Has anyone found improved quality of life for Sims, after installing a game mat?

[CuriousSim]

I recently started playing the BFF's, attempting to get them up to speed, with the growfruit challenge. Their house has nice planters in their back yard. As part of that, I stuck with them and am in the process of leveling all their careers. Travis is in the tech career, and one of the rewards in his branch, (I chose gamer for him) is a gaming mat. After I installed it, everyone in the household, and most guests gravitate to it, when they get the chance. A few times, Travis even stopped eating, to go play with the mat. They may take care of some of their needs occasionally, but the pull of the mat is so strong, that they often put the gaming mat ahead of their needs, half of the time.

I am considering removing the mat. It might be different, if the mat contributed to Travis' gaming skill. It apparently doesn't count for Travis' daily task of playing video games. It has really unbalanced the autonomous behavior in the house. I'm just curious, if anyone else has had better success & can think of some reasons to keep it around. Their are plenty of ways to recharge fun, without Sims spending hours there. It sometimes makes guests anti-social too. A default session is such a long time. By default, Sims seem to spend a full session there.

[Playalot]

Pretty much been my experience with it to. I like leaving my sims in it for so long that they are bored. It's pretty funny watching them play while they are bored out of their minds. You can upgrade the mat and it does build the gaming skill as the sims use it.

Apart from that I actually don't place computers, gaming mats, the gaming thingy from Get Together etc unless I actually need that item for a story or to skill up. Computers are a little different as you need them to order certain items but if my sims start gravitating towards it (and they don't need it for their career) then I just simply lock them out of the study.

I know some people who love to fill their sims houses with all those items though so I guess it just comes down to personal preference. I don't really play the Tech Guru career very often. It's not that I dislike it, I just tend to not choose it!

[CuriousSim]

Here is Cassie in the game booth. I originally thought she was tired, but she might have been bored, as you mentioned.

[Playalot]

Yep, she was bored.  lol

[CuriousSim]

She was in a much better mood, when she started. Unfortunately, you can't interact with guests, once they step into the mat. You can only watch helplessly, as they prepare to slowly bore themselves to death. The booth seems to have the longest session times, of about any action, in Sims 4. They often stay late into the night, if they start the mat.

[Playalot]

I agree. The play session is really long especially for visitors who you are not controlling. Luckily with our sim sims we can just cancel the interaction. (Unless you like watching them be bored. lol )

You could always hop into build mode and pick up and place down the mat again. This causes the sim inside to reset to outside the mat. It's one quick way of getting a townie out. I seem to remember that if you click on the sim you can initiate a conversation that will also make them stop, but not 100% on this as it's been some months since I've even placed a mat into a game.

[CuriousSim]

Yup, last time I tried to talk to a Sim in a booth, it didn't allow any interactions. I just let my Sim go to sleep, and let the GuestSim play until he was finished. It's a bit surprising, since you can still talk to Sims, if they are playing games at a computer. Ejecting them through build mode is an option I hadn't considered. I'll have to keep that in mind. A few times, displacing Sims has backfired & put them in the roof, though. Thanks for the tip.

[Playalot]

Rats that we can't talk to townies in the gaming mat to stop them now. I did laugh at your sims resetting to the roof though! If that ever happens to a townie you can just leave the lot and they will be reset to a more normal place. lol  Same with under-the-stairs townies. 

[CuriousSim]

I ended up doing a roof renovation to the house. Here is the unfortunate Sim from another household, that got stuck in the roof.



I ended up putting a door in the roof. I also eventually ended up adding an entire floor to that part of the house. I also expanded and added features, as the Sims' careers evolved.

[Playalot]

Great looking house and that poor stuck sim. lol  I must have a real deviant streak to me somewhere because I always find stuck sims amusing!

[CuriousSim]

Daniel was my first Sim, and the BFF's were the first Sims to welcome him & have been good friends. I didn't feel comfortable about stranding him in the roof.



Also, he's in the same career as Liberty, which makes them coworkers. Supposedly your job performance is good, if you maintain good relationships with your coworkers. He even helped on their rocket a few times.

Here's the first launch of Liberty's rocket. Her reward rocket is there now, but I like the look of the steampunk ship better. The old one is still in storage, so I can swap it out, if I feel like it.

[coolsim9999999]

Cool house, CuriousSim!

My Sims are always using gaming mats --- they're all tech guru start-up geniuses, but if I catch them on it too much or for too long, I cancel that activity for them, and redirect them .  The same goes if they remain on the computers or in the telescopes when they don't need to be.  Their 2 little girls love those mats/computers/telescopes --- I guess they're interested in what their grandparents and parents do for a career. 

It is pretty weird when guests come over and jump on the gaming rigs, though.  My main family has 9 of them (all upgrade because they are all level 10 handiness) --- one is the kind that you get from being at the top of the gamer branch because of my Sims along the way did that branch.

Those gaming rigs look so cool --- especially since I just put the gameplay settings on very high tonight.  Wow!  The Sims4 looks absolutely beautiful now --- from the clarity of tiny details like the sharpness of the leaves on the trees to the general look of my main house.  This is so exciting!