LGBTQ+ Premade Couples

Nindigo · June 2020

So, Evergreen Harbor comes with two same-gender families; the Tinkers and the Greenburgs. But those are all females. To maintain balance and equality, we need two families based around male Sims in future packs - the next game pack, for example.

I'm a little worried that female couples will get favored over male couples in our game. There is nasty a tendency out there in the world to be more accepting of female couples. I really hope that won't be the case in The Sims 4.

Any thoughts? (keep it decent, please)

Cavapoo_King · June 2020

If they do to many gay/lesbian couples people will start complaining though

Ravenna · June 2020

Cavapoo_King wrote: »

If they do to many gay/lesbian couples people will start complaining though

Let them complain, who cares

Icewolf · June 2020

Why not just make your own?

aaronrulz · June 2020

We have Brant and Brent Hecking from Cats and Dogs. I give them kids all the time when I start a new save. I'm sure they will for future packs include gay male families because this is not the first post I've seen on this topic.

Sharonia · June 2020

Females in general seem to be a more popular option when it comes to the sims. Maybe that's why?

Nindigo · June 2020

Icewolf wrote: »

Why not just make your own?

It has something to do with the message the company is sending. It's not a question of quantity of couples in and of itself.

@Sharonia That should not be the motivational factor in an inclusive political strategy.

Netzspannung · June 2020

I wouldn't mind them adding more same gender couples. I never really looked at it that way, that female couples were more accepted in the world. I just know that all the male same gender couples in my circle of acquaintances have a bunch of female "groupies". Anyway, my favourite pre-made couple (same gender or not) are the Heckings and have been for a long time. I don't really play pre-mades, but I like my Sims to befriend them and there are family names I like to keep around even when the original pre-mades died off. Anyway, I do understand why it's important for EA to add them, representation can make a big difference, especially to young people.

Sharonia · June 2020

Nindigo wrote: »

@Sharonia That should not be the motivational factor in an inclusive political strategy.

I didn't say that I agreed with it. I was just suggesting a reason as to why it might be. I don't speak for all obviously and I know everybody enjoys the game differently but I have seen plenty of polls showing a lot of favor to playing female sims over male sims. As for my opinion I'd actually rather they steered away from political issues in the game altogether and focus on making the game fun but that's just me. Saying this though I've played both of the female households you mentioned above and they have become some of my favourites.

Kimmer · June 2020

I've always thought that there are few gay males among single premades, at least Diego Lobo, Gunther Munch and Sergio Romeo (closeted one). I paired Gunther with Sergio and Diego found a randomly generated boyfriend in my game.
I do wish there'd be more premade gay couples. I adore Heckings, although they often seem to flirt with others. Maybe they have an open marriage.

MaggieMarley · June 2020

Yes overall we have three premade same sex female couples and only one premade same sex male couple. It's great that they're thinking about LGBTQ representation but we need more male same sex couples in the next pack/s.

AnnLee87 · June 2020

Please let me point out that there are transgender characters in the game. Lia Hauata from Island Living is the first premade transgender Sim in The Sims series. Morgyn Ember from Realm of Magic is a transgender man, making him the second transgender Sim to be introduced to the game as a premade townie. In my game my male Sim is with Knox Greenburg now. I like to play single Sims and through whims and autonomous actions I let them decide who they want to be with. These 3 townies are some of my favorites. I usually don't end up playing premades until my Sims meets them and they become a couple. However, Brent and Brant Hecking are the only premade family that I have actually played in a new save after the initial Sim I had to make. I played them the longest. They adopted 4 kids in total. 2 as babies, 1 toddler and a kid and now have 7 grand kids in that save. Two grand kids and their son in law moved in with them after the mother died in a fire. They are now elders and I will go back to them when the kitting pack comes out. I can't wait!

aaronrulz · June 2020

Kimmer wrote: »

I've always thought that there are few gay males among single premades, at least Diego Lobo, Gunther Munch and Sergio Romeo (closeted one). I paired Gunther with Sergio and Diego found a randomly generated boyfriend in my game.
I do wish there'd be more premade gay couples. I adore Heckings, although they often seem to flirt with others. Maybe they have an open marriage.

I think J. Huntington III is a bit of a closet case. Not many straight men wear sweaters draped over their shoulders. haha.

MaggieMarley · June 2020

Also bit off topic but looking ahead to TS5 I hope there will some LGBTQ representation in the base game premades.

Lustianicia · June 2020

Lesbian video game characters in general are more prominent than gay male characters... that's an unfortunate truth... and it doesn't look like The Sims is an exception either. We live in a world where society is more accepting of lesbians VS gay men. This is a fact. Most of society (including straight women) are generally more comfortable with the idea of two women kissing, holding hands, etc, than they are about two men doing the same.

I mean, even back when The Sims was first released, Maxis showed two female Sims kissing... while there weren't any actual Sims who were represented as lesbian in the game itself, this didn't stop it from happening. Also, in Sims 3, a lesbian couple was featured in 'Roaring Heights' as well.

Back in 2015 (I think), The Sims created a picture for 'Pride Month', which featured a rainbow line of Sims couples... one thing that stood out to me was the fact that only a lesbian couple was represented with a child... while all the gay male couples were represented as single (ALL of them). The Sims also seems to have a bias when it comes to which "version" of a same-sex couple is acceptable to have children or not. This continues to be a trend in the actual game itself... the ONE and ONLY male same-sex couple (Brant and Brent Hecking) have a dog, but not an actual child... meanwhile, every female same-sex couple in the game so far seems to have a child, which furthers the stigma that lesbians are considered "acceptable" to be parents, while gay men aren't.

Even the new characters represented in the logo for The Sims 4 (after they did the "revamp"), features a female same-sex couple, as opposed to a male same-sex couple. Some might suggest that one of them is "gender non-binary", but let's be real here... they're meant to be seen as both female.

So, yes, I would agree that EA/Maxis seems to have a homophobia bias against gay men, but seem to be perfectly accepting of lesbians. This is, again, an unfortunate trend in video games in general... though, you'd think a game like The Sims would be more progressive in this area... but it's not, sadly.

Also, the fact that we can create gay male Sims on our own isn't the point... so don't bring that up as an argument (because I know many people will probably think of that)... the point is, the developers, whether intentional or not, have shown a bias in favor of lesbians, while seemingly showing a negative bias against gay men.

Lustianicia · June 2020

OEII1001 wrote: »

Brant, Brent and Rosie are pretty awesome.

Yes, but notice how they're the only male same-sex couple in the entire series (not even just Sims 4), but are only represented as having a dog, instead of an actual child... meanwhile, every female same-sex couple that has been featured in this game is shown with a child. That's a bit concerning.

Lustianicia · June 2020

Icewolf wrote: »

Why not just make your own?

That's not the point... EA & Maxis are a company that constantly claim to be LGBT inclusive and supportive. They profit off the LGBT community at every chance they get, but often fail to even represent us properly in their games... that's a huge red flag! Especially when The Sims is a game that many gay men enjoy, you can't really be surprised that we simply wanna see more representation.

This is a trend among many video games, TV shows, movies, etc... they claim to be all supportive of the LGBT community, but often refuse to even give us the slightest representation... and when they do, they often use the safest route possible... which either includes representing the most easily accepted members of the community (usually lesbians or bisexual women), using the gay character as comedic relief, or simply saying the character is gay, while never actually showing it.

This is problematic... especially for a company that claims to support the community so much. It also further proves they only say these things for the sake of $$$, instead of actually practicing what they claim to preach.

pepperjax1230 · June 2020

I’m sorry you need more gay/lesbian couples why? Since you can make your own I don’t get why you want EA to add more.

Chazzzy · June 2020

Kimmer wrote: »

I've always thought that there are few gay males among single premades, at least Diego Lobo, Gunther Munch and Sergio Romeo (closeted one). I paired Gunther with Sergio and Diego found a randomly generated boyfriend in my game.
I do wish there'd be more premade gay couples. I adore Heckings, although they often seem to flirt with others. Maybe they have an open marriage.

Diego? Definitely. Gunther? I don’t know anything about him, never played that family. Sergio? Gay? I’m shocked. I think in my game I have him married to Siobhan. I never got that “vibe”, personally. Interesting

logion · June 2020

I would not mind it, but I think they should focus on making on making their premades interesting and not just add them for the sake of representation, and also make them work with the pack that they are making.

I watched one twitch streamer visit the Tinker household and he could not even understand that they were a couple because they did not even behave like they were married, they both started flirting with his male sim because of the Free Love NAP.

I want interesting premades that people seem to come up with on the gallery, like single dads for example and make them have interesting relationships in the game. Imagine if they would add two male sims that were romantically involved but not even living together for example, and it was up to the player to discover it themselves.

Simpatsyann · June 2020

[Edited by EA_Mai - removing off topic comments]

Also, yes, I would like to see more premade male gay or differently gendered couples. Representation is important.

DominicLaurence · June 2020

The more diversity on families, the better! [Edited by EA_Mai - removing off topic comment]

auroraael14 · June 2020

Wow, this topic turned into a debate real quick. I wouldn't care if EA added more LGBTQ sims or not. I don't play with most of the sims that they ship with their games. I do have a few that I have kept like Brent and Brant Hecking. In my game, they adopted two kids that are now adults and at one time had three dogs. Sadly two of the dogs have passed away. I just started a new game save though and started adding sims from the sims 2 and 3 that I enjoyed playing.

Kimmer · June 2020

aaronrulz wrote: »

Kimmer wrote: »

I've always thought that there are few gay males among single premades, at least Diego Lobo, Gunther Munch and Sergio Romeo (closeted one). I paired Gunther with Sergio and Diego found a randomly generated boyfriend in my game.
I do wish there'd be more premade gay couples. I adore Heckings, although they often seem to flirt with others. Maybe they have an open marriage.

I think J. Huntington III is a bit of a closet case. Not many straight men wear sweaters draped over their shoulders. haha.

I remember thinking so too when I first saw J. I played with a gay male Sim and I made him flirt with J, but he wasn't interested. He turned my Sim down every time. I thought "alright, alright, I get it, you're not gay" and stopped trying. When my Sim finally found a boyfriend, suddenly J started appearing behind his door several times in one day, he became obsessed with my Sim. He probably regretted his decision. You may be right about him.

Kimmer · June 2020

Chazzzy wrote: »

Kimmer wrote: »

I've always thought that there are few gay males among single premades, at least Diego Lobo, Gunther Munch and Sergio Romeo (closeted one). I paired Gunther with Sergio and Diego found a randomly generated boyfriend in my game.
I do wish there'd be more premade gay couples. I adore Heckings, although they often seem to flirt with others. Maybe they have an open marriage.

Diego? Definitely. Gunther? I don’t know anything about him, never played that family. Sergio? Gay? I’m shocked. I think in my game I have him married to Siobhan. I never got that “vibe”, personally. Interesting

I don't know why, but I had instant gay vibes about Sergio when I saw him the first time. Maybe it was the way he dressed and looked. I was surprised that he was dating Siobhan and the first thing I thought was that he must be closeted. I decided to go with my instinct in my save where I play with premades (and some other Maxis made Sims).

Monaveil · June 2020

Keep in mind that a Sim is a Sim and not a real person. If you don't like a pre-made Sim created by someone at EA/Maxis then feel free to edit them however you want to. I've replaced many pre-made Sims with my own in order to balance the population in terms of gender, age, aspirations, traits, and careers. The majority of my family households have two parents because that's what the game prioritizes when sending Sims to nightclubs, festivals, and social events. I'd rather see my own Sims at those events instead of Maxis pre-mades. I also have a lot of single-parent families that the game basically ignores for some reason. I take that back - Single parents do get to go to restaurants with some random adult Sim, but never with their children.

I don't have Eco Living but I know that I'd replace most, if not all, of the pre-made Sims based on what I've read about them. Some of their traits are awful and it seems that some traits were manipulated which usually ruins a Sim.

I agree that male Sims have been under-represented for a while but we, as players, can change that. Personally, I wish that EA/Maxis would either stop making pre-made household or make better ones.

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LGBTQ+ Premade Couples

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