Disabilites, Maybe?

"gemjas;c-17165299" wrote:

"MadameLee;c-17165011" wrote:

"gemjas;c-17164778" wrote:
The tone of the sims is light and has almost no lasting consequences whatsoever, so any disabilities they add will be treated as a joke. The only way I'll accept that is if they add fake disabilities, like someone growing antlers or something dumb like that.

But what we're not gonna do is add in disorders/disabilities that real people go through and trivialize it.

The only thing I'd maybe accept are temporary broken bones; that way you guys can have your crutches and wheelchairs, but it won't be permanent and it won't mimic something much more severe. Mobility issues in elders is also common and an expected part of life, so canes would also be alright (we got that in Sims 3, I think). Anything else would have to be handled with care, and I don't trust the sims for to add them in responsibly.

Edit: I also just don't want to see people making fun of sims with autism, depression, anxiety, or any other mental illness. I don't want to see people forcing wheelchair bound sims or other physically disabled sims on foundations and then taking away the ramp (there were load of videos with people putting sims in pools and taking away the ladders just to watch them drown). That is something that will happen if we get these disabilities, because people suck.

One of the things Graham mentioned is let's say a wheelchair sim is visiting a sim who doesn't live in a house with a ramp, is the stairs would turn into something between an escalator and a ramp. So that's one fear you have probably wouldn't happen. BTW its seems to be implied that they're adding Real disabilities deaf, visually impariedness and wheelchair ones.

He said that? To be honest, I kind of doubt we'll get escalators in general, let alone stairs that can turn into escalators for wheelchairs. But I guess having a sign-language skill to communicate with deaf sims might be interesting, if for nothing else than to add more diversity in the game. I don't know, though. I'm still extremely wary of them adding something like that.

This is a subject that can be done very poorly if not given enough thought and care. It makes me uncomfortable to even think about all the ways that this can go wrong. But if they do go this route, it'll need to be completely optional at the very least.

Which is why they're asking for input from us "differently abled" people.


Hopefully by including disabilities they can fix the awkwardness of sims who wear glasses all the time minus PJs going to work sans glasses. It's something I hate about my simself when she goes to work. I mean how awkward would it be if a sim is always in a wheelchair and yet when they go to work they're suddenly able to walk?


Maybe instead of people arguing maybe we could try to plan together how (real) disabilities could be included in the sims?

@IceyJ I fixed it. It's just hard to keep track of all the different Grus there's only one who I can keep track of because she's shares my (real) nickname

"MadameLee;c-17165550" wrote:
@IceyJ I fixed it. It's just hard to keep track of all the different Grus there's only one who I can keep track of because she's shares my (real) nickname

Understandable. Grant is the only guru I'm aware of that has said anything about disabilities.

"gemjas;c-17165551" wrote:

"MadameLee;c-17165354" wrote:

"gemjas;c-17165299" wrote:

"MadameLee;c-17165011" wrote:

"gemjas;c-17164778" wrote:
The tone of the sims is light and has almost no lasting consequences whatsoever, so any disabilities they add will be treated as a joke. The only way I'll accept that is if they add fake disabilities, like someone growing antlers or something dumb like that.

But what we're not gonna do is add in disorders/disabilities that real people go through and trivialize it.

The only thing I'd maybe accept are temporary broken bones; that way you guys can have your crutches and wheelchairs, but it won't be permanent and it won't mimic something much more severe. Mobility issues in elders is also common and an expected part of life, so canes would also be alright (we got that in Sims 3, I think). Anything else would have to be handled with care, and I don't trust the sims for to add them in responsibly.

Edit: I also just don't want to see people making fun of sims with autism, depression, anxiety, or any other mental illness. I don't want to see people forcing wheelchair bound sims or other physically disabled sims on foundations and then taking away the ramp (there were load of videos with people putting sims in pools and taking away the ladders just to watch them drown). That is something that will happen if we get these disabilities, because people suck.

One of the things Graham mentioned is let's say a wheelchair sim is visiting a sim who doesn't live in a house with a ramp, is the stairs would turn into something between an escalator and a ramp. So that's one fear you have probably wouldn't happen. BTW its seems to be implied that they're adding Real disabilities deaf, visually impariedness and wheelchair ones.

He said that? To be honest, I kind of doubt we'll get escalators in general, let alone stairs that can turn into escalators for wheelchairs. But I guess having a sign-language skill to communicate with deaf sims might be interesting, if for nothing else than to add more diversity in the game. I don't know, though. I'm still extremely wary of them adding something like that.

This is a subject that can be done very poorly if not given enough thought and care. It makes me uncomfortable to even think about all the ways that this can go wrong. But if they do go this route, it'll need to be completely optional at the very least.

Which is why they're asking for input from us "differently abled" people.


Hopefully by including disabilities they can fix the awkwardness of sims who wear glasses all the time minus PJs going to work sans glasses. It's something I hate about my simself when she goes to work. I mean how awkward would it be if a sim is always in a wheelchair and yet when they go to work they're suddenly able to walk?


Maybe instead of people arguing maybe we could try to plan together how (real) disabilities could be included in the sims?

Well, I mean, some people just don't want real disabilities in their game, and that's a valid opinion. I'm not really sure that I want them either, and it's because I'm picturing how my struggles would transfer to a game where the Grim Reaper uses a touch pad. And what I'm coming up with isn't great, lol. If we get disabilities, I'd rather they be fake, like the fake illnesses we have.

I wasn't aware until now that this was a real discussion one of the gurus brought up as a possibility, though (I'm just now reading through those tweets). And the fact that they've taken the advice of actual disabled people eases a bit of my worries. Still, like someone else said here, they'd need to implement them broadly, so as to not misrepresent someone with a certain disability. They'd also need to take care to avoid any possible immersion breaking game play. Like, if they add wheelchairs I also hope it's less of an accessory/chair and more part of the sim. Imagine having your sim that's in a wheelchair randomly stand up just so they can hug another sim or something. Not a good look.

Which is why I said I hope whenever they do add disabilities (presumably in Sims 5 they would have to re do the engine maybe for the Sims 4) they can not treat "Glasses" as an accessory because when I play with my Simself a lot, when she goes to work she doesn't wear glasses but yet all her other outfits besides PJs. I wouldn't say no to temporary disabilities as well.


I did think for a Sims 5 pets-related Ep Service dogs for disabled sims. And non-disabled sim families can be "puppy families".

"MadameLee;c-17165563" wrote:
@MidnightAura links? Considering the fact that the Grus are asking for differently-abled people to input they aren't going to be trivilazing it please look at the links I posted elsewhere on this thread. They aren't going to (IF they have mental illness) going to have it be traits. They are thinking of a simlish ASL for deaf/hearing impaired people plus the escalator ramp thing I mentioned earlier.

Last May they had a problem (a chair problem I believe) and after they talked to simmers who use wheelchairs they fixed the problem (never explained the mystery problem)

Actually, I believe it wasn't that they actually fixed anything because there was nothing to fix. They just didn't know how they would incorporate a wheelchair into the game, and then a player gave them some suggestions that Grant thought could possibly work. But nothing had been created. They were just discussing it. I believe that there was a Tweet earlier this year that declared they were still only discussing it. If it is ever implemented, it will take a while. But there are pros and cons to content like this, which is why they have been discussing it long and hard. They don't want to inadvertently end up creating a disaster.

"IceyJ;d-962932" wrote:
I don't know why I'm getting the feeling that Thursday's #playwithlife video might be related to some sort of disability update. Wheelchairs, perhaps? Real elevators/lifts? I've seen many tweets using the PlayWithLife hashtag where simmers say the game helps them with depression or other disabling conditions. A guru who watched the video said it brought tears to his eyes. Hmmmm...

I think anything to do with disabilities will come in a pack, not a patch unless they are just giving us deco items for storytelling.

As far as bringing tears to his eyes, that could be anything! :D

"MadameLee;c-17166169" wrote:
@FairyGodMother they said it would be in a patch because otherwise would'nt they be charging for it? And they said they wouldn't charge for such a sensitive topic

Oh, thanks for letting me know! Sounds like just deco items then if its a patch, but who knows!

It definitely wouldn't be deco.

"MidnightAura;c-17166622" wrote:
Isn’t it just a video of game changers talking about what the game means to them?

Perhaps.

"MidnightAura;c-17168000" wrote:

"adduapina;c-17167973 wrote:

And for those who wouldn't want this in the game, I totally get you. There could be an option eg. to buy with aspiration points a cure for whatever disability you have if you'd like to reverse the change.

I totally understand why you want disabilities but that ^ “having a cure like buying aspiration points” could be really offensive in game.

I agree. I don't think you can have a "cure" in-game at all, though removing the trait could potentially be possible with cheats. Or just have an opt-in/opt-out option right in the menu, as you have for the different options in Seasons.