8:07
  [Danny Reyes] not going to lie.
• 8:09
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 8:09
  [Becca Hartwell] And there's a second DualShockers piece,
• 8:12
  [Becca Hartwell] same author,
• 8:13
  [Becca Hartwell] all about relationships feeling more natural than The Sims.
• 8:16
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 8:17
  [Danny Reyes] this is the one I want to poke at.
• 8:19
  [Danny Reyes] Autonomy in Sims four is a mess; Sims will stand next to the fridge having a meltdown instead of talking to their spouse.
• 8:27
  [Becca Hartwell] The autonomy really-okay,
• 8:30
  [Becca Hartwell] I wasn't going to say it, but-yes.
• 8:32
  [Danny Reyes] So if Paralives is promising relationships that feel less like two NPCs bumping into each other,
• 8:39
  [Danny Reyes] I want to see it in motion,
• 8:40
  [Danny Reyes] not just read about it.
• 8:42
  [Becca Hartwell] That's fair skepticism,
• 8:43
  [Becca Hartwell] and I share some of it.
• 8:45
  [Becca Hartwell] But here's what got me.
• 8:46
  [Becca Hartwell] The Guardian covered Paralives this week too!
• 8:49
  [Danny Reyes] Wait,
• 8:50
  [Danny Reyes] The Guardian?
• 8:51
  [Danny Reyes] The actual mainstream Guardian?
• 8:53
  [Becca Hartwell] Yes,
• 8:54
  [Becca Hartwell] not a gaming outlet.
• 8:55
  [Becca Hartwell] They're piece framed Paralives as something that could rival The Sims and pointed to players leaving EA series over what they called ethical concerns with the business model.
• 9:06
  [Danny Reyes] Wow,
• 9:06
  [Danny Reyes] that's a real signal.
• 9:08
  [Danny Reyes] When mainstream press starts framing an indie life sim as the alternative.
• 9:12
  [Danny Reyes] Alternative-that's not nothing.
• 9:15
  [Becca Hartwell] It means the conversations moved past just us nerds arguing in comment sections.
• 9:20
  [Danny Reyes] I'll believe it when I can build a house without the game crashing,
• 9:23
  [Danny Reyes] though.
• 9:23
  [Danny Reyes] Vaporware energy is still on the table.
• 9:26
  [Becca Hartwell] Sure,
• 9:27
  [Becca Hartwell] but patch notes with actual system changes are different from a trailer with a countdown timer.
• 9:33
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 9:33
  [Danny Reyes] cautious optimism,
• 9:35
  [Danny Reyes] emphasis on cautious.
• 9:37
  [Becca Hartwell] I'll take it.
• 9:37
  [Becca Hartwell] It's nice having options instead of just complaining into the void about
• 9:41
  [Speaker 4] -
• 9:41
  [Becca Hartwell] Wait about EA.
• 9:42
  [Becca Hartwell] We do love complaining into the void.
• 9:45
  [Becca Hartwell] We really do.
• 9:46
  [Becca Hartwell] But speaking of new options,
• 9:48
  [Becca Hartwell] there's a whole cozy corner of this genre popping off right now that has nothing to do with either of these two.
• 9:55
  [Becca Hartwell] Ooh,
• 9:55
  [Becca Hartwell] do tell.
• 9:56
  [Becca Hartwell] Moonlight Peaks.
• 9:58
  [Becca Hartwell] Everyones talking about it, and it's not trying to be Sims or Paralives.
• 10:03
  [Becca Hartwell] Now I need details.
• 10:04
  [Becca Hartwell] Whats the pitch?
• 10:10
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 10:11
  [Becca Hartwell] shifting gears completely,
• 10:13
  [Becca Hartwell] have you started Moonlight Peaks yet?
• 10:15
  [Danny Reyes] Dude,
• 10:15
  [Danny Reyes] Ive been up till 2 AM feeding a vampire cow.
• 10:18
  [Danny Reyes] Its a whole situation.
• 10:20
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 10:20
  [Becca Hartwell] Ben Lyons at Gamereactor UK called it a farm sim with a supernatural twist,
• 10:25
  [Becca Hartwell] and honestly,
• 10:26
  [Becca Hartwell] that undersells it.
• 10:27
  [Danny Reyes] Amanda K.
• 10:28
  [Danny Reyes] Oaks over at ComicBook.com went further, saying it makes the whole farming genre feel fresh again.
• 10:33
  [Becca Hartwell] And Ellie Lutes at Nintendo Everything covered the Switch.
• 10:36
  [Becca Hartwell] Which and Switch 2 release said it runs smooth on both.
• 10:40
  [Danny Reyes] Portable vampire farming.
• 10:42
  [Danny Reyes] That's a dream nobody knew they had.
• 10:44
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 10:44
  [Becca Hartwell] but the romance system,
• 10:46
  [Becca Hartwell] though.
• 10:46
  [Danny Reyes] Oh my god, yes.
• 10:48
  [Danny Reyes] Lauren Morton wrote this whole PC Gamer guide on how to actually date people in this game.
• 10:52
  [Becca Hartwell] Is it courting the townsfolk or a full vampire seduction arc?
• 10:56
  [Danny Reyes] Kind of both. You're wooing eligible locals while also,
• 11:00
  [Danny Reyes] you know, being undead about it.
• 11:03
  [Becca Hartwell] That's such a weird sentence,
• 11:04
  [Becca Hartwell] and I love it!
• 11:05
  [Danny Reyes] It only just came out, too, July 7th, per that DLCompare rundown.
• 11:09
  [Becca Hartwell] So it's genuinely new-perfect pick-up for this week.
• 11:12
  [Danny Reyes] Speaking of timing,
• 11:14
  [Danny Reyes] can we talk about inZOI for a second?
• 11:16
  [Becca Hartwell] Ugh,
• 11:17
  [Becca Hartwell] yeah,
• 11:17
  [Becca Hartwell] not the update I wanted.
• 11:19
  [Danny Reyes] Push Square reported the PS5 version just got pushed to 2027.
• 11:23
  [Becca Hartwell] The devs straight up said they need more time.
• 11:26
  [Danny Reyes] Which,
• 11:26
  [Danny Reyes] fine,
• 11:27
  [Danny Reyes] I respect that.
• 11:28
  [Danny Reyes] I'd rather wait than load into a...
• 11:29
  [Danny Reyes] Into a broken mess.
• 11:31
  [Becca Hartwell] Especially after everything we covered today with that patch breaking Roofs.
• 11:35
  [Danny Reyes] Exactly. Nobody wants inZOI's version of that on launch day.
• 11:38
  [Becca Hartwell] So if you're picking something up this week?
• 11:41
  [Danny Reyes] Moonlight Peaks. Easy pick.
• 11:42
  [Danny Reyes] It's out.
• 11:43
  [Danny Reyes] It's on Switch.
• 11:44
  [Danny Reyes] It's delightfully weird.
• 11:45
  [Becca Hartwell] Agreed. Keep half an eye on Paralives for the long game.
• 11:49
  [Danny Reyes] And inZOI is just the wild card we're stuck waiting on now.
• 11:54
  [Becca Hartwell] Kind of a great time to be into this whole genre.
• 11:56
  [Danny Reyes] The competition's actually making things interesting for once.
• 12:01
  [Becca Hartwell] Go feed your vampire cow, I guess.
• 12:03
  [Danny Reyes] Already planning my evening around it.
• 12:11
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay, so today we went from finally muting our Sims phones...
• 12:15
  [Danny Reyes] To literally roofs caving in on the same patch.
• 12:19
  [Danny Reyes] Wild ride.
• 12:20
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 12:21
  [Becca Hartwell] Jess Bosque covered that notification fix,
• 12:24
  [Becca Hartwell] and then Simscommunity dropped the roof bug news practically minutes later.
• 12:28
  [Danny Reyes] Classic Sims. One hand fixes,
• 12:31
  [Danny Reyes] the other breaks.
• 12:32
  [Danny Reyes] But builders already found workarounds, so community wins again!
• 12:36
  [Becca Hartwell] Also,
• 12:37
  [Becca Hartwell] shout out to that Rosewood build.
• 12:38
  [Becca Hartwell] The built-in reading nook...
• 12:39
  [Becca Hartwell] Gnook still lives in my head.
• 12:41
  [Danny Reyes] Meanwhile that recolor mod paywall is still living rent free in mine.
• 12:47
  [Becca Hartwell] Whether it's Rosewood Avenue or Moonlight Peaks, people are out here making magic.
• 12:52
  [Danny Reyes] So soul Simmers:
• 12:54
  [Danny Reyes] subscribe,
• 12:54
  [Danny Reyes] leave us a review,
• 12:55
  [Danny Reyes] it helps people find the show.
• 12:57
  [Becca Hartwell] And tell us your wildest Sim stories @PlumbobReport on socials. We want the chaos!
• 13:03
  [Danny Reyes] Thanks for hanging out with us today.
• 13:05
  [Becca Hartwell] See you next time. Don't let the Grim Reaper win.
• 13:08
  [Danny Reyes] Bye,
• 13:09
  [Danny Reyes] Simmers.