Just a question... observation.... «12...Next Go

CalebFillion

I have played sims since the beginning and just this year something occurred to me. We have the Menorah, Kwanzaa, but winterfest? why can we not have Christmas if we can have the others? We now have such diversity and are able to create it in our games, why omit this one thing? It boggles the mind.

AriaMad2

Good observation! Honestly, I don't know why they'd omit Christmas.

Simburian

Chinese New Year too! I do miss Santa Claus arriving in Sims 1 if you left out the cookies! He should have come with DU if it is set with the UK background.

Nindigo

I think the Sims 4 team wants to avoid juggling with the major religions/faiths which are often volatile topics in the real world. Muslims, for instance, don't celebrate Christmas - a default Christian holiday could be viewed as that the game does not embrace their faith equally.

I believe it's a well thought out political move. We have things to support all religions/faiths in the game as it is - that is very likely the reason holidays are customizable and not set in stone. Think the big picture here - keeping the peace.

peragogo

What are you missing in order to have Christmas? 🤨

LadyTigress

You have a christmas tree and present piles in Build Mode, seasons added a calendar, you can add christmas so what exactly are you missing to have Christmas in your game?

Nindigo

We have Love Day, Harvestfest, Winterfest and New Year's Eve. All pretty neutral in terms of names. So, why suddenly put in a specifically Christian default holiday? No, we get to do that ourselves, so that it fits us precisely as we want it to. The four default ones are also easily deleted or altered.

asimbsim

We have different items that can be used for different holidays for different faiths, if that's what you choose to do. The game is made generic so that we can create our own holidays, such as Christmas. There's a Christmas tree, a present pile, Santa arrives in the evening, and you can even sing something that sounds very similar to Jingle Bells. You can even change the name in the holiday to Christmas if that's what you want to do. They omit all specifically religion based names, and just provide different items - so I have a few random Hijab wearing townies. People can create a sim following Islam if they want to, some items are included, but they don't include Ramadan or anything specific, in the same way that don't include 'Christmas'. I like the way they do it, it enables us to customise our own holidays, for whoever plays.

Starfree

Also, you *can* rename holidays I believe. So just rename Winterfest to Christmas. And Harvestfest could be renamed Halloween or Thanksgiving.

Jasonschick80

You could even get really creative and possibly make the Esbats and Sabbats of the Wiccan Calendar-Yule, Samhain,Imbolc,Beltane and so forth along with the seasonal equinoxes.

DeKay

Starfree wrote: »

Also, you *can* rename holidays I believe. So just rename Winterfest to Christmas. And Harvestfest could be renamed Halloween or Thanksgiving.

It wasn't a thing before Seasons.

nerdfashion

Christmas is a Christian holiday, and religion and such is a tricky subject, so they took stereotypical Christmas and changed it to Winterfest. You can change the name of the holiday, or add other holidays if you want. I added Freedom Day,/to replace the 4th of July.

Chazzzy

CalebFillion wrote: »

I have played sims since the beginning and just this year something occurred to me. We have the Menorah, Kwanzaa, but winterfest? why can we not have Christmas if we can have the others? We now have such diversity and are able to create it in our games, why omit this one thing? It boggles the mind.

Yup! Winterfest should be named Christmas.

Livin in Sim

CalebFillion wrote: »

I have played sims since the beginning and just this year something occurred to me. We have the Menorah, Kwanzaa, but winterfest? why can we not have Christmas if we can have the others? We now have such diversity and are able to create it in our games, why omit this one thing? It boggles the mind.

The Menorah, and the Kwanzaa candle are objects, just as the Winterfest Tree is. Kwanzaa and Hanukkah weren't put on the Calendar by the devs, tho. You can customize the Event Activities for many religious holidays, such as Attend A Service, Remembrance, etc, but those other Holidays are not actually named in the Calendar, either. So why should Christmas be named as a default holiday, and no other religions? Winterfest can be done even if you aren't a member of a religious group, just as people who are not religious decorate a tree. So in my thought that is why it is done that way by the devs. Since you can make your own Holiday, the possibilities are endless, instead of forcing one particular religion.

SERVERFRA

I never understood why people are so afraid of the holidays & cultures.
Valentine's Day is a nice reminder to show your loved ones how much you care.
Easter is about rebirth, renewal, reviving & life.
Canada Day is about being happy about living in your country.
Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what you've been given.
Halloween is a fun time to wear a lovely, funny, cool, weird or scary costume.
Remembrance Day is to remember our fallen heroes.
Christmas is a time of peace, love, sharing, caring, giving & having fun.

alyssa123

you... you have every opportunity to make winterfest christmas... there are christmas trees and decorations and traditions that are entirely available. what are you trying to argue??

poltergeist

just rename it

Huiiie_07

As others said, just rename it, that's what the options are there for. I honestly don't mind either way, but I would love if it would be possible to have an option to set holidays as "active household only" while creating them. This way, you could have one family celebrating Ramadan, for example, without all your other households you might be playing with celebrating it as well.

I am actually glad the devs stayed as neutral as possible with the holidays, without getting too religious. Atheists exist, you know? The same for national holidays that aren't celebrated outside North America. As a European, Harvestfest for example, which is most likely based on Thanksgiving, is such a weird concept for me, since we don't really celebrate it here. We do have a similar holiday here, but most families don't celebrate it. I constantly see myself removing Harvestfest because it's a too foreign concept for me.

EA_Rtas

Hey folks so I want to reiterate what we've said in similar threads to this, discussion here needs to stay game related. As per the forum rules Religious discussion isn't allowed so let's keep things game specific here okay.

CalebFillion

Christmas has nothing to do with religion EA_Rtas. And yes we have a tree, presents, etc. I was just wondering why it is called winterfest. Legitimate question.

CalebFillion

alyssa123 wrote: »

you... you have every opportunity to make winterfest christmas... there are christmas trees and decorations and traditions that are entirely available. what are you trying to argue??

Not argue, just wondered is all. It never really occurred to me that it was a PC thing. I don't know why not either as in my work I must remain neutral.

CalebFillion

I did not mean to ruffle feathers here guys. Mea Culpa

Nindigo

@CalebFillion Christmas is a Christian holiday:

Read here

The reason why there is no Christmas, Easter or whatever, in the game, I and others already explained previously in this thread.

Mariefoxprice83

I almost always rename Winterfest to Christmas. It's easy enough to do that.

dearie_blossom

For the same reason Harvest Fest isn‘t called Thanksgiving. What am I as an non-American supposed to do with an American holiday? As others said, just rename it. It‘s best to keep holidays neutral and give the players the option to rename it and change its traditions and activities.

Mariefoxprice83

I like the fact that we can customise holidays to our liking. I don't think we could at all in previous games so it's great that we can edit or delete the default ones or create our own.