Re: New pack and inclusivity problems

@Rae_Regenbogen 

So they ARE upset that it is Japanese inspired.

And why do you feel that they are justified in not wanting the Japanese flag or items used in Shinto and Buddhist religions.?

@jpkarlsen No, they are NOT upset that it is Japanese inspired (although there is certainly an opportunity to learn about Wapanism). Read/learn about the issues with shrine worship and the rising sun flag before you make incorrect assumptions. It’s an easy Google search to find out some basic info. For more in-depth reasoning, read their comments.

Also, the rising sun flag is NOT the current Japanese flag.

(CM: Multiple posts merged. Check out this post for tips on how to edit and add more to a post.)

@Rae_Regenbogen 

Japans Current official flag is white with a red disk symbolizing the rising sun. The Japanese self-defense forces use a variant with 8 red rays. The WW2 variant that was abolished after WW2 had 16 rays. Several religions including Christianity worship shrines in some way. I don't know what your problem is with that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrine

@Rae_Regenbogen I understand that you are very upset about cultural nuances that may or may not be apparent (especially initially) to other cultures. Plus I may or may not be understanding correctly what's upsetting you in this instance. Likely all I can hope for is to understand in part. That's all many of us can hope for oftentimes - at least at first... before a serious and deeper relationship with a culture is established. 

I remember well the day I excitedly and naively invited our new Korean exchange student to watch "The Karate Kid" with me, and how he got up from the couch and stormed out of the room when Mr. Miyagi brought out his headband. After he had calmed down I soon learned why the symbol on the headband was so offensive to him. Otherwise I would never have known, yet the fact that my intent was naive and well-intended in wanting to show him this film I had loved at his age should also be weighed in. 

We all have much to learn from each other, and the approach that EA takes to the Sims is a huge effort at being inclusive. There is a lot in this effort that offends me personally that makes others very happy - but the game is not all about my interests, morals, or culture. I just ignore or don't play some aspects that are not a good fit for me.

Anyway, whether or not they 'got it right' on some aspect of any particular culture, it's not useful to feedback about that with hostility. I doubt they intended to offend anyone, and it is more useful to simply add feedback that is informative to let them know if they were off-target on something that was culturally important.

@SheriGR , thank you for your beautiful explanation as to why it can be difficult to anticipate what might be offensive to someone from another culture! 
@Rae_Regenbogen , this reminds me of a news report I heard several years ago about a decoration on a new highway interchange.  The highway interchange was in Texas, which is known as the Lone Star State, and has a five pointed star on its flag.  Well, the design of the decoration was a five pointed star as to be expected in Texas, but there was an additional artist's decision to enclose that star in a circle, which was a seemingly harmless choice.  Unfortunately, that is very similar to North Korea's flag with a star in a circle, and this upset some of the many South Koreans who live in that area of Texas.  One man even stated that he would break out in a sweat and his heart would race when he had to pass by this symbol, even though he knew it didn't stand for the same thing. But that is what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can do to a person! 😢

So, much like @SheriGR , and the Texas highway department, I don't think that the developers of Snowy Escape  meant to offend anyone! 🤭☹️  They were probably just trying to make the atmosphere more authentic to Japanese culture.  Many players, including myself, have wanted or even requested more ethnic touches and themes in the game.  But there are real world problems that can arise when this happens since no ethnic group or country is guaranteed not to offend some other group!  Any country you can pick is bound to upset another country, which ironically is something every country in the world has in common!😅 , and therefore makes instances like this almost impossible to anticipate. 😞  

One of my professors was the secretary of the former secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. He taught me that trying to bring nations together and overcome cultural differences is one of the most difficult tasks mankind faces. Another of my friends has also been a UN diplomat. She says it is always easier to be upset with other people’s opinions than to cohere with them. Trying to understand why people react the way they do, is something you can learn and can be taught. In my opinion the Sims community works very hard to include everybody and strives to do that conform article 1 of the united nations human rights charter

I sincerely hope that everybody in this community will have the same basic ideas and conceptions.

Therefore I fully agree with the words that @SheriGR  and @PugLove888  wrote on this subject.

I do hope @Rae_Regenbogen that you will also find a truth in this article 1 and hope that you will address people in this community accordingly.