Random Sims keep stealing my things

[PriestessAvenara]

Either you or a neighborhood in any of the worlds you've visited has the "Sharing is Caring" N.A.P. in place. I finally made it so NPC's couldn't vote and completely restarted my game so there would either be no N.A.P. or one of my choosing. As long as you've checked that off before starting a save file or continuing an old one, you will be safe and clear of pesky thieves. If this isn't an option for you there currently doesn't appear to be a way out of it. NPC's get buffs from ALL neighborhoods you've visited so one in Willow Creek could be affecting all the NPC's in your area if you've been to Willow Creek at all and they enact the Sharing is Caring Neighborhood Action Plan. It's why my nickname for it is Sharing is NOT Caring.

Anywhere you go, even a restaurant, you will be haunted by thieving hands as long as one of the neighborhoods has that N.A.P. The only thing you can do for yourself is fence in your yard and lock your door, never letting even friends come inside when you ask them to visit and just talk outside your door. It's kinda a game breaker in my opinion since you can have the table you are eating off of stolen in a restaurant, stopping you from being able to finish your meal. You can have the chair you are sitting on snatched out from under you...and forget owning a business. People will just take your merchandise without paying along with anything that isn't a wall, window, staircase, ladder, or door. I'm not sure about lights, but at this rate I wouldn't put it past them to take any floor lights or the type you put on end tables or the like. As it is they can and will steal your harvestables and some people reported them stealing wild harvestables.

In conclusion, sadly this is not a bug nor is it a trait. People passing by can walk right into your yard and steal anything you have put down hence my advice about the fence. I can access my back yard through my house so my entire yard is blocked off with no gate. It looks rather nice as I chose hedges. Gotta have that green! I ended up liking it so much I kept it despite restarting my game with the NPC's unable to vote already in place. Good luck!

[Elise320]

This is so frustrating. It was funny at first but now It’s excessive. They’re swiping everything! I’m even using the cheat. Please make it stop!! 

[WolfFox90]

Lots of people are seeing items just disappear i am too, i'm currently building a Spanish Villa and a few items i placed disappeared, also first day playing TS4 and my sims double bed disappeared now... it may have been cos of a Sim with the Klepto trait but... i'm positive i didn't see any of them climb up the ladders into my sims bedroom so it may have just disappeared, it may happen when you quit the game then load back into it cos the items were there while playing. I also just play the Base Game so no Eco Life it's clear items are just disappearing for whatever reason.

[galzrul236]

Same with someone who posted above, where the dog bowl was swiped and I didn't even know until my dog was starving! And when at restaurants even my own, the tables & chairs disappear once the first few guests get seated because they probably swiped everything. I thought it was a bug at first but realized it was this issue that everyone else is facing too! 

[mamastormi71]

Same. A sink kept disappearing on an eco community lot, saying the lot was incomplete. I thought maybe it was just an error, like they forgot to put a sink into the default community lot. But then I replaced it, sink disappeared again, place two sinks, they went, then realised the outdoor seating was gone. Used the cheat to get rid of the Sharing is Caring plan, the stuff then stayed. Went to San Myshumo or whatever it’s called, to a night club I’d made that had the really expensive DJ booth. Everyone was having a good time, then the music stopped. I thought maybe the DJ had left, so was going to switch it to radio then realised someone had swiped the DJ Booth! So I haven’t played it since. I will check if any of the other eco towns have sharing is caring on, and get rid of it, then disable NPC’s from voting. Hopefully that fixes it. I haven’t noticed my sims swiping their own stuff at least.

[CatSaar]

Thanks for the info PriestressAvenara. The problem only started for me when I started a family by the Quarry. When they moved in all NAP's were already active even tho I had never played in that neighborhood and 1 of them was sharing is caring. I cheated to remove all NAP's because I wanted my sims to have a fresh start with it. So it seems that even tho the plan isn't active anymore the effect still is and it is gamebreaking for me. I don't dare to invite any of their friends anymore because I'm afraid of the items disappearing after the cat almost starved. 

To me this is still a bug, no way this is as intended and it needs some serious fine tuning as other aspects of this pack. I'm going to move everyone over to a new save and do as you suggested.

[paulcandler]

Never mind, I figured out my stupid mistake. The Sharing is Caring Action plan was on. That's why everybody kept taking things. Duh!

I turned off the "Enable NPC Voting" Option so I can control the action plans.

[PriestessAvenara]

The reason I restarted my game with NPC's ability to vote turned off BEFORE the restart was because I was starting to feel like a prisoner in my house. With quarantining going on, SIMS 4 was supposed to be my haven to freely walk around and greet people. So when I felt like I was stuck all over again, couldn't invite my friends over for a meal or to dance, couldn't go to other neighborhoods to visit them anymore in case they had the Sharing is Caring N.A.P., even had to fence in my own yard...it kinda took away my haven. I realized I was living in more fear in game than even in real life since at least I don't have to worry about random people coming onto my property and stealing our grill or lilac bush or anything else offline.

Which ended up being my turning point. As much fun as I found it trying to convince my neighbors to vote for whatever flavor of the week N.A.P. I was into, it just wasn't worth the quality of life change for me. I needed an outlet to make me feel FREER in today's society and I found things had taken a turn for the worse where I had been seeking my freedom.

Now, I invite who I want to, have my dinner parties because I love to cook, tend my garden without fear of anything except maybe the loss in quality that seems to create, visit my new friends in their houses in other neighborhoods, go to those randomized dance parties, and feel the freedom I so very much craved all over again.

Now if only I could solve the mystery of the plants decreasing in health after I harvest and convince my cat not to visit other worlds without me. I did notice when I put my cursor over his grayed out name it would have a world name or neighborhood or place floating there so somehow, with autonomy off, my cat is managing the hamster trick of going poof on me to another place. I'd very much like to know who is feeding my cat better than the gourmet food I make a habit of feeding him and luring him away from his house. Hmmmmmmm. Well, either way I keep "finding" him and bringing him back home so while annoying it isn't stressing me out nearly as much as that N.A.P. was. Now I need a nap. *laughs*

I do hope they get rid of that N.A.P. entirely and realize it's terrorizing their players instead of being the bunch of fun they thought it'd be. In concept it's hilarious, until you find yourself in buy/build mode 90% of the time trying to replace everything being stolen whether it is in your house or a place you are visiting or even worse your place of business after working so very hard to get everything just right/made. Game play grinds to a halt unless you want things cleaned out. The concept and the reality don't match up sadly. RIP wild harvestables. We will miss you.

Also bless the soul who put up the perfect soy bean plant for me. I didn't even know they existed to try to get them out of the seed packets in the first place. It doesn't help I started the save in Winter so by Spring when I might have noticed them they were all snatched up. Serves me right for deviating from my normal Spring start I suppose. I wonder if there are other plants I'm missing out on now. I should go check. Be safe and hopefully happy simming to you all. :D

[fozzieflipper]

@TART4CUS I’ve just read you can turn voting off in settings. Not sure if anyone has tried that but I’ll try it until a fix comes out and hopefully it will stop the disappearing objects

[TART4CUS]

Yes you are right you can turn off voting but make sure that the NAP is not already active somewhere else.  TBH its all a bit of a pain and not been implimented very well but hope they sort it out soon as its the sort of thing I wanted to see in Sims 4,