Motivated by a recent post on my storytelling thread here, I wonder how other Simmers approach race, sexuality, and religion in their gameplay.
I wonder if Simmers make conscious decisions about their Sims' society and personal preferences.
I also wonder what Simmers do without really thinking about or articulating it.
I'll make my OP brief and answer the question personally later, because I am more interested in hearing from others.
So a couple of questions (not a comprehensive list) I guess I'll throw out there to reflect on personally or publicly and hopefully encourage engaging, insightful dialogue. And you can tack a "Why?" or "How?" at the end of each question.
Ethnicity
How do you approach ethnicity in your game? - caucasion mostly
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity? yup
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims? none
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing? no
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay? yes
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity? n/a
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender? huh
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity? male is male and female is female
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively? huh
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity? yes
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you? not gonna happen
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? huh
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them? n/a
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that? developers are all atheists
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay? not really, we don't have churches or bibles or ministers
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims? no
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay? no. aging is off
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion? yes
Fell free to add your own questions and social topics to the mix.
*Edited for grammar and this little note here:
To remain within forum guidelines, I wonder if comments should reflect what we do in-game and not discuss or reflect on real world events or reveal personal information. Thanks ya'll!
How do you approach ethnicity in your game? I let the randomiser make an okay looking sim, touch them up a lot, and give them a name that from a culture/ethnicity that I think they look like they belong to. I also make a lot of interracial couples.
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity? Not intentionally. I've never made a Native American/First Nations sim. (I should make a Cree sim ) I rarely make black sims because of lack of hair options.
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims? I rarely have them marry and I often choose for them to eat vegetarian foods.
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing? Not really.
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay? They can, I am mostly white so I guess that is reflected when I make white sims. I also give a lot of French and English names to white sims.
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity? Sometimes.
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender? Most sims are pans.exual. Until recently I've looked at the fact that you can only choose male and female to mean forcing me to make them either male or female, but I have made two agender sims in The Sims 4.
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity? Before making them.
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively? Most of my households have at least one same-sex couple, and by definition, all of my sims are LGBTPQIA.
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity? Only by not being heterosexual. I've only made three ase.xual sims in The Sims 4 and in The Sims 3 I made a few by using the unflirty trait to mean ace.
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you? It can be fun.
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? Not really.
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them? Rarely, often in ways that subvert the norm.
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that? No.
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay? No.
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims? Not really, more like their consciousness.
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay? Because this series has explicitly established that ghosts and other supernatural exist (and I love playing them), I don't really know how to view it. It (death) feels really impermanent with ghost, zombies, etc.
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion? No. Religion does not exist in The Sims (outside of Medieval, but that is not canon for me.)
I usually play white families because I'm white, BUT I do have lots of interracial marriage and biracial babies and all that good stuff.
I've never played with gay couples in the game, only straight. However, I did have one of my sim's son turn out gay because I wanted to test out a mod that had male pregnancy in it. Surprisingly the babies were good looking. But other than that, no I don't play gay sims.
I'm not religious in real life, and I don't really like religion. I do love the holidays (Christmas/Hanukkah), but that's it.
I like this post because it actually makes people think about their decisions in game that seem so trivial i guess.
Ethnicity I don't really mind what ethnicity I play as - half the time I make my own race all together so..yeah it honestly doesn't matter to me. I just made a family recently that was a Hispanic male and a Chinese woman, also just started another family that had one Japanese, one White and one "other" (my own race)..
Sexuality I'm very open about this as well - I feel as though to have the full experience of the game you have to let them love who they want to - so like if I noticed that a girl toon is more into another girl toon then I'd rather have them go for her then for the typical male+female.
Religion I'm an Atheist so I mean I don't really delve into religion a whole lot..but I support if my sims were to decide to believe in something. c:
Noticed some people added in holidays so I figured I'd edit and add a little bit too. I wish Sims 4 just came with seasons, perhaps thats still coming but when I got seasons for Sims 3 it made the game feel more real, anyway, as far as holiday's go with my Sims, they celebrate the "main" ones? Like another commenter said it bears resemblance to our holidays but I don't hold any religious value to them unless my sims were to, again I'm not someone who'd try to control w hat they'd believe in or not.
I make a variety of all races. Asian sims seemed so impossible to make in TS3 though.
As a rule, all sims are bis.exual
No religion unfortunately. Though my sims could worship me if they want to.
Closest to "asian" looking sim I ever had:
And to answer the OP:
I don't really avoid doing anything with my sims when it comes to ethnicity and sexuality but when it comes to religion I only do Christmas because I know what is done on Christmas ... I would have no idea how to celebrate Ramadan or Eide or anything else.
I thought it was impossible to make them any tips on the eyes?
I use custom sliders Do you use them also?
edit: this thread makes me want to open my game up and do something a little different^_^ I haven't opened my game (ts3) in like 2 weeks so yay~!
How do you approach ethnicity in your game? I've never really thought about ethnicity while playing the game. There may be a time where I either attempt to create or download a sim modeled after a specific ethnicity to spice up the world I'm playing at and see what their generations turn out to be.
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity? Not really. This aspect just never pops up in my play time to be honest. While I'm playing in my head a sim is just a sim, whether they are a white, blue, black, yellow, aliens, vampires, hobos, etc
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims? None whatsoever. I use mods to spice up and overhaul story progression literally they are free to do whatever the nuts they want, except my active family which I just try to be as diverse as possible.
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing? Haven't done that.
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay? Haha, good question. My sims barely reflect my personal ethnicity and cultural values.
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity? Nope
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender? Same way as in RL.
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity? By default they are mostly straight. If SP wants to take a pair of sims in a different route, it's a cool surprise.
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively? I myself have never created LGBT/SGL sims, it's something that doesn't pop in my head when creating households.
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity? Yup.
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you? Not enjoyable whatsoever.
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? Nope. It's funny to do it the other way around.
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them? I don't play same gender couples.
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that? Not really. I don't really mind there not being a Christmas term in the Sims, in fact I'd prefer if the Sims had their own terminology akin to Christmas.
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay? Way too hard to do. I'd like to do it to spice up the variety, but currently I don't.
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims? I never get that feeling to be honest. I probably view myself more as an spectator.
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay? Don't really understand the question, sorry.
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion? Nope.
- How do you approach ethnicity in your game?
I don't think I think about it too much, so ethnicity in my game for me is just a cosmetic for the game, I play all of them white, black, yellow, red, green, blue all of them.
- Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity?
For me It's all about love. if my sims like that sims so that's how it is, no ethnicity boundary.
- Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing?
I usually create sims based on how good they look, and how I want them to be, no stereotypical or something.
- Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay?
I make my own cultural view in games everything that is possible to do in game (woohoo, cheating, being mean, fighting, hacking, marriage, adopting) is acceptable.
= Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity?
No, but maybe subconciously
Sexuality
- How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender?
Just how the game do it, everyone can love anyone, but they do have gender preference set to them, so I always see how my sims autonomously react to other sims.
- When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity?
I play as what I think my sims is, and sometimes from stereotypical clothing type for town generated townies.
- Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively?
I don't create them specificly to be that way, But because breeding and genetic is in the game and I want my sims to look like their off spring so I mainly create a straight sims.
- Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity?
Hmm, I don't know actually, maybe.
- How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you?
I feel okay.
- In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them?
No I don't think I do.
Religion
- Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that?
I have to say that I preferred it that way because it doesn't have to reflect to the real world holiday but just inspired by it.
- Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay?
My sims don't have the same religion as any of the religion in real world. But yes, I do incorporate it sometimes.
- Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims?
Yes for being the god, but my sims can believe in me or not, that's on their chosen, because they'll obey me no matter what.
- How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay?
Just like how the games view death, if you die you can comeback as ghost.
- Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion?
Yes, but not a real life religion.
To ethnicity, Most of the sims I create are white, but I guess because I relate to that most. To this day though, nearly all of my sims have married to a sim of a different ethnicity.
As to sexuality, my sims are straight, but only because I relate to that most also. I don't mind same sex couples in my game.
I see my sims as independent beings, with no set religion.
ALSO, I usually play straight sims because I'm very interested in seeing the offspring of them.
I don't really think about ethnicity and religion in the game at all as there simply isn't the gameplay hooks there for me to latch onto, beyond aesthetics.
When I create a new Sim, I mess about the random thingy and if the look strikes me, then I tweak and adapt, so I have a pretty mixed bunch.
I am British, and what we call here, a straight white Anglo-Saxon male. The neighbourhoods we have been provided with are nothing like anything we have here, so I tend to go with the American tropes I like.
For instance, I have a bit of a Mad Men (A show about advertising executives in 50s) thing going on with some of my households with the perfect blonde and the smart husband dutifully having children and trying to progress in building the perfect life, but underneath it all is darkness, betrayal and tragedy.
Into this backdrop, I have mixed in other contemporary stereotypes, such as a mixed race group of students. I use teens to simulate college, as I can't send my YA's to college. This gives me blank slates to develop into the next generation of house owners. So I have the Asian looking Genius that is constantly focused, but likes to party hard, The loner bookworm, etc The musical genius goth girl. Yes, all cliches But easy to come up with
I also have a household of criminals that has been inspired by Breaking Bad, so they are modelled on Jesse and his mates. They are also mixed race. I have built one or two middle class households containing a criminal, or two. These are mainly based, again, on the 1950s Coke commercial look, so tend to be white.
As to sexuality. I have pretty much all types that the game allows me to have, though I have a higher incidence of heterosexual Sims, than other preferences. I like to let the game determine this for me to some extent and I use a gender preference mod so I can view which team a Sim bats for at any time
I have a fantastic lesbian household now that just sparked as teens and has just grown naturally. I have poor Mike, who just doesn't know what he wants and is fast approaching adulthood. He isn't very smart, but he is good looking and just he just wants love and affection, but it never seems to quite work out. A kind of bro love relationship has slowly been growing with his mate, because they just get on.
Sorry I haven;t answered your questions directly, I have a bit of an aversion to form like structures!
Awake.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity.... The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
I don't pay any attention to the ethnicity when I play. When creating Sims, I just go with the flow and create all sorts of Sims however I feel like it at the tine. A part from this very pale "white" shade that freaks me out hahaha.
I don't make any differences when playing them so no stereotypes here.
I must admit that when I play hetero.sexual couples I tend to create them from different skin colour and hair and eyes because I love the genetics side of the game.
As for sexuality, I tend to assume they all are bisexual when I start playing a single sim.
Religiously speaking I don't even consider giving them religions at all. Being an atheist myself I like my little religion free Sim universe.
Origin ID is: AlbaWaterhouse
All my creations are CC free.
Wow! You can't write bi.sexual in this forum... It came up as "plum"...
LOL! I know! that is why I used a euphemism. Took me by surprise as well
Awake.
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity.... The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
Ethnic - I play with anything. White, black, hispanic, asian ... blended families. Whatever strikes my fancy at that time.
Sexuality - I don't make same-sex couples as my main family. Genetics. I want to continue the 'blood line'.
Religion - Its not really in my game, though they did have the holiday items out.
Ethnicity How do you approach ethnicity in your game? I like to play a variety of ethnicities as often as possible. When first entering CAS in TS4, I made my simself and my boyfriend's simself, both of us are white. After that I've played a multitude of different ethnicities. I do like to play interracial couples as I find they usually make the best looking children :P
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity? No. I probably do create more sims who share my own ethnicity. I am white-passing, but half-Roma, so a lot of my sims do reflect this kind of 'look'. I do like to marry townies/npcs into my families though, and I base my choice on facial structure and traits rather than the skintone.
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims? I don't think I impose any, other than a tendency to create more sims on average that look similar to me. Culturally/personally/morally, they differ greatly.
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing? I don't think any of the 'ethnic' sims I create fit a stereotype. The only time I like to play stereotypes are the ones that create drama in-game, like gold-diggers or players etc.
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay? As mentioned above, they do to an extent.
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity? Usually not.
Sexuality How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender? Sexuality varies, gender is usually strictly female or male, with some non-binary sims. It can be hard to create nonbinary sims with how these games are built and the content they come with, coming from someone who, while using CC, likes to limit it.
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity? When I create them. If they're born in game I like to see how they interact with others I suppose?
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively? I incorporate them less than I incorporate straight/cis sims. Mainly because I like to see how genetics play out over generations, and without mods this is impossible to do with same-sex couples. However, I do play them actively outside of legacy-type families.
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity? Yes, as mentioned, most of my sims are cis and straight.
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you? It's fun! Just as it is with sims of the same gender/preference as me :)
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? Not sure what this question is asking, sorry! Could anyone clarify?
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them? No.
Religion Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that? As a person who celebrates Christmas, I dont care.
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay? No.
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims? Sort of? Not really though, I'm just playing a game!
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay? I don't like to interfere in the death of my sims, but I have been known to load an earlier save if a sim I'm playing accidentally dies.
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion? Nope.
Sometimes I start with a single Sim and as far as relationships go I just introduce them and let them have a conversation. Later invite some Sims over and see what happens. I let my Sims pick and choose their own relationships including romances. I micromanage everything else. If my Sims wants to be gay or get it on with another Sim of a different ethic background it is cool with me. We are all the same in the inside.
What bugs me is when I create a couple in CAS for a plot I wanted to play out and they make a baby in the game and it is the wrong skin color for my story. I could call it a plot twist, I guess but I think the game is messed up!
Their is no reason why a black couple I created in CAS should have a white child and vice versa.
There is no religion in my game but it is so wrong for my married Sims in to be lovebirds with the whole town. I play one household in each game. Rotational play is out for me because of the broken romance system.
I'm not sure what my expectations were; however, I'm pretty content. All of the answers are so diverse and that intrigues me.
I appreciate the honesty, respect, level of comfort, and maturity exhibited in everyone's sharing.
@Bluenote lol Leave Angela alone! I've started to notice that Angela's hygiene doesn't decay quickly, and she doesn't have the hygeine trait. But I make her shower every day now, thank you.
@Alistair32 That's a lot of "No"s in religion. I think I just assumed most of my Sims were Christian, but in a Sim kinda way.
I liked the religions in Medieval Sims though. I wonder if those could/would/should be incorporated into TS4.
There were a few comments about the absence of religion in game, but isn't the menorah a religious symbol?
I wonder if Hannukah is considered more of a community practice as opposed to religious ceremony?
The Kwanzaa kinara is definitely more a community practice.
@shellbeme I bet Sophia and Monica are awesome!It was extremely disappointing making African American Sims until TS4. I like it a lot more now, though the hair still needs a bit of work. Especially in creating locks.
@sunnyshay I to believe in the power of gummy bear pancakes!
@Enless I really like the look of your avatar. I wonder if you consider him to be from PR or DR. To me he looks it.
@catloverplayer I leave premarital sex up to the personality of each individual Sim.
It's kind of strange saying that, because most Sims have a whim or aspiration to WooHoo regardless of marital status.
But I guess if I think a Sim would wait, then I have them wait.
Every once in a while, someone says, I let my Sim decide. I wonder what that means.
@DrewRoland Tag an "SGL" on the end of "LGBTPQIA" and we'll be halfway through the alphabet!
@ModerateOsprey No need for direct answers. Whatever it sparks within you is cool to me. The game does lend itself to creating American cliches. I have lived in NYC all of my life, so the suburb inspired neighborhoods are just as alien to me. And the urban inspired neighborhood in TS3 was just as alien. Seemed more LA or Chicago to me, whic is a big difference.
@beautimous If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? To clarify, some of the romantic interactions have what could be considered masculine/feminine animations. Usually the Sim that initiates the romantic interaction takes a more dominant or aggressive stance than the Sim receiving it. For example, if you have a female Sim flirt with a male, he may get all giggly and kick his feet up in the air like a teenager.
@AnnLee87 I hope that genetics aren't that random. That would be disappointing.
@MiffoShort Thank you for mentioning this. I reviewed the forum rules earlier and that note specifically refers to images, signatures, and avatars. And the EA Terms of Service I noticed that it refers to not using theses topics to harass or in a harmful manner.
I hope I am covered by that, because I am not interested in being banned. I also believe that if current tone of the conversation remains, and the we stick to our observations of these topics in gameplay and not real world, we may be good to go.
From the creator of Robinson Family, Dizziest Sims is a reboot of the storytelling series with all new family and friends! dizziestsims.com #DizziestSims
Ethnicity - After I make my sim self, I do a dice roll on all other sims & just play what I get.
Sexuality - Since I like to play through generations of the same families, I don't make same sex couples.
Religion - Not a factor in my games. I view the sims as living on their own world, one where I am a god.
I'm not sure what my expectations were; however, I'm pretty content. All of the answers are so diverse and that intrigues me.
I appreciate the honesty, respect, level of comfort, and maturity exhibited in everyone's sharing.
@Bluenote lol Leave Angela alone! I've started to notice that Angela's hygiene doesn't decay quickly, and she doesn't have the hygeine trait. But I make her shower every day now, thank you.
@Alistair32 That's a lot of "No"s in religion. I think I just assumed most of my Sims were Christian, but in a Sim kinda way.
I liked the religions in Medieval Sims though. I wonder if those could/would/should be incorporated into TS4.
There were a few comments about the absence of religion in game, but isn't the menorah a religious symbol?
I wonder if Hannukah is considered more of a community practice as opposed to religious ceremony?
The Kwanzaa kinara is definitely more a community practice.
@shellbeme I bet Sophia and Monica are awesome!It was extremely disappointing making African American Sims until TS4. I like it a lot more now, though the hair still needs a bit of work. Especially in creating locks.
@sunnyshay I to believe in the power of gummy bear pancakes!
@Enless I really like the look of your avatar. I wonder if you consider him to be from PR or DR. To me he looks it.
@catloverplayer I leave premarital sex up to the personality of each individual Sim.
It's kind of strange saying that, because most Sims have a whim or aspiration to WooHoo regardless of marital status.
But I guess if I think a Sim would wait, then I have them wait.
Every once in a while, someone says, I let my Sim decide. I wonder what that means.
@DrewRoland Tag an "SGL" on the end of "LGBTPQIA" and we'll be halfway through the alphabet!
@ModerateOsprey No need for direct answers. Whatever it sparks within you is cool to me. The game does lend itself to creating American cliches. I have lived in NYC all of my life, so the suburb inspired neighborhoods are just as alien to me. And the urban inspired neighborhood in TS3 was just as alien. Seemed more LA or Chicago to me, whic is a big difference.
@beautimous If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? To clarify, some of the romantic interactions have what could be considered masculine/feminine animations. Usually the Sim that initiates the romantic interaction takes a more dominant or aggressive stance than the Sim receiving it. For example, if you have a female Sim flirt with a male, he may get all giggly and kick his feet up in the air like a teenager.
@AnnLee87 I hope that genetics aren't that random. That would be disappointing.
@MiffoShort Thank you for mentioning this. I reviewed the forum rules earlier and that note specifically refers to images, signatures, and avatars. And the EA Terms of Service I noticed that it refers to not using theses topics to harass or in a harmful manner.
I hope I am covered by that, because I am not interested in being banned. I also believe that if current tone of the conversation remains, and the we stick to our observations of these topics in gameplay and not real world, we may be good to go.
I didn't mean to offend you I was just trying to make sure you understood all the rules!
Ethnicity - After I make my sim self, I do a dice roll on all other sims & just play what I get.
Sexuality - Since I like to play through generations of the same families, I don't make same sex couples.
Religion - Not a factor in my games. I view the sims as living on their own world, one where I am a god.
Motivated by a recent post on my storytelling thread here, I wonder how other Simmers approach race, sexuality, and religion in their gameplay.
I wonder if Simmers make conscious decisions about their Sims' society and personal preferences.
I also wonder what Simmers do without really thinking about or articulating it.
I'll make my OP brief and answer the question personally later, because I am more interested in hearing from others.
So a couple of questions (not a comprehensive list) I guess I'll throw out there to reflect on personally or publicly and hopefully encourage engaging, insightful dialogue. And you can tack a "Why?" or "How?" at the end of each question.
Ethnicity
How do you approach ethnicity in your game?
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity?
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims?
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing?
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay?
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity?
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender?
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity?
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively?
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity?
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you?
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender?
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them?
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that?
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay?
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims?
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay?
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion?
Fell free to add your own questions and social topics to the mix.
*Edited for grammar and this little note here:
To remain within forum guidelines, I wonder if comments should reflect what we do in-game and not discuss or reflect on real world events or reveal personal information. Thanks ya'll!
No religion in my game there is no god its called science
I don't care very much about ethnicity and I don't mind playing with sims of different skin colors. But the sims I make to play are always white males. Often just a little sunburned but never with really dark colors.
If I make female sims they could have any skin color. But I don't make such sims with the purpose to play them. Only if I want them to move into some of the other houses.
The only sims that I don't like in my game are all those families with only one or two elders. The game seems to make such families all the time. But I delete them because I have no use for those families in my game.
I am not religious and therefore don't care about religion in my game.
Motivated by a recent post on my storytelling thread here, I wonder how other Simmers approach race, sexuality, and religion in their gameplay.
I wonder if Simmers make conscious decisions about their Sims' society and personal preferences.
I also wonder what Simmers do without really thinking about or articulating it.
I'll make my OP brief and answer the question personally later, because I am more interested in hearing from others.
So a couple of questions (not a comprehensive list) I guess I'll throw out there to reflect on personally or publicly and hopefully encourage engaging, insightful dialogue. And you can tack a "Why?" or "How?" at the end of each question.
Ethnicity
How do you approach ethnicity in your game?
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity?
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims?
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing?
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay?
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity?
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender?
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity?
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively?
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity?
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you?
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender?
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them?
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that?
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay?
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims?
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay?
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion?
Fell free to add your own questions and social topics to the mix.
*Edited for grammar and this little note here:
To remain within forum guidelines, I wonder if comments should reflect what we do in-game and not discuss or reflect on real world events or reveal personal information. Thanks ya'll!
No religion in my game there is no god its called science
@MiffoShort I was not offended at all and I thank you again for mentioning it. Someone else mentioned it earlier as well and I appreciate it. I posted what I found in regards to the rules in order to cover myself and to articulate again the purpose of this thread.
From the creator of Robinson Family, Dizziest Sims is a reboot of the storytelling series with all new family and friends! dizziestsims.com #DizziestSims
Motivated by a recent post on my storytelling thread here, I wonder how other Simmers approach race, sexuality, and religion in their gameplay.
I wonder if Simmers make conscious decisions about their Sims' society and personal preferences.
I also wonder what Simmers do without really thinking about or articulating it.
I'll make my OP brief and answer the question personally later, because I am more interested in hearing from others.
So a couple of questions (not a comprehensive list) I guess I'll throw out there to reflect on personally or publicly and hopefully encourage engaging, insightful dialogue. And you can tack a "Why?" or "How?" at the end of each question.
Ethnicity
How do you approach ethnicity in your game?
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity?
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims?
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing?
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay?
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity?
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender?
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity?
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively?
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity?
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you?
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender?
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them?
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that?
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay?
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims?
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay?
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion?
Fell free to add your own questions and social topics to the mix.
*Edited for grammar and this little note here:
To remain within forum guidelines, I wonder if comments should reflect what we do in-game and not discuss or reflect on real world events or reveal personal information. Thanks ya'll!
No religion in my game there is no god its called science
Comments
TINY HOUSE CHALLENGE
The May Family
Modeling Career?
How do you approach ethnicity in your game? I let the randomiser make an okay looking sim, touch them up a lot, and give them a name that from a culture/ethnicity that I think they look like they belong to. I also make a lot of interracial couples.
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity? Not intentionally. I've never made a Native American/First Nations sim.
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims? I rarely have them marry and I often choose for them to eat vegetarian foods.
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing? Not really.
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay? They can, I am mostly white so I guess that is reflected when I make white sims. I also give a lot of French and English names to white sims.
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity? Sometimes.
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender? Most sims are pans.exual. Until recently I've looked at the fact that you can only choose male and female to mean forcing me to make them either male or female, but I have made two agender sims in The Sims 4.
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity? Before making them.
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively? Most of my households have at least one same-sex couple, and by definition, all of my sims are LGBTPQIA.
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity? Only by not being heterosexual. I've only made three ase.xual sims in The Sims 4 and in The Sims 3 I made a few by using the unflirty trait to mean ace.
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you? It can be fun.
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? Not really.
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them? Rarely, often in ways that subvert the norm.
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that? No.
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay? No.
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims? Not really, more like their consciousness.
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay? Because this series has explicitly established that ghosts and other supernatural exist (and I love playing them), I don't really know how to view it. It (death) feels really impermanent with ghost, zombies, etc.
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion? No. Religion does not exist in The Sims (outside of Medieval, but that is not canon for me.)
My Wishlist
I've never played with gay couples in the game, only straight. However, I did have one of my sim's son turn out gay because I wanted to test out a mod that had male pregnancy in it. Surprisingly the babies were good looking. But other than that, no I don't play gay sims.
I'm not religious in real life, and I don't really like religion. I do love the holidays (Christmas/Hanukkah), but that's it.
Ethnicity
I don't really mind what ethnicity I play as - half the time I make my own race all together so..yeah it honestly doesn't matter to me. I just made a family recently that was a Hispanic male and a Chinese woman, also just started another family that had one Japanese, one White and one "other" (my own race)..
Sexuality
I'm very open about this as well - I feel as though to have the full experience of the game you have to let them love who they want to - so like if I noticed that a girl toon is more into another girl toon then I'd rather have them go for her then for the typical male+female.
Religion
I'm an Atheist so I mean I don't really delve into religion a whole lot..but I support if my sims were to decide to believe in something. c:
Noticed some people added in holidays so I figured I'd edit and add a little bit too.
I wish Sims 4 just came with seasons, perhaps thats still coming but when I got seasons for Sims 3 it made the game feel more real, anyway, as far as holiday's go with my Sims, they celebrate the "main" ones? Like another commenter said it bears resemblance to our holidays but I don't hold any religious value to them unless my sims were to, again I'm not someone who'd try to control w hat they'd believe in or not.
I use custom sliders
edit: this thread makes me want to open my game up and do something a little different^_^ I haven't opened my game (ts3) in like 2 weeks so yay~!
- How do you approach ethnicity in your game?
I don't think I think about it too much, so ethnicity in my game for me is just a cosmetic for the game, I play all of them white, black, yellow, red, green, blue all of them.
- Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity?
For me It's all about love. if my sims like that sims so that's how it is, no ethnicity boundary.
- Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing?
I usually create sims based on how good they look, and how I want them to be, no stereotypical or something.
- Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay?
I make my own cultural view in games everything that is possible to do in game (woohoo, cheating, being mean, fighting, hacking, marriage, adopting) is acceptable.
= Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity?
No, but maybe subconciously
Sexuality
- How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender?
Just how the game do it, everyone can love anyone, but they do have gender preference set to them, so I always see how my sims autonomously react to other sims.
- When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity?
I play as what I think my sims is, and sometimes from stereotypical clothing type for town generated townies.
- Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively?
I don't create them specificly to be that way, But because breeding and genetic is in the game and I want my sims to look like their off spring so I mainly create a straight sims.
- Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity?
Hmm, I don't know actually, maybe.
- How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you?
I feel okay.
- In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them?
No I don't think I do.
Religion
- Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that?
I have to say that I preferred it that way because it doesn't have to reflect to the real world holiday but just inspired by it.
- Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay?
My sims don't have the same religion as any of the religion in real world. But yes, I do incorporate it sometimes.
- Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims?
Yes for being the god, but my sims can believe in me or not, that's on their chosen, because they'll obey me no matter what.
- How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay?
Just like how the games view death, if you die you can comeback as ghost.
- Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion?
Yes, but not a real life religion.
Sims 4 Comic Legacy
As to sexuality, my sims are straight, but only because I relate to that most also. I don't mind same sex couples in my game.
I see my sims as independent beings, with no set religion.
ALSO, I usually play straight sims because I'm very interested in seeing the offspring of them.
I don't really think about ethnicity and religion in the game at all as there simply isn't the gameplay hooks there for me to latch onto, beyond aesthetics.
When I create a new Sim, I mess about the random thingy and if the look strikes me, then I tweak and adapt, so I have a pretty mixed bunch.
I am British, and what we call here, a straight white Anglo-Saxon male. The neighbourhoods we have been provided with are nothing like anything we have here, so I tend to go with the American tropes I like.
For instance, I have a bit of a Mad Men (A show about advertising executives in 50s) thing going on with some of my households with the perfect blonde and the smart husband dutifully having children and trying to progress in building the perfect life, but underneath it all is darkness, betrayal and tragedy.
Into this backdrop, I have mixed in other contemporary stereotypes, such as a mixed race group of students. I use teens to simulate college, as I can't send my YA's to college. This gives me blank slates to develop into the next generation of house owners. So I have the Asian looking Genius that is constantly focused, but likes to party hard, The loner bookworm, etc The musical genius goth girl. Yes, all cliches
I also have a household of criminals that has been inspired by Breaking Bad, so they are modelled on Jesse and his mates. They are also mixed race. I have built one or two middle class households containing a criminal, or two. These are mainly based, again, on the 1950s Coke commercial look, so tend to be white.
As to sexuality. I have pretty much all types that the game allows me to have, though I have a higher incidence of heterosexual Sims, than other preferences. I like to let the game determine this for me to some extent and I use a gender preference mod so I can view which team a Sim bats for at any time
I have a fantastic lesbian household now that just sparked as teens and has just grown naturally. I have poor Mike, who just doesn't know what he wants and is fast approaching adulthood. He isn't very smart, but he is good looking and just he just wants love and affection, but it never seems to quite work out. A kind of bro love relationship has slowly been growing with his mate, because they just get on.
Sorry I haven;t answered your questions directly, I have a bit of an aversion to form like structures!
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity....
The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
I don't make any differences when playing them so no stereotypes here.
I must admit that when I play hetero.sexual couples I tend to create them from different skin colour and hair and eyes because I love the genetics side of the game.
As for sexuality, I tend to assume they all are bisexual when I start playing a single sim.
Religiously speaking I don't even consider giving them religions at all. Being an atheist myself I like my little religion free Sim universe.
All my creations are CC free.
All my creations are CC free.
LOL! I know! that is why I used a euphemism. Took me by surprise as well
Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and choose the sign of your day
The day's divinity....
The Ghost Song - Jim Morrison
Ethnic - I play with anything. White, black, hispanic, asian ... blended families. Whatever strikes my fancy at that time.
Sexuality - I don't make same-sex couples as my main family. Genetics. I want to continue the 'blood line'.
Religion - Its not really in my game, though they did have the holiday items out.
How do you approach ethnicity in your game?
I like to play a variety of ethnicities as often as possible. When first entering CAS in TS4, I made my simself and my boyfriend's simself, both of us are white. After that I've played a multitude of different ethnicities. I do like to play interracial couples as I find they usually make the best looking children :P
Do you avoid playing, marrying, creating, or interacting with Sims of certain ethnicity?
No. I probably do create more sims who share my own ethnicity. I am white-passing, but half-Roma, so a lot of my sims do reflect this kind of 'look'. I do like to marry townies/npcs into my families though, and I base my choice on facial structure and traits rather than the skintone.
What personal/cultural ideals do you fell you impose on your Sims?
I don't think I impose any, other than a tendency to create more sims on average that look similar to me. Culturally/personally/morally, they differ greatly.
Do you create characters of a different ethnicity than your own and give them stereotypical personalities, hairstyles or clothing?
I don't think any of the 'ethnic' sims I create fit a stereotype. The only time I like to play stereotypes are the ones that create drama in-game, like gold-diggers or players etc.
Do your Sims closely reflect your personal ethnicity and cultural values in gameplay?
As mentioned above, they do to an extent.
Do you incorporate socio-economics when creating Sims of various ethnicity?
Usually not.
Sexuality
How do you identify your Sims in regards to sexuality and gender?
Sexuality varies, gender is usually strictly female or male, with some non-binary sims. It can be hard to create nonbinary sims with how these games are built and the content they come with, coming from someone who, while using CC, likes to limit it.
When and how do you choose your Sims sexual preference/identity?
When I create them. If they're born in game I like to see how they interact with others I suppose?
Do you avoid creating LGBT/SGL Sims or do you incorporate them actively?
I incorporate them less than I incorporate straight/cis sims. Mainly because I like to see how genetics play out over generations, and without mods this is impossible to do with same-sex couples. However, I do play them actively outside of legacy-type families.
Do most of your Sims or your main Sim reflect your sexual identity?
Yes, as mentioned, most of my sims are cis and straight.
How do you feel about playing romantic actions with a Sim of a different gender or sexual preference than you?
It's fun! Just as it is with sims of the same gender/preference as me :)
If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender?
Not sure what this question is asking, sorry! Could anyone clarify?
In same gender couples, do you place masculine and feminine roles on them?
No.
Religion
Did you notice the absence of the word "Christmas" from The Sims team and do you have any thoughts on that?
As a person who celebrates Christmas, I dont care.
Do you incorporate religion/spirituality into your gameplay?
No.
Do you view yourself as a God or eternal being among your Sims?
Sort of? Not really though, I'm just playing a game!
How do you view/observe life and death in your gameplay?
I don't like to interfere in the death of my sims, but I have been known to load an earlier save if a sim I'm playing accidentally dies.
Do you consider your Sims to be of a certain religion?
Nope.
What bugs me is when I create a couple in CAS for a plot I wanted to play out and they make a baby in the game and it is the wrong skin color for my story. I could call it a plot twist, I guess but I think the game is messed up!
Their is no reason why a black couple I created in CAS should have a white child and vice versa.
There is no religion in my game but it is so wrong for my married Sims in to be lovebirds with the whole town. I play one household in each game. Rotational play is out for me because of the broken romance system.
There you go
Have a good day all, I'm about to go out - Happy Simming
Matthew.
I appreciate the honesty, respect, level of comfort, and maturity exhibited in everyone's sharing.
@Bluenote lol Leave Angela alone! I've started to notice that Angela's hygiene doesn't decay quickly, and she doesn't have the hygeine trait. But I make her shower every day now, thank you.
@Alistair32 That's a lot of "No"s in religion. I think I just assumed most of my Sims were Christian, but in a Sim kinda way.
I liked the religions in Medieval Sims though. I wonder if those could/would/should be incorporated into TS4.
There were a few comments about the absence of religion in game, but isn't the menorah a religious symbol?
I wonder if Hannukah is considered more of a community practice as opposed to religious ceremony?
The Kwanzaa kinara is definitely more a community practice.
@shellbeme I bet Sophia and Monica are awesome!It was extremely disappointing making African American Sims until TS4. I like it a lot more now, though the hair still needs a bit of work. Especially in creating locks.
@sunnyshay I to believe in the power of gummy bear pancakes!
@Enless I really like the look of your avatar. I wonder if you consider him to be from PR or DR. To me he looks it.
@catloverplayer I leave premarital sex up to the personality of each individual Sim.
It's kind of strange saying that, because most Sims have a whim or aspiration to WooHoo regardless of marital status.
But I guess if I think a Sim would wait, then I have them wait.
Every once in a while, someone says, I let my Sim decide. I wonder what that means.
@DrewRoland Tag an "SGL" on the end of "LGBTPQIA" and we'll be halfway through the alphabet!
@ModerateOsprey No need for direct answers. Whatever it sparks within you is cool to me. The game does lend itself to creating American cliches. I have lived in NYC all of my life, so the suburb inspired neighborhoods are just as alien to me. And the urban inspired neighborhood in TS3 was just as alien. Seemed more LA or Chicago to me, whic is a big difference.
@beautimous If playing a couple of opposite genders, do you engage certain romantic interactions with one gender? To clarify, some of the romantic interactions have what could be considered masculine/feminine animations. Usually the Sim that initiates the romantic interaction takes a more dominant or aggressive stance than the Sim receiving it. For example, if you have a female Sim flirt with a male, he may get all giggly and kick his feet up in the air like a teenager.
@AnnLee87 I hope that genetics aren't that random. That would be disappointing.
@MiffoShort Thank you for mentioning this. I reviewed the forum rules earlier and that note specifically refers to images, signatures, and avatars. And the EA Terms of Service I noticed that it refers to not using theses topics to harass or in a harmful manner.
I hope I am covered by that, because I am not interested in being banned. I also believe that if current tone of the conversation remains, and the we stick to our observations of these topics in gameplay and not real world, we may be good to go.
Sexuality - Since I like to play through generations of the same families, I don't make same sex couples.
Religion - Not a factor in my games. I view the sims as living on their own world, one where I am a god.
I didn't mean to offend you
Matthew.
That's how I play my games too.
No religion in my game there is no god its called science
If I make female sims they could have any skin color. But I don't make such sims with the purpose to play them. Only if I want them to move into some of the other houses.
The only sims that I don't like in my game are all those families with only one or two elders. The game seems to make such families all the time. But I delete them because I have no use for those families in my game.
I am not religious and therefore don't care about religion in my game.
You like science then?
I LOVE science!