The Sims

from my perspective

[simchickee-blog]

 A synopsis of sorts, I guess you can call my little page here a “Simblr” *giggles*, anyway I wanted to also add a little section to kind of describe what will be featured on my little Simblr here. 

 I will be using this page to just post how I feel about The Sims games in general, perhaps share some news about The Sims from time to time, and even show off some screenshots of my Sims games. I really hope everyone enjoys reading through my posts, I am not the best at getting out how I feel through words, but I will surely try. 

 Oh and a little tidbit here; You can also find me on The Sims Forums under the username SimChickee. 

[simchickee-blog]

 I really wanted more from The Sims 4...

 I remember when The Sims 4 was officially announced, I was 23 and living with my boyfriend (husband) I was pretty ecstatic at the news that the game franchise I had adored growing up was not over. I felt like the wait drudged on forever, I guess looking up the images EA provided and the trailers and so forth didn’t really help me in the patience department. Thankfully the game was released a year later, at that time I went from just being a girlfriend to being happily married, and my amazing husband ordered the game for me, in fact he ordered the edition that had the light up plumbob, and he also bought me the light up mouse and headphones to go with it! I was like YES! finally I have the game and now I can play it! 

 I remember seeing people online prior to the release that were talking about “missing features”, and I really didn’t want to believe it or focus on all that, as I am the type who likes to try and not judge games before I buy / try them. I guess as a long time fan of the franchise I really wanted to love this game, and I wasn’t going to let speculations or I guess you could say facts deter me from trying it for myself. Well I remember when I did install the game and I learned quickly it required Origin which honestly I did not and still do not like, and I also remember being utterly shocked that well the speculations and rumors and even facts were well... just that, they were facts, there were no toddlers! and at the time of release there were no pools, and still to this day we are missing tons of key features that I grew up indulging in with the past Sims games.

 I am a Simmer who rather enjoys playing the Sims games for the family type aspect, like I really enjoy making a Sim, falling in love, getting married, and having tons of little Simlets *chuckles*, so I guess when I realized that The Sims 4 did not have toddlers like what was in the past Sims games (The Sims 2 and The Sims 3) I was pretty appalled and quite sad to be honest. It’s been two years now and I have all but given up hope of the possibility of toddlers, see to many Simmers today toddlers don’t matter, but typically those individuals are newcomers to the franchise who are so wowed by the graphics in The Sims 4 that they honestly don’t quite realize just how many features they are missing. 

 I am sort of in a love-hate relationship with The Sims 4, I mean I will admit for the record the graphics are amazing, but that’s just it... The Sims 4 to me I hate to say it is just a pretty shell, oddly I do get some enjoyment from playing at times, but I am still left with an emptiness that only The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 can fulfill. I will openly state that if The Sims 4 developers (EA - Electronic Arts) would come up with a way to add toddlers, and other missing features from the later games like the ability to own and drive your own vehicle I could quite possibly fall madly in love with The Sims 4 with the same amount of love that I had bestowed on the later Sims games. Of course I must say that by now I would have hoped that Seasons and Pets would have been in the base game, also I must say it’s not very realistic for a baby Sim to completely skip the toddler stage and age up to a child, it just doesn’t make any sense, I guess I cannot fathom in my mind for the life of me why EA would think that’s okay to make The Sims 4 with no toddlers! *shaking my head in disbelief*. 

 Now I don’t hate The Sims 4 perse` but I can’t say that I completely love it, I guess I am just stuck in the middle, I don’t quite know how to feel... It’s odd spending like 16 years growing up on The Sims franchise and watching it progress, and all of a sudden The Sims 4 comes out and instead of progressing, it’s a complete regression. I don’t know why I still play, I think somewhere deep down there is a glimmer of hope, and the kid in me somewhere that loved The Sims wants to see EA actually care enough about the long time fans to implement missing features, and add things that should have been in the base game to begin with, and maybe then I can feel complete again. 

 Until things are fixed I will continue on feeling incomplete with my feelings towards The Sims 4, talking about it is even an embarrassment and a sore spot for me, in fact I get teary eyed thinking about how far The Sims came and how EA has literally obliterated the franchise all due to their money grubbing ways, I guess I am a little bitter over Maxis selling out to EA. Truth be told The Sims franchise isn’t the first and probably won’t be the last game that EA has bought out and ultimately destroyed, hopefully the poor reception, plummeting sales, and even recent voice actor(s) strike surrounding The Sims 4 game has opened their eyes, but unfortunately I doubt it. 

[simchickee-blog]

 Oh The Sims 2, how I absolutely love you! 

 My love affair with The Sims 2 began basically not long after the release, in fact I had been waiting in anticipation for this games release. I remember when it first came out I rushed to pick it up at Walmart with my late mom who seemed relatively happy for me in fact she loved to watch me play The Sims as well. I was probably around 14 at the time the game was released, and at that time I felt like a Sims master *chuckles*. I brought the game home, spent quite sometime downloading it on my PC, and finally when it was finished I remember how I just sat there in awe at how advanced this game was! I mean I spent a few years playing The Sims and I was used to that being in my mind at the time so technologically advanced, and now I am playing something that is even more graphically enhanced! I was just absolutely floored at how beautiful the game was, and the cutscenes were just indescribable in a good way. Now my PC wasn’t the best, in fact it took forever to load the loading screens but I never really got bored waiting. 

 To this day I would have to say The Sims 2 is probably my all time favorite because I feel like it was a huge leap compared to The Sims, now I must say The Sims in my opinion still packs a punch at least for those who love to play older games like myself. 

 It’s a sad thing when I think about how many newcomers play The Sims 4 yet they have never played The Sims which started it all or The Sims 2 which really paved the way for the game to become a well established and even widely recognized franchise. Even so there are still individuals which have never even played The Sims 3! I guess for me it’s kind of shocking but then again I have been a fan for a very long time so I guess it’s hard to fathom. 

[simchickee-blog]

  My love for The Sims started about 16 years ago, I would have been probably around the age of 10 when I first found out about the game. I remember a family member had it but they weren’t really interested in it so they let me play it, as soon as I started the game up I fell in love almost instantaneously.

 I spent many late nights staying up until the sun came out the next morning playing The Sims, at that time I had never heard of a life simulator so it was really unique to me, and I just couldn’t believe it that I had the honor to play such an amazing game, this game really did break the mold for me. 

 I pretty much wanted to know anything and everything about The Sims, if there was a new expansion pack I wanted it. I remember the first expansion pack I got for the game, I do believe my amazing late mom got it for me, it was Hot Date. I remember the wow factor for me with Hot Date, I was just blown away, thankfully that feeling just escalated, it soared practically all because Maxis released more expansion packs to fuel my insatiable appetite.

 When I think about it all honestly it makes me feel old, I just can’t believe it’s been that long ago since The Sims came out. 

 To this day my love for The Sims has not dwindled, in fact I still play The Sims from time to time even though I own the more recent games within the series (The Sims 2, The Sims 3, and The Sims 4).