Hard to believe, right? But let's look at the facts: The Sims franchise has produced four games by now, and contrary to the opinions of some people who have never played them, graphics aren't the only thing that has changed over the course of time. The new games come with many new features and options that weren't available or even possible years ago, but also omit other well-known features from past games. Sims 4 especially is probably best known for some of the questionable and controversial decisions made by the developers, like not including toddlers and swimming pools in the base game even though they've always been there since day 1 (well, toddlers only came with Sims 2, but you get the idea), or including stuff that was already in past games, but limiting it rather than expanding on it (for example, in an expansion pack called "Get to work", you'd expect sims to be able to open their own businesses at home, like it was possible in Sims 2, but it somehow isn't in the successor, which is supposed to be the superior game). And let's not forget the one thing that just can't be ignored, no matter how hard you try: Bugs, bugs, bugs! Sims 4 is full of them.
In a case like this, it's only natural that every player has their own preference. Some were so disappointed with Sims 4 that they went back to playing 3, 2, or whatever they liked better, others are not bothered as much by the game's shortcomings, and still others (like myself) are annoyed, but still optimistic that things will get better eventually; after all, those previous games were not created in one day either, and required quite a few expansion packs and patches to get as good and popular as they are today. All of this is okay, there's more than one game for a reason, you can play whichever you like best, and it's also totally fine to discuss things that you wish were different, right? WRONG! Because some people think that only their opinion is valid.
On the one hand, we have the so-called "veteran simmers", who pride themselves upon having been around since the very beginning and therefore feel entitled to determine what's best for the series. As I understand it, "veteran simmer" was originally just a term to describe someone who has been around since forever, without the negative connotation, but just like "feminist", it quickly turned into a means of saying you're better than other people. On the other hand, we have the newcomers who have never even experienced the world before Sims 3 or 4, but still think they know better because they keep up with the times instead of harping on about out-dated principles, and many of them have nothing else to do than bash the old games and the ones who like them. Of course, there are still sensible people on both sides of the argument, but yeah, even simmers have an idea of what constitutes a "true fan" as opposed to... I don't know, a fake fan? And instead of talking about it in a civil manner, some prefer to throw insults around.
I've been a fan of the games since 2003 or so, having played all of them except Sims 3, but it's only been a few weeks since I first joined a Sims forum, and I've already picked up on the arguments going on behind the community's flawless façade. I don't get involved in them, I usually just ask my questions about game mechanics or help out others whose questions I know to answer, but it's still astonishing that even a "harmless" game like The Sims can cause that much conflict and controversy among fans.
