tabular_rasa: (Phwee?)
tabular_rasa ([personal profile] tabular_rasa) wrote2009-12-07 08:53 pm

WTF Sims?

So, as I may have mentioned here, I bought Sims 2 (which came with the Sims Nightlife expansion pack for $20-- this is why it pays to by the older game just as the new one has come out :-P) over this summer. I've had it long enough now that I don't play it 24/7 like I did when I first got it, but I still play it pretty frequently.

One family I've played a lot with is the Donovans. I started them out as an adult married childless couple, Meg and Tom. They are both Family aspiration, and the Lifetime Aspiration (which when achieved will give them Platinum mood and 10,000 Influence for their rest of their lives-- which I think could then last forever since they'd be able to keep drinking the Elixir of Life?) for both of them is to Marry Off 6 Children. Since one of my favorite parts of Sims is sex and babies (the other being death), they quickly proceeded to have those six kids to marry off. After countless hours of play, Devin (who's been cuckolded but I won't let discover it until his parents have passed their Lifetime Aspirations, lest the shock of their breakup kill them first), Seamus (who grew from a weird kid in a pirate outfit always passing his birthdays in the red into a well-adjusted scientist with an alien wife and baby), the twins Molly and Oliver, and even Katie (who had to wait around for her childhood sweetheart to grow up) all married in due course to the great pleasure (and aspiration points) of their parents. However, when I noticed the youngest son, Aidan, born just days before his mother grew into a barren elder, was having recurring dreams of a man in the neighborhood he had never met, I decided this was Fate and went out of my way to have the two meet and begin a relationship. Aidan and this man Martin then were joined in a "Union" rather than a marriage.

It's kind of weird to me that they do make a distinction in the game between Marriage and Union anyway, but I guess it makes sense if the goal is realism. (The Sims just takes place in a state other than Massachusetts, etc, lol). However, it's really awkward (and quite political!) that a Union is apparently not valued as much as Marriage in the game.



Ignoring the very random shot of the room, observe Meg's aspirations below:





And it's not just that Meg and Tom got 3,000 less aspiration points than if their son had married a nice girl from the neighborhood instead. Aidan's Union didn't count as Marriage and therefore did not count towards the six marriages necessary to fulfill Meg and Tom's Lifetime Aspirations.

What's more, Meg even came over one day to Aidan's new home with Martin to scold him, thinking "Babies!!!!" (the little pacifier icon). Fuck, Meg, Aidan can still have babies. He and his partner started thinking about adoption (pacifier icon plus a telephone) days into their new life together and summarily adopted a child named Alec. Harrumph!

I'm still going to get Meg and Tom their Lifetime Aspiration by marrying off the four children they've adopted since becoming unable to bear their own (bringing them up to ten kids, which earned them major aspiration points since I'd been keeping the 15,000 "Have Ten Children" icon locked) though part of me feels like they don't deserve it for being intolerant jerks )-:

[identity profile] scorpiuspro.livejournal.com 2009-12-07 12:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh Sims, gotta love it, especially when you can play the part of a mischievous God (Greeks would've LOVED you).

I currently just finished our house (yeah, I made a Sim family with me and Amy, I'm her bf, so what :P ) complete with a pool, music/study room, party room and a full theater upstairs (yeah a bit overzealous but hey it's my fantasy house why the hell not??)
I also finally completed the Seinfeld main cast with their respective apartments (Kramer's being the hardest as his is barely seen except for the Merv Griffin Show episode and it's all decked out with sets.)
I made a community lot that is Monk's Diner where Seinfeld characters can hang out. For the most part, Jerry loves flirting with every single person in the diner while the others sit and chat.

[identity profile] belovedwarrior.livejournal.com 2009-12-07 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
No need to defend yourself; I think it's sweet that you made a Amy-and-you house. ;)

Also, you should take pics of the Seinfeld main cast and post them sometime. Or have Amy post them so I can see them, because I am curious. That sounds awesome!!

[identity profile] scorpiuspro.livejournal.com 2009-12-08 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
I'll have pics up on my LJ tonight, feel free to hop onto my page (no friends other than Amy and her college roomie *sappy sad face*)

[identity profile] mona-lisa-73.livejournal.com 2009-12-07 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll have to see how they handle marriage vs. union in Sims 3. I'm curious now.

[identity profile] femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com 2009-12-07 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
They don't much as far as I've seen... it's interesting.

[identity profile] belovedwarrior.livejournal.com 2009-12-07 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
(The Sims just takes place in a state other than Massachusetts, etc, lol)

I don't know when Sims2 came out but FYI, here's the current list of states that allow same-sex marriage:

* Connecticut
* District of Columbia
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New York
* Maine
* Massachusetts
* Vermont
* Iowa
* Wisconsin

That's 1/5th of the way there! :)

[identity profile] belovedwarrior.livejournal.com 2009-12-07 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Crap. Not 1/5th. I was counting DC when I shouldn't have been. :( Well, if California goes back to allowing same-sex marriage, we'll be at 1/5th for states and more than 1/5th for population.

[identity profile] tabular-rasa.livejournal.com 2009-12-08 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
I think it was substantially less than that when the game came out, but I don't really remember. (Hence the "etc"). Still. I thought this was so awkward! (Not to mention frustrating to my game plans!).

[identity profile] just-you-wait.livejournal.com 2009-12-08 09:01 am (UTC)(link)
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan?

[identity profile] tabular-rasa.livejournal.com 2009-12-08 10:38 am (UTC)(link)
Never crossed my mind. They just sounded like names that would go well with Donovan.

[identity profile] rylee900.livejournal.com 2010-08-11 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
California!