Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
Do you care about the "abuse" of virtual pets ?
Marinuttonen
Posts: 165 Member
What I mean is, often you see comments about, for example, the big size of the terrariums in MFPS. I almost never have them in my homes (yes I caved in and bought the pack and I am so ashamed I had to donate to WWF 10 bucks to justify it to myself) due to the fact that you can't let them roam around in your home. It's animal abuse to keep a single pet caged all it's life with it's only contact with another being once or twice a day for extremely short periods of time. So I don't like the terrariums, but I do think they're a good size. However a lot of people want them to be smaller to fit their aesthetic.
I know it's all just pixels, but I don't like to think about my sim mistreating an animal
Well, except maybe if they're some evil scum, but during regular gameplay. Do you care?
I know it's all just pixels, but I don't like to think about my sim mistreating an animal
Well, except maybe if they're some evil scum, but during regular gameplay. Do you care? Where are the pet bunnies, Sims 4 ?! 
5
Comments
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
Yes I do care but thats because of my RL personality in general which includes being a pet owner so regardless of the fact this is a game in the whole 12 years I have been playing sims I have never deliberately killed my sims or pets as I personally get invested in them too much
You can yell at the cats & dogs, other sims constantly do it to my pets when they're around my sim-homes. I decided when I first noticed this behaviour that I'd become nemesi with anyone who did it, so my sims have quite a ridiculous amounts of nemesi. Nemesises?
You can completely ignore the small pets in MFPS and let them live in filth. Not sure if they die from it, haven't tried for obvious reasons.
Because I can't; I keep all sigs turned off.
wow I have not seen that reaction to my pets by visiting sims so maybe I just spend so much time with my pets they are chilled? In real life if my pets take an instant dislike to somebody I am very wary of them as in my experience pets are extremely good at spotting not so great people quite naturally
I don't mind that sort of things either. My take on it and I think the OP's as well is deliberate harm/neglect..
With MFP.. yes you can let them live in filth .. the consequences are a filthy uncomfortable home for your sim.. that is very noticeable.. and an undying rodent (except from age) that bites ... and of course a disease that will kill your sim and can spread and kill others if you don't cure them.
I have a hamster in a few homes that are well taken care of... immediate cleaning of the cages by good responsible sims one (Stardew Valley Abigal)... and I have evil types of sims (Sims 2 Loki Beaker types) that want to spread disease on purpose for his own deviant experimental reasons.
I've personally never harmed a hamster or pet in real life and don't plan on starting any time soon. Really.. It's a game not everyone likes to play out Mary Sue over and over. You can take care of your hamsters responsibly.
I hate animal abuse offline. I feel horrible when I accidentally step on my cat's tail in real life. Virtual animals I am against abusing too even when it's a mean or evil sim.
I don't know why but this made me laugh harder than anything has in weeks.
Glad to be of service 😂😂
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/924539/features-that-needs-depth-and-ways-to-improve
I'm pretty sweet and caring in real life and I like sweet things but I also don't like life sugar coated nor do I want to put myself in an illusionary bubble of alternate reality to pretend I'm in candy land.
Life is about balance and imo we need both the ugly side of life and the good even if it's in a game.
I would love for the hamster to be able to roam but I don't feel particularly bad about it.
And lmbo @StrawberryYogurt 😂😂
I'm not as worried about the small animals from My First Pet Stuff, because they actually go on vacations and send us postcards. Maybe the fish do that too, and are just less thoughtful and don't bother to write?
I move dust bunnies in Build/Buy mode so they won't get vacuumed up. I can't even handle virtual dust animal cruelty.
But other than that, I'm not worried from an animal abuse level. At the end of the day, entertainment trumps being realistic, so I'd gladly keep a flamingo or peacock or sea turtle as a pet in the Sims, even if it's not good for them in real life. (Seriously Sims, exotic pets pack when?) I get how you feel, though.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
Neglected rodents in game can develop Rabid Rodent Fever, and if they bite a sim they transmit it. It’s contagious so you have to quarantine the infected sim, you can get them treatment for it, but if they die from it their ghost is doomed to spend eternity in a gerbil 🐹 costume. Well eternity only if you decide not to edit them in CAS 😈.
(Some people consider it inhumane to keep a large dog in an apartment or to not walk them constantly, for example, but not all dogs have the same energy requirements. My own Alaskan Malamute is more than happy to sleep most of the day away on her memory foam bed inside, but by that definition I would be "abusing" her.)
More on topic, this sort of gray area informs my beliefs on virtual pets. I have no reason to look at the MFP small pets and assume abuse. Beyond just pretending they get let out, they quite canonically leave on their own adventures and send you a post card along the way unless you turn it off. Further, these are not real pets that you can see the suffering. If there were some sort of detailed suffering mechanic, you bet I would avoid it, but why would they add that? It is the Sims. A virtual dollhouse. You abuse the pixel people and pixel pets no more than you abuse Barbie when you change her clothes without her permission.