I've noticed this issue a lot with the wedding pack too. When they try so hard to represent everyone, everyone then expects to be represented and gets disappointed that x culture is represented and not theirs, or they get disappointed that the representation of their culture is not 100% accurate.
This is going to sound pathetic, but this is kinda me. Like I want a lot more culture and diversity for the game, it's fun and adds a lot of flavor to my game. But I do feel bad that my culture likely won't ever be represented, since it's not popular (Japan, Italy, France), or a huge demographic in the US (LatAm, especially Mexico.) Portugal barely gets any media representation - I can only think of the two fishermen in Family Guy and some anime nun, or a stop-over location in an action movie.
I know it's irrational of me. I don't think the Sims team is obligated to do anything for me beyond making dragons. I don't want them to stop making stuff inspired by other cultures, and I want people to enjoy what they have. But can't help but feel left out.
Post edited by Gordy on
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
I feel like there is a lot of emphasis on sexual orientation diversity (which is great) BUT there is a lot of room to expand racial/religious/cultural inclusion. I would love an Africa-inspired pack to bring all the richness of that continent into the game - from pyramids to safaris, plains, jungles and beaches, braais and tagines... and the clothes and patterns. I really enjoy the Jungle Adventure world and I loved World Adventures in TS3, but only including additional cultures as holiday destinations seems a bit hollow.
Main Poll Question:
Do you think the Sims 4's execution & aim of being more 'inclusive' has been moreso helpful or harmful to the game/series as a whole?
I wouldn't use the words "helpful or harmful". I would use the word "changed". The sims series, beginning with Sims 1, used to have an enormous amount of gameplay. Silly and absurd things happened. There was a great deal of wildly fun stuff. And you played the game you wanted to play - with sims that were just sims. No representation of anyone. Just made-up characters who only represented themselves. Sure there were archtypes. This is common when storytelling is involved. But you played the game using the characters, and the focus was on the "playing".
Now it is a dollhouse. Nothing wrong with having an inclusive dollhouse. But once you start marketing your game as " create yourself and live your life", then you owe it to everyone to make sure they can make themselves and live the virtual life that they want to live. So, if the game fails, on any level, to offer the tools to create everyone who plays it, the game can be branded as racist, sexist, ageist, ableist, anti- this, pro-that, etcetera, etcetera.
There is no walking back from this type of marketing. Instead of focusing on gameplay, the focus must now be on meeting the expectations created by marketing. "Does this game allow myself and my life to be represented with the same equity that it allows everyone else to be represented?" The answer will always be "no". There is only so much that can be created and added at any one time. It will never be equal portions for all peoples. There will always be a level of disappointment for the group who was not included in this batch or this update. And because of the marketing, that disappointment will always be taken deeply personal.
I think that the choice to market the game with the focus on "creating your simself" instead of focusing on "ack! those sims put too much soap in the washing machine and now the laundry room floor is covered in bubbles!" has put this game into a very narrow area, and there is no getting out of it. I think this has caused the gameplay to suffer.
But for those who like the dollhouse... they have the right to expect what was marketed to them.
This, all of this.
I like the representation, LOVE the options for diversity. BUT, I also a quirky, fun game and the direction strayed so far from it that it just feels like this game takes itself way too seriously.
I think the biggest mistake .Which I hope Sims 5 tends corct.Is that they made diversity and representing you.The sims were never about that.It was about peoples lives you can control.When you make diversity the main thing it never works.Not saying you can not have diversity.I feel like making it the main focus kind of hurt it.
If things keep going in the direction this game seems to be taking, they should just rebrand it as The Selves instead of The Sims and be done with it. Of course, by that point I'll no doubt be long gone because I've never had any interest in making "selves" in the first place. Diversity and representation are great, but I truly hope all this (sometimes awkward) effort is just a few extra bumps in a road that was already bumpy and that it won't actually end up the main focus for the game in the end.
FYI: Just because you can see my signature, don't assume that I can see yours.
Because I can't; I keep all sigs turned off.
If things keep going in the direction this game seems to be taking, they should just rebrand it as The Selves instead of The Sims and be done with it. Of course, by that point I'll no doubt be long gone because I've never had any interest in making "selves" in the first place. Diversity and representation are great, but I truly hope all this (sometimes awkward) effort is just a few extra bumps in a road that was already bumpy and that it won't actually end up the main focus for the game in the end.
Agreed. While I always make my SimSelf for fun, I rarely ever play as it because I just have no desire to (I already live as myself why would I want to play as it too?). And during Sims 1-3 that never felt like the goal of the game while now it seems that if you can't make yourself exactly then the game has failed.
I obviously think they should continue to add more diverse features to the game but I don't think that should be the sole focus and really really wish they would put more effort into fixing the bugs and adding better gameplay.
I also would prefer they add SIMS versions of things, not real world! Like if you're going to do religion for instance, add a fake Sims version of a religion, not a real one. They will never be able to add everything to the game and they will never be able to please everyone. This game was never about recreating the real world in the past. The more focus on trying to recreate the real world the less fun and wacky this game becomes.
I think the biggest mistake .Which I hope Sims 5 tends corct.Is that they made diversity and representing you.The sims were never about that.It was about peoples lives you can control.When you make diversity the main thing it never works.Not saying you can not have diversity.I feel like making it the main focus kind of hurt it.
If the Sims whole focus was this from the jump it wouldnt be so bad. Because you know what you were expecting buying into it. The Sims 1 was just meant to be a parody of life, especially American life.
"Wright has stated that The Sims was actually meant as a satire of U.S. consumer culture.Wright took ideas from the 1977 architecture and urban design book A Pattern Language, American psychologist Abraham Maslow's 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his hierarchy of needs, and Charles Hampden-Turner's Maps of the Mind to develop a model for the game's artificial intelligence"
But this newer direction is causing fustration and confusion for some players because sometimes it seems to be at the expense of adding more gameplay simmers want / the focus is gone from that
The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5
I also would prefer they add SIMS versions of things, not real world! Like if you're going to do religion for instance, add a fake Sims version of a religion, not a real one. .
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
I like the aim. I like the fact we get more representation and inclusivity. But I feel like it's quite complicated to have a coherent world where Windenburg is right next to Los Angeles. I like how Windenburg doesn't feel like Los Angeles. But it's not coherent for Judith Ward to show up in Windenburg all the time. She's not tied to Windenburg, at most she should be considered a tourist. I think they should change the way the worlds work. You should be able to live in Windenburg and consider every other world like a destination world. And you could go live in another world at any point.
It would make for a more coherent world and it would allow the sims team to make a better job at inclusivity and representation. Mont Komorebi and Sulani are good examples of that. You can always do free updates or even include objects limited to people owning multiple packs.
But I don't like the fact some cultures are only represented through some articles of clothing included in some updates. It feels like it doesn't fit any of the worlds and we can't make our own worlds anymore. So it should be the priority of the devs to bring those worlds to us. I don't like my sims dressing up in clothing from my culture and walking in Los Angeles. I don't like seeing some obvious white american sims walking up in attires from other cultures. It feels wrong.
Also it seems like the goal of inclusion for a specific community ends up affecting another. Like with the wedding pack or snowy escape or the chinese / lunar new year. It ends up looking like theyre taking sides. Makes you feel, so are they going to ignore the Russians, Japanese, and Chinese simmers? It ends up seeming political.
It also seems by putting Sims on the covers of the last three or four packs/GPs/Kits etc. those are the Sims they care about and support. I noticed the Modern Male pack, The Wedding pack, the Carnival pack. and a few others I forgot all had more Sims from one group on the cover art, and trailers etc. than a broader representation of all Sims in the Sim worlds, pushing the idea of representation but actually looking exclusive from just a general observation. It's fine to do that however, it's been several times now in a row. What about other Sims? inclusion shouldn't be just a one way ticket when trying to sell a pack by what's on the cover or in a trailer.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I think the Sims team means very well, and I respect them for making the efforts they are making. I think you can definitely tell that there has been a learning curve on the teams part throughout the years, and they continue to learn as they continue this journey of representation. Of course they haven't done everything perfectly, and they will likely miss the mark in the future sometimes when expanding in-game representation, but I think it's important to remember that Sims 4 is the first game ever really to make real world diversity a part of its core experience, while also being a game made predominantly by American people who work for a very greedy American corporation whose workforce is also primarily American people. We have seen a shift in recent years when it comes to expanding diversity in-game and in the work force, but of course a lot of work still needs to be done, and it's going to take a while, and plenty of missed marks, before the Sims franchise has achieved true diversity, and I think it's unrealistic to expect the team to deliver expanded diversity perfectly every single time.
As for where I think they fail at diversity; they simply don't offer a broad, diverse and versatile enough selection of clothes, build/buy assets, locations/worlds, gameplay features and creative tools in the base game to represent or reflect a broad range of real world cultures, people and experiences. The game fails the most with just how restricted the base game is when it comes to the ability to manipulate the worlds and gameplay experiences. There are no features like clubs where we can create custom social groups, very limited selection of lot traits and challenges that alter the at home living or community lot experience, no holidays or events to reflect real world celebrations beyond typical American themed events, nothing that makes the worlds unique or distinct beyond their appearance and the lots/sims they have, no ability to create our own worlds, a limited selection of careers and hobbies that again are very American centric, etc. Basically, the basic routine and flow of gameplay, as well what's generally available in the base game are very American centric with very little opportunity for players to customize, change, or tweak what the game does have to fit their personal lived experiences. Some of the packs address these areas, but paid DLC shouldn't be required for any person to be truly represented.
All this being said, I am a white American myself, so my point of view or comments may need correction.
You are an individual your point of view is just as important as anyone else's. Never apologize for your view and or your feelings. A point of view for everyone is why America was great. No one's view should ever be diminished. It's why you are born free to think and feel whatever. Even if anyone disagrees. They are born free, too, to have their point of view. Individuals don't have to be in a group think.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I neither like the execution and its aim - Its not something I want and the executions has been unsatisfactory
"In any future systems or updates centering inclusivity or representation, what would you like to see done as far as features or execution of any features?"
These are my completely random thoughts at 5 am, although I have been thinking about this question a lot lately.
Actually liaise, properly liaise, with the communities EA claims to be offering inclusivity to. Doing so might have just averted the disaster that was the whole 'Let's take a stand against anti LGBT laws in Russia, whilst totally hurting the feelings of many Russian LGBTQIA simmers & making them feel more excluded and hopeless' campaign that honestly, at least to me, just ended up looking like a cheap marketing stunt. As another example, as a bisexual woman I was rather disturbed and angered by what I perceived to be a biphobic slant in the Weddings pack trailer, ie playing on tired old tropes of those who are attracted to more than one gender as untrustworthy cheaters, who will totally agree to marry one gender and then dump you at the altar for another gender all together (because, you know, we're flaky that way </sarcasm>).
If you're going to represent the LGBTQIA community then represent the whole community, not just the more 'fabulous' aspects. Masculine gay bisexual and queer men exist, stone butch lesbians exist, trans men exist. The options for them to represent themselves is severely lacking due to an emphasis on more feminine clothing styles. EA could make a 'men's pack' and include a trans man, a butch woman, a member of the bear community & a straight, blue collar, working class manly man on the cover.
Instead of hopping on the influencer bandwagon, actually team up with some of the more grassroots organisations & activists. Google LGBT arts groups for a start, there are some fantastic people across the globe doing wonderful work to support the community.
Surface-y stuff is meaningless without good gameplay that isn't bugged out or glitched to the point that it's nigh on impossible to effectively play as an immersive experience.
For the love of the gods, please fix the genetics system, or whatever it is that causes caucasian appearing sims to age up wearing traditionally African American hair styles. Unless I choose to do so, I don't want to see Susie Whitebread sporting an afro, or braids or dreads (etc). This is where the surface level appearance stuff becomes an issue for me.
Put your money where your mouth is (you being EA as a company), if it's Pride month donate a percentage of profits to a charity organisation that advances the equality and respect towards the LGBTQIA community, if it's Black History month do the same there as well, International Women's day? Great, donate a portion of the sales profits to women's organisations (and so on, and so forth).
Occult Simmer (All Occult All The Time)
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
I neither like the execution and its aim - Its not something I want and the executions has been unsatisfactory
I voted I don't like either their aim or their execution. I could be wrong, but it feels more like the aim is virtue signaling than truly being inclusive. Inclusiveness is great and all, but inclusiveness for inclusiveness' sake is just plain wrong, and feels patronizing. Not everything has to be a statement of support for something. Dragging real world issues in a game, especially a game like The Sims, can only create issues. I play to escape reality, and envision an alternate world. not navigate through political landmines of "wokeness".
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
I do love that they are having an inclusionary focus, but I feel like there are some very small things that they can do to make more players feel represented that they have not done. For example, something they have done is add a hanukkiah (menorah) in the free holiday pack. I love that during the holiday I am able to have my sims celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas. But it would have be SO SO easy for them to add a chuppah (the Jewish version of a wedding arch) in the new pack. I am so disappointed that they didn't include this. I love that they had a lot of LGBT+ representation in the trailer and that they included Indian wedding attire and such, but they should have spent the time to add a chuppah. It would have been very easy, Judaism is clearly on their radar (because they added a menorah in the game), and it would have been a very simple thing to make Jewish players included in the game. As a player who is getting married IRL soon and having a wedding pack come out, I was ecstatic to have this pack come out, but beyond disappointed that not a single chuppah was in this pack. I was really hoping it would be, as they have done small things to include Judaism in other parts of the game. This was an oversight on Sims. I was so disappointed.
Do you think the Sims 4's execution & aim of being more 'inclusive' has been more so helpful or harmful to the game/series as a whole?
Their goal of being "inclusive" (for some select groups) has gone past being inclusive and into the "shoving it in your face". The execution has been done poorly in that they're being very unbalanced with being "inclusive" with lately everything being for select groups which is actually excluding and ignoring a lot of others.
Yep .. they are doing to many extra things and instead of being inclusive it’s beginning to do the opposite.
I appreciate the effort and respect what you're trying to do however your execution could use more work, most of the time it feels lazy and half 💘💘💘💘, you released a Japanese themed pack but then removed some of the culture which started a thread about it, you tried to be inclusive towards Lactose Intolerant people by making it a trait rather than a dietary option, which started another thread about it, Pronouns is going to be interesting, while I support it, having your pronouns blatantly out of the open is going to be another issue, why wouldn't it be in the gender options instead of being beside your sim's name, your poor executions is the reason why I'm against autistic folks being represented in the Sims, as someone who has autism why would I want to be misrepresented.
After the Wedding Stories Fiasco involving Russia, I still think the Sims team still needs to work on their approach, maybe play it safe until they perfected a way to be less harmful than helpful in the future, what they're trying do is good but it could use a bit more work.
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
I'm still against being represented by the Sims, Take it from someone like me who has mild Autism and ADHD, while i don't speak for the entire disabled community, personally I don't want to be reminded of my IRL issues and I get the feeling that other Simmers here also don't want to be reminded of their IRL issues, like for example people with Lactose intolerance that found the Latose Intolerance trait to be mocking their unique genetic mutation.
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
Last I heard there are about 7 billion people on this planet, give or take however many hundreds of thousands. All of them are different to whatever degree from one another. Even if only a small percentage of that number plays Sims, that is still an enormous amount of diversity to try to cater to. In short, while it sounds noble, and to a degree is, EA has set themselves an impossible task. Regardless of how many are pleased with something, just as many if not more will be displeased. Far better, as others have said, to focus on gameplay and provision of tools. Sims is/should be a game to play for as many reasons as there are simmers. It is not an animated manifesto for an ideal universal human society.
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
This question has made me realise how much I have viewed and played the game differently. I do not say this to offend anyone and I am sorry if I do as it is not my intention. Since Sims 1 I have played all different types of sims of all different sexualities, cultures, skins tones etc and never gave it a second thought other than the story I was telling. Now with sims 4 doing specific LGBT and POC stuff I feel is much more conscious i my mind with the sims I am playing and honestly I feel at times less inclined to play it incase it may upset someone. Before it was subconscious for me and now it's not and I think a lot of it is to do with sims 4 posting this stuff. I understand the need for it to be in the game and I agree we do need it but to me before it has been there and not this new shiny item/process in the game. Maybe I am naïve to these issues and missing something.
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
My major issue with the way The Sims 4 handles diversity is how cosmetic and surface-level it is, a point I've seen mentioned several times in this thread. It's an issue that's deeply entwined with the game itself, but still particularly disconcerting when it comes to topics of inclusion and the treatment and handling of marginalised identities.
Let's go through some of the major points of diversity and see how much impact each update has on the game, and how well the added content functions.
[b]LGBTQ+ Content[/b] The Sims has always been more progressive with LGBTQ+ content than most other life-simulators, though with most focus on cisgender Sims. Since it's implementation, it's always been a very 'background' part of the game/s, with all Sims just being functionally bisexual/pansexual. Some of them had gender preferences, but you could change these through cheats, mods, or just regular gameplay. Not really indicative of the actual LGBT experience, but you could create your own stories around this. Unfortunately, in previous games, there's been little in the way of transgender content without cheats or mods.
Now, TS4 has definitely taken some good steps forwards. But I feel like it's still largely surface-level. I do enjoy the Gender Customisation options in CAS. Mostly, I use this to adjust pregnancy and toilet use options. I would love to play with the masculine/feminine frames and fashion choices, but they're largely broken. It's hard to find any clothing that doesn't look strange on a feminine-framed male Sim, or masculine-framed female Sim. It just seems like their rigs and bodies have been frankensteined together, in a way that doesn't account for how clothing interacts with their frame.
It's also notable that, despite the Gender Customisation options being pushed as a step towards 'gender diversity', there isn't really much 'diversity' there at all. It's still a heavy binary. Do you want to be male, or female? Do you want to be masculine, or feminine? Do you want broad shoulders and a square face, or curves and a round face? For some reason, breasts are linked to the Sim's main gender option. There's no option for transgender men (like myself) who haven't had top surgery. If I wanted to accurately represent my body type, I'd have to let the game gender me as 'female'.
I could just set the pronouns to he/him/his, but it still feels odd. I love the new pronoun features, but why are we acting like adding they/them to a Sim makes them nonbinary... when the game still makes you choose a binary option for their gender? Especially with the new sexuality system... why should a nonbinary Sim be locked out of romance with certain Sims just because I had to make an aesthetic choice between 'male' or 'female'? It's weird!
Being a transgender sim, or being a gay sim, continues to just be... an arbitrary choice. There's no gameplay integration. My Sims cannot transition without teleporting to CAS (with no options for surgery scars to even aesthetically represent their transition). My Sims cannot come out to their family, or face homophobia, because EA has decided that these experiences don't fit their hyper-positive world. What this produces is an extremely sanitised version of the LGBTQ+ experience. Now, I realise that asking EA to spend a long amount of type developing LGBTQ+ content is not really reasonable, but at the very least I want them to stop advertising it as a 'feature' of TS4. If they're going to pat themselves on the back for inclusivity, they have to actually include us, and not just relegate our community's culture and history and life to couple toggles in CAS.
[b]Race and Ethnicity Content[/b] Obligatory 'I'm a white guy' statement here. This isn't going to be as detailed as the section above, because I have less personal experience here. I do find a lot of the same issues here, though. While I appreciate the aesthetic diversity of TS4, it also seems like that's where it ends. According to several critiques I've read by Simmers of colour, half the time, it's not even pulled off well to begin with.
Uneven skintones, even after several 'skintone updates' (thank god for the limited customisation of the skin tones now, even if it feels a bit late for that). Hairstyles that are just straight up inaccurate. No choices to lock or toggle certain content for randomised Sims, so you can have the game churn out a mish-mash of cultural clothing on some random white Sim with green locs. There's also an issue as to some cultural content being locked behind paywalls. I understand things like needing Snowy Escape if you want to grab some extra kimonos or something, but why lock so much of this content away from Base-Game players?
There's also an issue with branding your game by using it's diversity as a selling point, especially if the range of cultures represented is somewhat niche. We seem to have a lot of South-Asian, East-Asian, South-American, and Polynesian content, because that's what certain packs have focused on. But that's not the entire world. Again- hard to represent everyone, I know, but it's also something I've seen come up a lot in this thread.
[b]Religion[/b] Okay. I understand wanting to keep religion out of your game. Believe me, I do. Much like politics, religion is a hot-button issue. However... I don't think it would be too hard to include some stuff the game currently lacks. For many people, religion is a huge part of their life. Pretending it doesn't exist is strange when there's such a huge focus on diversity for the game's branding.
I don't think it would be too much of an issue to include some minor, unobtrusive elements to the game. Maybe a rabbithole church that Sims can go to on days of worship. Or a prayer mat they can use. Definitely, have the option for dietary restrictions... not just to integrate religion (though it is strange to see hijabi townies eating steak), but as a place to put some of the bulky, weird CAS traits, like 'Vegetarian' or 'Lactose Intolerant'. Shouldn't be too big of a deal, you just have to use the systems already in place with the aforementioned trait, but apply them to... say... beef or pork products.
[b]Disability[/b] I have a lot to say about this one, but I'll try and keep it brief- my comment is already long enough. So... why is there no option for any sort of disability in the Sims? I'm not even talking about things that would be tricky to integrate, such as wheelchair-using Sims needing their own animation cycles. But the things that we either already have the tools for, or could just be integrated on an aesthetic level.
Why do we not have prosthetic limbs? Hearing aids? Eyepatches? We even have this whole emotion system, but no way for Sims to develop or inherit conditions that may affect their mood (Depression, Anxiety, etc.) All of these would be pretty simple to do, either by creating CAS items or adding some hidden traits.
Even if you... are not the biggest fan of diversity in the Sims, are you telling me that you never wanted to make a Sim with a cool bionic arm? Don't lie to yourself.
In an attempt to make the world of TS4 ultra-positive, EA has made it so TS4 can't represent any 'real' disease or injury. But the lives and existence of disabled people isn't a blemish on a sunny world. If you really want to make the Sims diverse, why continually skip over the disabled community? It's just... frustrating.
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
TL;DR: Yes, I like the goal of having a diverse game. I like to make diverse Sims! It's always good to have more options! But if EA and The Sims Team want to brand TS4 as some sort of bastion of diversity, they actually have to make it... diverse... instead of just adding some quick-fixes and cosmetic items.
I like the aim but not the execution - Its something I want but want it done differently
Their efforts to increase inclusivity always feel hollow to me. Just like with big corporations showing up at Pride celebrations, I question their motives and commitment. At the end of the day, it comes down to money and whether they think they can make money by including greater inclusivity in the game.
Comments
I know it's irrational of me. I don't think the Sims team is obligated to do anything for me beyond making dragons. I don't want them to stop making stuff inspired by other cultures, and I want people to enjoy what they have. But can't help but feel left out.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
This, all of this.
I like the representation, LOVE the options for diversity. BUT, I also a quirky, fun game and the direction strayed so far from it that it just feels like this game takes itself way too seriously.
Because I can't; I keep all sigs turned off.
Agreed. While I always make my SimSelf for fun, I rarely ever play as it because I just have no desire to (I already live as myself why would I want to play as it too?). And during Sims 1-3 that never felt like the goal of the game while now it seems that if you can't make yourself exactly then the game has failed.
I obviously think they should continue to add more diverse features to the game but I don't think that should be the sole focus and really really wish they would put more effort into fixing the bugs and adding better gameplay.
I also would prefer they add SIMS versions of things, not real world! Like if you're going to do religion for instance, add a fake Sims version of a religion, not a real one. They will never be able to add everything to the game and they will never be able to please everyone. This game was never about recreating the real world in the past. The more focus on trying to recreate the real world the less fun and wacky this game becomes.
If the Sims whole focus was this from the jump it wouldnt be so bad. Because you know what you were expecting buying into it. The Sims 1 was just meant to be a parody of life, especially American life.
"Wright has stated that The Sims was actually meant as a satire of U.S. consumer culture.Wright took ideas from the 1977 architecture and urban design book A Pattern Language, American psychologist Abraham Maslow's 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his hierarchy of needs, and Charles Hampden-Turner's Maps of the Mind to develop a model for the game's artificial intelligence"
But this newer direction is causing fustration and confusion for some players because sometimes it seems to be at the expense of adding more gameplay simmers want / the focus is gone from that
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
They have done this before in TSM. https://thesimsmedieval.fandom.com/wiki/Religion
Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
But I feel like it's quite complicated to have a coherent world where Windenburg is right next to Los Angeles. I like how Windenburg doesn't feel like Los Angeles. But it's not coherent for Judith Ward to show up in Windenburg all the time. She's not tied to Windenburg, at most she should be considered a tourist.
I think they should change the way the worlds work. You should be able to live in Windenburg and consider every other world like a destination world. And you could go live in another world at any point.
It would make for a more coherent world and it would allow the sims team to make a better job at inclusivity and representation. Mont Komorebi and Sulani are good examples of that. You can always do free updates or even include objects limited to people owning multiple packs.
But I don't like the fact some cultures are only represented through some articles of clothing included in some updates. It feels like it doesn't fit any of the worlds and we can't make our own worlds anymore. So it should be the priority of the devs to bring those worlds to us. I don't like my sims dressing up in clothing from my culture and walking in Los Angeles. I don't like seeing some obvious white american sims walking up in attires from other cultures. It feels wrong.
It also seems by putting Sims on the covers of the last three or four packs/GPs/Kits etc. those are the Sims they care about and support. I noticed the Modern Male pack, The Wedding pack, the Carnival pack. and a few others I forgot all had more Sims from one group on the cover art, and trailers etc. than a broader representation of all Sims in the Sim worlds, pushing the idea of representation but actually looking exclusive from just a general observation. It's fine to do that however, it's been several times now in a row. What about other Sims? inclusion shouldn't be just a one way ticket when trying to sell a pack by what's on the cover or in a trailer.
You are an individual your point of view is just as important as anyone else's. Never apologize for your view and or your feelings. A point of view for everyone is why America was great. No one's view should ever be diminished. It's why you are born free to think and feel whatever. Even if anyone disagrees. They are born free, too, to have their point of view. Individuals don't have to be in a group think.
These are my completely random thoughts at 5 am, although I have been thinking about this question a lot lately.
Actually liaise, properly liaise, with the communities EA claims to be offering inclusivity to. Doing so might have just averted the disaster that was the whole 'Let's take a stand against anti LGBT laws in Russia, whilst totally hurting the feelings of many Russian LGBTQIA simmers & making them feel more excluded and hopeless' campaign that honestly, at least to me, just ended up looking like a cheap marketing stunt. As another example, as a bisexual woman I was rather disturbed and angered by what I perceived to be a biphobic slant in the Weddings pack trailer, ie playing on tired old tropes of those who are attracted to more than one gender as untrustworthy cheaters, who will totally agree to marry one gender and then dump you at the altar for another gender all together (because, you know, we're flaky that way </sarcasm>).
If you're going to represent the LGBTQIA community then represent the whole community, not just the more 'fabulous' aspects. Masculine gay bisexual and queer men exist, stone butch lesbians exist, trans men exist. The options for them to represent themselves is severely lacking due to an emphasis on more feminine clothing styles. EA could make a 'men's pack' and include a trans man, a butch woman, a member of the bear community & a straight, blue collar, working class manly man on the cover.
Instead of hopping on the influencer bandwagon, actually team up with some of the more grassroots organisations & activists. Google LGBT arts groups for a start, there are some fantastic people across the globe doing wonderful work to support the community.
Surface-y stuff is meaningless without good gameplay that isn't bugged out or glitched to the point that it's nigh on impossible to effectively play as an immersive experience.
For the love of the gods, please fix the genetics system, or whatever it is that causes caucasian appearing sims to age up wearing traditionally African American hair styles. Unless I choose to do so, I don't want to see Susie Whitebread sporting an afro, or braids or dreads (etc). This is where the surface level appearance stuff becomes an issue for me.
Put your money where your mouth is (you being EA as a company), if it's Pride month donate a percentage of profits to a charity organisation that advances the equality and respect towards the LGBTQIA community, if it's Black History month do the same there as well, International Women's day? Great, donate a portion of the sales profits to women's organisations (and so on, and so forth).
Female Simmer from Australia (she/her)
I had one of my Sims marry the Grim Reaper & now they have a lot of kids.
Yep .. they are doing to many extra things and instead of being inclusive it’s beginning to do the opposite.
After the Wedding Stories Fiasco involving Russia, I still think the Sims team still needs to work on their approach, maybe play it safe until they perfected a way to be less harmful than helpful in the future, what they're trying do is good but it could use a bit more work.
Good times.
Let's go through some of the major points of diversity and see how much impact each update has on the game, and how well the added content functions.
[b]LGBTQ+ Content[/b]
The Sims has always been more progressive with LGBTQ+ content than most other life-simulators, though with most focus on cisgender Sims. Since it's implementation, it's always been a very 'background' part of the game/s, with all Sims just being functionally bisexual/pansexual. Some of them had gender preferences, but you could change these through cheats, mods, or just regular gameplay. Not really indicative of the actual LGBT experience, but you could create your own stories around this. Unfortunately, in previous games, there's been little in the way of transgender content without cheats or mods.
Now, TS4 has definitely taken some good steps forwards. But I feel like it's still largely surface-level. I do enjoy the Gender Customisation options in CAS. Mostly, I use this to adjust pregnancy and toilet use options. I would love to play with the masculine/feminine frames and fashion choices, but they're largely broken. It's hard to find any clothing that doesn't look strange on a feminine-framed male Sim, or masculine-framed female Sim. It just seems like their rigs and bodies have been frankensteined together, in a way that doesn't account for how clothing interacts with their frame.
It's also notable that, despite the Gender Customisation options being pushed as a step towards 'gender diversity', there isn't really much 'diversity' there at all. It's still a heavy binary. Do you want to be male, or female? Do you want to be masculine, or feminine? Do you want broad shoulders and a square face, or curves and a round face? For some reason, breasts are linked to the Sim's main gender option. There's no option for transgender men (like myself) who haven't had top surgery. If I wanted to accurately represent my body type, I'd have to let the game gender me as 'female'.
I could just set the pronouns to he/him/his, but it still feels odd. I love the new pronoun features, but why are we acting like adding they/them to a Sim makes them nonbinary... when the game still makes you choose a binary option for their gender? Especially with the new sexuality system... why should a nonbinary Sim be locked out of romance with certain Sims just because I had to make an aesthetic choice between 'male' or 'female'? It's weird!
Being a transgender sim, or being a gay sim, continues to just be... an arbitrary choice. There's no gameplay integration. My Sims cannot transition without teleporting to CAS (with no options for surgery scars to even aesthetically represent their transition). My Sims cannot come out to their family, or face homophobia, because EA has decided that these experiences don't fit their hyper-positive world. What this produces is an extremely sanitised version of the LGBTQ+ experience. Now, I realise that asking EA to spend a long amount of type developing LGBTQ+ content is not really reasonable, but at the very least I want them to stop advertising it as a 'feature' of TS4. If they're going to pat themselves on the back for inclusivity, they have to actually include us, and not just relegate our community's culture and history and life to couple toggles in CAS.
[b]Race and Ethnicity Content[/b]
Obligatory 'I'm a white guy' statement here. This isn't going to be as detailed as the section above, because I have less personal experience here. I do find a lot of the same issues here, though. While I appreciate the aesthetic diversity of TS4, it also seems like that's where it ends. According to several critiques I've read by Simmers of colour, half the time, it's not even pulled off well to begin with.
Uneven skintones, even after several 'skintone updates' (thank god for the limited customisation of the skin tones now, even if it feels a bit late for that). Hairstyles that are just straight up inaccurate. No choices to lock or toggle certain content for randomised Sims, so you can have the game churn out a mish-mash of cultural clothing on some random white Sim with green locs. There's also an issue as to some cultural content being locked behind paywalls. I understand things like needing Snowy Escape if you want to grab some extra kimonos or something, but why lock so much of this content away from Base-Game players?
There's also an issue with branding your game by using it's diversity as a selling point, especially if the range of cultures represented is somewhat niche. We seem to have a lot of South-Asian, East-Asian, South-American, and Polynesian content, because that's what certain packs have focused on. But that's not the entire world. Again- hard to represent everyone, I know, but it's also something I've seen come up a lot in this thread.
[b]Religion[/b]
Okay. I understand wanting to keep religion out of your game. Believe me, I do. Much like politics, religion is a hot-button issue. However... I don't think it would be too hard to include some stuff the game currently lacks. For many people, religion is a huge part of their life. Pretending it doesn't exist is strange when there's such a huge focus on diversity for the game's branding.
I don't think it would be too much of an issue to include some minor, unobtrusive elements to the game. Maybe a rabbithole church that Sims can go to on days of worship. Or a prayer mat they can use. Definitely, have the option for dietary restrictions... not just to integrate religion (though it is strange to see hijabi townies eating steak), but as a place to put some of the bulky, weird CAS traits, like 'Vegetarian' or 'Lactose Intolerant'. Shouldn't be too big of a deal, you just have to use the systems already in place with the aforementioned trait, but apply them to... say... beef or pork products.
[b]Disability[/b]
I have a lot to say about this one, but I'll try and keep it brief- my comment is already long enough. So... why is there no option for any sort of disability in the Sims? I'm not even talking about things that would be tricky to integrate, such as wheelchair-using Sims needing their own animation cycles. But the things that we either already have the tools for, or could just be integrated on an aesthetic level.
Why do we not have prosthetic limbs? Hearing aids? Eyepatches? We even have this whole emotion system, but no way for Sims to develop or inherit conditions that may affect their mood (Depression, Anxiety, etc.) All of these would be pretty simple to do, either by creating CAS items or adding some hidden traits.
Even if you... are not the biggest fan of diversity in the Sims, are you telling me that you never wanted to make a Sim with a cool bionic arm? Don't lie to yourself.
In an attempt to make the world of TS4 ultra-positive, EA has made it so TS4 can't represent any 'real' disease or injury. But the lives and existence of disabled people isn't a blemish on a sunny world. If you really want to make the Sims diverse, why continually skip over the disabled community? It's just... frustrating.
Anyway. Rant over!