The I'm Bored Thread

"Felicity;c-17262366" wrote:

"Simburian;c-17261988" wrote:

"Felicity;c-17261214" wrote:
It's funny how we view teen girls (speaking as the mother of two young women and two young men). Vapid, vain, and stupid. Pumpkin spice lattes become popular with teen girls? It becomes a huge joke, because teen girls like them (they're delicious, btw, but not the point I'm making). A musician becomes popular with teen girls? They must be terrible because, well, teen girls like them. Etc. And I see that attitude from all over the spectrum. If something is popular with teen girls, it must be trash because reasons.

Add to it devs not talking to teen girls, but instead talking to people who talk to teen girls. That's ridiculous. Often people who work with teen girls see the surface pettiness and drama that all teens get involved with (yet only girls are faulted for it).

I absolutely think it's important for video games to have something relatable in them for people. But I think about video games that really have a wide following across all genders -- Mario, Pokémon, Stardew Valley, Dragon Age (really, most Bioware RPGs). The Sims is on that list as well. For most of them, they weren't made with "oh, girls like this, boys like that, yadada" -- they were made to be engaging.

There are people who love playing with dolls and that's great and there should always be that option. But it should be an option, along with other options. I started playing Sims 3 again, and I'm actually a bit dizzy with all the options of various types of gameplay I have.

On another tangent -- one thing gamers from across the board call for is consequences. If you make X choice, there should be some Y reaction. If my Lone Wanderer decides to blow up a city for money from a rich psychopath, my character should be viewed differently and have some things opened up for them and some things closed. And if my Sim decides to break up a family, maybe the ex should hunt down my Sim and beat her up, and maybe the ex's friends should dislike my sim, and maybe there should be a lot of gossip regarding it. Being able to do things consequence free, while fun for awhile, does grow boring. And it's not only sims gamers who feel this. A huge criticism to games that I see is there needs to be more consequences, good and bad.

Isn't there enough violence in Society that you want to get an 'ex' to be beaten by their previous partner in game? You can make that story up yourself if you want but most Simmers are probably playing the game without doing it because they see too much of it in real life.

I was thinking of the scenario in Sims 3 where an ex would show up just looking to get into a fight. It can be avoided, though -- you can book it out of there, you can try to talk them down, etc.

And violence in video games does not reflect on my real life. I LOVE shooting up things in video games. I hope I never have to use a gun in real life.

Edit: And think about it -- you just broke up a marriage and you see the now-ex coming towards you. What is a more immersive reaction? Them yelling at you and wanting to fight? Or them giving you a hug and chatting because the room has nice decor?