this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024
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Do you think The Sims will ever implement more unfortunate/disappointing aspects of real life into the game? (leminal.space)
submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/thesims
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In The Sims you never really have to worry about taking a step back in life like downsizing to a smaller apartment or moving back in with your parents. I was wondering if you think EA will ever try to break away from this?

Things like a lack of career advancement, job uncertainty, and pay not scaling with rent hikes could be a neat twist. I feel like a lot of people use The Sims for a bit of escapism and things have gotten significantly more cartoony with The Sims 4 so I don't really see it happening.

I could see them adding mental disorders or homelessness but I feel like they'd whitewash a lot of it. In the case of homelessness for example I could see them depicting it like camping or off the grid living.

Maybe one of the Sims rivals that's being developed will tackle this? Who knows?

Some of this may have been implement to various degrees. I still mostly play The Sims 3. I've tried getting into 4 over the years but it's never stuck for me and it's been a while since my last attempt.

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[–] Solumbran 17 points 3 months ago (2 children)

People don't play the sims to feel bad about life.

While some things definitely could use more depth, they also definitely don't need to add the anxiety of real life.

Seriously, how can something where "rent hikes" are mentioned be fun, unless your hobby is to be a fan of finance or something?

It feels like those people who want to put racism and rape in their TTRPG for "realism". It's a game, it doesn't have to contain realistic things, and unless it's a horror game it shouldn't try to mimic the shitty parts of reality.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, this feels a little like privilege wanting to roll play marginalisation, for funsies.. πŸ™„

I've been homeless, I am mentally an otherwise ill, I already know I'm never going to own a home to make my own or have any financial security, why on earth would I, or anyone else who has or is living this shit want to "play" at how distressing life already is for so many of us? And much more confusing, why would someone who hasn't lived this shit, want to "play" at it? Really odd take..

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'm not trying to trivialize those things. I'm saying it could be interesting to have the option for something more real with how over the top a lot of the Sims has become.

I mentioned things getting whitewashed because it's not something I'd want played off as nothing or purely positive. I could see EA being tasteless and depicting homelessness as something like another eco living DLC.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I’m not trying to trivialize those things

Never said you were

I’m saying it could be interesting to have the option for something more real with how over the top a lot of the Sims has become.

Which reflects to me that you have never had these experiences yourself, hence what I did say - this is privilege wanting to roleplay as marginalised, which is pretty weird, to put it mildly.

I mentioned things getting whitewashed because it’s not something I’d want played off as nothing or purely positive.

But something partially positive? Any gamification of homelessness and poverty and other human suffering is whitewashing, your idea, at it's core, is a whitewash.

I could see EA being tasteless and depicting homelessness as something like another eco living DLC.

So why would you ever want them (or any other company for that matter, that would do just as bad a job because this isn't something anyone could do a good job at) to even try?

Yeah, I can see no redeeming qualities to this idea.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

My apologies I thought

Yeah, this feels a little like privilege wanting to roll play marginalisation, for funsies… πŸ™„

came off as you implying I was trivializing those things.

I would be interested to see them try because it's something grounded and real. I deal with mental illness as well but I still enjoy seeing it depicted in media. It's not some kind of elitist power trip it's just moving to see people work through hardships and I think in the context of The Sims and homelessness it would make for an engaging and rewarding challenge. I'd be happier and more sympathetic seeing small improvements in a Sims life than pumping out another immortal millionaire jack-of-all-trades astronaut.

Even if EA absolutely botched implementing something like this maybe they could be improved in the future and if they didn't it would probably be disregarded and forgotten like most of Sims 4's stuff packs. Either way there's potential.

I don't think an interest in this is all that outlandish. People use the Sims to role play just like others use it to escape reality.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

None of that makes seeing misery and suffering and wanting to play at it make sense to me, or makes your suggestion sound any more like a good idea in the way it seems to do for you (and by the looks of the other comments, only you).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I am not talking about some kind of misery porn. I am talking about dealing with hardships and coping with them. I feel like it's what makes games like Life is Strange and To the Moon so powerful. What is there really to overcome in the Sims?

I am not surprised the 5 other comments don't seem too keen on the idea. They refer to the series as a form of escapism and it would be a departure from it's current course. That said you can find a sizeable amount of people online who want this kind of change. Maybe it just stems from the Sims being a unique kind of life simulator that doesn't really have much in the way of direct competition yet.

Here's an example from Reddit but there's a lot of custom content created around it

I feel like we are really veering away from my original point and focusing on the homeless aspect that I said I could see EA trying to paint in a universally positive light. My original post was about having to down size your apartment or not getting promoted at work. Set backs on the level of dealing with student loans.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It would be for an added challenge. I feel like most Sims players experience some kind of plateau after a while of playing with the same family because there's not much left for challenges. Especially if you don't enjoy the supernatural or adventure DLCs.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, that's not the style of (at least the mainline) Sims. It's not meant to be a challenge.

I'm fairly certain there are mods available for this sort of thing if you want it, but EA wants the games to be easy to pick up and appeal to the widest possible market.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I think you're right. EA did have the For Rent expansion which did feature things like evictions and household pests but as far as I'm aware that was mostly on the landlord side of things and it didn't really feel like you were a tenant in an inescapable situation.

I could see them tiptoeing around other issues but I wonder what else they would try

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I play these types of games to live vicariously through my characters, I don't wanna experience the shittiness of real life in them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Fair enough that's why I mentioned the escapism aspect

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Why not just live life instead of playing The Sims then?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

It's still a tangent from reality. Playing out what it might be like to start a family or have a different job is fun.

I prefer the average Joe Shmoe jobs in the games over things like Ghost Hunter and Mad Scientist

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's a game about living the American white suburb dream. The type of gameplay you are suggesting would make it a completely different game; something closer to a survival manager or something.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Do you think it would be possible to have both? I feel like the way the two contrast could fit the over the top and zany world of The Sims.