Saturday, September 11, 2010

Do what I say. Now. Everything I say... Nowww!


He's hungry. I think I'll make him serve cereal. Come on, Dude, clean up your bowl. Come on. There you go. Put away the leftovers. Now go pee, your bladder is getting pretty low. Mmm... now go study mechanics. HEY! I said... GO STUDY MECHANICS! I don't care if you're not having fun, you need to be prepared in case the dishwasher breaks again!! Ugh, fine, watch TV for ten minutes, then study mechanics. Stupid.

Mmm... the power you have over a sim's character... You create somebody (or try to recreate somebody you know) and you get to tell them what to do!! And they usually do it! Sweeeeeeetness.

Imagine if real life was like your giant Sims game. Ctrl + Shift + C motherlode. You're rich! Control Sims' (people's) actions, and try again if you don't like the reaction...

In middle school, my friends and I would create a Sim family every time we had a new big crush on someone. If I liked Joe, I'd make a Sim family where we were married. Or, more often, I'd put me and my "love" together in a house as roomies and work super hard to make them fall for each other. And if there was a negative reaction to a flirt or kiss, then I would quit without saving. It was like it never happened.

Oh, how I wish real life could be like that sometimes. Where if something went wrong with a friendship or relationship of some sort, I could just quit without saving and all would be forgotten once I started again. I'd have another chance. Or two. Or five.

Haha, one thing with the Sims that I feel guilty about loving is the House of Terror. In ninth grade, Jaden and I decided to create a sim household of the people we disliked the most. I had two people in there and Jaden had three or four. We made them ugly and built a house with no doors and a tree in the middle. No bathroom, either. They peed themselves on the floor and slept in their own piss and were starving. It was sick. I remember feeling bad, and when Jaden left the room to get both of us a Pepsi, I did Ctrl + Shift + C "move_objects on" and moved one of the people I made to outside of the house and put a toilet, shower and fridge out there for them. When Jaden came back, she reminded me that those weren't real people and nobody was actually getting hurt - It was just a way to vent.

So we put a barbecue next to the tree, told one of them to grill hotdogs, and watched as the "house" burnt down. Remember, there were no doors. Tombstones appeared where the people had been.

See, if life was a giant Sims game, we would never have done that. But someone would.

Controlling people with a few clicks would not be a good idea. The sad thing is that some people CAN be as easily controlled as a Sims character set as low free will. But instead of an outside player telling them what to do, it's their boyfriend or girlfriend. Or parent. Or "friend." Or... something. They're told to do something, so they do it. They're told NOT to do something, so they don't. Even if it's ridiculous and should be THEIR decision.

He tells her not to wear that shirt. He doesn't want other guys looking at you. So you don't, to avoid a fight and to make him happy.

She tells you not to talk to other girls. Talking leads to flirting, which leads to cheating, she says. So you don't, because you're scared of her leaving you.

Bad situations to get caught in... There's no quitting without saving with those. But there still IS the option to quit. It's just harder than pressing a button.

Maybe all the easy options are why I enjoy the Sims so much. I like the simplicity of it all, of having an easy life. Of being able to take things back and how easy it is to make people make good decisions. I like that all my sim on Sims 3 has to do to be in a good mood is freak out or double check the stove.


-Kim

(sorry this ends kind of abruptly... ish... I like it, okay?! DEAL. NOW.)

4 comments:

  1. A long time ago, some one asked me why I liked playing the sims and I responded that I didn't know why. They explained that I probably liked playing god, everyone does... But I don't think that's why I was playing... I never made the decision of whether people lived or died... And that's the biggest part of playing god... Right? I don't know why I was so obsessed. I think I just liked watching little kids growing up with one parent (my sims never had dads) and succeeding: marrying, moving out, and having happy (full) families of their own.

    I liked your post :) (As usual). I wish people wouldn't allow themselves to be controlled but they do and it sucks. I wish people always realized how much help they have when they need it most....

    Love you Kimmy.

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  2. Heheheh. I made new families with my crushes too :) Except I did it a little in high school too... And I have one with Jason now... Hahahaha. And one where I'm a crazy bitch living with you and Michelle while constantly making moves on the both of you. Often trying to distract Michelle from her books, even in China. Hahahahahahaha.

    Also, I'm surprised that I never thought of the "House of Terror" idea before reading this... Sounds like something I would have done :P

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  3. Jillian, do you still play with that?! Cuz it was so much fun the one time we all three did :)


    Berlyn, love you too :) And the family I'm playing with most recently is just a mother who adopts children. No daddyy. I like seeing the same thing as you.

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  4. I don't play it because I can't without you two! Hahaha. I haven't played the game in a long time anyways... My real life has been pretty busy :P

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