Declare Godparent

"Movotti;15655919" wrote:
Yeah... with that term being what it is, it'll never be added.

This is an excellent point. I meant this in a purely secular way, but it's defined in the will if it's to have any legal meaning (at least in the US). Re-imagining it as part of writing a will (something else it'd be nice to have) makes a lot of sense, and would allow for never having to use a term with strongly religious etymology. I like that a lot. English doesn't really have a word, at least not that I can think of, that as succinctly implies assuming guardianship in the event of the parents death as, godparent, but in a will guardian or custodian could be used.

Godparent wouldn't make sense in The Sims, the term wouldn't exist in that secular universe. It doesn't matter that being a Godparent is less related to religion in the modern day, the term still would never have arisen.

Also, guardian is about who is 'guarding' over you, so anybody can be a guardian if they are the primary caregiver (but not Parent) at the moment. A godparent is rarely going to be your primary caregiver, the terms aren't interchangeable.

In The Sims Medieval they had religion wherein the god was called 'The watcher', so I suppose it could be implemented that way, but 'WatcherParent' doesn't sound quite right.

"dreamprisoner;15656254" wrote:
Godparent wouldn't make sense in The Sims, the term wouldn't exist in that secular universe. It doesn't matter that being a Godparent is less related to religion in the modern day, the term still would never have arisen.

Also, guardian is about who is 'guarding' over you, so anybody can be a guardian if they are the primary caregiver (but not Parent) at the moment. A godparent is rarely going to be your primary caregiver, the terms aren't interchangeable.

In The Sims Medieval they had religion wherein the god was called 'The watcher', so I suppose it could be implemented that way, but 'WatcherParent' doesn't sound quite right.

Hence the reason I suggested making it part of a will and choosing a guardian, so as to sidestep the etymology of the word. A godparent as I meant it would be the primary guardian in the event of the parent's death. That's the entire point of the idea - having a sim the player designates assume guardianship of minors if the parents or existing guardians die, you can call them whatever you'd like, but designating someone to assume guardianship of children in the event of death, is hardly a religious concept and definitely something every society has dealt with. As it turns out the most legally acceptable way to choose a guardian for children in the event of the death of parents is writing it in the will (at least in the US).

I'm not interested in tying this to religion or the Watcher - I just want to designate what happens to children if parents die rather than having them disappear forever in the clunky way they do now.

That would be great, having someone take over in case something happens to the parents. Right now I need to have a supply of youth potions ready just in case, which kinda ruins the "natural course of life" I'm trying to imitate.

I dunno. I come from an intensely Catholic family and "godparent" has still lost most of its religious meaning to us. My brother's godparents don't pray for him or give him extra spiritual guidance, but they're close with him and always pull through with Christmas/birthday gifts.

I don't really care much about having fallback guardians in the game, and godparents are rarely that IRL.

What it could be in the game is an adult, family or not, that gets an automatic relationship bonus with a child. That plus the occasional cash or gift from them would simulate the modern godparent/godchild dynamic well. :p

"InfraGreen;15660669" wrote:
I dunno. I come from an intensely Catholic family and "godparent" has still lost most of its religious meaning to us. My brother's godparents don't pray for him or give him extra spiritual guidance, but they're close with him and always pull through with Christmas/birthday gifts.

I don't really care much about having fallback guardians in the game, and godparents are rarely that IRL.

What it could be in the game is an adult, family or not, that gets an automatic relationship bonus with a child. That plus the occasional cash or gift from them would simulate the modern godparent/godchild dynamic well. :p

except what the OP wants is a "Fall back" guardian..not an actually godparent

I like this idea, and I believe "nominated guardian" is the legal term for who the parents would like to take care of the child in the event of both parent's deaths. Often, this person is a family member, but not necessarily. I've also heard the terms "spiritmother" and "spiritfather" from my new-agey friends, tho those terms might still sound too religiousy for this game. Personally, I grew up with a lot of what we called "Surrogate Aunts and Uncles." So maybe there should be an "adopt as uncle/aunt/niece/nephew" option, lol.

The concept of godparents is a Christian one. Even if it has become less religious, it’s not something other religions do.
The Sims has its own ‘religion’ based around ‘The Watcher’ (ie the player). There’s two branches, and it’s more of a thing in the old Medieval pack. It came back a bit in JA though.
It would be nice to have an option to move your orphaned household into another existing household rather than being poofed out of existence, though.