More Illness/Disabilities/Birth Defects?

Technically what you are describing about pregnancy impacting on the child exists in the sims 3. In that game if the Mother has a difficult pregnancy the player may not be allowed to choose one or both traits the baby will be born with. And if the game chooses at least one of the traits will be negative. Of course the negative impact is nothing like you describe. It’s a trait in game that is assigned.

I don’t think it should ever be further than that. I think to add in things like that would be making light of very serious real life conditions, would be upsetting for many and I just don’t think it should be included.

I truly do like the idea of making the franchise more inclusive and realistic, but of course; This idea along with similar ideas are bound to stir up arguments and conflict.
Many players (especially those with disabilities and birth defects) would rather see The Sims as a means of escapism.
As in not having a game that reminds them of their obstacles and turmoil.
I'm certain that many would take great and personal offense from this idea and EA would do what they can as a business to dismiss any ideas regarding Deep, Heavy, and Emotionally challenging topics.
Note that I'm not intentionally criticizing EA and The Sims Team for dismissing these ideas though. It is quite rational for them to do so as a business. They do have a primary demographic with specific demands to serve after all.
An inevitable and unfortunate side effect of being an emotionally sensitive society.

That is why I've previously recommended on two (or perhaps three) discussions related to this idea for EA and The Sims Team to create a "Sibling Franchise" to The Sims. A game that shares the same idea, mechanics, and concepts of The Sims, but more Realistic, Deep, Heavy, Controversial, and Adult.
This came to me when I've heard about The Sims Medieval.
If they could implement Religion, Murder, and the word Alcohol in a game that shares the same name of the franchise, why not implement these ideas and more to a game that is similar to the base franchise?

Like I've stated before, I like this idea and would be open to as well as advocate for a more realistic and inclusive game, but now is not the time nor conditions.
Estimating that the current game's engine and present condition would make it immensely difficult for these ideas to be implemented.
Many are right to expect Bugs, Clipping Issues, and Uncanny Animations to occur.
Plus, the current theme to the game just wouldn't suit well to these ideas.
Many would argue that the current game's close to cartoony theme would conflict with these features.
Though don't take my word for it.

Responding to the comment that @Bettyboop55 posted, I'm not bothered by players who use the game to torture and murder their Sims. It is inevitable for a game like The Sims to receive those kinds of players. It doesn't matter anyway. Players have the right to play the game however they choose to play it. It is a Life Simulation after all. As long as they keep those violent and sociopathic tendencies in a game, I'm not concerned.
Though I do like your idea on the offspring developing personality traits and interests from the mother's actions during pregnancy.

I do hope that EA and The Sims Team are willing and able to create a sibling franchise that is more realistic, inclusive, and mature.
That way, many players won't feel left out and many ideas from the past may finally have the opportunity to be implemented.

For now though, at least we got Mods.

@Sim_Man17 I liked your post and just wanted to add that in no way am I advocating tighter controls on what a player should or should not do in game. Being an adult I wouldn't like it, nobody would. I did start to write a detail explanation as to why I feel the way I do but you are right, this is a highly emotive topic and this is neither time nor place. I will just say that most people, whatever they do in their games, are decent people and would never hurt a fly. It is the odd exception who might think it alright to take it into RL that worries me.

So the issue of disability within the sims environment has to be handled sensitively for it to work for every player. I think your idea of a darker, more challenging game to sit alongside the existing franchise is a good idea. A while ago I ran a thread in the TS3 section where we talked of improvements to the game and quite a few people were very keen to see a more challenging game. So perhaps there is an appetite for this type of game. Certainly including such things as disability in a separate game would keep the rest of us who use the sims as an escape from challenging everyday lives happy too.

Whatever EA eventually decides to do, I hope it is handled sensitively and includes consultation with various disabled groups. I hope disability within the game is at a level which is acceptable to most players. For now though I am not convinced this is the right time for EA to be tackling this, however much I want a more inclusive game, I want it done well and with care.

@Sim_Man17 thank you for such an informative comment. I agree with what you're saying completely. I think having a sibling game that implements these things is a great idea also! That way those that want it can have it, but those don't want it can steer clear of it.

As someone with a disability, I have been lobbying for this for some time. It is the main reason why I decided to join this board. I have been lobbying for this ever since I found out that they were making adjustments to include transgender Sims in Sims 4. I figured that if they could make this work, why not figure out a way to make adjustments to include disabled Sims? I struggled with finding a meaningful job for a long time, and I think having disabled Sims would actually send a positive message to the world. People could see a version of someone with a disability as a writer, a scientist, a programmer, a business owner, an entertainer, or a politician.

For me personally, my disability is visual. I for one am tired of seeing glasses being treated as little more than some type of Mr. PotatoHead-style fashion accessory. If anything, I think that is more of a slap in the face than not including the disability. My mother's driving glasses and my grandmother's glasses are not fashion accessories but physical necessities.

The idea of creating a separate game for disabled Sims has been suggested before. This is actually what I do not want to see. It is tantamount to segregation, and would not be a realistic view of our society. You would not want a Sims world with separate facilities for Sims of different races or a Sims world that did not allow for same sex couples; how is this any different? A possible compromise that i had suggested earlier would be to modify neighborhoods to include wheelchair ramps and create some disabled NPCs to warm people up to the idea. While I agree that it is too late to do this now, it would be something worth considering for future games.

Fair warning, threads dedicated to this topic tend to get locked. Thus, I figured I should speak now or forever hold my piece.

Yes for those who want it, but with the ability to turn it off for those who don't.

@Masters_In_Simology and @Bettyboop55
Definitely.
These topics should be handled carefully and professionally. With enough consultation and knowledge on each disability, disease, and birth defect.
Plus, just to clarify, I am not advocating for a separate game that is dedicated to this specific matter.
I am suggesting that we have a sibling franchise that tackles this matter as well as many other mature and heavy matters with great care and humor. I most certainly agree that sometimes laughter can be the best remedy.
So not only will this suggested sibling franchise handle Disabilities, Diseases, and Defects, but also other matters such as Religion, War, The darker side of Politics, Conflicting Opinions and Philosophy, Murder, Miscarriages, and Existential Dread.

I do not advocate for this topic to be exclusive. So I understand and agree with your concern, but of course; the current conditions of the franchise and community make it immensely difficult for this topic to be implemented without some sort of backlash to occur. Hurting EA and The Sims Team in the process.

Plus, my apologies to Betty for making it seem like you were advocating for tighter controls to the franchise. Thank you for your clarification.

Of course; I am aware that this topic will eventually be locked. So hopefully I have made my message clear before this discussion does get locked.

I'd love to have this in MY game :) There should be an option to disable it though.

No thanks. I don't want this stuff in my game for the same reason I don't watch "ripped from the headlines" television. I need a place to escape reality sometimes. Let's be honest, reality in most of the world right now sucks. Who doesn't need a few hours of escapism? I don't mind having death in the game since it is a life simulation and death is part of life, but it's handled lightheartedly and at times comedically, but some of the things people are talking about really can't be addressed that way, not without causing offense to those affected by it anyway. This game ceases to be entertaining if it goes too far into reality because you end up dwelling on things that make you feel sad, or depressed instead of having a way to refocus yourself on something that is lighthearted and uplifting. It starting to seem that there is a segment of the community that is no longer interested in a spoofy, jocular simulation, but would rather have a darker and more gritty life duplication. No thanks!

Don't get me wrong, I would love more random happenstance in this game, and an amp of the stuff in it that is random like making a bad investment wiping out your cash by at least half, having job performance losses actually have real impact like making harder to regain the ground lost, a decrease in salary, demotions and even job loss. I would love burglars who steal big ticket items forcing you to spend unexpectedly to replace them, unfortunately when they do add this stuff some people complain, & loudly and it gets nerfed i.e. Alien abduction, or weather related deaths, which is why now so many are calling to much darker situations to be added. Because drama is a big part of life, and as much as I adore this game, that is where I find it really lacking most of the time.

"munroele;c-17070128" wrote:
I think the idea of a sim turning out with a silly trait like clumsy, clingy and even fussy would be a great way to incorporate this, but itd be tough to find the line that says 'you neglected your pregnancy, have a sim with a predetermined trait', would a one time bladder failure or collapse do it? Or would it need to be more regular? This is a good implementation idea, i think. Even adding things like a random chance of a disability once thats implemented would work, rather than choosing. Maybe 5% of sims?

And like @Bettyboop55 said, making it so things pregnant sims do is passed on, like a love of certain foods works well for me! And a chance of a trait or two being passed as well, rather than allowing us to choose everything.

As for disabilities, i want them. I have a chronic illness, being type 1 diabetes, and id love to see food related disorder that makes sims angry if they eat something overly sweet like cake and havent say, done enough exercise to burn it off, or get dazed if their hunger gets too low. Keep it silly and whimsical like thr sims is, but even allowinv customisation in CAS works for me. Or sims who cannot eat a certain food, like food with fish, because they have an allergy, or sims who occasionally just collapse of exhaustion with no warning.

But maybe allowing a toggle, so those of us who want it can have it, as i know a lot of people play to escape their own life, while ill do anything for more depth.

I think the predetermined trait was actually in Sims 2, but that was a long time ago and I might be remembering wrong. I do recall in Sims 3 that if you did a poor job of caring for toddlers they'd age up with a negative trait...or maybe that was also Sims 2.

I think that physical disabilities could wait until the theoretica/mythical Sims 5; there would be a lot of Sims infrastructure required like ramps, lifts, etc. to handle Sims going from Point A to Point B. Mental/emotional disabilities could be handled via traits; I've used cheats/mods to change the traits of my Sims when they age up to Elder, for example I'll change out one of the traits for Erratic to indicate a Sim has gone a bit "dotty" in their old age. Or an Active Sim will become Lazy, or a Neat Sim become a Slob just to show how some people do have personality changes when they get old.