this is making me repeat apoint i have stated out a million time Can I turn this feature off?
No. While we try to give players the option to toggle certain gameplay features, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life and not a toggle to be switched on and off.
yes the sims4 needs more toggle no players are the same and if you look at other countrys sime countrys might accept this feature but some might not ence the point of having more toggles in game
If you went the sims5 to remain offline feel free to sign this petition http://chng.it/gtfHPhHK please note that it is also to keep the gallery
Well... as side effect of the "defaults" we can see now why unless use mods, no played sims no develops romance or marry with other no played sim
Romantically attracted to, is off to women and to men Then if we edit some sims and chech an attraction, eventually can get romances if we no control them?
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
Yes that does make me feel better. Sorry that I didn't know what gyazo is so didn't know that an announcement made on here would be clarified on there. I hope you can forgive me.
And yes you figured out my "true colors." I want to play the game the way I want to play the game. Good job figuring that out. I didn't realize that it was a mystery.
Again, I am not opposed to this feature, as long as it is not forced on us. I might even use it, I don't know. I just wanted clarification. Thank you for providing some. I was all cool with what I was reading about it until that last FAQ which implied that it was not in fact able to be turned off.
Everything got out of hand when people started implying that I'm some kind of phobic without knowing anything about me. I apologize for my part in that simply for voicing my concerns.
But again, thank you for the clarification. I'll know from now on that things posted in here may not necessarily reflect what is actually going to happen.
Once I see how the system actually works, I might even enjoy some aspects of it. It seemed very positive, again until the end. That's what I was concerned about.
Now that I have at least learned from, I'm assuming it's an official Sims team member, albeit by secondhand relay, I feel better about it.
Again, sorry for "being loud here," where I learned about it. I'm also sorry that I didn't know there was a livestream about it or even where to watch said livestream. I'm assuming on YouTube? What is the official name of the Sims channel on YouTube?
In the future if such announcements are made maybe the announcer can link the livestream. If they did in this case, I missed it.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
The part in bold is a big contradiction. First half is contradicted by the second.
Since we’re throwing the “true colors” gotcha card out there willy nilly, let me share my feelings on the matter. In my game I have many straight sims, gay sims, lesbian sims and bi sims. It’s my game. I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience. I don’t care if it takes 2 minutes, that’s 2 minutes I shouldn’t have to be spending making an arbitrary edit just to play the game how I want.
I think it is great they are giving players these tools to make Sims that operate in the ways they desire. However, the tools are for the players to tell their stories. Not for the developers to place restrictions in my game that I have to manually override to do what I want. This isn’t a narrative game. It’s a sandbox game. The developers are not telling stories that I’m required to play out, and inserting any kind of restrictive box on what I am able to do without cheat codes and edits is overreaching and unnecessary.
Maybe I’ve shed some light on the weird point, or maybe you just disagree entirely so you don’t care about any opposing points being raised. Either way, you can’t say “do nothing and nothing changes” and then actually require me to make edits to change it back to what is currently the default. Like I said, in my game I decide who is who. I don’t need the developers making that determination for me.
Whatever the upcoming & future premades are set up as - you do not have to keep them as that. You can easily change their settings to the default "ambiguously bisexual/pansexual" setting we have currently.
I understand that it might be annoying to have to do that, but these are sims made by the developers for promotional + gameplay introduction purposes - what you do with them is up to you and no one is saying you have to keep them like that. Newly generated sims will not have orientations assigned to them. You can even just straight up delete the characters if you don't want them.
Many fans have wanted more lore/stories for premades and while we'll see if their relationships accurately reflect what we're told - these are just backdrops/part of the sim you can choose to keep or omit.
This is a tool many will use for storytelling purposes, but also for mechanical purposes. You can choose to use it or not. It is present by default for premade sims from this pack + future packs, but you can customize that to your liking.
No. While we try to give players the option to toggle certain gameplay features, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life and not a toggle to be switched on and off.
How can this mean anything else?
@EA_Cade specifically said that the sexual orientations can not be toggled on or off. Essentially, no you can't turn it off. If I'm wrong, then fine. I just don't like people putting restrictions on who my sims interact with and how.
This could all be cleared up if the mods would come in and explain it better. We were told they want our comments but yet, where are they with the responses? Do we have to go hunt them down on other social media? We're not there, we're here and they posted here. So I'd really like some clarification to what all of this means.
What is so wrong with people getting to choose their own partners? And please don't bring up the "reality" comment unless you can prove merfolk, vampires, werewolves and walking/talking scarecrows are real.
I think this announcement could have been worded a lot better than it was, and if it had been a lot of hard feelings and anger could have been avoided.
My understanding of how this is supposed to work is it will be like the pronouns. If you don't open that sub-menu up and start assigning labels the game is not on it's own going to do it for you, so you will see no change at all. It will be sims life as usual, romantic and sexual anarchy. For those of us who want these features we have to actively set them up ourselves. I think by now everybody has seen that the pronouns did not change anybody's game that didn't want it changed. That is what EA should have stressed here, this will be implemented and function the same as pronouns. The only way to avoid being in your game completely is to not update your game.
Then they should have pointed that just like pronouns if you do nothing else beyond updating your game you will never see or hear from that feature again. I don't believe that if you do nothing, and do not opt-in that you have anything to fear. I haven't gone in and setup pronouns for my sims, and yet none of them has pronouns showing. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
I think it would be a good idea for them to come in Monday morning and straighten out the wording on that announcement. By then that may be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic though.
I think you're probably right. The wording could maybe have been a bit better, but it's not entirely unclear. I read it as saying that although the entire sexual orientation system can't be turned off, its features don't have to be used if one doesn't want to use them. I find it difficult to read any other meaning in it. I personally find this system a welcome addition, and its form of implementation seems to be a vast improvement over certain other systems (Likes and Dislikes, I'm looking at you) that can't even be ignored at all without annoying pop-ups or mods to be rid of them.
@VeeDub I'm not against this feature, it's crystal clear to me how it works. My only point was if EA had simply explained that this works exactly like pronouns it would have shut down all these misunderstandings others were having about how this all works. I'm not against having these features in the game. I love that it's there, or will be soon, but there is even more for inclusion that I want to see added.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience.
How is it different from premades having traits you might not like? Their orientation will be just a part of their personality, and their personality might be suitable for your gameplay or not.
If a sim has a “Hates Children” trait, they will refuse to try for baby with you. Are developers dictating how to play by creating child-haters? No, they are just making different sims. They don't owe you your ideal premades, honestly, but they are giving you the freedom to change them or delete them completely.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
The part in bold is a big contradiction. First half is contradicted by the second.
Since we’re throwing the “true colors” gotcha card out there willy nilly, let me share my feelings on the matter. In my game I have many straight sims, gay sims, lesbian sims and bi sims. It’s my game. I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience. I don’t care if it takes 2 minutes, that’s 2 minutes I shouldn’t have to be spending making an arbitrary edit just to play the game how I want.
I think it is great they are giving players these tools to make Sims that operate in the ways they desire. However, the tools are for the players to tell their stories. Not for the developers to place restrictions in my game that I have to manually override to do what I want. This isn’t a narrative game. It’s a sandbox game. The developers are not telling stories that I’m required to play out, and inserting any kind of restrictive box on what I am able to do without cheat codes and edits is overreaching and unnecessary.
Maybe I’ve shed some light on the weird point, or maybe you just disagree entirely so you don’t care about any opposing points being raised. Either way, you can’t say “do nothing and nothing changes” and then actually require me to make edits to change it back to what is currently the default. Like I said, in my game I decide who is who. I don’t need the developers making that determination for me.
Whatever the upcoming & future premades are set up as - you do not have to keep them as that. You can easily change their settings to the default "ambiguously bisexual/pansexual" setting we have currently.
I understand that it might be annoying to have to do that, but these are sims made by the developers for promotional + gameplay introduction purposes - what you do with them is up to you and no one is saying you have to keep them like that. Newly generated sims will not have orientations assigned to them. You can even just straight up delete the characters if you don't want them.
Many fans have wanted more lore/stories for premades and while we'll see if their relationships accurately reflect what we're told - these are just backdrops/part of the sim you can choose to keep or omit.
This is a tool many will use for storytelling purposes, but also for mechanical purposes. You can choose to use it or not. It is present by default for premade sims from this pack + future packs, but you can customize that to your liking.
I don’t see why promotion and introduction purposes should become an inconvenience. Again, I’m aware I can edit the sims what I’m saying is I shouldn’t have to do that. This would be a non-issue if the developers would allow a global pansexual option to override their presets. They are unwilling to do that. Meaning if I want to make a sim they have deemed gay form a relationship with a female identifying Sim I have to enter a cheat code and edit the sim to make that possible.
Like I said I think this is a great feature for people to make sims that follow the orientation they set for them. However the handling from the developers seems too invasive. Their reasoning behind it doesn’t make it less invasive. I get what they’re saying, but it’s my game where I am in control. I don’t need them trying to insert restrictions trying to get me to play their stories how they want them to be played. From a standpoint of this being a sandbox game that just seems counterintuitive.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience.
How is it different from premades having traits you might not like? Their orientation will be just a part of their personality, and their personality might be suitable for your gameplay or not.
If a sim has a “Hates Children” trait, they will refuse to try for baby with you. Are developers dictating how to play by creating child-haters? No, they are just making different sims. They don't owe you your ideal premades, honestly, but they are giving you the freedom to change them or delete them completely.
Is that a new thing regarding that trait? I’ve had sims with that trait have kids. Just like I have had non-committal sims accept a marriage proposals, and exchange their vows. I’ve had sims who dislike video games go play video games. You see none of these prevent those things from happening and don’t require an edit in my experience.
@Calico45 right now you can't romance or woohoo every premade. Adults can't woohoo with teens and nosim can romance children or toddlers. Do you think that's also limiting?
.
Do you really think people here want to romance children? What kind of sick comparison is that? Or am i misunderstanding your comment?
No, I don't think there's people here who want to romance children. I think paedophilia is sick, I also think that forcing someone who's not into you (because of whatever reason) is terrible.
100% agreed. IRL. In public, it is rude to not have even have the basic courtesy and concern. However, in a single player game you are not supposed to have to keep up the same due diligence. The arbitrarily coded pixels did not go through any sexual awakening or experience any prejudice. They are just pixels.
Are you really trying to say respecting people and arbitrary pixels is one and the same?
I'm not demanding that you don't get the possibility to change a character's sexual orientation. You play like you want to. I just feel thet you're demanding that for existence and experience to conform to comodify your wants. Again, you'll be able to change orientation in CAS, it just feels that your want to undo our existance should prevail our reality.
I really don’t see how me wanting to play the game my own way involves you. No offense, but I don’t. I have said I think this is a great feature for players. I’m gay, but I don’t need the developers telling me who is gay in my game. That’s up to me to decide. I don’t care if they make gay sims at all, I’m capable of doing that myself. All I’m saying is I would prefer to not have additional steps to play the game my way. I’m sorry my posts came across to you the way they did, but they weren’t intended to. We are all entitled to our feelings regarding this stuff and how it’s handled in the game.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience.
How is it different from premades having traits you might not like? Their orientation will be just a part of their personality, and their personality might be suitable for your gameplay or not.
If a sim has a “Hates Children” trait, they will refuse to try for baby with you. Are developers dictating how to play by creating child-haters? No, they are just making different sims. They don't owe you your ideal premades, honestly, but they are giving you the freedom to change them or delete them completely.
Is that a new thing regarding that trait? I’ve had sims with that trait have kids. Just like I have had non-committal sims accept a marriage proposals, and exchange their vows. I’ve had sims who dislike video games go play video games. You see none of these prevent those things from happening and don’t require an edit in my experience.
Yes, it's kinda new, it was added with that trait rewamp maybe last year. They still can have kids, but they should be ones to initiate it, otherwise they will refuse.
With this I hope they will also eventually rework making polyamorous sims. Right now as it stand you have to cheat to make a sim poly, be this by cheating on your sims romantic partners to unlock the achievement perk or by cheating with commands to unlock it.
No. While we try to give players the option to toggle certain gameplay features, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life and not a toggle to be switched on and off.
How can this mean anything else?
@EA_Cade specifically said that the sexual orientations can not be toggled on or off. Essentially, no you can't turn it off. If I'm wrong, then fine. I just don't like people putting restrictions on who my sims interact with and how.
This could all be cleared up if the mods would come in and explain it better. We were told they want our comments but yet, where are they with the responses? Do we have to go hunt them down on other social media? We're not there, we're here and they posted here. So I'd really like some clarification to what all of this means.
What is so wrong with people getting to choose their own partners? And please don't bring up the "reality" comment unless you can prove merfolk, vampires, werewolves and walking/talking scarecrows are real.
I think this announcement could have been worded a lot better than it was, and if it had been a lot of hard feelings and anger could have been avoided.
My understanding of how this is supposed to work is it will be like the pronouns. If you don't open that sub-menu up and start assigning labels the game is not on it's own going to do it for you, so you will see no change at all. It will be sims life as usual, romantic and sexual anarchy. For those of us who want these features we have to actively set them up ourselves. I think by now everybody has seen that the pronouns did not change anybody's game that didn't want it changed. That is what EA should have stressed here, this will be implemented and function the same as pronouns. The only way to avoid being in your game completely is to not update your game.
Then they should have pointed that just like pronouns if you do nothing else beyond updating your game you will never see or hear from that feature again. I don't believe that if you do nothing, and do not opt-in that you have anything to fear. I haven't gone in and setup pronouns for my sims, and yet none of them has pronouns showing. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
I think it would be a good idea for them to come in Monday morning and straighten out the wording on that announcement. By then that may be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic though.
I think you're probably right. The wording could maybe have been a bit better, but it's not entirely unclear. I read it as saying that although the entire sexual orientation system can't be turned off, its features don't have to be used if one doesn't want to use them. I find it difficult to read any other meaning in it. I personally find this system a welcome addition, and its form of implementation seems to be a vast improvement over certain other systems (Likes and Dislikes, I'm looking at you) that can't even be ignored at all without annoying pop-ups or mods to be rid of them.
@VeeDub I'm not against this feature, it's crystal clear to me how it works. My only point was if EA had simply explained that this works exactly like pronouns it would have shut down all these misunderstandings others were having about how this all works. I'm not against having these features in the game. I love that it's there, or will be soon, but there is even more for inclusion that I want to see added.
Oh, I was actually agreeing with you and also expressing my personal take on it. I apologize if my own words were unclear.
FYI: Just because you can see my signature, don't assume that I can see yours.
Because I can't; I keep all sigs turned off.
@PenguinFoop I don't know what's causing it. I'm relieved to hear it's not supposed to be possible, because I couldn't figure out why it would even be OK. I've been using MCCC to fix it, but as to what's causing it...I don't have a clue. I don't have anything installed that WOULD cause anything like that.
The romantic options aren't visible in the UI. It's something they're doing autonomously...like the scripts are accessing bits of code and executing autonomy on functions that shouldn't be available but somehow still are.
@VeeDub It's all good and we're all good. There is a good reason I had mostly avoided this thread. As someone who has real personal investment in the subject, I am T and B or L, I'm still sorting that out, my emotions on the subject are very strong and I just misread you're intent. I bowed out of this thread early on because my buttons were getting, not pushed but hammered like a whack-a-mole. I thought I could come back and keep a lid on them but even still they led me to take your words wrong. I am sorry for that.
Prior to this the game existed in a weird state where:
1. Everyone was pansexual and panromantic (explicitly/objectively)
2. Premade sims were 'coded' (meaning presented as, not actual coding) as being a set, non pansexual/panromantic sexuality (implicitly/subjectively)
You can disagree with 2 if you want and say, well the Pancakes were in a heterosexual relationship but that doesn't mean they were heterosexual. Explicitly/objectively you'd be right, via the code, they were pan. However, this would then also apply to couples like Brent and Brant and other such couples that were implicitly/subjectively coded as homosexual by the developers. It would also apply to your own sims ie you could say they were heterosexual or homosexual but in actuality they were not.
If everybody is [x] it's kinda hard to talk about meaningful representation at all, everything is just an undifferentiated melange. The one thing that was Sims' saving grace in this respect was that their undifferentiated melange was maximally inclusive and was not, like a lot of games, a norm in which heterosexuality was just the norm. However, inclusivity is not synonymous with representation. This is a move towards more meaningful representation.
Is inclusivity lost? No, honestly I wouldn't really say so. Considering the system will, per the devs, remain the same except (presumably) for future premades and the default setting is pansexual/panromantic AND that can be changed any time via CAS the only people who 'lose' are those who absolutely insist that no sim should ever be anything but panromantic/pansexual.
Did they say if "woohoo buddies" will call to ask for woohoo (like romantic interests can call for dates)? If not, I'll just have to consider being asked over or asking to come over as such. I like that feature (threw me for a loop when they announced it), so here's hoping for more romantic options in the future.
Check out my 'Simming Tips' for detailed tips and tricks (TS4).
Did they say if "woohoo buddies" will call to ask for woohoo (like romantic interests can call for dates)? If not, I'll just have to consider being asked over or asking to come over as such.
That's an interesting question.
*ring ring*
Hello?
Yo bro, I'm flirty.
Oh, okay. I'll be right there.
Cool cool. Oh hey, pick up a pizza?
Sure, and drinks.
Cool Cool. See you soon.
Aight dude. Be there soon.
Later.
*click*
Honestly, I'm just glad I can finally specify certain sims as aro/ace, AND have them be unable to be swayed by the whims of gameplay. Just completely aro/ace, and that's it. This part of me hasn't really felt represented by The Sims until now, so it's exciting to me!
I remember when I realized I was ace about ten years ago, and just how utterly unknown and invisible my orientation was. I didn't even really come out to people at the time because that meant I'd also have to explain what it even meant. And now look at this. We're known, and we can make ace sims soon. I'm so happy.
Also, the default setting is still the way it has always worked up until now; pan and changeable. I'm just happy the game's finally providing more options and ways to control this, as sometimes, some of us actually do have specific orientations in mind for our sims. I think it's nice to be able to reflect that in-game.
And who knows, maybe some new premades will still have the default settings like previously. Because yeah, people are right, simmers like being able to do whatever they want with the premades. We should be allowed to decide and elaborate on who they are sometimes. Meanwhile, I also like that some premades may have preset settings.
I guess it's about striking a balance?
I know that many players have wanted a feature such as this to enhance the stories that they tell in Their own personal single player gameplay. I am glad that some players are getting this feature, however, The Sims Team has said many times that they are updating the looks and premades currently in the game (like with the Goths physical changes so far) and even adding the pronouns and now the sexual orientation to them.
How is this inclusive to all players considering that there are approximately 159 premade Sims in the game prior to Werewolf's and the new pack coming out?
The way this is being implemented seems to suggest if Player A for example doesn't want to use the features, they are the ones that will have to spend the time to manually go in and not just be able to easily change the settings back on each and every premade in the game, but have to jump through the extra hoops of using mods or cheat codes in order to not use the feature.
My response is not against the LGBTQIA+ community, but rather since this is a single player game, each player may see these premades in a different way. For example, Player A may consider Darling Walsh as just a tomboy, but Player B may look at this character as a member of the LGBTQIA+ Community with a specific identity (I am not familiar with the terms, so I am just going to leave Darling's identity vague).
My concern is that by the Team stating that this is just the beginning and they have future plans in regards to updating all of the sims that we as players have been playing this game with for years and changing them to suit the developers way of playing and the viewpoints of GLAAD and the It Gets Better Project without considering the playstyles of all of their player base that may not play their personal game with these stories in mind kind of worries me. The implementation seems less inclusive if it is harder to not use it than to use it. It just feels more restrictive than inclusive to all playstyles when you consider that there is already 159+ premade households (as of My Wedding Stories) plus all the random townies generated every play session that a player will have to spend time having to use cheat codes and mods in order to change, some of which have been in the game since the beginning and players have strong opinions, ideas, and feelings about these characters in their games.
This is just my opinion, and I am not speaking for anybody else.
I can't wait to get this update. There are some premades that I will fix on every one of my saves. They will finally be how I've always expected them to be. Also some of my own Sims (hopefully) won't accidentally flirt with "wrong" Sims anymore.
I only ever play with premades if they are spouses of my CAS-created sims so I personally don't have an issue with the changes. I'll be happy that my own sims can have their preferences set as I wish.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
The part in bold is a big contradiction. First half is contradicted by the second.
Since we’re throwing the “true colors” gotcha card out there willy nilly, let me share my feelings on the matter. In my game I have many straight sims, gay sims, lesbian sims and bi sims. It’s my game. I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience. I don’t care if it takes 2 minutes, that’s 2 minutes I shouldn’t have to be spending making an arbitrary edit just to play the game how I want.
I think it is great they are giving players these tools to make Sims that operate in the ways they desire. However, the tools are for the players to tell their stories. Not for the developers to place restrictions in my game that I have to manually override to do what I want. This isn’t a narrative game. It’s a sandbox game. The developers are not telling stories that I’m required to play out, and inserting any kind of restrictive box on what I am able to do without cheat codes and edits is overreaching and unnecessary.
Maybe I’ve shed some light on the weird point, or maybe you just disagree entirely so you don’t care about any opposing points being raised. Either way, you can’t say “do nothing and nothing changes” and then actually require me to make edits to change it back to what is currently the default. Like I said, in my game I decide who is who. I don’t need the developers making that determination for me.
Whatever the upcoming & future premades are set up as - you do not have to keep them as that. You can easily change their settings to the default "ambiguously bisexual/pansexual" setting we have currently.
I understand that it might be annoying to have to do that, but these are sims made by the developers for promotional + gameplay introduction purposes - what you do with them is up to you and no one is saying you have to keep them like that. Newly generated sims will not have orientations assigned to them. You can even just straight up delete the characters if you don't want them.
Many fans have wanted more lore/stories for premades and while we'll see if their relationships accurately reflect what we're told - these are just backdrops/part of the sim you can choose to keep or omit.
This is a tool many will use for storytelling purposes, but also for mechanical purposes. You can choose to use it or not. It is present by default for premade sims from this pack + future packs, but you can customize that to your liking.
I don’t see why promotion and introduction purposes should become an inconvenience. Again, I’m aware I can edit the sims what I’m saying is I shouldn’t have to do that. This would be a non-issue if the developers would allow a global pansexual option to override their presets. They are unwilling to do that. Meaning if I want to make a sim they have deemed gay form a relationship with a female identifying Sim I have to enter a cheat code and edit the sim to make that possible.
Like I said I think this is a great feature for people to make sims that follow the orientation they set for them. However the handling from the developers seems too invasive. Their reasoning behind it doesn’t make it less invasive. I get what they’re saying, but it’s my game where I am in control. I don’t need them trying to insert restrictions trying to get me to play their stories how they want them to be played. From a standpoint of this being a sandbox game that just seems counterintuitive.
I reiterate, nobody is demanding that you shouldn't be able to change the settings -except Disney, you will never be able to romance Kylo Ren nor Rei in the Sims 4- but you should be conscious that you're demanding to override the orientation of premades and gallery Sims with a full storyline behind that represents the harsh reality that LGBT+ people are subjected to just because you're feeling it's too inconvenient to change those settings yourself in CAS.
This is a single player video game where it is my discretion to override whatever I wish. I think it’s blissfully ignorant to equate what I do in my save game to the harsh reality of LGBT people. Sims are not real people and do not face those harsh realities. Enough of that. Sims is an escape, not a reminder.
I feel I’ve explained my point of view thoroughly enough, can’t please everyone and I’m not trying to. We are all entitled to our own feelings on how these things are handled in our games. If I want to decide who is gay, I have the discretion to do that. I don’t need hard coded settings to do that either, but the fact they are being offered is great for people who want them. Offering a simpler way to accomplish making all sims pansexual (open to whatever sexual relation I want for them) is not a reason to be riled up, and it’s definitely not a reason to insert the reality of being gay into the discussion. Sims do not and have never faced those hardships and never will. Our real life identities and hardships do not hinge on what happens in a Sims game. I don’t need a reminder of what I’ve been through, that doesn’t factor into how I play my game. If you play differently then good for you, but I don’t need developers imposing restrictions on how the game operates because they feel they need to reflect hardships of my reality in it. That feels like an invasion of something that is quite personal, my experience, and I do not like that.
I hope that this feature will help me to control my sims a little. Currently I've stolen some of partners by accident in my gameplay. I don't remember all premade sims and their backstories so it is really easy to flirt with a sim with which you don't want to. Because of that some of my sims have even changed the premade sexual orientation because the game hasn't blocked me.
Others have said that the live stream mentioned that it won't affect current NPC's but future ones will have their sexuality decided for them.
The funny thing about all of this is that I don't care about people being labeled. That's their own choice to limit what they are first attracted to. If they want to center their whole relationship around genitalia, then I can't stop them. My concern is that those who limit their own lives are now possibly limiting my game. This is my escape; my one place where I'm not ridiculed by the labeled. And now, I feel like I have to deal with that in here too.
I get that all of the labels want to be represented and if this was a multi-player game, I'd be okay with that. This is my game to play the way I want, not the way they want. I'm sure there are going to be games where the players are going to discriminate against those outside their label and that's on them. But for my game, I'd rather have everyone be attracted to each other based on things that actually matter like common interests, personalities, belief systems and so on. A world where gender is not the center of the universe.
That's what Sims has always been and is now. But it does not seem like that is where it's going. If you can tell me that you represent EA, Maxis or better yet the Sims team and are speaking with absolute certainty that I am wrong in my understanding, then great. If not, then we're both unsure of what's actually going on.
But as it is, nobody who knows the answer is clarifying anything so I guess there's no further point to this conversation for me. So I'm sure some will be happy to hear that I'm out.
Peace and love to you and I hope you're right and I'm wrong.
Is this good enough for you, and everyone else harping on about this weird point?
Such a shame seeing so many 'true colors' coming out to play with Simmers. They've stated that if you don't touch the sexual orientation options, it will not change anything about your game whatsoever from how it is now, and how it has been in the past. If you are really that upset about the fact that a townie in the future will be gay and you can't take the 2 minutes to go into CAS and change it real quick, then I don't know what to tell you lol.
I would highly suggest people go and actually watch the livestream where they go over the orientation in CAS. If you are purposefully not seeking out information on this topic yourself and instead just being loud here, then that's your journey to make.
I decide who is straight, gay, lesbian, bi, or anything else for that matter. Me. The developers can make pre-made Sims, they can give them elaborate descriptions, in-game relationships, the whole nine yards, but they cannot dictate what happens with that Sim in the course of my save game. If I have to enter a cheat code and manually edit a Sim in order to make them what I want them to be, that becomes an inconvenience.
How is it different from premades having traits you might not like? Their orientation will be just a part of their personality, and their personality might be suitable for your gameplay or not.
If a sim has a “Hates Children” trait, they will refuse to try for baby with you. Are developers dictating how to play by creating child-haters? No, they are just making different sims. They don't owe you your ideal premades, honestly, but they are giving you the freedom to change them or delete them completely.
So your answer to some restrictions is more restrictions?
Did I say that?
Well, to be honest, I love “restrictions”. I just call them “challenges” haha. And I want them when they make sense, yes. A child hater who doesn't want to have unprotected woohoo makes sense. A gay sim who doesn't want to date my female sim makes sense.
As I said earlier, it's more about simmers who love to micromanage vs those who want things happen on its own. Sims 4 sims lack personality compared to other games. For some players it's a good thing I guess, for me, it's incredibly boring. There are some traits that make the game more fun, but I need more. At least now sims can reject my sim or even dump them. Wish we had more extensive attractiveness system, but maybe it's coming.
Comments
No. While we try to give players the option to toggle certain gameplay features, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life and not a toggle to be switched on and off.
yes the sims4 needs more toggle no players are the same and if you look at other countrys sime countrys might accept this feature but some might not ence the point of having more toggles in game
Repose en paix mamie tu va me manquer :
1923-2016 mamie
Romantically attracted to, is off to women and to men
Then if we edit some sims and chech an attraction, eventually can get romances if we no control them?
Yes that does make me feel better. Sorry that I didn't know what gyazo is so didn't know that an announcement made on here would be clarified on there. I hope you can forgive me.
And yes you figured out my "true colors." I want to play the game the way I want to play the game. Good job figuring that out. I didn't realize that it was a mystery.
Again, I am not opposed to this feature, as long as it is not forced on us. I might even use it, I don't know. I just wanted clarification. Thank you for providing some. I was all cool with what I was reading about it until that last FAQ which implied that it was not in fact able to be turned off.
Everything got out of hand when people started implying that I'm some kind of phobic without knowing anything about me. I apologize for my part in that simply for voicing my concerns.
But again, thank you for the clarification. I'll know from now on that things posted in here may not necessarily reflect what is actually going to happen.
Once I see how the system actually works, I might even enjoy some aspects of it. It seemed very positive, again until the end. That's what I was concerned about.
Now that I have at least learned from, I'm assuming it's an official Sims team member, albeit by secondhand relay, I feel better about it.
Again, sorry for "being loud here," where I learned about it. I'm also sorry that I didn't know there was a livestream about it or even where to watch said livestream. I'm assuming on YouTube? What is the official name of the Sims channel on YouTube?
In the future if such announcements are made maybe the announcer can link the livestream. If they did in this case, I missed it.
Whatever the upcoming & future premades are set up as - you do not have to keep them as that. You can easily change their settings to the default "ambiguously bisexual/pansexual" setting we have currently.
I understand that it might be annoying to have to do that, but these are sims made by the developers for promotional + gameplay introduction purposes - what you do with them is up to you and no one is saying you have to keep them like that. Newly generated sims will not have orientations assigned to them. You can even just straight up delete the characters if you don't want them.
Many fans have wanted more lore/stories for premades and while we'll see if their relationships accurately reflect what we're told - these are just backdrops/part of the sim you can choose to keep or omit.
This is a tool many will use for storytelling purposes, but also for mechanical purposes. You can choose to use it or not. It is present by default for premade sims from this pack + future packs, but you can customize that to your liking.
@VeeDub I'm not against this feature, it's crystal clear to me how it works. My only point was if EA had simply explained that this works exactly like pronouns it would have shut down all these misunderstandings others were having about how this all works. I'm not against having these features in the game. I love that it's there, or will be soon, but there is even more for inclusion that I want to see added.
If a sim has a “Hates Children” trait, they will refuse to try for baby with you. Are developers dictating how to play by creating child-haters? No, they are just making different sims. They don't owe you your ideal premades, honestly, but they are giving you the freedom to change them or delete them completely.
I don’t see why promotion and introduction purposes should become an inconvenience. Again, I’m aware I can edit the sims what I’m saying is I shouldn’t have to do that. This would be a non-issue if the developers would allow a global pansexual option to override their presets. They are unwilling to do that. Meaning if I want to make a sim they have deemed gay form a relationship with a female identifying Sim I have to enter a cheat code and edit the sim to make that possible.
Like I said I think this is a great feature for people to make sims that follow the orientation they set for them. However the handling from the developers seems too invasive. Their reasoning behind it doesn’t make it less invasive. I get what they’re saying, but it’s my game where I am in control. I don’t need them trying to insert restrictions trying to get me to play their stories how they want them to be played. From a standpoint of this being a sandbox game that just seems counterintuitive.
Is that a new thing regarding that trait? I’ve had sims with that trait have kids. Just like I have had non-committal sims accept a marriage proposals, and exchange their vows. I’ve had sims who dislike video games go play video games. You see none of these prevent those things from happening and don’t require an edit in my experience.
I really don’t see how me wanting to play the game my own way involves you. No offense, but I don’t. I have said I think this is a great feature for players. I’m gay, but I don’t need the developers telling me who is gay in my game. That’s up to me to decide. I don’t care if they make gay sims at all, I’m capable of doing that myself. All I’m saying is I would prefer to not have additional steps to play the game my way. I’m sorry my posts came across to you the way they did, but they weren’t intended to. We are all entitled to our feelings regarding this stuff and how it’s handled in the game.
Yes, it's kinda new, it was added with that trait rewamp maybe last year. They still can have kids, but they should be ones to initiate it, otherwise they will refuse.
Oh, I was actually agreeing with you and also expressing my personal take on it. I apologize if my own words were unclear.
Because I can't; I keep all sigs turned off.
The romantic options aren't visible in the UI. It's something they're doing autonomously...like the scripts are accessing bits of code and executing autonomy on functions that shouldn't be available but somehow still are.
1. Everyone was pansexual and panromantic (explicitly/objectively)
2. Premade sims were 'coded' (meaning presented as, not actual coding) as being a set, non pansexual/panromantic sexuality (implicitly/subjectively)
You can disagree with 2 if you want and say, well the Pancakes were in a heterosexual relationship but that doesn't mean they were heterosexual. Explicitly/objectively you'd be right, via the code, they were pan. However, this would then also apply to couples like Brent and Brant and other such couples that were implicitly/subjectively coded as homosexual by the developers. It would also apply to your own sims ie you could say they were heterosexual or homosexual but in actuality they were not.
If everybody is [x] it's kinda hard to talk about meaningful representation at all, everything is just an undifferentiated melange. The one thing that was Sims' saving grace in this respect was that their undifferentiated melange was maximally inclusive and was not, like a lot of games, a norm in which heterosexuality was just the norm. However, inclusivity is not synonymous with representation. This is a move towards more meaningful representation.
Is inclusivity lost? No, honestly I wouldn't really say so. Considering the system will, per the devs, remain the same except (presumably) for future premades and the default setting is pansexual/panromantic AND that can be changed any time via CAS the only people who 'lose' are those who absolutely insist that no sim should ever be anything but panromantic/pansexual.
That's an interesting question.
*ring ring*
Hello?
Yo bro, I'm flirty.
Oh, okay. I'll be right there.
Cool cool. Oh hey, pick up a pizza?
Sure, and drinks.
Cool Cool. See you soon.
Aight dude. Be there soon.
Later.
*click*
That's my kind of relationship.
I remember when I realized I was ace about ten years ago, and just how utterly unknown and invisible my orientation was. I didn't even really come out to people at the time because that meant I'd also have to explain what it even meant. And now look at this. We're known, and we can make ace sims soon. I'm so happy.
Also, the default setting is still the way it has always worked up until now; pan and changeable. I'm just happy the game's finally providing more options and ways to control this, as sometimes, some of us actually do have specific orientations in mind for our sims. I think it's nice to be able to reflect that in-game.
And who knows, maybe some new premades will still have the default settings like previously. Because yeah, people are right, simmers like being able to do whatever they want with the premades. We should be allowed to decide and elaborate on who they are sometimes. Meanwhile, I also like that some premades may have preset settings.
I guess it's about striking a balance?
they/he
simblr
How is this inclusive to all players considering that there are approximately 159 premade Sims in the game prior to Werewolf's and the new pack coming out?
The way this is being implemented seems to suggest if Player A for example doesn't want to use the features, they are the ones that will have to spend the time to manually go in and not just be able to easily change the settings back on each and every premade in the game, but have to jump through the extra hoops of using mods or cheat codes in order to not use the feature.
My response is not against the LGBTQIA+ community, but rather since this is a single player game, each player may see these premades in a different way. For example, Player A may consider Darling Walsh as just a tomboy, but Player B may look at this character as a member of the LGBTQIA+ Community with a specific identity (I am not familiar with the terms, so I am just going to leave Darling's identity vague).
My concern is that by the Team stating that this is just the beginning and they have future plans in regards to updating all of the sims that we as players have been playing this game with for years and changing them to suit the developers way of playing and the viewpoints of GLAAD and the It Gets Better Project without considering the playstyles of all of their player base that may not play their personal game with these stories in mind kind of worries me. The implementation seems less inclusive if it is harder to not use it than to use it. It just feels more restrictive than inclusive to all playstyles when you consider that there is already 159+ premade households (as of My Wedding Stories) plus all the random townies generated every play session that a player will have to spend time having to use cheat codes and mods in order to change, some of which have been in the game since the beginning and players have strong opinions, ideas, and feelings about these characters in their games.
This is just my opinion, and I am not speaking for anybody else.
This is a single player video game where it is my discretion to override whatever I wish. I think it’s blissfully ignorant to equate what I do in my save game to the harsh reality of LGBT people. Sims are not real people and do not face those harsh realities. Enough of that. Sims is an escape, not a reminder.
I feel I’ve explained my point of view thoroughly enough, can’t please everyone and I’m not trying to. We are all entitled to our own feelings on how these things are handled in our games. If I want to decide who is gay, I have the discretion to do that. I don’t need hard coded settings to do that either, but the fact they are being offered is great for people who want them. Offering a simpler way to accomplish making all sims pansexual (open to whatever sexual relation I want for them) is not a reason to be riled up, and it’s definitely not a reason to insert the reality of being gay into the discussion. Sims do not and have never faced those hardships and never will. Our real life identities and hardships do not hinge on what happens in a Sims game. I don’t need a reminder of what I’ve been through, that doesn’t factor into how I play my game. If you play differently then good for you, but I don’t need developers imposing restrictions on how the game operates because they feel they need to reflect hardships of my reality in it. That feels like an invasion of something that is quite personal, my experience, and I do not like that.
I hope so.