What worries me about that article is that someone could read that, be horrified, and think every simmer is a psychopath. If I met someone who had just read that article and said 'I'm a simmer' then what would they think of me?
Fifteen or so years ago, I did kill Sims in TS1 in some kind of morbid fascination. 'OMG... can this actually happen?!' But that was a very short-lived phase and I quickly got over it and started exploring the creative side of the game. Then I got weirdly protective over my Sims to the point where I'm really upset if anything bad happens to them. I made a ton of 'No Death' mods for TS3 because I got so scared of using any object that would cause death, so I modded the chance out. I play with aging off. And in TS4 I can't even bring myself kill a Sim for a story-line! I had to move them into an unplayed lot and pretend they were in prison instead. :D
Yes, some players do make torture chambers or kill their Sims for fun. And it's a computer game so if they want to play that way, it's fine. It's no different to thousands and thousands of other computer games. Or movies. Or plays. Or even that different to kids playing cops and robbers in the playground. It doesn't mean those kids will literally grow up to be cops or robbers anymore than they'll grow up to be a dinosaur.
I think it's a way of exploring the world around us. When those kids play cops and robbers they are acting out a scenario to better understand real-life. To learn right from wrong. When people go and watch a Shakespeare tragedy or a horror movie, they go to feel certain emotions. It's cathartic. It purges us of thoughts and feelings we wouldn't normally experience in our everyday lives. It can actually be healthy.
However, I do not kill my Sims. I'm fiercely protective of them. Which is kind of weird too.
What I do not appreciate is a badly researched, one-sided article, that explores a very small section of our community and paints us all in a negative light. The author completely ignored the thousands of positive Youtube videos, blogs, and stories which show how much many simmers love their Sims.
And to end on an anecdote. My mum used to play the Sims 3. She made our family. My granddad accidentally died and she was distraught. We don't all play the same way. Make of that what you will, New Statesman readers.
