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Alien Embarrassment/Xenophobia

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While definitely not a bug, this is, in my personal opinion, the most glaring issue in TS4 right now that has yet to be fixed. The way alien embarrassment and the reaction of other Sims to aliens works is absolutely ridiculous. I made a thread on this a long while back, but I have yet to see this addressed in any game patches. I definitely think it is something worth looking into, Sim Gurus! These are some testimonies from the old thread:


"One of my Sims met an alien, too (my first encounter with them), and she became angry right after. I don't understand why. Are aliens automatically despised? Why? The alien didn't do anything to make my Sim angry. He was quite nice, actually. He even shared his meal with her."

"I agree completely! I have an alien sim who is never in her disguise and she constantly gets embarrassed that people discover she's an alien. I feel like this must be some sort of bug because, like you said, it honestly doesn't make sense."

"I had a few sims that felt confident finding out one of my aliens was an alien without them in disguise.
Just sorta felt anticlimactic like

yeah...
great job...
a bald, pointy eared green dude with a squeaky voice and eyes that look like there are tiny galaxies in it, dressed in a light up jumpsuit talked to you about property values and fishing spots... Took you a while, but you did it... You found out his secret...
amazing...
you're so proud, aren't you...
you did it..."

"I also don't understand the alien shaming. It would be different if there were an accompanying personality trait à la 'loves aliens/hates aliens' like TS3 Supernatural had with 'Supernatural Fan/Supernatural Skeptic' but there isn't. Aliens should be allowed to be proud!"

"You know what gets me even worse? Father and mother alien has a baby. The baby grows up to a child. Gets the embarrassed moodlet because mother found out he/she is an alien... XD!!!!!!!"

"I've been against aliens because I didn't like the way they were handled in Sims 3. I finally decided to give them a go in Sims 4. I made a female alien. I gave her a brother and gave him a human husband, I played that family long enough that they had a teen daughter and twin female children. Then I switched to the sister and played her.

She used the wormhole generator to contact an alien and the perfect male stepped through (for her). I sent her over with her new husband (she was pregnant at the time because things went fast, lol) to meet her family. The human male was downright rude. he insulted her new husband, he was so angry that he destroyed his daughter's doll house.

Then after the baby was born, I had them come over to meet the baby.

The human male was again flipping out. He insulted my Sim and her husband, he broke their doll house, and he threw a fit because he was so angry about being surrounded by aliens.

This is his family!

He is married to an alien and has three half-alien children.

I got so disgusted with all of this that I've pretty much abanadoned that save and that makes me sad/mad. I really loved this alien family and I am rather upset that they (the developers) would do this. I don't understand why a Sim is still flipping out and angry over his family being aliens.

GAH......and I'm done with aliens because of this."


Now, this is the interesting part. I looked into what exactly this angry moodlet was that was causing all these Sims to lash out at aliens. This is included in the text of the moodlet: "Why didn't they tell me?!" This would imply that the Sim in question knew the alien beforehand, but never knew they were an alien because of their disguise. If this were the case, it would be understandable. And to avoid this moodlet, maybe there could be an option to "reveal alien identity" or something. But that's not the case. This experiment was done with an undisguised alien, and this angry moodlet was coming up on complete strangers. Not to mention the source of the constant embarrassment. This moodlet should come from being "discovered." The text that pops up even says, "but the disguise was perfect!" This would be all well and dandy, except for the fact that this alien never wears a disguise!

Gurus, please look into this and consider fixing it in the future! Many of us enjoyed playing aliens at first, but these things are really putting a damper on alien gameplay. We want our aliens to be able to be alien and proud, to be able to walk about undisguised without the worry of constant embarrassment and rampant xenophobia!

Comments

  • BeanfootBeanfoot Posts: 602 Member
    Ah! I had one Sim who married an alien and he would not let go of the 🐸🐸🐸🐸 fact that he kept "discovering" his wife was an alien!
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    Bumping this to keep it on page 1. Gurus, if you're watching, please consider looking into this for upcoming patches. It's time to end the xenophobia!
  • Vlydia713Vlydia713 Posts: 159 Member
    Well.. they did promise us a "weird" game... :smirk:
  • dizzydee_kdizzydee_k Posts: 475 Member
    I've had so many abductions that I've grown fond of my aliens, but I wish we had something like Saptarshi's reward traits for Aliens. modthesims.info/download.php?t=567320
  • rosehrtgirlrosehrtgirl Posts: 252 Member
    I agree with this really needs fixing, and most of the time it doesn't make any since, just like children get embarrassed when a parent walks in on them in the bathroom (very unrealistic). As always they always go overboard with the embarrassed emotion. Especially aliens getting embarrassed being discovered by another alien or family member. Aliens should be able to walk around without their disguise and not get embarrassed, they should be proud of their origins.
  • xhellocoldworldxhellocoldworld Posts: 264 Member
    I agree with this completely; I've been saying this system is flawed since forever. I've only played like 2 aliens because of this. I decided to just get that reward trait "Shameless" which prevents your sim from becoming embarrassed. But I shouldn't have to purchase a reward trait just to right a flawed game mechanic.

    I don't think they'll ever remove the feature completely, but they really need to tone down the frequency at which it happens. It shouldn't happen EVERY TIME another sim finds out one is an alien. Aliens shouldn't HAVE to wear disguises 24/7, because then what's the point of having them be aliens?

    "The softest echo could be enough for me to make it through."
    ♥♥♥
    sims-traits.jpg
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    I'm glad to see that this isn't pushed back as many pages as I thought it would be. After some digging, I found another old thread on this issue:

    http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/831288/sim-gets-angry-at-learning-someone-on-the-alien-planet-is-an-alien

    Just today, I had my sim get unreasonably angry at two aliens at the nightclub. These ladies were doing absolutely nothing wrong! All they wanted to do was dance and have a good time! "Why didn't they tell me?!" the moodlet says. But he had literally only just met them! I was so upset and disappointed in him that I reset and opted to have him avoid aliens from now on to prevent this ridiculous anger. To think that you're supposed to be such a friendly Sim! Shame on you!

    Gurus, we really urge you to look into fixing this glaring issue with the aliens. We want to play with aliens, we love the aliens, but these issues are making it difficult to enjoy them.

    END XENOPHOBIA 2K16.
  • AlistuAlistu Posts: 742 Member
    They could AT LEAST make it so that the traits your Sim has would affect how they react. I would not expect a Sim with the "Good" trait to get angry and shouty because they "weren't told" a Sim was an alien.
    Plus, if an alien is wandering around in the open without their disguise on then they should not receive an embarrassed moodlet because they were "discovered."
    I've even had a male Sim that was abducted and came back pregnant "discover" his daughter was an alien only after she aged up to a child and they became good friends. Really? It took you that long to realise?

    I can't help but feel the whole system was created from the viewpoint of playable Sims meeting and discovering NPC townie aliens with little thought given to how those same mechanics would work once the aliens were playable.
    a.k.a. Menaceman44 on MTS.
    Thoughts on a new wall mode?
  • Sha2520032003Sha2520032003 Posts: 2,258 Member
    I agree with this completely. If an alien is already out of disguise, then how are they're 'discovered'? There's nothing to discover....the Sim can clearly see it's an alien. I'm playing an alien family, currently, & my poor Sim can hardly make any friends. Even the children are angry when they discover it's an alien, & my poor child Sim was so embarrassed. The only 'discovering' of aliens should be if they're in disguise & even then it should be tweaked. I always find it cool, when my Sim is talking with an disguised alien and didn't know. I downloaded a Sim from the Gallery that was a disguised alien. I had no idea, just thought she looked cool from the 'red hair challenge'...but I found out later she's alien. I do love aliens in game, but the emotions are over the top.
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    You know what would make my day? To know that the gurus have seen this and are aware of the issue. I actually have an idea, but that's just me. I put END XENOPHOBIA 2K16 in my signature, and it links to this thread. Maybe this would get noticed if more people talked about it, maybe putting it in their signatures?
  • poshbakerlooposhbakerloo Posts: 78 Member
    You know what would make my day? To know that the gurus have seen this and are aware of the issue. I actually have an idea, but that's just me. I put END XENOPHOBIA 2K16 in my signature, and it links to this thread. Maybe this would get noticed if more people talked about it, maybe putting it in their signatures?

    Maybe the rage against aliens was put into the game to highlight a problem is the real world. Looks like it worked.
    I <3 The Sims
  • AlistuAlistu Posts: 742 Member
    @SimGuruHouts @SimGuruLyndsay @SimGuruGraham @SimGuruModSquad
    Could anyone take a look at this and see if reactions or the mechanics of aliens could be tweaked at all?
    a.k.a. Menaceman44 on MTS.
    Thoughts on a new wall mode?
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    I'm really glad to see that this is still getting attention. I really don't want to rest until the Gurus can at least tell us if they are aware of this issue.
  • simmeroliviasimmerolivia Posts: 199 Member
    edited February 2016
    Yes, yes, yes. I hate the automatic prejudice toward aliens. I also have one really big desire for this game, and that is to have the option to disable alien disguises entirely. The option to be an alien-in-disguise is cool and opens up a lot of storytelling options, but I have always loved spending time making weird looking creatures and putting together outfits and makeup that look like they are trying to blend in and adapt to human customs. I wish that these aliens could walk freely around in all their green/blue/purple glory and not worry about everyone being angry at them for simply existing.
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    Have an obligatory bump. This must stay on the front page!
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    I would say that I was disappointed that this was not addressed in the newest patch, but I'm not upset. This is probably to be considered a "bigger issue" that may take a longer time to fix. I love the throwback stuff, too, and I'm thanking plumbob that the Gurus fixed the spicy food issue and gave us the option top disable stereo audio speedup! Still, I must chant...

    March patch! MARCH PATCH! MARCH PATCH!!! Please! PLEASE! PLEASE!!! LOVE FOR ALIENS!!!
  • MocaJavaMocaJava Posts: 1,392 Member
    Totally agree. I hate how people automatically hate my aliens without even getting to know them. And the fact that even if my alien isn't in disguise you still get the 'so and so has just discovered that you're an alien!' Um, duh?
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    Gotta keep this on the first page! If any Gurus or bugs section mods are seeing this, could we get a confirmation on if this is being looked at or not?
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    @rosemow ???
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,479 Member
    Hello
    As a workaround, you could have your alien sims purchase the " shameless" trait from rewards store, then they wouldn't be embarassed.
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    rosemow wrote: »
    Hello
    As a workaround, you could have your alien sims purchase the " shameless" trait from rewards store, then they wouldn't be embarassed.

    @rosemow

    Still, according to the moodlet's description and the popup that appears with it, it should not being showing up if the alien isn't in disguise. I would understand if they had gotten discovered while in disguise, but that's not what's happening. I think it's really unfair that our aliens have to save up all these points to prevent an annoying moodlet that shouldn't even be popping up in the first place. And then there's these Sims that are always so unreasonably angry at the aliens. The offending moodlet that causes this says "why didn't they tell me?!" Um, excuse you. You're a complete stranger, and my alien wasn't even in disguise to begin with.

    ...

    I'm sorry, I just really want my poor aliens to be happy...
  • worldofdrakanworldofdrakan Posts: 329 Member
    Wow, this needs a serious bump!
  • RoboSpongieRoboSpongie Posts: 1,042 Member
    Everyone keeps getting angry at my alien sim because they're an alien I wished they fixed that
    = Sims Player for 17+ Years =
    tumblr_inline_nsj7xjgkAi1rrkf1x_500.gif
  • justsomebodyjustsomebody Posts: 1 New Member
    /bumpity bump. This has been driving me nuts as well.
  • xXKuroFaiXxxXKuroFaiXx Posts: 83 Member
    Agreed.
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