"SimsLovinLycan;c-17458528" wrote:
"Scobre;c-17458271" wrote:
https://twitter.com/SimGuruGrant/status/1250200733569273856
Translation: "Even though this game is rated T for Teens, we're scared of those parents who'll buy their kid any game they whine hard enough for, even if it's rated M and full of blood and guts and cuss words. So, we took out as much of the stuff that would get them mad at us as we possibly could, because we're big chickens."
You know, the more you bend to these people, the worse they get. They won't stop until every scrap of fun and excitement is scoured from every form of mass media to make low-effort parenting more viable. They complain about violence and mature content in games, the industry gives them a ratings system to show them what ages each game is most appropriate for. They ignore the ratings and buy the games with the objectionable content anyway because they're too weak-kneed to tell their kids "no" or have a "well, it's a video game, and video games are toys for kids" mentality and don't even pay attention to the rating and content information on the box/website, then complain about the objectionable content...again. You just can't make these people happy unless you make every game an edutainment game where all you do is spell G-Rated words and solve math problems (none of which have 666, 4, or 13 as an answer, so as not to upset the superstitious)...and then the kids and adult gamers will be miserable because everything is Reader Rabbit and Number Munchers...
I wouldn't be surprised if that was a direction they were considering for TS5; a nice, safe edutainment game with no sharp edges at all...You know, for kids.
Addendum: Sorry for the high sodium levels in this post, but those "censor the crud out of everything because my kids might see it" and "just tone everything down so I don't have to talk to my kids about what they watch/read/play and can plunk them down in front of anything unattended without thinking" types really burn my biscuits, and have since I was 9 years old. Even in grade school, I knew that it was the parent's job to check if something was O.K. for the kid to be exposed to and talk to them about what they watched/played/read, not the media's job to make everything squeaky clean so parents didn't have to do their job.
I think it's the same with any special interest group. The more you cater to it, the more it demands until no effort is enough.
There needs to be a line drawn in the name of art and creativity because these things are starting to suffer everywhere from rampant censorship and "cancel culture" when people decide they're offended by something.
It's like the Puritans have returned with a vengeance. Should we also expect to revisit prohibition? It's out of control.
I don't think game companies should pander to
any particular groups. Just be true to your art, your game, and whatever you mean to portray. The end result will be more genuine and memorable.
Live and let live.
