Are there Bachelor/Bachelorette's party?

I think people confuse the teen rating with the fact that this game is international. It's toned down and childish because there are a lot of things common in America that's not accepted in other cultures, so they have to accommodate the fact that they are more international then ever now.
I know where I'm from I've never heard of a bachelor party. You just get married ?. And I have friends from other countries that have never heard of it either.
That's why I know a lot of people are happy with the diversity but I actually think it hinders the game in various ways. I don't particularly care about strippers but I definitely wanted something that makes parties feel "wild" and I thought this was going to deliver that.
I think even if they just ported everything over ts3 bach parties people would be happy.
My punk rockers need to do more then a toast ?

Wild punk rock parties. I wanted to add to this ??

"Babykittyjade;c-18063675" wrote:
I think people confuse the teen rating with the fact that this game is international. It's toned down and childish because there are a lot of things common in America that's not accepted in other cultures, so they have to accommodate the fact that they are more international then ever now.
I know where I'm from I've never heard of a bachelor party. You just get married ?. And I have friends from other countries that have never heard of it either.
That's why I know a lot of people are happy with the diversity but I actually think it hinders the game in various ways. I don't particularly care about strippers but I definitely wanted something that makes parties feel "wild" and I thought this was going to deliver that.
I think even if they just ported everything over ts3 bach parties people would be happy.
My punk rockers need to do more then a toast ?

That argument would make sense if people weren't comparing to the previous Sims games which did include these things. They have the bach parties in this iteration, but they're seriously watered down.

"Felicity;c-18063754" wrote:

That argument would make sense if people weren't comparing to the previous Sims games which did include these things. They have the bach parties in this iteration, but they're seriously watered down.

Her point is still entirely valid. Past sims games also didn't embrace other cultures to the extent that TS4 does. TS3 was the first where they even gave the appearance of trying.

"Stormkeep;c-18063760" wrote:

"Felicity;c-18063754" wrote:

That argument would make sense if people weren't comparing to the previous Sims games which did include these things. They have the bach parties in this iteration, but they're seriously watered down.

Her point is still entirely valid. Past sims games also didn't embrace other cultures to the extent that TS4 does. TS3 was the first where they even gave the appearance of trying.

Not really because their argument is against bach parties in general not being celebrated in all cultures. Which is true -- it's a fairly western thing (with quite a few exceptions), and the debauchery we associate with them now are probably fairly modern. However, we're talking Sims, and there are Bach parties -- they're not being ignored because they're not in all cultures. What would be okay, though, is since you can decide what activities are a part of the celebration, is if they included some of the racier things from previous iterations. And for the people who don't feel they're part of their culture, they don't hold the party. For the people who want it to be tame, they just don't select the more debased things. And for the ones who want the dancers and the drinking until they pass out, well, have those be activities.

Edit: And for the people who clutch pearls over it being a T rated game -- it's always been a T rated game even with these activities. It's the mods that change the rating really. Dressed dancers or someone in a swimsuit popping out of a cake is more campy than scandalous.

"Stormkeep;c-18063578" wrote:

Personally, my biggest fear is they will make the next iteration of the game not open to modding so readily. There has yet to be a Sims game in the franchise that was worth playing without mods. Just mho.

I don't think you have anything to worry about if the latest job posting for "The Sims" is any indication. They are hiring a UGC (User Generated Content) Senior Director which to me indicates that the next The Sims game will definitely have Mod/CC capabilities.

Maxis is looking for an innovative and collaborative Senior Director, User Generated Experiences (UGC), to lead our ongoing and ambitious efforts to support our players' creativity. This forward-thinking leader will report directly to the VP/GM of Maxis and The Sims Franchise to build a player-friendly and robust creator ecosystem.

https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/171779/senior-director-ugc-the-sims?locale=en

Which they'd be foolish if they didn't, because in all seriousness, the modders carry this game, and all of the previous games, a lot.

"Chicklet453681;c-18063791" wrote:

"Stormkeep;c-18063578" wrote:

Personally, my biggest fear is they will make the next iteration of the game not open to modding so readily. There has yet to be a Sims game in the franchise that was worth playing without mods. Just mho.

I don't think you have anything to worry about if the latest job posting for "The Sims" is any indication. They are hiring a UGC (User Generated Content) Senior Director which to me indicates that the next The Sims game will definitely have Mod/CC capabilities.

Maxis is looking for an innovative and collaborative Senior Director, User Generated Experiences (UGC), to lead our ongoing and ambitious efforts to support our players' creativity. This forward-thinking leader will report directly to the VP/GM of Maxis and The Sims Franchise to build a player-friendly and robust creator ecosystem.

https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/171779/senior-director-ugc-the-sims?locale=en

Which they'd be foolish if they didn't, because in all seriousness, the modders carry this game, and all of the previous games, a lot.

Ooof. That could be referring to modding, but it also could be referring to creations in an on-line type experience where users actually change part of their world instead of it being static. It's calling it an ecosystem which makes me nervous. I hope you're right.

That's awesome, @Chicklet453681! I wasn't aware of the details of their job postings, but that puts that one fear to rest.

And I totally agree, modders and CC both carry the game, the whole franchise really. I would have stopped playing with TS1 if not for CC, not to mention mods. The clothes were so ugly, and none of the furniture matched anything.

@Felicity I'm not sure why you are saying her argument makes no sense. @Babykittyjade has made an argument that makes perfect sense to me. We can't be sure if it's true or not, because they never really gave a reason why the Sims 4 is more mild, but her theory makes total sense. Maybe they are trying harder to expand the market of their games internationally, which means toning down the content so it's more widely acceptable in other cultures. What does it matter how past games were marketed? Maybe they didn't care as much back then if the games actually reflected the culture of the country they were selling the games to? As @Stormkeep pointed out, they are more inclusive than ever before, seeming to make global diversity inclusion part of their goals, which means they are maybe thinking about things like wild drinking parties more carefully and deciding if it's acceptable to everyone.

We also live in a different time now. People are more sensitive and hyper critical of media content. People are looking at video games as something harmful to their teens and kids whereas no one seemed to care what was in our games in the 80's or 90's. I heard a podcast once that said the majority of our 80's kids games would have an M rating today lol. Everywhere in the world there is increasing restrictions on what can be marketed to teens and children. Even Canadians are often calling for a closer look at how foreign games are rated for kids and teens and what's in the games and if they match our own content rules for violence, mature themes etc.

So the suggestion to make wilder parties optional is maybe one way to be more inclusive to everyone, but that doesn't actually work if other countries are becoming more strict and not going to allow American games that have that mature theme content sold under a T rating. Maybe they should just change the rating to Mature and then they wouldn't have to worry about anything. It seems easier to me, but maybe less profitable who knows why they haven't done that. For all we know, they may be gradually pushing the game series towards an E Age 10+ rating and that's why the content and humour is more mild and they nerf a lot of things that trigger complaints. I really hope not, but you never know.

"Stormkeep;c-18063760" wrote:

"Felicity;c-18063754" wrote:

That argument would make sense if people weren't comparing to the previous Sims games which did include these things. They have the bach parties in this iteration, but they're seriously watered down.

Her point is still entirely valid. Past sims games also didn't embrace other cultures to the extent that TS4 does. TS3 was the first where they even gave the appearance of trying.

But the talk isn't about cultures here its about giving you the OPTION, in sims 3 bachelor parties, teen parties, slumber parties were ALL optional, now sims 4 seem to have one kind of dull lifeless culture forced down everyone's throat with no option to control how you play unless with mods.

Like people could extend bachelor parties with the popular adult mod to hire strippers that'd be up to them..

Other people who play different culture can just make a bachelor party and dont hire stripper or be too wild just a party with friends and music..

It's about giving you the option..