AS A GAMER / SIMMER12mich06:
What led you to become a gamer and was your choice accepted by your peers (parents, partner...)?
SimGuruRad:
My parents have been amazing. They already loved games before I was born, so I got an easy route (I shared a picture of me as a toddler playing on the computer on Twitter a few years ago). We played games together as I grew up and still play World of Warcraft together 3 nights a week; my dad is the guild leader, and my mom is the raid leader. My mom loves sharing what I work on with their friends, and she always shares the livestreams when I'm on them in our Discord channel. My sister and I used to sit up in our library and play through adventure games together, but as I got older I started playing more by myself. I got my first Game Boy when I was 9, and with each iteration, I took it with me most places I went.
SimGuruKuxiku:
My parents were indeed the ones introducing me and my two brothers to gaming when they brought home a Game Boy with Tetris. The place where me and my family lived when I was a kid was outside of town, so my options were very limited when it came to the amount of other kids to play with. Actually, there were no other girls of my age, so I used to play with my 2 brothers and their friends, and for them it was all about gaming, as it was for me, naturally, because I did not know it any other way. That was also the time I started playing PC games and the game that I loved the most back then was Roller Coaster Tycoon.
I remember that secondary school was indeed less fun, as I was the only girl in our entire year who played video games and girls of my age were still considering it to be a “boys” thing. Based on this, I was kind of an outcast with not many friends in school. So yep, I guess you can say that my gaming passion was not well accepted by my peers. But even though these times might not be the ones that I look back on happily, it taught me something very valuable: you gotta follow your passion and do what makes you happy without worrying about what others might think about it. Because, exactly those people who try to make you believe that you’re different, odd, weird or nerdy, they won’t be a part of your life forever. One day you will be done with school and you won’t be confronted with their judgement any longer. You will be able to make your own decisions, where you want to go, where you want to live, meet up with people that you want to meet and who share your passion. It will get better, so much better, and, in the end, you will see how insignificant mean schoolgirls’ opinions can really be.
SimGuruRusskii:
I have to say that basically curiosity really, haha. My brother, being the oldest, had access to a computer and gaming consoles and I was always by his side, so once I started to express interest, he started teaching me how they worked and what games I could play. That is also how I learned to code for the first time—my brother was into coding and learned BASIC at around 6 years old haha. My parents had no issues as long as my academics were on target. Sure, there were times they didn't understand why I liked it, but they never opposed. So my gaming was never a detriment to my family's dynamics hahaha.
When I said I wanted to work in games, my parents were not sure how that would work out at first. My parents did not understand the industry at the time. Back in my home country, being in video games was not the norm and the way the industry works was not super well known, so they would be concerned every once in a while if I was stable financially, if the workload was ok, etc. But they were very supportive and asked questions on how things worked. I still get the occasional call from my mum like "
Are you eating well?" hahaha. My partner shares my passion for gaming, even though he is in a different industry, he likes that he can relax and play games with me every once in a while.
I think my immediate circle, if you will, understands it is what I wanted to do and what I also do on part of my free time as I continue to play games while working in the industry, so I think they are happy about me following my passion.
CaptainElsa:
My dad often commented (not incorrectly) that Sims was "playing Barbies" for grown-ups. And certainly my vast Barbie empire prepared me for not only sims but my larger work life in general.
So what did you play with as a kid that prepared you for simming/working in your field?
SimGuruMiriam:
I had a dollhouse when I was growing up that I loved and would spend hours playing with. I would constantly make up stories about the residents of the dollhouse (who were not actually dolls but little animal toys). So, even before The Sims, I think I wanted The Sims.
As far as playing computer games, I used to play tons of "point-n-click" style adventure games. Those were my favorites. I spent tons of time playing them, taking in the stories, puzzle designs, and also noticing how fun it was to be immersed in another world. When The Sims came out, I started playing that too and never stopped. That definitely prepared me for Simming! I still remember moments from when I first played, including getting a weird prank phone call. I just remember thinking how much humor and detail were in the game, even in the early stages, it was impressive...and fun!
P.S, I used to play with Barbies too and would make them do the macarena. This was in the 90s so you might have to google it. Good times!
comicsforlife:
Do you like playing sims games?
SimGuruPopcorn:
I
love playing Sims games. I've played since Sims 1! It has seen me through every life stage. I play at home as well. Mainly because:
1. I genuinely enjoy playing it and have always felt a connection to it.
2. It helps me at work! The more I understand the game, the easier it is to do my job.
12mich06:
The moderation on Twitch or any other streaming platform is important to eliminate inappropriate and sexist remarks, did you ever experience these?
SimGuruDana:
As an avid gamer for many years now, I have definitely encountered these kinds of hurtful comments many times. While they are still a prevalent issue, I have high hopes for the near future. We see a lot more women and girls playing all kinds of different games these days, which was less common when I was growing up. In fact, women make up nearly half of all gamers now. I think it's important to find the communities that accept women as gamers, and try not to let the rude and intolerant ones ruin your passions.
Arkenja:
As women, are you favorite sims female or male?
SimGuruRad:
I think I have a slight preference towards our female characters, but I do have a few male ones that I love. Maybe a 3:1 ratio of female to male.
Catrollz:
How many times do you play The Sims at work? Do you prefer building houses or playing with the sims?
SimGuruRad:Producers play the game as much as we can while at work, although it's mostly to catch bugs and see how well all of the pieces of the game play together. On my own time, I really enjoy creating Sims in CAS. Often I base them on my own original characters, or sometimes I like creating characters from books, and celebrities.
