Home› Discussion› The Sims 4 General Discussion
  • Categories
  • Discussions
  • Activity
  • Best Of...
    • Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.

    18, 20 or 21 for the big birthday?

    NRoweNRowe Posts: 7,894 Member
    in The Sims 4 General Discussion
    I know it may seem like a minor, even silly thing. Sims don’t super have specific ages anyway.
    But I was wondering -especially for the purposes of Sim Lit- whether you think 18, 20 or 21 years is best/most realistic for the big leaving school, coming of age, transition from teen to young adult.

    18, 20 or 21 for the big birthday? 113 votes

    18 Years
    62%
    Akl500PBluegayleicmnfrshGalacticGalPinkPaws66IceyJaprilroseVibseMaryVannasimbsimelanorbretonMariefoxprice83ZidienPaigeisin5loubyloulouladybreidLadyTigressirishluck1986LustianiciaChelleJo 71 votes
    20 Years
    15%
    Frn0731StrangerthanThunderbat87Bagoas77JennyggFroilSerendipity38Lex2221xxritaaaaaaaxxMaggieMarleyx_Always_Heart_xKathykinsAdoriyahMrMonty96PlumDiddyLairaDrakosEvalyn326 18 votes
    21 Years
    21%
    GoldmoldarKita5399AlexaiColorist40Writin_RegCorkysPetalssimgirl1010slamondaVuloripinkknight06PegasysSimplyToriayyitsmellfiercephoenix91catmando830paige_emilyyVentusMattsimtoriousOtoyoNindessa 24 votes

    Comments

    • So_MoneySo_Money Posts: 2,536 Member
      18 Years
      This is a tough one to pin down. Probably 18 or 19 or whenever the sim leaves for college - if they choose that route. If 19 were an option I would have chosen that since that's also the legal drinking age most places here in Canada.
    • DrakosDrakos Posts: 451 Member
      20 Years
      I just keep simple. Teen's are teens so when they become young adults they are turning 20 in my world.
    • NRoweNRowe Posts: 7,894 Member
      That’s interesting @So_Money. Here in New Zealand, our legal drinking age was 20 and got lowered to 18. We used to have big coming of age parties at 21, and I guess some still do; but 18 seems to be edging it out now. That’s kind of where my categories came from and I could consider adding 19.

      Cheers @Drakos. I considered this too.
    • Huiiie_07Huiiie_07 Posts: 1,200 Member
      edited August 2018
      18 Years
      I choose 18 because that's the only way I know it. Here in Germany, you're a legal adult at the age of 18.
      NRowe wrote: »
      That’s interesting @So_Money. Here in New Zealand, our legal drinking age was 20 and got lowered to 18. We used to have big coming of age parties at 21, and I guess some still do; but 18 seems to be edging it out now. That’s kind of where my categories came from and I could consider adding 19.

      Cheers @Drakos. I considered this too.

      I think Germany must be one of the countries with the lowest legal drinking age. You can drink nearly everything alcoholic (besides the really strong stuff) at age 16 (sometimes even 14 when accompanied by an adult).
      Origin ID: Huiiie_07

      I like to build stuff
    • PlumDiddyPlumDiddy Posts: 551 Member
      20 Years
      Drakos wrote: »
      I just keep simple. Teen's are teens so when they become young adults they are turning 20 in my world.

      Same
    • NRoweNRowe Posts: 7,894 Member
      Is it just me, or would it be easier to make it 18, if we had the option for College or University?
    • brittmspaceballsbrittmspaceballs Posts: 21 Member
      18 Years
      18 is the voting age in the US but 21 is the drinking age so I think either of those make the most sense. It's interesting to hear the differences in other countries though. I love that Germany's legal drinking age is several years younger than the driving age. Makes so much more sense for young adults to figure out alcohol first, then cars instead of the other way around. Just one of the many examples of things we do wrong in my country.
    • Writin_RegWritin_Reg Posts: 28,907 Member
      edited August 2018
      21 Years
      I say 21 because in past Sims games my sims went directly from high School to college. So they are in my head they are 21/22 - and ready to start life on their own. I play that way - hoping eventually there is a University for my Sim to go to. My sims just bide their time not getting married or families or Career type jobs waiting for University. LOL.


      "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.

      In dreams - I LIVE!
      In REALITY, I simply exist.....

    • HillyBethHillyBeth Posts: 3,505 Member
      18 Years
      NRowe wrote: »
      I know it may seem like a minor, even silly thing. Sims don’t super have specific ages anyway.
      But I was wondering -especially for the purposes of Sim Lit- whether you think 18, 20 or 21 years is best/most realistic for the big leaving school, coming of age, transition from teen to young adult.

      My teen- shown in avatar- is 8 days from becoming a teen, but I pretend she'd just turned 17.
      Origin ID
      HillyPlays
      P.A.C.E- Positive Attitude Changes Everything
    • foxx_fennecfoxx_fennec Posts: 761 Member
      18 Years
      18, because that’s when they leave high school.
      Origin ID: foxx-fennec
    • MaggieMarleyMaggieMarley Posts: 5,299 Member
      edited August 2018
      20 Years
      They are ceasing to be a teenager - which to me, includes the ages of 18 and 19. Plus, the little description you get when a Sim becomes a young adult and you have to choose a trait for them talks about how exciting your twenties are, which implies it is the birthday sim’s twentieth birthday:

      Young adulthood: Lifelong responsibilities, burgeoning careers and vast horizons await. Whoever said their 20’s aren’t a blast?

      It’s true that here in England (and I think in most other Western countries) you’re legally an adult at 18. But then again, in different countries you reach legal adulthood at different ages - I believe in Scotland you are considered an adult for legal purposes and can leave school at 16. And, South Korea has only recently lowered the age of legal adulthood from 20 to 19. Perhaps in whatever universe Sims is set in, 20 is the age of majority and sims stay in school until 20?

      Alternatively, you could say that because time passes more quickly in the Sims, a sim is 18 when they leave school for the last time, but 20 when they age up to a young adult later. This could work if your teen had their last day of school on a Friday and aged up on the Sunday. Probably not if they aged up straight after school on the Friday, though.
      The Straud Legacy-Bachelor Challenge (Vlad as Founder)

      Vlad The Dad: A 100 Baby Challenge, Vlad as ‘matriarch’ *COMPLETE*

      Breed Out The Weird *COMPLETE*
    • Paigeisin5Paigeisin5 Posts: 2,139 Member
      18 Years
      I chose 18 because at that age high school is finished and is when the decision to go to college or find a job is made. And if at eighteen one is considered eligible to join the military, vote, marry, own a firearm or purchase alcohol they have the right to be called an adult.
    • NRoweNRowe Posts: 7,894 Member
      Thanks for the comments.
      I’d love to get a few more votes on this!
    • OtoyoOtoyo Posts: 698 Member
      21 Years
      18 is the legal age of adult hood in many countries, but I picked 21 cause I feel like it takes a bit for someone to be able to move out on their own. So I imagine an 18 year old would get a job or go to school, save up if possible, and then move out. So I personally image YA age in sims as in their 20s
      m9ovrKL.jpg
      Legacy: https://www.theplumtreeapp.com/public.html#59acd9dc03a89f01b73bbf4e
      Not so Berry: https://www.theplumtreeapp.com/public.html#596592475e3b3a0e268e7f7f
      Family Dynamics: https://theplumtreeapp.com/public.html#5b565bffcb9247000fe6d4d4
    • ami123ami123 Posts: 32 Member
      18 Years
      I would definitely say 18 because that is the age you finish school
    • ZidienZidien Posts: 11 New Member
      18 Years
      I voted 18, because it's the age officially recognized for young adults here in most EU countries. So it's normal for me.
    • lexus20lexus20 Posts: 1,302 Member
      edited August 2018
      18 Years
      18, because that's the legal age you are considered an adult and you're allowed to have a driver's license (you have to wait 2 extra years compared to the US) or drink (3 years earlier compared to the US) in my country. 21 is not really an special age here because you're already considered an adult at 18.
    • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,502 Member
      18 Years
      Since the Federal Government gave us the right to sign contracts and vote at the age of 18, that's the beginning of YA to me.
      You can download (free) all three volumes of my Night Whispers Star Trek Fanfiction here: http://galacticgal.deviantart.com/gallery/ You'll need to have a pdf reader. New websites: http://www.trekkiefanfiction.com/st-tos.php
      http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
    • surraaaaaasurraaaaaa Posts: 859 Member
      18 Years
      I say 18, just because that's when high school ends
    • AdoriyahAdoriyah Posts: 156 Member
      20 Years

      Not a popular opinion, or maybe not really acknowledged as anything special, but 20 is the day you are no longer a teenager.
      My Sims 4 Gallery
      Origin ID: Adoriyah
    • chozobochozobo Posts: 40 Member
      18 Years
      For me, YAs are from 18 on. Drinking age here in germany is 16 for some beverages, and with 18, you're good to go with high alcohol percentage beverages, can vote, etc. It just seems weird to me that they'd be anything else than 18. xD
    • xxritaaaaaaaxxxxritaaaaaaaxx Posts: 31 Member
      20 Years
      I think teens are until 18-20, I would consider YAs 20+. I see a YA as 20+ yo, and not a 18yo, however I don't really see a 19 yo being a teen :/
    • BluegayleBluegayle Posts: 4,184 Member
      18 Years
      Legal adult in Canada at 18. Can't drink till 19 but you can vote. Hmm maybe that is a good thing. In my day it was 21 to legally drink. I remember it well. My uncle bought me a bottle of champagne to celebrate. However I was pregnant at the time so i got gingerale while the rest of the family 'celebrated"..
      "Every child matters. If we fail our children, we are bound to fail our present, our future, faith, cultures, and civilizations as well."
      ZO6GpFg.jpg

      AHQ Champion
    • MovottiMovotti Posts: 7,774 Member
      18 Years
      MaggieMarley wrote: »
      They are ceasing to be a teenager - which to me, includes the ages of 18 and 19. Plus, the little description you get when a Sim becomes a young adult and you have to choose a trait for them talks about how exciting your twenties are, which implies it is the birthday sim’s twentieth birthday
      Using that logic, they should be able to leave school before ageing up.


      It’s true that here in England (and I think in most other Western countries) you’re legally an adult at 18. But then again, in different countries you reach legal adulthood at different ages - I believe in Scotland you are considered an adult for legal purposes and can leave school at 16.
      In Australia it used to depend on what state you live in, as to what age you can leave school, In the early 2000's in WA, NT and ACT it was 15, and for the rest for the country, it's as of your 17th birthday. Now it's as of 17 for the entire country.
      You can leave school, but you're not an adult



      Personally I think 18 makes sense as being when sims become young adults.
      It's how it is in real life for most of the western world.




      AmusingExhaustedArchaeopteryx-max-1mb.gif
    Sign In or Register to comment.
    Return to top