Frustrated by outdated and limited clothing

I’ve been playing the Sims Freeplay since i was 12, and I’m now 21. I’ve always loved the game along with every other Sims game. In recent years, though, I’m getting tired and frustrated with it. 

I can tell by the items put out and the general decor/clothing that this game is leaning heavily into the preferences of an older generation, moreso people in their 30s-40s and older. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing so, but it’s so limited that it majorly excludes the younger generations coming in. I’m gen z, and I know so many people my age who love the Sims franchise. It’s literally a part of our childhoods. But there is such a disconnect with this game specifically. Games like Sims 3 or Sims 2 have a pass, they’re stuck in the time period they were made and that’s fun. I love the 2000’s clothing of the Sims 3. But a game like Freeplay that’s constantly updating and constantly evolving should be moving with the times and it’s not.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with holding onto older styles or having options for older players. But I think it’s not a good idea to only appeal to older players when that means excluding younger ones. We are the current and future audience. As it is, every new clothing, hair, and furniture item is outdated and the same as every other item that already exists. 

Only just now have we gotten a clothing pack that includes a shaggy/layered hairstyle. That’s been the trend for the past 5 years. Baggy clothing, androgynous clothing, shaggy hairstyles, and vintage styles have been in for so so so so so long and somehow we don’t have any of them in the game.

Just recently a ‘cottagecore’ pack was released. Every single piece of clothing in that pack was just business casual. There was not even an influence of cottagecore, and that aesthetic has been around for years now. I don’t see any 2000s clothing or styles aside from some low rise flare jeans for female sims, and again, that’s been in for the past year and a half. You’re lucky if you find any clothing items that even resemble something baggy or oversized. Women wearing masculine clothing has been a thing for so long and it’s only getting trendier. And yet, there’s not a single item of clothing for women that’s not explicitly feminine. It is so frustrating. All I want is to replicate the styles I and my peers like and currently wear and to have versatile sims who can present how they like. Not just a relabeled gender option, actual variety in how a sim can present. But none of that is available, and I don’t see any change coming soon.

It wouldn’t take a lot to get in touch with what fashion and decor is trending. There are so so so many aesthetics and styles that people love right now and have since about 2020: Y2K, McBling, cottagecore, coquettecore, indie, alternative fashion like goth or punk, 90s, 80s, 70s. There is a plethora of aesthetics that people love right now, and have been into for years. Baggy clothing, vintage styles, alternative styles, shags, mullets, wolfcuts, all of these have become defining fashion choices for my generation and not a single thing is available in this game.

I start to wonder if it’s intentionally overlooked in favor of the same business casual clothing and ‘modern’ decor. I don’t understand and I’m starting to feel like no matter how many challenges I do and new items I get, I’m never actually going to get the kind of style I want to see. I’m sure plenty of people my age feel the same, and it’s driving us away. I don’t know how to change this or start to see an inclusion of current trends and just younger generations as a whole but maybe someone in EA will see this. I’m begging, even just 5 minutes of scrolling on pinterest would give enough ideas to fill the next 10 updates. I love this game but I’m getting disappointed time and time again and I would do anything to just see the slightest bit of inclusion for people my age and even younger. This game will not make it past the current playerbase if it can’t also appeal to younger audiences. If I hadn’t enjoyed this game as a kid, I wouldn’t be playing now. If people younger than me can’t see anything here that appeals to them, I doubt they’ll be long term players either.