4 years ago

Representation

I will do my best not to come across as being "political" for that is NOT my intent. I want to start out with that I love the Representation we have in the game. From February showcasing Black Simmers to LatinX/Hispanic History Month being celebrated and LBGTQIA sims in every pack since Cats and Dogs added to the game.

However more really needs to be done. I will do my best to keep it sweet without trying to offend anybody.

With that said I'll explain why I'm disappointed with the Cottage Living pack and focusing on farming. I feel that groups races ethnicities and cultures not in the sims at all with ZERO representation should be a higher priority to adding in farming or for that matter occult sims. I think that fixing serious problems in the game should be fixed before any added kits and packs are introduced. Those should be the sims team's first priority in my opinion. I could be completely happy with fewer problems bugs and issues in the game if it means no new kits or packs for a year or two.

We have Pacific Islanders with representation in the game. Nothing added that is actually part of the culture like Hula dancing or even Luaus as added food and parties for our sims.

We have Japanese Representation kind of. When I think of Japan I don't think snowboarding skiing or even rock climbing. I think fishing, tokusatsu, great foods like sushi, sentai, stage shows, Tea Ceremony, anime, J-Dramas, J-Pop, manga, Japanese Gardens and so much more. Which really wasn't added with Snowy Escape. I end up just deleting and rebuilding the world. I have to use CC to set up a proper Japanese Tea House with a tea ceremony laid out.

We have LatinX/Hispanic Representation to a point though it's Mexican based. There are more LatinX and Hispanic cultures than just Mexican.

We have Black Representation that really needs improving with better hair and some more skintones added in. Even added foods have a world with the beauty of Harlem and Black communities throughout the world. One of my best friends growing up still lives in Harlem. I used to hang out with him and his mom taught me how to cook. She is one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met.

We have LBGTQIA representation in the game that could be tweaked a bit.

There isn't Native American/Canada's First People Represented at all I know that every Nation/tribe being represented is kind of impossible.

There aren't a lot of cultures ethnicities and races represented yet in the game.

Asians are more than just the Japanese. There are Indians, Middle Easterners, Chinese, Koreans and so on.

What about European cultures with French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese and so on.

What about Jamaicans and Haitians?

My list goes on.

What about the Disabled? I know it's impossible to get every disability out there but wheelchairs hearing aids walkers elevators and canes aren't that difficult. There is CC and mods out there for these items. I know some people don't want it at all. But I have mods and Custom traits to represent some disabilities and mental health.

I understand not wanting to offend and trigger people. I understand that as a company being politically correct is an absolute must. I understand that they don't want to misrepresent and poorly represent or do something that would be utterly insulting and stereotypical even to thoughts outside that race, culture or ethnicity. I understand religion and politics cannot be done without upsetting and offending and triggering somebody. For religion and politics, every political party worldwide and every religion added in including atheism and anarchy.

It shouldn't be the responsibility of CC creators and modders to get this done at all.

Rambley_Raccoon
Seasoned Newcomer
4 years ago
I miss the days when Sims was just about having fun and not being all about representation. We always had fun in Sims 1, Sims 2 and Sims 3....sadly,Sims 4 has become all about represention and being inclusive. I'm really hoping Sims 5 will be just like Sims 1-3,where everyone just had fun and nobody cared about being represented.
comicsforever
4 years ago
"logion;c-17935461" wrote:
"Babykittyjade;c-17935402" wrote:
I have to politely disagree with this. I want nothing more than a fun game where the focus is on is adding tons of fun activities, drama, gameplay, lore and detailed animations like sims 2.
I want more little details like dislikes/likes,wants,memories.
Challenges, burgerlers, karate, walking and holding hands!
I want zombies, wearwolves, occults ridable dragons in a fun dragon world and other fantasy worlds for occult players. I Want expanded family gameplay and romance that brings sims together.
Imagine if people screamed at maxis on twitter to make better and more animations instead of screaming about a what political aspect needs to be added next. I want things that actually IMPROVE the game. I live my culture,my color, my disabilities, my gender etc. Every single day in reality. I want the team to spend time money and resources on making the sims 4 the best that it could be.

I DON'T want the whole focus of this game to be how black blue or green your sim is. How much culture is "represented" how offensive adding said culture and/or disability is, then go on a twitter riot to get said offensive cultural aspect nerfed.
What happened to FUN? What happened to IMAGINATION? We Literally have like 1000 skin colors and I only use like two. Cause I'm too focused on game adventures.

Nothing against your wants or desires because we all want different things? just politely stating why I disagree.

Completely agree, I miss the focus on having fun too.

me to :)
somewhsome
4 years ago
I would love more cultures to be represented (the whole structure of the Sims based on suburban living feels very American and has nothing to do with my personal experience, though it doesn't prevent me from having fun), but first of all, it's a game, and it needs gameplay. They can't just add an expansion revolving around a certain culture, that's not enough (packs like Island Living or even Snowy Escape feel quite, and gameplay they have is world-restricted, which is not good). That's why packs like farming or generations/family gameplay are important too, they add ways to play and imagine.
My personal problem is, though in many aspects TS4 is more representative than previous games, in one it is very restrictive — worlds. We can't build our own worlds, we can't really change existing ones, therefore we are stuck with mostly American suburbia and sometimes European towns with background buildings and stuff. TS4 is lacking freedom more than representation, imo.
DoloresGrey
Seasoned Newcomer
4 years ago
I am genuinely tired of representation. I think there's been enough of taht already and the team should focus on fixing the years old bugs and also to give us more meaningful gameplay.
Jyotai
4 years ago
A lot of this can be done with just the name generator.

For Asians, most of my Asian sims were Korean with Chinese Surnames (oops) before I got the Mountain Pack.

For Hispanics, there is an extremely obvious nod that could be done with Cottage Living - since the Llamas are a Quechua animal of the High Mountain Andes of Peru.

As someone with South American roots, I didn't find the game's Hispanic aspects to be too Mexican. I found them to be 'too mix-maxed'.

Notice how:
- the base game and many packs/EPs are a generic Mix of 'US / Canada / Northern Europe',
- "Island Living" is a generic mix of anyone from Oceania / the Pacific.
- Salvadora is a generic Mix of Latin America,
- but then Snowy Escape was specifically Japan.

I found that Jarring. Snowy Escape should have been a generic mix of East Asia if it was following the pattern. A 'fictional Asia'. Not Japan specific.

Korean players even noted this - they presumed it would be generic Asia and so it felt appropriate to protest the shrine. But then they got a Japan-EP where that shine actually made sense. Except nowhere else in all of Sims 4 is any content so specific to a specific nation. Even Strangerville could potentially be in Australia or the USA (though this is a stretch so it's "almost" as specific as Snowy Escape).

...

For Native Americans it becomes a dangerous issue - it is illegal to falsely claim any given thing is made by a native tribe. Many representations of uses of tribal names are protected by law. Yes you see things like certain car brands disrespectfully using the names of tribes for the names of their cars - but the auto industry can buy Congressmen and get an exemption. Your other options end up toxically racist like certain major sports team names that are racial slurs.

The Island pack was a missed opportunity to represent the Caribbean. You'd need a game pack that added another set of Islands to fix that.

A lot of ground has been made recently in covering ethnic groups commonly found in the USA - and expanding the name generator could help with this further. Skin and facial feature presets though, are where they need to be at present.

There's long been a lot of name and CAS coverage for people of Europe.

Handling ableism issues would actually make for a great gamepack idea. It would require a lot of new animations and CAS additions.

.
Jyotai
4 years ago
"Babykittyjade;c-17935402" wrote:
Imagine if people screamed at maxis on twitter to make better and more animations instead of screaming about a what political aspect needs to be added next.

Why and how is the existence of my race, or the existence of someone else's sexuality "political"?
moderateosprey
New Spectator
4 years ago
I have been away from the game for a handful of years and was very pleased to see the new skin tones on my return. For the life of me I can't see how a desire to have wider representation of the human race in a life simulation game is in any way unreasonable.

Give me that over another thing that I click on and it does some fancy whirly animation thing and my sims gets a moodlet, anytime.

Yeah, the bugs need fixing, but that is true for whatever a player of the game is requesting. I remember the epic threads and campaigns for toddlers before they were released.
alanmichael1
Seasoned Hotshot
4 years ago
After Island Paradise I don't want further packs that rely almost entirely on "ethnic" representation. You get used to the eye candy and then there is no gameplay. The Japanese theme in SE was done better though.
enigmaoffc
4 years ago
Thats why I think they should create a World Pack to add more representation without cutting the budget for other packs.
drakharis
4 years ago
"Lady_Ballora;c-17935546" wrote:
I miss the days when Sims was just about having fun and not being all about representation. We always had fun in Sims 1, Sims 2 and Sims 3....sadly,Sims 4 has become all about represention and being inclusive. I'm really hoping Sims 5 will be just like Sims 1-3,where everyone just had fun and nobody cared about being represented.

I'm sure people cared in the early days of The Sims franchise/brand. Otherwise now it wouldn't be so important to The Sims brand now. Some people will buy and support a brand if they are socially responsible. In videogames this means representation and inclusion to add in a positive image. If a company has a bad reputation using social responsibility is like a stage magician using sleight of hand and misdirection when "sawing" a lady in half. It makes the public focus on the good they are doing rather than the bad or even shady stuff that they might be doing. If a company has an ok or highly positive reputation social responsibility improves its already stellar public image. If you understand how socially responsible marketing works for a corporation you understand that sometimes all the things that come across as being politically correct can sometimes be their way to stay hip and keep from being "that brand" that enraged a ton of people on social media.