Thinking about buying Discover University

[a_walking_dead]

So I'm planning to buy it as my next expansion pack. Did a quick search on the forums and it seems that almost everyone is either bored or tolerant of it which kinda worried me a little lol. I'm pretty sure I'll still enjoy the pack but I want to hear from the "silent" enjoyers of the pack, reading their positive experiences with it.

[Jehane]

The biggest asset of that pack is that Sims with a college degree enter their career at a very high level and don't have to work their way to the top. They usually also get a very nice bonus just for taking on a job.
Then there are I think three new careers with two branches each. There are a few new skills, too, such as debating or robotics.
Campus life is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It can be fun if you allow your Sim enough spare time to attend social activities or join organizations, let them live in a dorm instead one of the private houses on campus, or make them host keg parties (those are fun). Oh, and if you move your college Sim into an existing household in one of the dorms, your Sim automatically has full access to that household's bank account. One of mine took advantage of that, bought a new computer and took some of that money when she finished her degree.

For me, it's an ok pack because college gameplay can be a bit monotonous, and you cannot leave a college Sim on their own while they're enrolled because if you do, they'll very likely not do their homework or skip class and thus run the risk of being expelled and losing their scholarship. Also, you have to actively enrol them for every semester. Whenever I send a Sim to college, I stick with them for three or four Sim weeks, depending on how long it takes them to get through college.

Like I said, it's an ok pack; if you're unsure whether or not to buy, I recommend you read or watch a few in-depth reviews.

[Vic Viper]

Like for everything Sims 4 related: buy it on a sale or try to find a game key code for cheap.

Frankly I had fun with it, I've even managed to have 2 siblings to control (which is pretty clunky to set-up at first). That said, it's an incredibly long experience, and if you don't disable ageing/don't set the life expectancy on "high", they'll easily transition from Young Adult to Adult in 4 semesters. Hell, on short lifespan, they'll be like 1 week away from becoming Elder.

[Jolie Rouge]

My personal challenge: get all the special degrees and unlock all career rewards after that.
Okay, okay, aging is disabled.
Anyway, this is a test of patience, currently doing the second degree for the fun and then my sim will get a job for a change; as Jehane mentioned you'll start at a higher level.

Overall it's a fun pack; still missing some things from TS3 University like the arcade/comic store and getting invited to parties which you have to do yourself or there won't be a party at all.

[Coffee Addict]

personally i've never enjoyed the collage expansion in any sims game, having said that you may love it. however like always i suggest not buying anything until you watch LGRs review then deciding if its truly worth the money or not

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AIdx4I5-lo

[Xenon The Noble]

IMHO, not one of the DLCs I play and it was a mistake for me to buy it. Spent all my time trying to get out before my young adult became an adult. I guess there's other game play with secret societies, but I couldn't find it without a "how to" guide in one hand and the game in the other.
Sims 3 university was better... time stopped back home, so you'd start doing your chores, drop everything and go to uni, come back and pick up right where you left off.

[a_walking_dead]

Originally posted by Jehane:

The biggest asset of that pack is that Sims with a college degree enter their career at a very high level and don't have to work their way to the top. They usually also get a very nice bonus just for taking on a job.
Then there are I think three new careers with two branches each. There are a few new skills, too, such as debating or robotics.
Campus life is a bit of a mixed bag for me. It can be fun if you allow your Sim enough spare time to attend social activities or join organizations, let them live in a dorm instead one of the private houses on campus, or make them host keg parties (those are fun). Oh, and if you move your college Sim into an existing household in one of the dorms, your Sim automatically has full access to that household's bank account. One of mine took advantage of that, bought a new computer and took some of that money when she finished her degree.

For me, it's an ok pack because college gameplay can be a bit monotonous, and you cannot leave a college Sim on their own while they're enrolled because if you do, they'll very likely not do their homework or skip class and thus run the risk of being expelled and losing their scholarship. Also, you have to actively enrol them for every semester. Whenever I send a Sim to college, I stick with them for three or four Sim weeks, depending on how long it takes them to get through college.

Like I said, it's an ok pack; if you're unsure whether or not to buy, I recommend you read or watch a few in-depth reviews.

The degrees and their effects on the careers are exactly why I want this pack. But also from what I've seen, the gameplay can't be that terrible either.

[a_walking_dead]

Originally posted by Vic Viper:

Like for everything Sims 4 related: buy it on a sale or try to find a game key code for cheap.

Frankly I had fun with it, I've even managed to have 2 siblings to control (which is pretty clunky to set-up at first). That said, it's an incredibly long experience, and if you don't disable ageing/don't set the life expectancy on "high", they'll easily transition from Young Adult to Adult in 4 semesters. Hell, on short lifespan, they'll be like 1 week away from becoming Elder.

Yeah lol, I was thinking about that. Will definitely set life expectancy to high or use the age down satisfaction potions when I'm actively playing the univesity.

[a_walking_dead]

Originally posted by Coffee Addict:

personally i've never enjoyed the collage expansion in any sims game, having said that you may love it. however like always i suggest not buying anything until you watch LGRs review then deciding if its truly worth the money or not

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AIdx4I5-lo

I like LGR. He's a cool guy. But I think he sometimes hates on TS4 way too much, comparing it aggressively to previous entries. And lately he's stopped reviewing TS4 packs altogether. Last review was for Lovestruck.

[a_walking_dead]

Originally posted by Xenon The Noble:

IMHO, not one of the DLCs I play and it was a mistake for me to buy it. Spent all my time trying to get out before my young adult became an adult. I guess there's other game play with secret societies, but I couldn't find it without a "how to" guide in one hand and the game in the other.
Sims 3 university was better... time stopped back home, so you'd start doing your chores, drop everything and go to uni, come back and pick up right where you left off.

Thanks for your input friend. Though I think I'm okay with my other sims aging when I'm actively playing the university aspect.

[Xeriath]

I just want to warn you if you should purchase this pack; Don’t use the dorms until they fix this bug: https://forums.ea.com/idea/the-sims-4-bug-reports-en/cl-du-fr-eco-objects-cluttering-worldscollectibles-disappearing/5036144

[James3157]

I recently started playing more with Discover University again with the Pleasant household, but the biggest problems I still have with this expansion pack are that the university experience while realistic seems tedious that does not seem practical for playing on short lifespan and it potentially conflicts with family gameplay. I do not necessarily hate Discover University, but it is one of my least favorite expansion packs besides Horse Ranch and Eco Lifestyle. With For Rent I have tried playing it, but considering the fact I own every world on The SIms 4 combined with the fact this expansion pack still has some potentially game breaking bugs I have not played with residential rental units for a while in my gameplays. I personally still think that For Rent is underrated on Steam, but not necessarily better than Get to Work and High School Years.

[Coffee Addict]

Originally posted by a_walking_dead:

lately he's stopped reviewing TS4 packs altogether. Last review was for Lovestruck.

he posted an update where he said he was gonna review life&death but then that hurricane put a tree through his house he says he stills plans to review it but when who knows after that he has another pack to review

[Jehane]

Originally posted by a_walking_dead:

The degrees and their effects on the careers are exactly why I want this pack. But also from what I've seen, the gameplay can't be that terrible either.

Oh, the gameplay is far from terrible, it just gets a bit monotonous after a while - probably because you spend so much time getting that degree. I had all my Sims do three courses per week (which equals a semester), and they had to attend each course twice. Each degree requires twelve courses, so it takes some time getting there. Job-wise, it's totally worth the effort. The first Sim I sent to college started at I think the 7th level of the mechanical engineering career and quickly made more money than her parents had at her age. She was able to afford first the Fountainview Penthouse in San Myshuno, then moved to IX Landgraab because she wanted more space.

Like others have mentioned before, you might wanna change their lifespan and set it to long instead of normal because like I said, getting a degree takes several Sim weeks, and with a normal lifespan, your Sim will reach adulthood in no time. In case you own High School Years, your Sims can graduate early if they're doing the homework, meaning, they can attend college when they're still teenagers, but on normal lifespan, they'll very likely still age up quicker than you want them to :)

[Teque]

I bought it on sale just for the build-buy stuff. It has quite a lot of nice debug assets too.

[James3157]

Originally posted by Teque:

I bought it on sale just for the build-buy stuff. It has quite a lot of nice debug assets too.

Discover University is not only useful for build mode, but also for CaS. It has for example better CaS overall than Eco Lifestyle, Horse Ranch, Snowy Escape (world, gameplay, and build mode I personally like but I do not like its CaS as much in comparison), and For Rent at least in my personal opinion.