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The Creepy, Horrifying World of Family Relations
ACruelButLovingGod
Posts: 708 Member
I ran into a downright disturbing quirk of the game mechanics over the past weekend's play that proved that no matter how much EA tries to sanitize it, Sims 4 is still capable of some truly horrifying depths of human depravity in gameplay.
Setting the scene, I had a male sim living alone in a place that was more than big enough for his own needs with plenty of room to spare, so he took in one of his friends along with her daughter. Didn't marry the mom, just gave her a place to live.
He ended up serving as kind of a surrogate father to the kid, and when she grew up and became a young adult, the full range of romantic interactions opened up between her and the guy to whom she had effectively seen as a de facto stepfather throughout her childhood.
In the real world, the term for this is "grooming", and I certainly wasn't about to cross that moral line, but the mere fact that a player with fewer moral scruples could basically simulate Woody Allen's romantic life...ugh.
The game needs to find a way to recognize that a child who develops a close relationship with an adult when they're young—especially if they live in the same residence—should be off-limits for romantic socials when they grow up. It might be impractical considering the weird way aging can work (thanks to Potion of Youth or just aging the kid up fairly quickly as they hit the milestones of youth and clear all the aspirations), but it would lower the ick factor.
Setting the scene, I had a male sim living alone in a place that was more than big enough for his own needs with plenty of room to spare, so he took in one of his friends along with her daughter. Didn't marry the mom, just gave her a place to live.
He ended up serving as kind of a surrogate father to the kid, and when she grew up and became a young adult, the full range of romantic interactions opened up between her and the guy to whom she had effectively seen as a de facto stepfather throughout her childhood.
In the real world, the term for this is "grooming", and I certainly wasn't about to cross that moral line, but the mere fact that a player with fewer moral scruples could basically simulate Woody Allen's romantic life...ugh.
The game needs to find a way to recognize that a child who develops a close relationship with an adult when they're young—especially if they live in the same residence—should be off-limits for romantic socials when they grow up. It might be impractical considering the weird way aging can work (thanks to Potion of Youth or just aging the kid up fairly quickly as they hit the milestones of youth and clear all the aspirations), but it would lower the ick factor.
(he/him)
And remember this above all. Our Roman gods are watching. Make sure they are not ashamed!
My NBA site, Pace and Space
And remember this above all. Our Roman gods are watching. Make sure they are not ashamed!
My NBA site, Pace and Space
Post edited by EA_Lanna on
2
Comments
Assuming that this isn't flamebait and you are genuinely bothered by the fact that two pixel people may be romantic in a simulation, I'd suggest cheating to give one the unflirty trait. Otherwise, customizable options or mechanics would be nice, but there is no "grooming" mechanic in 4 and there was never meant to be.
Play the game how you prefer to play it.
"Adopt as Caregiver" does not prevent romantic interactions between a sim and their stepparent when the sim ages up to young adult.
I didn't so much check as get caught off guard by autonomous interactions.
This was less "seek and find" and more a big "hey, wait a minute" moment that I had while playing. It struck me less as "ew, you can do this creepy thing" (although that was certainly part of it!) and more as "next time EA says it's trying to be sensitive, I'm calling BS because the Sims is not now nor has ever been 'sensitive'." When they nerf everything else but prowling around the edge cases reveals how inherently hypocritical that is, it really amplifies the complaints of the players who have their specific Sim behaviors restricted, like "meat eaters and occult players are heavily restricted but you can actively choose to play as a predator?"
It wasn't intended as flamebait...although now that I think about a lot of players' experiences with the game, I can totally see how it can be taken as "great, another thing to get offended over." I just found it...gross...that the option's in there (even if it's ultimately my choice to set the moral standards of my own simworld. If the guy in my top post example autonomously tries to get romantic with his "unofficial daughter" in my game, he's going to end up in the graveyard, the victim of weather and/or drowning depending on the season.
And remember this above all. Our Roman gods are watching. Make sure they are not ashamed!
My NBA site, Pace and Space
I've got a give me for 4: great grandchildren. Last I checked with my four generation household, the great grandchildren weren't recognized as relatives. Under 4's broad relationship mechanics, a great grandfather and his great granddaughter can technically marry and have a baby since they are not recognized as family. Boom. Incest proper. Plus, this is a known thing.
Now, this doesn't mean the game is malicious, promotes incest, or has mechanics dedicated to it. It just means they stopped at three relation levels. I personally think they should have stopped at four, but since we can preserve a Sim forever it can technically reproduce with as many of its own descents as we make it. Where were they supposed to stop with the ties for that scenario? If it was something prohibiting Sims from sharing the same family tree a lot of other romances (including unrelated romances because of adoption and marriage) would also be prohibited.
It wasn't until I saw the way the thread was going that I was like "wait a minute, it's important that I clarify here, because..."
There are plenty of flaws in the relation system, of course, and making family trees that would make the Hapsburgs of Austria cringe is shockingly easy. In general, by the time my family trees grow so long that the branches start to look like weeping willows, that's when I know it's time to age off the older generations—I say "age off" because at least they deserve the dignity of one last storyline, so I have them add one more kid to the generation below and just let them age while the kid ages into an adult.
And like I said, part of this is just me being bothered by EA/Maxis getting all high and mighty about avoiding offending people when they make one set of game changes while out the other side of their mouth making all kinds of absolute depravity possible. I tend to agree with Trey Parker (of South Park fame) who said "as soon as we decide one thing is off limits, we're pretty much saying we condone everything else we've done."
And remember this above all. Our Roman gods are watching. Make sure they are not ashamed!
My NBA site, Pace and Space
Like many people said, you, (the player) can let the programing do it's chaotic thing. Or there are cheat codes without mods to change what you (the player) doesn't like.
Mods make it easier to manipulate the game. It is a game.
That being said, I'm going to reticulate some splines...
So I do challenge your claim that we do not control the Sims 4, since in the scenario you mentioned I can not only use this social, cheat to add an unflirty trait, separate said Sims, and/or just disable autonomy altogether. Plus, flirty Sims do not automatically flirt with proper children, so no grooming.
You act like you have zero control over these sims.
It's only grooming if you choose for the grooming to happen.
Something wicked this way comes!
I don't use MCCC.
I guess you have never played with a situation like the OP has. For instance if a couple is in the home and you want one to become flirty with spouse, so they watch the Romance channel. Or even a date there you want to promote into a romantic relationship. Ok, would you have the parent or Sim not watch the Romance channel because guess what that Sim can auto flirt with anyone in the house. It's why there are threads that say the game turned their Sim straight and or the game turned their Sim gay. Because if any Sim is flirty they can and do flirt with anyone, autonomously as long as they are flirty and especially if they have the flirty trait. So, every one against any sort of tweaking by Maxis are saying the player has control. No, we don't. The emotion or the trait can and does overflow to any near by Sim. It's why there are threads about how their Sim outside their control got up from a table in a restaurant and walked over and flirted it up with another Sim they didn't want their Sim to flirt with. Do any of you not read feedback and complaints? It's been going on for years and it also includes any adult near by or in a household. So, Again No, the player doesn't always have control of a Sim with a flirty emotion nor with a flirty trait before it's too late to make it stop. The point is the player shouldn't have to 'avoid' something like seeing daddy flirt with step child who just aged into a young woman or man or other gender preference.
Maxis, it's also no longer acceptable in today's society to have a child in the home in The Sims and wait like a vulture until they grow up to be their child bride....that is just gross now, too. Like old guys in a lot just waiting for that little girl to grow up... Players should have a choice about if the game sees that child as family or not once aged up to YA or adult etc.
If every thing in this game is going to be politically correct isn't it about time the game protects the child Sim from old vultures later? think on it. Young minds shouldn't think it's ok should they? After all your game influences society doesn't it? At least you try to make it seem that way. It's your game, how are you going to fix it? It's not acceptable any more.