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A Toggle for Alien Abduction; Why it's Needed.
MissSweetViolet
Posts: 50 Member
Only so it's taken me awhile to write this up. I wanted to be sure I was expressing what I wanted to say in the clearest way I was able.
I want to start off by saying, I'm not looking to see anything removed from the game. I know many players enjoy it, I'm not trying to take their fun. In fact if we had a toggle, maybe the abductions could even be amped up for those players with the toggle off.
So I know I and many others want to see a toggle switch or some method for the alien abductions, and here is way it's needed.
1; The most important reason of all. This can be a very hard thing to watch even in a game if your someone who has been a survivor of abuse, an attempted victim, or know someone who has been a abused/attacked. It can bring back very painful memories and with no way to shut it off, you are subjected to it if you wish to enjoy the other wonderful things GTW has to offer. I feel this is also rather sexest, as this only affects male sims, not to mention it kind of trivializes it when a man is attacked/abused, in world where many of them already feel embarrassed and ashamed to come forward. It can be triggering to anybody who is sensitive to this topic for whatever reason, especially if they have PTSD from their experience(s).
2; It's not fair in general. Players who don't wish this to be a part of their sim's story have this aspect forced on their human, alien, etc sims, because if you just want to play an alien or some other species, your forced to endure this pack, yet again, since you can't play an alien, without having to put up with the abductions too. Players should have the option to play whatever species they wish in peace. Maybe your a player who just wants to play the pack and not have an alien abduction be part of your sim's story.
The main reason the toggle switch is needed, is because this is basically forced on the player. Unless you locked the door on your sims and never let them enjoy being out at night time again (The poor vampires), your only options as a player if you want to prevent this without modding is to;
A; Spend time doing the Scientist career to unlock a device that may not even be a good fit for your sim's story, plus have the fun of opening your self up to more alien attacks to achieve this, and resetting it every 24 hours.
B; Cheat, which not every player wants to do, and if your a console player, can not do anyway.
I can think of three ways to prevent this currently;
1; A toggle, this is what I feel is the best solution. It would affect the whole game, not just the lot, which seems best.
2; A pop up message, it could say something like "sim name sees some strange lights, should they investigate?" This is not a bad option, but the pop ups could get old I realize.
3; Redo or invent an item just for abductions. I had originally though of modifying the Scientist device, but I think inventing another item would be better, so the career unlockable stays an unlockable. This device would ideally be small and unobtrusive, and would prevent abductions till it was turned off, and would only be controllable by players, not the sims (kind of like locking doors). This issue I could see with this though, would be for players who like to travel off lot, since I don't know if an item would work off lot.
Well there it is, congrats and thank you if you read through all of that. I was trying to make it as short as I could, but I don't think I did well, there is just to much to this topic.
Please discuss your thoughts, I only ask you do so without insulting/flaming one another. Most of us are adults/sensible people here, let's please act like it, thank you.
I want to start off by saying, I'm not looking to see anything removed from the game. I know many players enjoy it, I'm not trying to take their fun. In fact if we had a toggle, maybe the abductions could even be amped up for those players with the toggle off.
So I know I and many others want to see a toggle switch or some method for the alien abductions, and here is way it's needed.
1; The most important reason of all. This can be a very hard thing to watch even in a game if your someone who has been a survivor of abuse, an attempted victim, or know someone who has been a abused/attacked. It can bring back very painful memories and with no way to shut it off, you are subjected to it if you wish to enjoy the other wonderful things GTW has to offer. I feel this is also rather sexest, as this only affects male sims, not to mention it kind of trivializes it when a man is attacked/abused, in world where many of them already feel embarrassed and ashamed to come forward. It can be triggering to anybody who is sensitive to this topic for whatever reason, especially if they have PTSD from their experience(s).
2; It's not fair in general. Players who don't wish this to be a part of their sim's story have this aspect forced on their human, alien, etc sims, because if you just want to play an alien or some other species, your forced to endure this pack, yet again, since you can't play an alien, without having to put up with the abductions too. Players should have the option to play whatever species they wish in peace. Maybe your a player who just wants to play the pack and not have an alien abduction be part of your sim's story.
The main reason the toggle switch is needed, is because this is basically forced on the player. Unless you locked the door on your sims and never let them enjoy being out at night time again (The poor vampires), your only options as a player if you want to prevent this without modding is to;
A; Spend time doing the Scientist career to unlock a device that may not even be a good fit for your sim's story, plus have the fun of opening your self up to more alien attacks to achieve this, and resetting it every 24 hours.
B; Cheat, which not every player wants to do, and if your a console player, can not do anyway.
I can think of three ways to prevent this currently;
1; A toggle, this is what I feel is the best solution. It would affect the whole game, not just the lot, which seems best.
2; A pop up message, it could say something like "sim name sees some strange lights, should they investigate?" This is not a bad option, but the pop ups could get old I realize.
3; Redo or invent an item just for abductions. I had originally though of modifying the Scientist device, but I think inventing another item would be better, so the career unlockable stays an unlockable. This device would ideally be small and unobtrusive, and would prevent abductions till it was turned off, and would only be controllable by players, not the sims (kind of like locking doors). This issue I could see with this though, would be for players who like to travel off lot, since I don't know if an item would work off lot.
Well there it is, congrats and thank you if you read through all of that. I was trying to make it as short as I could, but I don't think I did well, there is just to much to this topic.
Please discuss your thoughts, I only ask you do so without insulting/flaming one another. Most of us are adults/sensible people here, let's please act like it, thank you.
12
Comments
Toggles would be best, though.
Ah, I didn't know about the lot challenges, I haven't checked on the newest patch yet, awesome.
Yes, I do feel like a toggle is best as well, but wanted to present many options in the hope that EA would just do something to allow those of us who don't want them to control it. Ideally in a way to allow both sides of the issue to still enjoy their gameplay.
I imagine an Options menu on/off toggle (or maybe a variable frequency, maybe on a 'high/low' bar, if that makes sense) would be the best option for something like this. That way if it doesn't fit your story, or you otherwise don't want it at all or as often, you can change it to whatever suits you.
Sorry to be blunt, but what 'everyone should stop getting so upset!' types don't get is the fact that everyone has different tolerance levels for different things, and I don't know why that's such a bad thing, especially in cases like this where people calmly and politely word their views. It's gotten to the point where people can't even be chill about their opinions now without people telling them they're not allowed to have concerns. Violet is not screaming at people who play with aliens, nor are they forcing anyone to change anything. They are making a point and suggestions, and that's it, so what's the problem? Not everyone is going to have the 'just a game' mentality that we have and that's perfectly fine. It's not up to me to tell others what can and can't upset, offend, or even cause a trauma trigger to them.
I love playing the aliens and they're great fun, but I also understand that other people will have issues with it whether it's because they don't want aliens in their stories, or because abductions don't fit their stories, or because they don't like the implications of it. But that's cool because people don't have to be okay with things all of the time. I understand that almost anything can be a trauma trigger, no matter how trivial it may seem to other people because that's how trauma works- so I can understand why people don't like the idea of the abductions, especially those who are victims of abuse of whatever kind. That's why making them a completely optional feature is a great idea! People who like them keep them, people who don't like them don't. And who am I to tell a trauma survivor what they can and can't have issues with?
Yes, EXACTLY! I love playing with the aliens but I'm not going to shove my ideas down other players' throats because people's opinions on the game are different to mine and that's fine. You're not sensitive for thinking about how others might feel about this, don't worry. It's not a crime to have a level of sensitivity. Thinking about others is a good personality trait to have. : )
I also love playing the aliens, and many of the other things in the pack. I just don't like the forced abductions, and the very few ways of preventing them (door locking/Scientist device), don't do a well enough job. Being forced to cheat/mod is not a good solution ether, and if your a console player are not even an option.
And yeah exactly, it'd be good for players who don't want to cheat or can't use mods! Anyway I will stop clogging your thread now, thanks for sharing your ideas < 3
If for some reason that doesn't work (and I've never seen it not work) use the resetsim cheat to cancel the action.
I've had it happen several times already. You can not stop a sim without cheating from going to the spaceship, I tried. Also people should not be forced to cheat, and again, if you happen to be a console player, cheating is unavailable! It would be simple enough to add a toggle on the GTW pack.
I mean I have done it. I just cancel the action normally and so I've never had a sim actually abducted.
Well I've also tried to do it and it didn't stop anything, so we're at a stalemate there. I had to lock the doors to stop it from happening.
Wow, how lucky! I haven't gotten any since they nerfed them!
But thanks @MissSweetViolet for sharing your perspective on the feature and thanks for mention the stigma around it (and the stigma for men, the old myth that men can't get abused is incorrect and create more guilt and shame). I can see that this feature need to be updated when I read your post.
LIFE STRUGGLES PACK
Yes, a lot of people have different ways they like to play, a toggle would be great solution to allow all players to play the way they wish.
Your very welcome. I get so tired of people treating this topic like it doesn't matter, especially for guys, and it matters so much, it affects so much. So I do the best I can to help.
you don;t know they aren't a victim I think you need to step back and think about how you treat other people on here
some people don't mind the abductions because they like them and they realize that this is a game regardless of what there
real life is like its fine if you want a toggle but be nice to people on here