Line #31 YMMV/TheSims


1	This YMMV page is for the series as a whole. For each individual game, see the following pages:
2
3	[[index]]
4	* ''YMMV/TheSims1''
5	* ''YMMV/TheSims2''
6	* ''YMMV/TheSims3''
7	* ''YMMV/TheSims4''
8	[[/index]]
9
10	----
11	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Any Sim is subject to this.
12	* {{Altitis}}:
13	** With its detailed character and house design and its aimless open-endedness, all four of the games can invite this. How many times have you spent hours figuring out whether your character would wear his hair differently with a tuxedo than with jeans and which trash can he'd have in his kitchen, only to become irredeemably bored with him as soon as he's got a job and some friends and keeps asking for a nicer TV or a trip to the bookstore?
14	** This is actually the entire point of the game for some people - there are many people that do not actually "play" the game, and do literally nothing but design items, clothing, hair retextures, houses, etc.
15	* AluminumChristmasTrees: The Pleasant siblings in the first game and the Fyres siblings in ''The Sims 4: Get Together'' have too different of skin tones to be related as siblings and they must have meant to be step siblings, correct? Actually, it is possible for full blooded siblings to have skin tones as different as them, including twins.
16	* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: The Nanny NPC can be like this. She usually will a) not take care of your children at all, instead she will bake cakes (and ignore them if the baby starts crying, thus causing a fire) or watch TV. Or b) she will pay too much attention to the baby, waking them up to feed and bathe them (when their hunger or hygiene motives are full), and then putting them on the floor instead of in a crib.
17	* AudienceAlienatingEra: The first game was a hit, and the second is thought to have [[EvenBetterSequel improved on everything]], but after that, fans are divided over whether the third game put the series in this and the fourth game pulled it out, or the third game was still good and the fourth one grew mired in this.
18	** The general consensus among older fans of the franchise who started with the first two games is that ''The Sims 3'' was horribly optimized and ran like garbage upon release, and while the worst problems would later be patched, each new ExpansionPack made the game that much more of a resource hog. That said, many still admire its ambition, especially its WideOpenSandbox design and its deep customization features, and more modern computers have much less of a problem running it (especially with [[https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Game_guide:Multiple_ways_to_improve_The_Sims_3%27s_performance mods]] that clean up lingering issues), causing it to be VindicatedByHistory for many -- especially in light of where the series would later go.
19	** Fans of ''The Sims 3'' will say that the series began slipping into a Dork Age during the later part of that game's life thanks to buggy and unappealing releases such as ''Showtime'', ''Island Paradise'' and ''Into the Future'', and fully nosedived into it when it became clear that ''The Sims 4'' was going to divide and separately sell (or otherwise water down) previous fully-fledged expansion themes and features (such as vacations, nightlife, and most notably occult states) into separate DLC packs. In addition to that, ''The Sims 4'' is often derided for having shallow gameplay beyond Build Mode and Create-a-Sim, buggy Sims with terrible AI and little to no personality, LighterAndSofter marketing that is clearly aimed more towards young teenagers and pre-pubescent girls, and a [[SequelDifficultyDrop reduced difficulty]] that takes away from the unpredictable life simulator aspects that the previous games had.
20	* BrokenBase:
21	** Is ''The Sims 3'' awesome, or does it suck forever because anything slower than a top-of-the-line gaming rig will stutter trying to run it? Though after the expansion packs were completed and computer technology caught up with the game, ''The Sims 2'' players accept that ''The Sims 3'' is a great game on its own, poor optimizations aside.
22	** Is ''The Sims 4'' a return to the good old days of the first two games with its character-centered gameplay, or does the removal of some popular features (especially open world and Create-A-Style) mean it's just a huge step back for the series overall? The fanbase is split into two groups: those who find it inferior to ''The Sims 3'' and therefore already obsolete, and those who like the new features it presents and enjoy the fact that it still gives the same fun, open-ended experience that fans can expect from the franchise, one that can now be run on the average computer, at that.
23	** The fantasy/sci-fi elements of the Sims franchise. Some fans prefer playing with a more realistic and grounded version of the Sims while others love to play as some of their favorite supernatural creatures from fiction. And, presumably in a backlash to the backlash, some fans of the more paranormal-themed expansions will now often complain bitterly when a very obviously family-gameplay-oriented pack is released, accusing the devs of ignoring the fans who find the realistic life simulation side of things boring.
24	* CatharsisFactor: Do you dislike any fictional character? Then, go ahead, and make a sim of them just so that you can kill that sim off.
25	* ComeForTheGameStayForTheMods: While the games are playable in their own right, many players are not satisfied with the limited selections of hairstyles, clothes, furniture, and what have you--especially since the main appeal of the games is to be able to create your idealized home/life. There are multiple Sims fansites and communities that are dedicated to creating and sharing custom content, including game mods that allow players to perform actions normally impossible in regular gameplay.
26	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
27	** A lot of the utterly sadistic things players can do with the VideoGameCrueltyPotential downright cross the line so many times they obliterate any semblance of a line.
28	** People are able to do more of this with mods, allowing them to do things such as make sims attack each other, kill each other, or literally grill babies.
29	** There was also a downloadable item called "Scissors". You could just make your sims run with them and get killed.
30	* DiagnosedByTheAudience:
31	** Some games have traits that are pretty much unnamed, generalized mishmashes of certain disorders. For example, ''Sims 3'' offers "Insane", "Unstable" and "Inappropriate", all of which cause Sims to act generally weird.
32	** Some players combine different traits to create a sim who displays symptoms of certain disorders. Using ''Sims 3'' for another example, players have come up with trait combinations that resemble AD(H)D[[labelnote:Example]]"Over-emotional", "Hot-headed", "Absent-minded" and/or "Daredevil" for ADD and ADHD respectively[[/labelnote]] and Asperger's Syndrome[[labelnote:Example]]"Perfectionist", "Genious", "Inappropriate" and "Loner"[[/labelnote]], among others.
33	* DifficultySpike: First-time players of ''Sims 3'' will likely choose to play as Claire Ursine, expecting it to be an event-less routine of fishing and going to work. [[spoiler:Then she becomes a single parent, which tests the player's time management capabilities as they juggle work with parenting.]]
34	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
35	** ''The Sims 1'': Bonehilda and the dragons from ''Makin' Magic'' are extremely popular. The former was so popular, in fact, that a campaign was launched by fans to get her into ''Sims 4'' -- culminating in her return with the ''Paranormal Stuff'' pack.
36	** ''The Sims 2'': Cowplants, which have since become a series staple. Many townies are also pretty iconic, such as Meadow Thayer, Mrs. Crumplebottom and Goopy [=GilsCarbo=].
37	* EvilIsCool: Oh, hell yes! A Sim with the evil trait can amongst other things donate money to counter-charities, look for evil deeds and stars in the telescope, do an EvilLaugh every time another Sim dies, steal candy from babies and children, and {{Troll}} forums. GoodIsBoring in comparison. Additionally, Evil Sims can take an [[RuleOfFunny Evil Bath or Evil Shower]], and they also get a positive moodlet ("Fiendishly Delighted") if another Sim in the room is unhappy.
38	* FairForItsDay: ''VideoGame/TheSims1'' and ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' can be a jarring reminder that the portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community has come a long way since the 2000s. The original game disallows same-sex marriage entirely, and ''The Sims 2'' has a separate "joined union" option for same-sex couples which is deliberately distanced from the terminology used around opposite-sex marriage. It's easy to forget that when the first game released in 2000, the fact that it was even designed to permit same-sex romances between characters ''at all'' was a pretty big deal; and acknowledging same-sex couples with legally recognised in-game partnerships was similarly progressive in 2004 when the sequel came out.
39	* {{Fanon}}:
40	** Frances Worthington is played as gay in many stories, and the townie Meadow Thayer is said to be "[[ReallyGetsAround the neighborhood bicycle]]". Also, in fanfics usually there is some sort of connection between Strangetown and Pleasantview (because Bella Goth can be found as a townie in Strangetown), and usually Lilith Pleasant is seen as the better twin, while Angela is seen as a Mary Sue.
41	** The game in general is popular for generating these (complete with original characters to boot). The Sims Wiki has a dedicated page for fanon characters titled "Fanon:<Insert Sim Name>".
42	* FanPreferredCouple: Discounting pairings which are hinted at in canon, there's a lot of support on various forums for Darren/Brandi in ''The Sims 2'' and [[ToyShip Mortimer/Kaylynn]] in ''The Sims 3''.
43	* FranchiseOriginalSin:
44	** Expansions and nickel-and-diming have always been a running joke among the fans. In fact, the very first expansion for the first game, ''Livin' Large'', would be seen as a "stuff pack" today, though even this was somewhat offset by it being bundled with the original game after a point. It was only when later games started recycling content from the earlier games' expansions for their own, and that content was seen as getting smaller with each new release, that fans started to wonder why, at some point, this stuff wasn't included with the base games.
45	** For [[BrokenBase some fans]], the addition of fantastical and supernatural elements, and various bizarre life states can be viewed as this. The games themselves were fairly grounded in reality with a few exceptions that were otherwise easy to ignore (such as the ''Livin Large'' items) or just [[RuleOfFunny intended to be funny]]. As the series went on, they became harder to ignore, prompting every game to become DenserAndWackier as it goes on.
46	* GeniusBonus:
47	** Raise your hands if you know that ''mellifera'' is the second part of the ''Latin'' name for a family of honey bees. [[note]]Yep, the spell is technically a combination of pretentious Latin and ''real'' Latin. Though mellifera actually means ''honey-bearing''. You'd think the spell would result in the sim on the receiving end getting slimed by honey instead.[[/note]]
48	** The first game (as a very basic form of human life simulator) is based upon Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; Sims are happy as long as they are fed, rested, kept amused etc. ''The Sims 2'' retains that, but with the added depth (and human realism) of Schopenhauer's theory of the "Will" – interchangeable here with the added “Wants” system in the game. Indeed, the “Wants” aspect is true to Schopenhauer’s view (almost scarily so) in that [=TS2=] Sims are constantly hungering for more and more (success, popularity, material possessions, sex and so-on). In addition, even when they get what they want their fulfillment is relatively short-lived (the “Aspiration Meter” level depletes) or, conversely, boredom ensues – though probably more for the player than for them. The only [unrealistic] digression from all this is the introduction of the “lifelong aspiration” in a later [=TS2=] expansion which, if accomplished, would grant the sim platinum aspiration level for the rest of their life.
49	** In ''The Sims 2: Castaway'', coffee beans reduce the bladder need by 10, over twice as much as any other spice. The same happens for the Espresso machine in other games. This is probably because caffeine is a natural diuretic.
50	* GameBreaker: [[GameBreaker/TheSims Has its own page]].
51	* HarsherInHindsight: The romance-despising Agnes Crumplebottom can be this for some players, given the revelation in ''The Sims 3'' (which takes place before ''The Sims'') that she was once married, but [[TheLostLenore her husband tragically drowned]], apparently not long after they married, thus [[FreudianExcuse hinting that this is the reason for her aversion of PDA]].
52	* JustHereForGodzilla:
53	** Many people often play these games either to just kill people in horrible ways, make their Sims miserable, or to make their character [[ReallyGetsAround Really Get Around]]. Alternatively, they play just to be able to play as characters they like (true for a lot of games with CharacterCustomization) or have a popular GameMod.
54	** Some creative fans spend most of their time designing houses/apartments and then decorating them. Houses give players a playground to create their dream home on, while apartments give the player [[SelfImposedChallenge limitations to overcome]] [[note]]Fortunately, [[AntiFrustrationFeatures cheats can be used to remove these limitations]][[/note]].
55	* LGBTFanbase: ''The Sims'' is notably popular among queer gamers. Same-sex romance has been a thing in the game ever since the first entry, and each new installment has further refined its representation. Many closeted individuals have found refuge in ''The Sims'', treating it as a safe way to experiment with their identity such as gay players placing a self-insert character into a same-sex relationship, or trans players making a Sim that represents one's desired gender presentation. ''The Sims 4'' fully embraced this by adding a huge number of options catering specifically to queer players.
56	* MemeticMutation:
57	** [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140908002953/http://ts4news.com/post/94541924952/89-features-missing-from-the-sims-4 A list of complaints about missing features]] in ''The Sims 4'' popped up containing the line "Babies are mere objects," which caught on pretty quickly.
58	** The ArtificialStupidity of the Sims, especially when it comes to fires, is notorious amongst gamers.
59	** While the games have become somewhat notorious for having supposedly less and less content, they have a ''surprising'' amount of interactions that need to be coded into the game and can interact with each other, resulting in some absolutely ''hilarious'' [[https://kotaku.com/pregnant-sims-can-no-longer-brawl-and-other-amazing-sim-1506014739 patch notes]] due to all the potential bugs that could happen.
60	* MorePopularSpinoff: ''The Sims'' has far surpassed the popularity of its predecessor series, ''VideoGame/SimCity''.
61	* MultipleDemographicAppeal: The series was a breakout success that challenged conventional notions of not only what a game could be, but also to whom it could appeal; studies have cited it as being played by girls and women more than any other video game in history. ''The Sims'' is one of the most profitable PC video game franchises out there and is well respected amongst male and female gamers in general.
62	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Several, one example being the little tune that plays when obtaining Pangu's Axe.
63	* ObviousBeta: ''The Sims 3'' and ''4'' are both this, but for opposite reasons. ''3'' was very ambitious and deep, but extremely glitchy and so poorly optimized that even on modern gaming [=PCs=] it's difficult to get it to run smoothly--nevermind the cheap budget laptops that most of the ''Sims'' audience played on. Meanwhile, ''4'' is generally very well polished (though this can come and go depending on the expansions that are installed) and runs great on just about anything, but is heavily scaled back in terms of depth--including removing the open-world that was the major selling point of ''3''. It also lacked features standard to the series like pools, toddlers or ghosts, which all got patched back in later. Even then ''4'' isn't lacking in technical issues either, where scripts of things to do tend to be clogged by active Sims, including NPC Sims, causing them to stand in place (especially in public places where gatherings of up to 20 Sims happening) while their needs plummet.
64	** ''The Sims 2'' leaves support, as the final expansion pack was released in 2008, relatively stable and playable, except the fact that things like deleting a Sim, deleting gravestones (that contains embedded Sim character data), saving while calling a telephone (due to a temporary Sim being placed to gauge relationship and it's improperly removed if loaded from an in-progress save), and saving while playing an RC car (due to the game treating those moving object like a temporary Sim), can cause long-term corruption due to the remaining Sims trying to reference the deleted character, but those garbled code eventually spread to other inner workings of the game, forcing a complete purge of the neighborhood and starting anew. It didn't help that some expansion ships with unwanted pre-made Sims that playing with them causes so much corruption as is deleting them. The engine also can't really handle machines released many years after, which causes issues ranging from glitchy shadow effects (that can be fixed by completely turning off shadows) to loading times not improving compared to a native machine.
65	* TheScrappy:
66	** Marsha Bruenig: a townie in Pleasantview. Once you meet her, she will NEVER stop calling, even at night and during school! Unless, of course, the player uses mods to put the kibosh on such behavior. Some simmers actually regard her with fear.
67	** The Nanny, who will bring your toddler bottle after bottle, even when the toddler's not hungry. And set the house on fire while cooking. To make matters worse, [[GameBreakingBug she won't leave your house even after you've dismissed her!]]
68	** The Mascots from ''The Sims 2 University'' are pretty universally loathed, since all they do is intrude on your personal space, do mean things, or flirt with you to ruin your relationships. The cheerleaders to a lesser extent, though they are more of a slight annoyance.
69	** The Ottomas family from ''Seasons''. They are ugly, bugged, can even corrupt the game (though this has been patched), and Samantha gives birth to the most hideous twins in the world.
70	** A lot of Simmers are annoyed by babysitters in ''The Sims 3'' because they will either neglect the baby or constantly bother him/her when all needs are full. Also, if there is a baby swing and the baby is in it, the sitter will often set the swing on fast, making the baby cranky and sick.
71	* SpiritualAdaptation:
72	** Many fans play the games in order to live out their fantasies of having their own HGTV home makeover show. Given that it was originally conceived as an architectural simulator, this makes perfect sense.
73	** More broadly, the games also let players create their own Spiritual Adaptations of any {{sitcom}} or SoapOpera family that they're fans of.
74	** Even without the expansions that add overtly supernatural content to the games, the Goths are the closest you can get to being able to play as Series/TheAddamsFamily.
75	** ''The Sims 3''[='=]s ''Supernatural'' expansion adds a new town based on [[UsefulNotes/TheOtherRainforest the Pacific Northwest]] that's home to [[FurAgainstFang feuding families of vampires and werewolves]], the former having an expy of Edward Cullen in its ranks, as well as a human family who are based on Bella and Charles Swan. In short, it's the closest thing there is to a ''[[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Twilight]]'' video game. As if that wasn't enough, the Roommates Supernatural household is pretty much the main characters of ''Series/BeingHumanUS'', while Marigold Maldano is an expy of [[Series/TrueBlood Sookie Stackhouse]].
76	* {{Squick}}:
77	** For a period of time, a glitch in ''The Sims 4'' made it possible for family members to have romantic relationships with each other and even have whims to do so. This included children, meaning a parent could have the desire to "woohoo" with their child or vice versa. Thankfully, this was fixed rather quickly.
78	** [[MisterSeahorse Male pregnancies]] in ''The Sims 2'' when you [[FridgeHorror think]] about how the birth plays out.
79	* SelfImposedChallenge:
80	** A popular one for the later games (2 and onward) is the [[GenerationalSaga Legacy Challenge]] first invented in the Sims 2 era by EA Forum member Pinstar. The core rules are to play through 10 generations of sims, with one child from each generation serving as the heir to the next, and to earn bonus points for factors like total net worth or lifetime achievements fulfilled. There are many variations, with additional challenges like limiting heirs to males or females, associating each generation with [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience a certain color]], or having each heir rise to the top of their career. For the very hardcore there's the Alphabet legacy, which is ''26'' generations long, one for each letter of the alphabet.
81	* SequelDifficultyDrop: Over time, Later ''Sims'' games have become easier and easier, with social interactions being much easier, and the moods dropping slower. Coupled with this, the AI has actually become [[ArtificialBrilliance a lot better at taking care of themselves]], meaning players can focus on developing one or two sims' skills at once and not have to constantly babysit as many sims who need to [[PottyEmergency use the bathroom]], eat, sleep, or go to work and are too stupid to automatically do so.
82	* ThatOneLevel:
83	** Pregnancy, and to an extent, raising a toddler, since you either have to deal with a moody mother, which could be downright lethal in earlier games, or a toddler that you have to build skills for while being severely restricted in every part of the game while playing as one.
84	** When the Tragic Clown appears in ''The Sims 1'', be prepared to make a depressed Sim happy, while also dealing with a clown who seems to go out of his way to make life miserable.
85	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: People who are really glued to a certain ''Sims'' game are likely to criticize the one that follows it ''hard''.
86	** Fans of ''The Sims 2'' hated ''The Sims 3'' because the Sim models got more realistic (which made the game lose its charm for some), and that you have much less control over their lives than in ''2'' (where time progresses for all households instead of only the active household, at the expense of playing other households without losing control of your current household). Another object of hatred is the Story Progression feature, which more often than not causes unpredictable outcomes that seem to be determined in random instead of by individual Sims' traits.
87	** ''The Sims 4'' has received complaints from players of the previous two games over its numerous drastic changes, including the mostly hated ones (such as the removal of many features introduced in the base games of ''2'' and ''3'' or their move to expansion packs[[labelnote:For instance]]Toddlers, swimming pools, cars, and customizable neighborhoods.[[/labelnote]], and the radically different user interfaces), and also some with a better reception (the overhauled "needs" and "wants" system, the new emotion system, new smartphone interaction features, and in-game video games being more than just a fun-filling machine[[note]]Although in ''The Sims 3'', video games can be used to improve relationship with distant Sims through the online feature.[[/note]]). Even though these complaints have lessened over time due to most of the aforementioned features being restored via free patches, detractors still persist.
88	* UnintentionalUncannyValley:
89	** Many of the custom mods (specially the ones to simulate celebrities) give more detailed skins, eyes, hair, etc... it can be a little disturbing.
90	** The main variants of custom content are broadly divided into Alpha CC and Maxis Match CC. While the latter, as the name suggests, mimics the in-game art style very closely and therefore doesn't clash with pre-existing surroundings and items, Alpha CC can wind up in this realm due to aiming for a more realistic look.
91	** To some, the Sims in ''The Sims 3'' are like this. While in ''The Sims 2'' they were realistically proportioned, though animesque, while still having cartoonish facial expressions, ''The Sims 3'' attempts a realistic look, but the cartoon shading and stylized design makes them look like living dolls.
92	** The Sims in ''The Sims 2'' can be considered this as well due to the over-the-top cartoony facial expressions at times that clash with the realistically proportioned Animesque design.
93	** The Sims 4 strikes a balance between realism and Animesque -- the end product looks quite Creator/{{Pixar}}-ish. Some of the faces your Sims can pull, especially when afflicted by particularly strong emotions, however, can be rather disturbing.
94	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Each and every game in the series can be pinpointed to the year it came out by the things that date it, from furniture to technology to especially the fashion.
95	** In terms of fashion, the clothing options available in the first game still reflected TheNineties, with a particular focus on clothes that would look and feel right at home in a DomCom from that decade. The second and third games, meanwhile, featured popular fashion items from the TurnOfTheMillennium, particularly with the prevalence of low-rise hip-hugging pants for female Sims designed to bare the midriff, which were trendy among young women in that decade but experienced a major backlash in the next. Finally, the clothing in the fourth game reflects contemporary fashions in TheNewTens, particularly the {{hipster}} and [[WorkoutFanservice athleisure]] trends.
96	** While ''The Sims 3'' is canonically set several decades before ''The Sims 2'', it doesn't even try to be a PurelyAestheticEra, instead being firmly rooted in the late 2000s and early '10s. ''The Sims 4''[='=]s expansions seem fond of a heaping helping of Art Nouveau as well as the usual contemporary styles, but technology is more advanced and upgradable than ever before.
97	* ViewerPronunciationConfusion: The "Live Mode vs Live Mode" debate has raged for literal decades between those who pronounce it like the verb "to live" and those who think it should sound like the adjective à la "live TV". WordOfGod from the Sim Gurus has confirmed that it's the verb form (so that Live, Buy, and Build modes all match grammatically), but many fans of the adjective are nevertheless adamant on retaining their preferred pronunciation.
98	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The series is very popular with children, especially little girls, due to it being a very pick-up-and-play dollhouse-like game. While there's very little in the series that is inappropriate for children (besides woo-hoo and even then it's very cartoony), it is technically aimed at teens and adults.
99	* WTHCostumingDepartment: Some of the clothing items are rather hideous, to the extent that here are mods [[http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=445642 to]] [[http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=478334 alter]] [[http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=436182 or]] [[http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=419327 hide]] [[http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=418991 them]].
100	* TheWoobie:
101	** Bella Goth to an extent since she got abducted by aliens in ''The Sims 2''. Her family could count as this as well, as one must imagine what they must have went through after what happened with Bella.
102	** Agnes Crumplebottom too. She wanted to have a perfect family life with her new husband, and he died. They even had a nursery. Now she lives a depressed life and becomes the purse-wielding grump we know in ''Hot Date''.

Context YMMV / TheSims