Feedback to EA on new pack: I understand this is supposed to be based on NZ (based on the pūkeko) but if it is, then this is a really colonised whitewashed version. It is really sad that all of our culture is not represented - especially since it is such a big part of our identity.
1000000% Watched an Aussie content creator who created a Māori character in her promo of the new pack and I thought 'Argh another missed opportunity'... so totally agree. Other packs based on other countries have this.
I think that the problem with the logic from crocobaura is that they took real world inspiration for names in other cultures and languages when they used them as inspiration for ALL the other sims 4 worlds. For example, Selvedorada, (which is another example of a place name that is in another language: selve being jungle, dorada being golden in Spanish) we have Puerto Llamante Marketplace (Puerto Llamante is kinda like Port of Call in Spanish) and Belomisia Jungle (Belamisia is like beautiful in Spanish). I could go on with all the other worlds as well. Mt Komorebi, Nordahaven, Tartosa, Sulani, Ciudad Enamorada, Innisgreen. This is the first time the real world inspiration location names have been so ignored by EA. In NZ, about 90% of place names are in te reo Maori. This is the first time EA decided to ignore real world place names and create some fake version, completely erasing my people and our language, for no good reason! It's especially silly because our place names are lovely!!!!
I see your point, however Spanish is widely spoken, so most people can at least recognize it as Spanish. When they did Life and Death EP, even though the world Ravenwood is based on Romania, none of the names were in Romanian. I am fine with that because the world is not Romania but Ravenwood. Same here, the world is based on New Zeeland, but it's not New Zeeland, it's Gibbi Point. I have no idea if Gibbi means something in Maori, and all the other names would have been the same to me and anyone else who doesn't understand the Maori language. At least in English, it's something we can all understand.
Its not only base new Zealand. Its base on Austrailia,Newzeland and north america.I am sorry there is no Maori content though.
As a Canadian we tend to notably get lumped into North America/US. I am not incredibly offended by it, mostly because the Sims is a parody of many things. Simlish is a type of gibberish for example, many/most names are not meant to really be true/authentic names.
But I can see the frustration that the game is favoured to the US, US players and US culture/locations/etc. That is probably why I love it when we get Asian and European themed content. And I also favour fantasy/science fiction themes—so I like the occult worlds too. But the real world is made up of more than the handful of the content themes made.
In Sims 3 I loved giving my main Sim Asian hidden culture trait, and spending so much time in the Adventure worlds. I spent more time in those worlds than most of the other worlds (I mean Midnight Hollow, Monte Vista and Oasis Landing as much as or slightly more). The rest of the worlds not so much.
In Sims 4 as a new player with so much content to still catch up on, I do shy away from typical North American based worlds/CAS/etc.
It is very clearly not based on Australia or anywhere else other than New Zealand and that has been confirmed. If we got an Australian world, that would look completely different and I would expect to see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
As for English speakers not understanding the places if they are in te reo Maori, how many English speakers understand the names of the places in Sulani - Mua Pel'am, Ohan'ali Town, Lani St. Taz? What about Mt Komorebi - Wakaba, Senbamachi, Yukimatsu? These are the names given to Polynesian and Japanese inspired Sims 4 worlds. That's all I'm asking for in a New Zealand inspired world.
Honestly, this has as much to do with representing New Zealand accurately as it does being an erased indigenous person. Place names in New Zealand are predominantly Maori place names. Pretending that is not the case not only white washes the game, but makes the game boring and less fun to explore.
These questions were asked in the Sims Discord Developer Q&A on Townies and Lore.
Is New Zealand known for its campsites?
Gibbi Point is inspired by many places! New Zealand, Australia, and national parks in the USA!
Is the pack environment based from New Zealand?
A few people are asking about cultures; Gibbi Point is sort of inspired by a few areas but isn't a direct representation, so when it comes to representing cultures it's not a direct parallel. I hope this answer helps a bit
https://discord.com/channels/1151759657283629076/1417281556229394504
Honestly simgirl1010 I think they just said that so they did not have to represent Maori. There is nothing in my opinion about the pack that hints at it being anywhere other than NZ and I think they did themselves and us a disservice by cherry picking the things they wanted out of Aotearoa - to make an adventure land with its soul cut out, and it's sad that the native people who have fought really hard to reclaim our culture and heritage did not make EA's cut, given that it is such a massive part of why NZ is so cool.
My guess is that they didn't bother with any indigenous NZ representation since they included a flavour of Polynesian culture in Island Living. It's been a long time since I have been to NZ, but to my eyes the kiwi is the only strong reference to New Zealand. I've literally been googling to try to figure out how this pack relates to NZ.
I've heard that this pack is based on Australia and New Zealand, but as an Australian I don't really see it. New Zealand is geographically quite different to Australia. There are no gum trees in Gibi Point. Australia has very distinctive ecosystem so I can't really believe it is based on Australia when it is full of non-native plants. There are no references to indigenous Australians that I noticed. Fairy bread is suitable for both countries. Watersports and jellyfish might be references to Australia, but they aren't enough to make the pack seem Australian. If the pack was based on Australia, I'd expect lifeguards with vinegar to treat wounds and maybe even a new jellyfish death if you ignore the warning signs about when it's safe to swim. The world doesn't look more like Australia than the base game worlds. The pack has a fairly American/generically western flavour to my eyes. Summer camps seem particularly American.
