I was waiting for someone to post about this topic because I don't know how to post links so hopefully someone will link the article. But yesterday simguruduke posted a link to an article from vice games called:20 Years of ‘The Sims’ Keeping Up With Our Bizarre RealityAnd simgurugrant talks about the direction of the franchise as I understand it. I became greatly disappointed after reading it because I see they still plan to drive this game along with the youngest people and latest trends. And as a young person myself that's just not what I want to see for this game. I understand a company has to keep up for business purposes but there's a reason I just installed sims 3 (an old game full of old trends) and I'm having a blast with it, along side sims 4.And I have noted MANY young people who love the older games as well. I personally think they are still headed in the wrong direction. Maybe I am wrong but I don't believe young people care about the latest trends in a video game as much as the sims company think they do. Grant even stated that people are still angry about not having newspapers, and from my understanding they "could have" added them for freedom of choice but chose not to.I feel like they should stop trying to be so trendy and inclusive to everybody because it's negativley affecting the gamE. Just focus on having great gameplay. It just cannot be the perfect space for everybody in the world, nor should it try to be. I absolutely hate that my sims take selfies all day, technology addict, and behave so narcissisticly in general. This won't stop me from loving or playing the sims 4 but I just wanted to Express my disappointment. Another reason I hope this game goes on for years because I can only imagine what sims 5 would be like. 😔Link added that was easy lolhttps://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v74zk4/20-years-of-the-sims-keeping-up-with-our-bizarre-reality

Unfortunate that Maxis is driving a political correctness campaign for their future endeavours (if true, need this source web link). Trends come and go, but what doesn't come and go is what life is, this game is a life simulator. the developers need to respect that and stop hiding the aspects they don't like to include for their young audience and adding silly little things that doesn't matter at all.If no one is going to tell them to stop travelling down this path and relent, they'll keep going and before you know it, sarcasm or not, this game will be so dumbed down, so inaccurate with what life is in order for children to play it, that it intentionally gives the wrong idea of what a life simulator is.

I would like to read it. But about your words on it i agree. Being so worried about new trends and bla bla is killing the game. It has no humour anymore, it lacks on some great lifestyles (like you said, not everyone is a tech adict and i still subscribe newspapers and paper mags). Ok im on my 40s. But my 14 yo daughter is all in for paper mags too and also even film photography. The board needs to understand that old stuff is also a trend now if not just a lifestyle choice...

Here is the article: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v74zk4/20-years-of-the-sims-keeping-up-with-our-bizarre-realityI feel that the article mostly talks about how the sims changes with the times, how in the first games we had jobs like law enforcement, firefighter etc. people subscribed to newspapers and had larger blackberry phones, we didn't talk so much about representation and how to express ourselves. In the sims4 you can do things like being a freelancer, style influencer, internet personality and you have more options in how you can choose to express yourself, we have more gender options, more culture influences etc.I think the article is okay, however I agree that they need to focus on how to reflect this when it comes to gameplay, the internet personality career is so bad when it comes to earning money for example and I don't see the point in adding clothing from other culture if the game is just gonna randomize the outfits into a mess for all the townies anyway. Their focus of these trends and them trying to appeal to everyone takes away from what people liked with the old games as well. We still have no burglars or firefighters for example.

I still dislike that my sims HAVE to have a cell phone. I would like home phones back. I don't have a cell phone irl and don't feel my sims should be forced to. What's wrong with adding a home phone back in? And a phone booth for us to place on community lots for travel? Or just have us click on our sim to go home and let them travel that way?It's not about forcing the changing world on us as players, it should be about options for us to play our own ways.

The good thing about this is that what is super trendy this year, will be extremely not-so-trendy next year.I too wish the set up for the game could have been a little more flexible, I was so happy that we got a feature like the off-grid. The game is still locked to a modern civilization, I miss a way to play middle-age or stranded on an island, like we could in TS3.

Dissapointment with latest sims interview

OEII1001
5 years ago
"fullspiral;c-17411182" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

I love the gender patch, myself. What I don't love is that none of it transfers over in to actual game play. Creating diverse sims who all act the same, play the same, and have nothing unique about them is the problem with Sims 4.

Then you agree with me that the issues are being conflated and that people are creating a subtext here not present in the article.
DevilNDisguise7
5 years ago
I can agree with this. Trends happen, last for a little while, and then disappear. How is that fun? They're in the game forever at that point, when the trend has become "old news".

I definitely don't prefer trendiness in The Sims.
Hoverael
5 years ago
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

ts4 is inferior? who said that?
ts4 is inferior because of a gender patch? who said that as well?
Ts4 is based on less game play features? who said that as well?

you are making a lot of your own "conflating" points of view, if nothing else you are presuming to know for us what our points of view are? i don't need you to tell me what to think or what to believe thank you.
OEII1001
5 years ago
"DevilNDisguise;c-17411184" wrote:
I can agree with this. Trends happen, last for a little while, and then disappear. How is that fun? They're in the game forever at that point, when the trend has become "old news".

I definitely don't prefer trendiness in The Sims.

Do you react with disgust when seeing the MP3 player in The Sims 2? I don't. The Sims 2 is a product of its time, as all games are.
fullspiral
5 years ago
"OEII1001;c-17411183" wrote:
"fullspiral;c-17411182" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

I love the gender patch, myself. What I don't love is that none of it transfers over in to actual game play. Creating diverse sims who all act the same, play the same, and have nothing unique about them is the problem with Sims 4.

Then you agree with me that the issues are being conflated and that people are creating a subtext here not present in the article.

No. The article discusses how the gurus and devs want to make it about the current trends irl. How teenagers want to be "influencers" etc. It's restrictive and disallows many different play styles by catering to SM "trends".
OEII1001
5 years ago
"Hoverael;c-17411185" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

ts4 is inferior? who said that?
ts4 is inferior because of a gender patch? who said that as well?
Ts4 is based on less game play features? who said that as well?

you are making a lot of your own "conflating" points of view, if nothing else you are presuming to know for us what our points of view are? i don't need you to tell me what to think or what to believe thank you.

So why are we talking about "political correctness"? Why is it a problem that there are gender options and more dark skin tones? How is this a problem? Again, I think you're conflating it with a perceived decline of quality, which even by the standards of the anti-Sims 4 crowd is about gameplay and not the gender patch.
Hoverael
5 years ago
"OEII1001;c-17411189" wrote:
"Hoverael;c-17411185" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

ts4 is inferior? who said that?
ts4 is inferior because of a gender patch? who said that as well?
Ts4 is based on less game play features? who said that as well?

you are making a lot of your own "conflating" points of view, if nothing else you are presuming to know for us what our points of view are? i don't need you to tell me what to think or what to believe thank you.

So why are we talking about "political correctness"? Why is it a problem that there are gender options and more dark skin tones? How is this a problem? Again, I think you're conflating it with a perceived decline of quality, which even by the standards of the anti-Sims 4 crowd is about gameplay and not the gender patch.

thats your point of view as you see it, not mine. conflated indeed.
fullspiral
5 years ago
"OEII1001;c-17411186" wrote:
"DevilNDisguise;c-17411184" wrote:
I can agree with this. Trends happen, last for a little while, and then disappear. How is that fun? They're in the game forever at that point, when the trend has become "old news".

I definitely don't prefer trendiness in The Sims.

Do you react with disgust when seeing the MP3 player in The Sims 2? I don't. The Sims 2 is a product of its time, as all games are.

Here's the difference. In Sims 2, it was the choice of the player as to whether to purchase that. Just like it was the choice of the player if they wanted their sims to have cell phones. You bought them at the kiosk and YOU got to decide which sims you wanted to use them.

Sure, you can opt for a sim to use sm in sims 4, but EVERY pack, and almost everything revolves around that in this iteration. You cannot escape it and play any other way. Your sim is born with a cell phone. And they auto use it for selfies, games, etc. The player is left with hitting the "cancel, cancel, cancel" action.
fullspiral
5 years ago
"OEII1001;c-17411188" wrote:
"fullspiral;c-17411187" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411183" wrote:
"fullspiral;c-17411182" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

I love the gender patch, myself. What I don't love is that none of it transfers over in to actual game play. Creating diverse sims who all act the same, play the same, and have nothing unique about them is the problem with Sims 4.

Then you agree with me that the issues are being conflated and that people are creating a subtext here not present in the article.

No. The article discusses how the gurus and devs want to make it about the current trends irl. How teenagers want to be "influencers" etc. It's restrictive and disallows many different play styles by catering to SM "trends".

So you believe that The Sims 4 is inferior due to this? I fully disagree with this. If you dislike The Sims 4, it is not because of the fact that newspaper circulation has declined, or that there is acknowledgement that non-white and non-straight people play video games. If I have been reading your arguments correctly, and I think I have for the past 5 years, it is because it doesn't have the gameplay elements you like. Again, I think that a subtext is being inserted here.

I'm talking about choices. We don't have that in this series. And you're inserting an argument in there that is irrelevant.
OEII1001
5 years ago
"Hoverael;c-17411191" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411189" wrote:
"Hoverael;c-17411185" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411178" wrote:
I think that people are conflating the fact that the world of 2000 is different than that of 2014 or 2020 with the game not having features they would prefer. Is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because of the gender patch, a reflection of the decline of print media, or an increase of dark skin tones; or is it your stance that The Sims 4 is inferior because it doesn't have the gameplay features you seek? I think the pearl clutching over "PC" is misplaced.

ts4 is inferior? who said that?
ts4 is inferior because of a gender patch? who said that as well?
Ts4 is based on less game play features? who said that as well?

you are making a lot of your own "conflating" points of view, if nothing else you are presuming to know for us what our points of view are? i don't need you to tell me what to think or what to believe thank you.

So why are we talking about "political correctness"? Why is it a problem that there are gender options and more dark skin tones? How is this a problem? Again, I think you're conflating it with a perceived decline of quality, which even by the standards of the anti-Sims 4 crowd is about gameplay and not the gender patch.

thats your point of view as you see it, not mine. conflated indeed.

Then perhaps you would care to clarify your remarks. I look forward to reading them.

"fullspiral;c-17411192" wrote:
"OEII1001;c-17411186" wrote:
"DevilNDisguise;c-17411184" wrote:
I can agree with this. Trends happen, last for a little while, and then disappear. How is that fun? They're in the game forever at that point, when the trend has become "old news".

I definitely don't prefer trendiness in The Sims.

Do you react with disgust when seeing the MP3 player in The Sims 2? I don't. The Sims 2 is a product of its time, as all games are.

Here's the difference. In Sims 2, it was the choice of the player as to whether to purchase that. Just like it was the choice of the player if they wanted their sims to have cell phones. You bought them at the kiosk and YOU got to decide which sims you wanted to use them.

Sure, you can opt for a sim to use sm in sims 4, but EVERY pack, and almost everything revolves around that in this iteration. You cannot escape it and play any other way. Your sim is born with a cell phone. And they auto use it for selfies, games, etc. The player is left with hitting the "cancel, cancel, cancel" action.

Isn't that more of a reflection of the times rather than an indictment of gameplay? The advent of the SmartPhone has fundamentally changed the way that we communicate, or even handle day-to-day life, and not just for kids. We're Vegas natives, so when we went to Philadelphia for medical treatment for my wife we were all lost and turned around. So what did I do? I pulled out my phone, went to Google and used their GPS to locate not only where I was, but what direction I was facing. Disaster averted.

I don't think that acknowledging the reality that this sort of technology has become integral to life in 2014 or 2020 is a gameplay issue. Maybe that's where we disagree. Maybe I am wrong. I always am.

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