Make-yourself-simulator vs dollhouse simulator
Has anyone noticed the shift in marketing? It seems as if they're catering to a very specific kind of escapism.
Forum Discussion
Thing is, I never really thought of Sims games as a "Dollhouse Simulator" to begin with. I always thought of these games as more of a "God Simulator"/"Story Generator." You create digital people, you give them a place to live, you throw both good and terrible things at them, you smite them or bless them at your whim, you guide and watch over them while dragging them along in your divine grand plan (which can be as awesome as building a utopia of glitter and unicorns or as mundane as just making everyone in town be descended from one original sim through prolific breeding and marrying people off to their second cousins *insert banjo riff here*). You know, basic deity/author stuff.
Not that "making yourself" or "playing dollhouse" (which I see as the less smitey and puppet-masterish version of "playing God") haven't also been legitimate playstyles since the inception of the franchise. It's just that "playing God"/"playing the author" is the way that I've always approached and enjoyed these games. My first ever save in TS2 was just me recreating my OC's in a custom world where characters from different universes (and, yes, my imagination landscape is a multiverse, it's that crazy active) would cross paths, become friends or rivals, and get into all sorts of trouble in this digital world they've suddenly been dropped into because their creator is a sick, sick woman. From there, I've orchestrated elaborate plans for sims from birth involving who they will marry, what they will do for a living, what sort of supernatural weirdness with plague or bless them, how many kids they'll have, and who their kids will eventually become. That's why I've never been fond of heavy story progression. It's like someone else going behind my back and messing with my elaborate plans without my permission...and I'm big on keeping creative control over my creations.
Honestly, I think that both the "Dollhouse" approach and the "Fantasy Life" approach to marketing this franchise are totally missing one of the best angles of these games. Control the World. Be the Puppet Master. Bless and Smite. Build and Destroy. Pamper and Torment. Play Matchmaker or Home Wrecker. It's Your World, The Sims Are Just Living In It.
...Man, they should be paying me to make their marketing campaigns instead of some suits who only know how to market games through controversy or glitter-bombs...
Not that "making yourself" or "playing dollhouse" (which I see as the less smitey and puppet-masterish version of "playing God") haven't also been legitimate playstyles since the inception of the franchise. It's just that "playing God"/"playing the author" is the way that I've always approached and enjoyed these games. My first ever save in TS2 was just me recreating my OC's in a custom world where characters from different universes (and, yes, my imagination landscape is a multiverse, it's that crazy active) would cross paths, become friends or rivals, and get into all sorts of trouble in this digital world they've suddenly been dropped into because their creator is a sick, sick woman. From there, I've orchestrated elaborate plans for sims from birth involving who they will marry, what they will do for a living, what sort of supernatural weirdness with plague or bless them, how many kids they'll have, and who their kids will eventually become. That's why I've never been fond of heavy story progression. It's like someone else going behind my back and messing with my elaborate plans without my permission...and I'm big on keeping creative control over my creations.
Honestly, I think that both the "Dollhouse" approach and the "Fantasy Life" approach to marketing this franchise are totally missing one of the best angles of these games. Control the World. Be the Puppet Master. Bless and Smite. Build and Destroy. Pamper and Torment. Play Matchmaker or Home Wrecker. It's Your World, The Sims Are Just Living In It.
...Man, they should be paying me to make their marketing campaigns instead of some suits who only know how to market games through controversy or glitter-bombs...
