Does this pack feels like PSa ?

"Beardedgeek;c-17507314" wrote:
If it feels like a PSA to you, you are probably feeling guilty about something.

I'm not guilty about anything?

Not really. I think it feels more like the original stuff pack voting. :)

The trailers do. The information from the blogs and tweets make it sound more like you have lifestyle options and can play how you like, but the narration in the last trailer was all about pushing the green lifestyle.

As I've said in my previous criticisms about the reveal trailer and the gameplay trailer, this pack really does feel like a PSA due to both its revealed content and the direction that the marketing team decided to go in. It approaches ecology and environmentalism in the same overly-simplified way as the PSA's that I remember seeing all the time when I was a kid. Ones like this one, which ran from the mid-80's to sometime in the mid-90's:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6MLdPPwv1I


A Sims expansion should NEVER remind people of Charlie the Cardinal, O.K.? It's too preachy to even be a Captain Planet episode...because at least that show had some edge to it (some actual villains, some real conflict, people's cousins dying of drug overdoses...way too hot for TS4...mind you, that was a KIDS' SHOW FOR VIEWERS 5 AND UP). No. This EP's trailers and what I've seen of it through them feel like a corny PSA that you would see on the commercial break while you're trying to watch cartoons--shallow, saccharine, and makes you just want to get up and take a bathroom break real quick...Wait. Is this EP the Sims Team's cue for us to get up and take a pee break...? That would explain SO MUCH...

But, it's not the theme that makes this pack feel like a PSA, it's the approach to that theme and the pack's marketing that makes it feel that way.

If you think about it, being environmentally conscious is kind of an important thing in modern human life. Is it really that strange that a life simulator is diving into an extremely important area of modern human life?

I would argue caring about the environment is just as much a part of life as pets are, or the seasons, etc.

Yes, but mostly because I think they tried to hard with the gameplay video. Elements felt too forced. If they had just shown the things included in the pack, it would have been good. But I didn't like the forced story effect. Same with the University trailer. I LOVE the solar power, vertical gardens, candlemaking, fizzy drinks, etc. The gameplay itself should sell itself, not having a cringy, attempt at being hip and trendy storyline.

"Daephene;c-17507352" wrote:
The trailers do. The information from the blogs and tweets make it sound more like you have lifestyle options and can play how you like, but the narration in the last trailer was all about pushing the green lifestyle.

I agree the trailer told a really particular story about saving the enviornment and improving everybody's lives but the blog post was a little more informative about what's actually in it.

"filipomel;c-17507395" wrote:
If you think about it, being environmentally conscious is kind of an important thing in modern human life. Is it really that strange that a life simulator is diving into an extremely important area of modern human life?

I would argue caring about the environment is just as much a part of life as pets are, or the seasons, etc.

Yes, I agree very strongly that taking care of the environment is important...but the way that this theme has been approached through this EP and its marketing is the same PSA environmentalism that dodges or glosses over the importance of things like bugging your elected officials to create and enforce environmentally-friendly regulations, voting for people who will support efforts to clean our planet up and keep it clean, and banding together against companies which put profits over protecting our environment, while patting the viewer on the head and telling them, "Plant some trees and pick up your garbage and everything will be juuuuust fine, Dear. Here, have a granola-raisin cookie."

I would have liked to see a bit more of that tougher, more "challenge the status quo, because it's killing our planet," environmentalism here, as opposed to just the surface stuff that you see in every PSA ever made. I would have liked to see some gameplay where the eco-friendly sims push back against a big polluter and picket outside of City Hall to demand greener policies. Instead, we get this old weak, "stay in your corner, Honey," environmentalism that doesn't trigger the greedy corporate types in the least and does only the bare minimum for the planet in real life. It's eye-rollingly bad.

I don't know. To me it seems more like they picked a Sim, imagined her to have a certain personality (which is something I also do while playing) and had her explain some gameplay aspects from her view. The problem for me was that I found her personality annoying as heck, which is why the trailer didn't speak to me as much as it could have. Maybe if they had picked a Sim like Knox, who is trying to get the votes for his community garden or a Sim who looks for treasures in the trash and uses the machines in the community maker space to upgrade stuff, that might have been more engaging.

"Bobisbae;c-17507414" wrote:

"Daephene;c-17507352" wrote:
The trailers do. The information from the blogs and tweets make it sound more like you have lifestyle options and can play how you like, but the narration in the last trailer was all about pushing the green lifestyle.

I agree the trailer told a really particular story about saving the enviornment and improving everybody's lives but the blog post was a little more informative about what's actually in it.

I definitely liked the blog much more than either trailer.