Feedback from Japanese Simmers: Request to make shrine worship optional

"inuman;c-17707749" wrote:
I think the sims team should have put a huge llama stature in front of the cave to pray (as an optional action), instead of the shrine. Mischief sim can replace it with other decoration objects like gnomes. Kleptomaniac sim can steal and sell it.

I mean, the main cause of this mess is that the team didn’t decide where to draw a line between real and fiction. Back in the Sims 2, we had Takemizu village which was so fictional but fun to play. Sims eating ramen, seeing ninja, learning the magical skill from them. Those are the outdated, but popular stereotype of Japan, and I suppose most Japanese players are fine with that. During this depressing discussion, I’ve seen any single Japanese complaining its stereotypical or non-accurate portrayal of Japan in the new EP trailer. Because we are just used to being portrayed like that. Also partly because we also use the stereotypes of people from other countries still frequently, though less than the past, in our media. I’m not saying keeping the stereotype is a good thing. Those outdated stereotypes should be removed in the serious media like documentary films or the fictions focusing on the real, serious topics. But, Sims is a game, set in the fictional world with so many jokes and happy-go-lucky atmosphere.

It really baffles me to see the Japanese people saying the shinto shrine is very important in our culture, lacking the bow in front of it is disrespectful, etc etc. I understand it’s important IN REAL LIFE, but come on, this is the game where someone becomes a rocket scientist to get aliens, males gets pregnant with his plant child, and they pee fire (well, this one is a bug). Do you Japanese guys really want the representation of real you, in Sims? Really? Lacking the bow and shrine is that necessary to us, in the EP where Japanese-like sims eat nabe and sushi and onigiri at the same time? Even though some Korean users brought the real issue into it, we don’t need to push them back in the same way. These “we need the shrine” “no you shouldn’t have it” augments are just silly. I don't want Japan, the place Sims series picked up a couple times before in a humorous way, to be avoided from now on because of this childish sensitivity battle.

If some people don’t want the shrine in the game, let’s ask the team to give us the huge golden shining llama stature to pray. Let the world of Mt. Komorebi be just a Japan-like fantasy land.

What do you guys, Japanese or non-Japanese, think about this?

Non Japanese here who totally supports this!! People are loosing the essence of the sims by trying to turn a fun fantasy world of fiction into a serious real life replica. I think many people often forget this is a game. And how many video games have I played based on japan? Tons and tons. But this for some reason is the only outrage. ?

@inuman No, I don't think you've hijacked it. I'm glad to know your opinion! I regret that I should have used a thread title that allows for more free requests.(This limited title is also a result of concerns about deleting the relevant threads.)
I've done the embarrassing thing of asking to create. But you'll be a member soon. Try starting a thread. Your suggestions are nice! Everyone's opinions are very diverse, but we hope to have a better solution!

Count me in for the optional shrine-worshiping. Or making bowing a self-interaction so you can bow to anything in front of you.

Somewhat off-topic, sorry. But I hope you Japanese & Korean players stick around the forums for a bit. I'd love to see what people overseas think about other elements of the Sims 4. Like what's popular there, what is disliked, what characters are fan-favorites and what themes you guys want to see in the future. For example, people here really want a farm pack or a dragon pack.

I agree with Babykittyjade, well said.

Count me in as someone who thinks the option to bow at a shrine should be optional. As I've said before, I have no idea why people assumed it would be automatic/forced, or even linked to Shintoism. It's all an extreme overreaction to a 3-second clip in a teaser trailer. The fact that the team just gave in and removed it in less than 24-hours is just disgraceful.

Making it optional would be the most plausible solution to this problem. I think it's an amicable solution that both players who want to bow in front of the shrine object and those who don't want to bow in front of it will appreciate.
Even if it doesn't make it to launch, it's likely to be welcomed by many players if it's announced that it will be added in a later update.

@inuman offered another solution.
I'm fine with that as long as the faith of the Komorebi Sim is preserved, so the altar doesn't have to be a shrine object if it can be worshipped. The idea of a Llama Shrine sounds interesting, but creating a new object would be a burden on the development team, so I recommend using the Doso-shin objects already known to be included.
Doso-shin objects might not hurt Korean users, even if they bring back worship.

I also think that religious objects should not have been included in the beginning, as they would have made the player imagine that the Sims believe in a particular real-world god. However, it would be interesting if the concept of faith was included in The Sims. It would have been great if we could have bowed to various objects, as @Gordy suggested.

I'd like to see either keeping the shrine object and making worship optional, or replacing the shrine object with another object (I recommend the Doso-shin object) and undoing the worship.

Sorry for my bad English.

In general, I would like to see religious objects in the game, since we already have infidelity woohoo, bubble blowing, and politics (including choosing whether your Sim wants to be politically left or right). It seems weird to leave out this one large piece of human experience. Of course I would like to see them representative of many different kinds of cultures, like many things in the game.

I also don't think this situation was handled well. I respect EA for acting quickly in an attempt to be inclusive, but I feel that the end result was exclusivity and insensitivity. I agree with those who have suggested that this action should be optional.

Let's just focus on bringing back the shrine and bowing interaction (opt) that namely meant for 'Mt. Komorebi culture', which is in this case a heavily Japanese theme inspired world in itself with a rich and steeped tradition that should have been rightfully claimed in its place in the beginning.

Sorry, I was a bit off topic.
I didn't mean to discuss incorporating religion into the game.
Of course my main request is for the interaction between the shrine and bowing to be optional.

"Rouensims;c-17708887" wrote:
In general, I would like to see religious objects in the game, since we already have infidelity woohoo, bubble blowing, and politics (including choosing whether your Sim wants to be politically left or right). It seems weird to leave out this one large piece of human experience. Of course I would like to see them representative of many different kinds of cultures, like many things in the game.

I also don't think this situation was handled well. I respect EA for acting quickly in an attempt to be inclusive, but I feel that the end result was exclusivity and insensitivity. I agree with those who have suggested that this action should be optional.

I'd like to see it done in a similar way as to how it was handled in Sime Medieval, with fake religions and the choice of being agnostic.
Sorry, off-topic.