It's entirely possible to simultaneously feel triumph and validation for the LGBT+ community while also feeling compassion for the Russian players who are forced to miss out due to an oppressive government.
I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it.
I think, more specifically, it would be nice to hear from a Russian LGBT+ player. Many of the rest of the Russian players almost certainly will only feel disappointment. And that's understandable.
While this is a beautiful and necessary sentiment for the LGBT+ community in general, I think it's also very, very sad for the Russian community of Simmers, particularly their LGBT citizens who already live in a dangerous, oppressive society, feeling completely alone in the world, and won't be able to have a grand wedding outlet in their games, for their own stories. They shouldn't have to be excluded. It's horrible to think that this kind of government control can affect a simple freedom that we, in the U.S., sometimes take for granted; a simulation game.
I think EA is caught between a rock and a hard place here and had a very difficult decision to make. Or maybe it wasn't so difficult, I don't know. Their developers and employees are international and from so many different walks of life that the perspective certainly isn't a narrow one so I think when they have to take a closer look or make a difficult call for something like this, they weigh the circumstances very carefully.
I can't help but wish there had been a better solution for our Russian Simmer friends while still keeping the integrity of the story for the LGBT+ community. I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it. If it were possible to purchase and gift the pack to some of them, I would do so in a heartbeat. But I think the game code would fail if they tried to use it? Can anyone answer that?
Anyway, I just also want to say that anger and accusations aren't going to help the situation. It's entirely possible to simultaneously feel triumph and validation for the LGBT+ community while also feeling compassion for the Russian players who are forced to miss out due to an oppressive government.
Peace.
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
You wouldn't be able to gift them through Origin, Region-locking, or whatever it's called, would prevent that. I'm pretty sure the same applies to Steam as well.
While this is a beautiful and necessary sentiment for the LGBT+ community in general, I think it's also very, very sad for the Russian community of Simmers, particularly their LGBT citizens who already live in a dangerous, oppressive society, feeling completely alone in the world, and won't be able to have a grand wedding outlet in their games, for their own stories. They shouldn't have to be excluded. It's horrible to think that this kind of government control can affect a simple freedom that we, in the U.S., sometimes take for granted; a simulation game.
I think EA is caught between a rock and a hard place here and had a very difficult decision to make. Or maybe it wasn't so difficult, I don't know. Their developers and employees are international and from so many different walks of life that the perspective certainly isn't a narrow one so I think when they have to take a closer look or make a difficult call for something like this, they weigh the circumstances very carefully.
I can't help but wish there had been a better solution for our Russian Simmer friends while still keeping the integrity of the story for the LGBT+ community. I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it. If it were possible to purchase and gift the pack to some of them, I would do so in a heartbeat. But I think the game code would fail if they tried to use it? Can anyone answer that?
Anyway, I just also want to say that anger and accusations aren't going to help the situation. It's entirely possible to simultaneously feel triumph and validation for the LGBT+ community while also feeling compassion for the Russian players who are forced to miss out due to an oppressive government.
Peace.
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
@Babykittyjade Thank you! Please keep me informed if they find a solution.
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
You wouldn't be able to gift them through Origin, Region-locking, or whatever it's called, would prevent that. I'm pretty sure the same applies to Steam as well.
I have gifted players outside of the U.S by having them change their location in origin. I would assume the same works for Russia but I'm not sure.
None actually. As far as I've seen on Russian speaking sites, and it is only a rumor at this point, some children's TV channels refused to advertise the pack with this cover and trailer (witch is confusing, because the whole game is rated 18+ in Russia, so how can they advertise anything at all?), other than that there are no objections from Russians at all.
So in fact is EA who banned Russia (and Ukraine and Belarus, and Kazakhstan), not the other way around.
I guess the statement from the letter "to our Simmers around the world, we are grateful to have you in our universe" excludes all Russian speaking simmers as it seems, how nice of them.
While this is a beautiful and necessary sentiment for the LGBT+ community in general, I think it's also very, very sad for the Russian community of Simmers, particularly their LGBT citizens who already live in a dangerous, oppressive society, feeling completely alone in the world, and won't be able to have a grand wedding outlet in their games, for their own stories. They shouldn't have to be excluded. It's horrible to think that this kind of government control can affect a simple freedom that we, in the U.S., sometimes take for granted; a simulation game.
I think EA is caught between a rock and a hard place here and had a very difficult decision to make. Or maybe it wasn't so difficult, I don't know. Their developers and employees are international and from so many different walks of life that the perspective certainly isn't a narrow one so I think when they have to take a closer look or make a difficult call for something like this, they weigh the circumstances very carefully.
I can't help but wish there had been a better solution for our Russian Simmer friends while still keeping the integrity of the story for the LGBT+ community. I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it. If it were possible to purchase and gift the pack to some of them, I would do so in a heartbeat. But I think the game code would fail if they tried to use it? Can anyone answer that?
Anyway, I just also want to say that anger and accusations aren't going to help the situation. It's entirely possible to simultaneously feel triumph and validation for the LGBT+ community while also feeling compassion for the Russian players who are forced to miss out due to an oppressive government.
Peace.
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
Also luumia (an ea employee and he also worked on the trailer and is LGBT himself) is trying to figure out some way to gift the pack to Russian simmers. EA might be giving out free codes to russian simmers but idk yet.
This definitely seems like a case of good intentions having a hurtful and unintentional outcome. I can see both sides. Maxis/EA is wanting to preserve their marketing to send the message that LGBTQ people are not to be erased, pushed aside or hidden. The flip side of that coin however is that in this decision meant to enforce that message they made an already marginalized group of people feel even more isolated and excluded. Some governments have banned the game entirely but that’s a different situation beyond EAs control. If the game and marketing is allowed under an 18+ rating as many Russian players have indicated then perhaps they should revisit the decision and see if there isn’t some way to compromise. I think unfortunately there are no easy solutions here. It’s immoral that any human being should be made to feel shame about who they are, or be treated as less than human for traits they’re born with. Because in the end, we are all way more alike than we are different, and I hate for anyone to feel left out. It’s a terrible feeling.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it.
I think, more specifically, it would be nice to hear from a Russian LGBT+ player. Many of the rest of the Russian players almost certainly will only feel disappointment. And that's understandable.
There's a lot of Russian LGBT players on Twitter commenting on the situation. These are the "nicer" responses, all of the Russian lgbt players I've seen have been saying essentially the same thing though
Yeah, I just took a look on Twitter and it's a firestorm. Some Gamechangers are apologizing for standing with EA and recanting their statements because the Russian LGBT+ Simmer community feels completely insulted and abandoned. They already have a lot of oppression from just being who they are but now they feel they're being told they don't actually matter to EA. They are also saying that there are ways to release the pack as 18+ so they could use it, but that it's EA's decision not to do so.
Meanwhile, in the free world, LGBT+ people are celebrating the decision for "solidarity" as EA stands up for the rights of their own (U.S. based) citizens first, as it would be expected for any country to do.
Things just got volcanically political very quickly. I think EA is in over their heads now, unfortunately.
Yeah, I just took a look on Twitter and it's a firestorm. Some Gamechangers are apologizing for standing with EA and recanting their statements because the Russian LGBT+ Simmer community feels completely insulted and abandoned. They already have a lot of oppression from just being who they are but now they feel they're being told they don't actually matter to EA. They are also saying that there are ways to release the pack as 18+ so they could use it, but that it's EA's decision not to do so.
Meanwhile, in the free world, LGBT+ people are celebrating the decision for "solidarity" as EA stands up for the rights of their own (U.S. based) citizens first, as it would be expected for any country to do.
Things just got volcanically political very quickly. I think EA is in over their heads now, unfortunately.
The best course of action likely was for EA to just put out the pack, and the marketing in its original format and let the Russian Government decide how or if it should be sold. But unfortunately that ship has sailed and the backlash is huge, and feelings are now deeply and genuinely hurt.
Yeah, I just took a look on Twitter and it's a firestorm. Some Gamechangers are apologizing for standing with EA and recanting their statements because the Russian LGBT+ Simmer community feels completely insulted and abandoned. They already have a lot of oppression from just being who they are but now they feel they're being told they don't actually matter to EA. They are also saying that there are ways to release the pack as 18+ so they could use it, but that it's EA's decision not to do so.
Meanwhile, in the free world, LGBT+ people are celebrating the decision for "solidarity" as EA stands up for the rights of their own (U.S. based) citizens first, as it would be expected for any country to do.
Things just got volcanically political very quickly. I think EA is in over their heads now, unfortunately.
Another thing is I have genuine fear for the livestream tomorrow cause it's gonna be a mess in the chat. I think they should have announced this after the livestream but idk
I mean the chat is always a mess but I feel it's gonna be worse than usual.
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
You wouldn't be able to gift them through Origin, Region-locking, or whatever it's called, would prevent that. I'm pretty sure the same applies to Steam as well.
I think is called geotagging or geolocking and I have to deal with that since years. It brought me a lot of frustration and disappointment, not able to buy something in my own language or have to deal with rejected creditcards in due of the "wrong" IP-address. I think the best way would be travel in to a different country (as far as I know russian belongs to the east-europe region of origin, buy and install it there.
I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it.
I think, more specifically, it would be nice to hear from a Russian LGBT+ player. Many of the rest of the Russian players almost certainly will only feel disappointment. And that's understandable.
There's a lot of Russian LGBT players on Twitter commenting on the situation. These are the "nicer" responses, all of the Russian lgbt players I've seen have been saying essentially the same thing though
I do only know one simmer here in the forum from the what's happened in game-thread, where she wrote a lovely story, which I've loved to read and I miss her story. But I haven't seen her in a while. She wrote she wanted to support the lgbt+ in her country that's why she take a break. I hope she is fine, but I'm sure now, she will be very disappointed when she will read the news.
I would be very interested to hear from Russian players about it.
I think, more specifically, it would be nice to hear from a Russian LGBT+ player. Many of the rest of the Russian players almost certainly will only feel disappointment. And that's understandable.
There's a lot of Russian LGBT players on Twitter commenting on the situation. These are the "nicer" responses, all of the Russian lgbt players I've seen have been saying essentially the same thing though
So, basically what I said. But evidently that was enough for me to be personally attacked and told that I "don't have any understanding of the topic at all." Yeah. And thanks to that person for the 154 HR I got from that.
I do only know one simmer here in the forum from the what's happened in game-thread, where she wrote a lovely story, which I've loved to read and I miss her story. But I haven't seen her in a while. She wrote she wanted to support the lgbt+ in her country that's why she take a break. I hope she is fine, but I'm sure now, she will be very disappointed when she will read the news.
Aww, that's a sad state of affairs.
Hopefully they determine a way to gift the pack to folks in Russia and those of us who can buy it can start some kind of crowd-gifting campaign.
I know I'd be willing to donate a few gifted packs and I'm sure there are many, many non-Russian simmers that would do the same. Just need a way to do it and some folks to organize the effort.
That doesn't resolve the issue that the pack doesn't even have Russian language translation from what I've read though.
I do only know one simmer here in the forum from the what's happened in game-thread, where she wrote a lovely story, which I've loved to read and I miss her story. But I haven't seen her in a while. She wrote she wanted to support the lgbt+ in her country that's why she take a break. I hope she is fine, but I'm sure now, she will be very disappointed when she will read the news.
That doesn't resolve the issue that the pack doesn't even have Russian language translation from what I've read though.
The pack isn't released yet so idk how anyone would get that sort of info
This definitely seems like a case of good intentions having a hurtful and unintentional outcome. I can see both sides. Maxis/EA is wanting to preserve their marketing to send the message that LGBTQ people are not to be erased, pushed aside or hidden. The flip side of that coin however is that in this decision meant to enforce that message they made an already marginalized group of people feel even more isolated and excluded. Some governments have banned the game entirely but that’s a different situation beyond EAs control. If the game and marketing is allowed under an 18+ rating as many Russian players have indicated then perhaps they should revisit the decision and see if there isn’t some way to compromise. I think unfortunately there are no easy solutions here. It’s immoral that any human being should be made to feel shame about who they are, or be treated as less than human for traits they’re born with. Because in the end, we are all way more alike than we are different, and I hate for anyone to feel left out. It’s a terrible feeling.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Those tweets clearly show EA are hurting the very players they claim to care about. This is totally bizarre and all the more so when you consider the Carnaval pack was just sold there.
Very much hope EA will change their mind.
Comments
Well said, and I could not agree with you more.
I think, more specifically, it would be nice to hear from a Russian LGBT+ player. Many of the rest of the Russian players almost certainly will only feel disappointment. And that's understandable.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
Just want to say simmers on Twitter are trying to figure out if we could gift them. I guess we won't know until the pack comes out and someone tries it. But I'll keep an eye out. From what I see of the Russian community on Twitter they are very very upset. They feel abandonded by EA and many were already planning for their weddings 🥲
You wouldn't be able to gift them through Origin, Region-locking, or whatever it's called, would prevent that. I'm pretty sure the same applies to Steam as well.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
@Babykittyjade Thank you! Please keep me informed if they find a solution.
I have gifted players outside of the U.S by having them change their location in origin. I would assume the same works for Russia but I'm not sure.
So in fact is EA who banned Russia (and Ukraine and Belarus, and Kazakhstan), not the other way around.
I guess the statement from the letter "to our Simmers around the world, we are grateful to have you in our universe" excludes all Russian speaking simmers as it seems, how nice of them.
Also luumia (an ea employee and he also worked on the trailer and is LGBT himself) is trying to figure out some way to gift the pack to Russian simmers. EA might be giving out free codes to russian simmers but idk yet.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
There's a lot of Russian LGBT players on Twitter commenting on the situation. These are the "nicer" responses, all of the Russian lgbt players I've seen have been saying essentially the same thing though
Meanwhile, in the free world, LGBT+ people are celebrating the decision for "solidarity" as EA stands up for the rights of their own (U.S. based) citizens first, as it would be expected for any country to do.
Things just got volcanically political very quickly. I think EA is in over their heads now, unfortunately.
The best course of action likely was for EA to just put out the pack, and the marketing in its original format and let the Russian Government decide how or if it should be sold. But unfortunately that ship has sailed and the backlash is huge, and feelings are now deeply and genuinely hurt.
The game is already 18+ in russia
I mean the chat is always a mess but I feel it's gonna be worse than usual.
I think is called geotagging or geolocking and I have to deal with that since years. It brought me a lot of frustration and disappointment, not able to buy something in my own language or have to deal with rejected creditcards in due of the "wrong" IP-address. I think the best way would be travel in to a different country (as far as I know russian belongs to the east-europe region of origin, buy and install it there.
I do only know one simmer here in the forum from the what's happened in game-thread, where she wrote a lovely story, which I've loved to read and I miss her story. But I haven't seen her in a while. She wrote she wanted to support the lgbt+ in her country that's why she take a break. I hope she is fine, but I'm sure now, she will be very disappointed when she will read the news.
So, basically what I said. But evidently that was enough for me to be personally attacked and told that I "don't have any understanding of the topic at all." Yeah. And thanks to that person for the 154 HR I got from that.
Completely done with EA
Aww, that's a sad state of affairs.
Hopefully they determine a way to gift the pack to folks in Russia and those of us who can buy it can start some kind of crowd-gifting campaign.
I know I'd be willing to donate a few gifted packs and I'm sure there are many, many non-Russian simmers that would do the same. Just need a way to do it and some folks to organize the effort.
That doesn't resolve the issue that the pack doesn't even have Russian language translation from what I've read though.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
The pack isn't released yet so idk how anyone would get that sort of info
You add embedded tweets by clicking on the timestamp, then you will get the url to that specific tweet, then you just paste that url in your post.
That said, please be mindful people that this is a controversial topic.
@logion Thank you!
Yeah, this does not make them look good.
There not heartbreaking they are well deserved.I have no sympathy for EA in this.
I wasn’t talking about EA, I was talking about the feelings of the simmers that have been hurt by this. As I said in an earlier post I see both sides.
Very much hope EA will change their mind.