Community Manager
I'm writing this after the decision to remove certain "offensive" elements from the pack.
I'm not blind to the atrocities that Koreans (and many other Asian ethnicities) endured during WW2. But, you need to understand that simply getting offended by something is not a valid excuse to demand a feature to be removed from the game. Especially when these features (shrine worship) are an integral part of Japanese culture and religion.
The fact that the Japanese forced the Koreans to worship shrines is terrible but that doesn't mean that shrine worship ON ITSELF is terrible. Religion has been used many times in the past to oppress people but that doesn't mean religion is the problem. People who use it this way are the problem!
Here's another example. I'm Greek and in the past, when Greek people where under Ottoman rule, the Ottomans (that were Muslim) oppressed Greek and other non-Muslim populations in horrible ways. Is this valid excuse for me to demand that the Muslim-inspired clothes and objects (that came with the September 2019 update) be removed from the game, since they "evoke imagery with painful historic meaning"? No, of course not! Hijabs and taqiyahs are harmless, similarly to shrine worship and Japanese fan patterns in clothes! (and BTW I'm not actually offended by these, it was just an example)
Now, I understand that as an international company you wish to be politically neutral, and this is why I suggest you remove these elements from the Korean version of the pack ONLY (similarly to how a Rising Sun Flag was removed from the Korean version of Persona 5 in 2017). Imagine a Japanese simmer being excited to see their culture represented but then not being able to have their sims worship a shrine (as they usually do in Japan) because of a Korean controversy. This is not the kind of "inclusivity" you want for the game, isn't it?
@nickbkcin and @Korgly In another thread on this forum some simmers in the community debated on this topic: https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-Feedback/New-pack-and-inclusivity-problems/m-p/9636945#M38731
Would you please read the statements that were exchanged there. I also want to urge you to have a discussion or debate in a respectful manner towards all participants and community members. Sometimes retracing your steps is the right thing to do. And most of the times it is better to be safe than sorry. Therefor I do agree with the steps EA took to delete some of the elements. There will still be a lot to play with, without hurting other peoples feelings.
@nickbkcin could you give me one good reason why you want to play with elements in the game that might evoke hurtful feelings for some other players? I hope you will understand I will definitely not sign your petition.
I do understand the grievance some of the animated elements can have on some of the players in the community. I pre ordered the game because I wanted to see my Sims playing and frolicking in the snowy landscapes. I did not know about the animations that caused these grievances nor the effect some of the animations and elements would have. And really, I don't mind that EA took those elements out in order to bring the EP back into accordance of the character of the overall game. i.e. not to be hurtful to groups of players. I will still be glad to play with this pack.
@TrismagistosI've participated in many conversations about this topic and the one you mentioned was about inclusivity in the Sims Team and the developers' intentions. Didn't have to do with what I'm talking about here.
Also, read my previous post. I said at the end that the wisest thing to do in this situation is to censor these elements for the Korean version of the game ONLY. This way, many sensitive Korean players will not have to feel uncomfortable and the rest of the world (including Japanese people) will enjoy doing an otherwise harmless practice and use beautiful clothing patterns and posters.
I'd like to see exactly how they "removed" the content -- it could be with regards to the bowing that it won't be done autonomously but is available as an interaction by clicking on the shrine (maybe an Honor interaction). I watched the trailer and saw that the bowing is still part of greeting other Sims so the animation is still there in some form. I feel like that would be the best compromise; anyone uncomfortable with bowing to a shrine can simply choose not to have their Sims do so.
@Bluebellflorawell, thank you ❤. I actually first wrote this when I filed a fake "website harassment report" to EA Help (I wanted to get their attention). And they answered back!
They were like "We never intended to disrespect or hurt the feelings of our Japanese player or the Korean players." (yeah, sure..) and "Please accept my personal apology that these changes negatively affected you. You may however post your concern on our official forums or on social sites." so that's what I did. I pasted a part of it here and shared the petition.
Hopefully this will get EA's attention cause they also said "We were also getting the comment on several portals. So that after the discussion, our developer decided to take this step.", so, assuming they really care about what the community thinks and aren't just money-hungry, we might have a chance. 🙂
