Is the Sims2 just a game anymore?

[Lemon&Lime]

I like playing on the Sims, and my friends joked that I was obsessed with the Sims when I got annoyed that my latest expansion pack delivery kept getting delayed.

But I have to admit, that looking through these forums can make me and some people I know worried and a bit 'freaked out'. Is it possible to become too 'in to' the Sims? Is it really just a game anymore, or should the world recognise it the same way as a love of rugby?

The Sims2 is becoming a bit of a cult, and if you look closer it is clear just how much time people can spend playing the Sims. I think it is an amazing game when it comes to realism, and how the creators of the Sims and modders really are masters of their art.

But is it something we should be worried about? Clearly it does not do anyone any harm, right?

[Ghanima Atreides]

Well, it depends what you mean by "too into the game" . If you end up playing it for 10+ hours daily, can think of nothing else and neglect your real life duties because of it, then yes, I could say it is causing harm.

I don't see the harm in being very attached to a game, as to a hobby...why would "love of rugby" be any better/less harmful? Most people have a favorite thing to do in their spare time, and for some that is playing the Sims or creating for it. There's a big leap between that and being "obsessed", a term used to loosely nowadays in my opinion, mainly as a snide remark when someone doesn't really get somebody else's hobby. (I mean when it is used in a half joking manner or less...)
I'd be annoyed too if my EPs were delayed, I was already ticked off when I couldn't find BV in several shops on the official release date :lol:

[Night Revenant]

It's only harmful when you begin to ignore the real world, the basic things like eating, showering, sleeping, working and actually going out around living people. In my experiences as a gamer, online games seem to inflict more of a hold on people than mere stand-alone games.

Why I say this? My partner used to be hooked to Second Life, like from the moment they woke up to when they finally crashed, ignoring their hygiene, their eating, their everything. When someone ignores their real life girlfriend for a harem of digital furry slunts who look positively horrid, there's a problem but they finally got over it after said girlfriend shoved them to visit an addictions counselor who told us that the exact same thing with other games has been happening more and more frequently.

I've had friends who were completely hooked to WoW and, before that, Diablo 2 on the Blizzard network. I myself have been completely addicted to the point of disregarding "real life" to not even a game, but to an online freeform RPing chat site. All these things have one thing in common: escape from real life and it's quite sad (sad in the I have real pity for them and want to help them kind of way) when people begin to live in their fantasy world instead of reality.

[TingTong]

Well...for me i'd just reinforce what others have already said....if a game is impacting you lifestyle then yes...its an addiction... The same could be said for people being obsessed..i know for one that my brother spends too much time on the internet, he just says its a hobbie (sad)!

I have not spent more than 3 hours on the sims 2 at once...so for me its not a problem..

[jenny]

Well, it depends what you mean by "too into the game" . If you end up playing it for 10+ hours daily, can think of nothing else and neglect your real life duties because of it, then yes, I could say it is causing harm.


yep...I do think some folks take it way too seriously...

[Doc Doofus]

I'm even starting to worry about Mortimer Goth. He's spending way too much time on-line playing Sims on his computer. He even lets the trash pile up around the house, doesn't shower, doesn't flirt with the maid, doesn't answer the phone when Dina calls, didn't attend Cassandra's wedding, and doesn't ever seem to wonder about where Bella vanished to. It's no use clicking on the shower or the phone or those other things. I can't make up my mind if it's because he needs more personality points in some area or if he needs a swift kick in the boolprop to straighten him out. I've even talked to the whirlybird doctor about this; we tried to set up an intervention, but Mortimer blew it off, like every other important thing in his life.
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4204/poormortimereh8.jpg
We're all starting to worry about Mortimer. First he blew all his money on on-line poker, now this Sims obsession.

[nekochanpurr_SC]

LOL Doc.. Classic. XD

[Lemon&Lime]

Hehe. I have to admit there has been times when something's bad happened (like fallen out with a friend, bullying etc.) when I started playing online games etc more than I should do, and I got caught up in an RP game during the worst part of it.

What bugs me is when people don't take it seriously. There has been clinics opening up which specialise in gaming addiction. What really annoys me is when people laugh at 'how sad' these people are. Do people lack this much empathy? Clearly people who hate their current life for whatever reason will seek to escape it, and a world in which you create is the perfect place to go to forget about it. I also think that gaming companys should do more to help these people, lives really are being lost - many parents have attributed their children's suicides to being obsessed with the game so much that they just couldn't stand real life anymore.

[mokado]

I fully agree with Figgi. And the same happened with me. (When I had some problems at home, with my friends, tired of school, and I felt somewhat lonely because I live in a small village and I didn't had nothing better to do than playing, watching TV, playing occasionally football with my friends, etc.)

And, I felt like I couldn't trust no one. (I was very disappointed with some of my "best friends". Actually, during that period, I found my real friends.) I was in a damned mood, and I was tired at the same time of having nothing better to do, and of playing games. I've spent even 5 hours some days, playing America's Army, then Sims 2, then Silkroad, then felt... tired, and sad, because I was wasting my damn life there, and having nothing better to do. I remember the days, that I was so tired (During the summer holidays) of doing nothing, and I felt desperately lonely. I had some friends in the same situation (At least one) that lived also here in this Village (Where there's only +/- 10 persons between the age of 14/18). But, well, at least none of them felt so "close", because they aren't so social as me.

I entered in a mild depression by then. At the same time, I was starting to feeling that maybe it was also because the amount of time I played videogames and the lack of sleeping hours. (During the weekends, I reached the point where I was playing games from the 1 p.m until the 4/5 p.m and from the 0:00 until the 4 a.m

I had to change my life. I started to playing less, and developed another hobbies. I was starting to play less, but it was still to much (3/4 hours per day)

Then I met my girlfriend. It was a luck to met her in those circumstances, she was the main reason for me to change - Even if she doesn't know about it. I felt something for her at the first sight. I used to think that I was the "ugliest" (Even if, when I meet some new people, they used told me that I was cute and pretty etc. etc.) and she was beautiful and so pretty, with her blue eyes, light skin and blonde hair... I thought instantly that I shouldn't risk myself trying to have something with her, because it would destroy even more my self-esteem, and maybe a friendship, when she was going to tell me "NO!". But in the next few days, everything started to change. When I started to talking with her, I started to see that she wasn't like the other ones. She was different: Intelligent, cult, she knew about a lot of things, and she gave more importance to the "interior beauty" than the aspect. Apparently, she realized that I thought in the same way. And I started to realize, that, I wasn't that ugly. The people that used to say that I was ugly, were, in fact, much worse than me, and had envy for it. My self-esteem boomed since then, and now, it looks like I live in a fairy tale :P

But well, since then, I realized that there are much better things than wasting my time playing a videogame, and "closing" myself in a room.

And, if some of you are in the same situation that I was, just think in this way:

We can have everything we fight for. And it's always time to change.

[palabravampiress]

Of course it's just a game. I mean, that's what it is: a video game. Some people have hobbies. A smaller portion of people have obsessions and addictions. People have been throwing their lives away on obsessions and addictions for as long as people have come up with alternatives to scrounging around for food and shelter and propagating the species. Heck, there are even people who are addicted to food, tidying their homes, and having sex. Anything can take over the lives of some people, especially people who are looking for an escape from their current circumstances. The game companies have no more responsibility in the matter than do any other peddlers of any other good or service.

[Lemon&Lime]

palabravampiress - all services have got responsibility to their customers. That is why in game instruction manuals you always find warnings for epilepsy and RSI injuries and so on. To say that game companies do not have responsibility goes against what is already happening.

Addictions to drugs, sex, tidying, etc are all addictions - some worse than others. Some people spend an 1hr a day cleaning, but it doesn't mean they are obsessed. An addiction is the same thing no matter what the vice in question is - when the brain/body thinks it needs to do something - whether it be taking drugs or cleaning the bathroom for the 2nd time that day. It has been shown that you cannot just say "people only get addicted to this, or that" it is all relative to the person in question.

So if the medicine companies should be responsibile for those who are addicted to their drugs, why shouldn't the gaming industrys? Luckily though that has already happened, many online games have started saying how playing for a long time can damage your health etc, but what about those who don't want to stop playing?

[palabravampiress]

palabravampiress - all services have got responsibility to their customers. That is why in game instruction manuals you always find warnings for epilepsy and RSI injuries and so on. To say that game companies do not have responsibility goes against what is already happening.

Addictions to drugs, sex, tidying, etc are all addictions - some worse than others. Some people spend an 1hr a day cleaning, but it doesn't mean they are obsessed. An addiction is the same thing no matter what the vice in question is - when the brain/body thinks it needs to do something - whether it be taking drugs or cleaning the bathroom for the 2nd time that day. It has been shown that you cannot just say "people only get addicted to this, or that" it is all relative to the person in question.

So if the medicine companies should be responsibile for those who are addicted to their drugs, why shouldn't the gaming industrys? Luckily though that has already happened, many online games have started saying how playing for a long time can damage your health etc, but what about those who don't want to stop playing?

I never said the medicine companies should be held responsible, either. I think a warning is an act of good faith. In the case of honest-to-goodness medicine versus recreational drugs, I see the difference as this: medicine is something a person does need. It improves or maintains a person's life. Even in the case of substance addiction, which is very much a physical dependency, a recreational drug (or, for that matter, a soap opera or a video game) is something a person wants. But differences aside, why is it not enough to warn potential customers that the product may be addictive and then let them weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision for themselves?

If what is happening is that people are sitting at their computer screens all day and ignoring work and relationships, well, I've seen greater evils in the world of addiction. To play a game nonstop all day sounds like a personal choice. What, exactly, would you have the game companies or some other entity (like maybe the government) do to help such people? Are we going to criminalize playing for more than X hours a day? Because that's pretty intrusive for a free society. Or are we going to make the game companies provide psychiatric help to all game addicts? The average game costs what, $50? And the shrink costs thousands over time. The game companies would go under, and then there would be no games for those who are not addicted. Aside from maybe including a warning label, what sort of responsibility can gaming companies really take for their customers' actions without going under or tramping all over their customers' rights?

[Cinamun]

It's just a game to me, but a FUN one and also a hobby. When I want to play my families out through generations, and enjoy the challenges that come with the game and all the activities with the different EPs, its a computer game I love. When I get into contests and want to create art using pixel dolls and photo-manipulation, it's not a game, it's a tool to create the art. When I'm bored, at home, nothing on TV, I throw in Amy Winehouse and play around in Bodyshop and then again, its not a game anymore, but a potter's wheel and my mouse clicks are my fingers molding my clay.

Okay that sounds super corny, but i've been asked why this is the only game I play and I just tell people i'm not really into computer games but there is just so much you can do with The Sims....

Technically yes, its a game, the most popular computer game in history. It has a huge community and millions of custom files to download for it to be able to play like according to how you want to play, like McDonalds, you can have it your way.... er wait.. is that burger king? Anywho....

I like to play with dolls and make them look purty....

I will admit to ignoring a phone call because my sim toddler was growing up and I wanted to see what she was going to look like :blink:

[waynesim]

McDonalds have it your way huh.............lol! If burger king seen that u took they slogan and gave it to McDonalds they would have a heart attack! lmao!

But Cinastix i agree with alot you've said, the sims one of the best things in my world right now,........next to my dog teddy, my family and friends, partyin, drinkin and actin stupid, lol but seriously the sims is just a game in my eyes, but you can really get attatched to the characters. It took me forever to finally let my Brandi Broke die........that was my homegirl :-( She died in her bathroom in her undies..........then the hula ladies came and took her home *CRIES* (be a man wayne BE A MAN!) lol anyway..........like cinastix said, i do contests to, i suck at em' but i do them and that's when the sims become art. Alot of my friends crack on me " oh you playin with a doll house blah blah blah" they say that because I be dressin my girls up in my game, i wish i could tell u what i tell them but i might get banned. Just know that what i said includes their mothers lol. The possibilities are endless with this game. So has a 22 year old male, i'm here to say this........ THE SIMS EFFIN' ROCKS! BRANDI BROKE FOREVER!! lmao!!

[Cinamun]

i wish i could tell u what i tell them but i might get banned. Just know that what i said includes their mothers lol. The possibilities are endless with this game. So has a 22 year old male, i'm here to say this........ THE SIMS EFFIN' ROCKS! BRANDI BROKE FOREVER!! lmao!!

:rofl: :rofl: HA!!

And you dont suck at contests by the way LOL

About the attatchment... I get attatched to the characters and families too I guess, only some of them. But i'm not obsessed. When I first started playing though, I did stay up all night once playing because in a sense, you're playing God right? You control everything, so, you get sort of this evil power rush from playing out OTHER 'people's' lives. But after that initial rush, it's still a game with many different avenues of play.

RIP Brandi :(

[Lemon&Lime]

My fav sim Alexander Goth is getting on now, I don't want him to die :(

Yeah, I get attachments to my Sims but I spend most of the playing time on the fastest speed cause I hate watching them walking around and not doing anything. They also tend to only do family things and hardly go out anywhere (I hate loading screens).

The Sims is pretty much the only game I play apart from some DS games, but in my experience when you admit that to friends (especially if you play it for several hours at the weekend) they always go "Omg that's so sad" and whenever I say nowadays that I like to play it I'm always really cautious and test the water before I reveal that its one of my fav. pastimes. I guess I've just had a few bad experiences with people who think the game is extremely boring/wierd/sad.

But I love it because it's so versatile! It really reflects your personality, like I see some people have gothic sims, or loads of anime Sims. Some people would have one family dressed as if they're victorians, then the neighbours dressed in disco clothes and living in an ultra-modern house. You can create your ideal world - for example in mine, most Sims get married and no Sim lives alone for long because they either get a fiancee or have family living with them. The only vice in my game is that I tend to follow the same pattern and its always parents living with children etc.

[palabravampiress]

I get really attached to my characters, too. I'm a writer, so playing the Sims is really bad for me. I don't know how it is for others, but for me, writing is a rush. I call it writer's high. I can't explain it, exactly, but when I'm actively working on a project, I feel like I'm doing what I was born to do.

The problem with the sims is that it's the cheater's way to get a writing high. It's not the same feeling and there is guilt there for indulging in a game when I should be writing, but as a cheap fix, it will do. When I create characters in the Sims and make them live their lives, the hard parts are already done. The parameters are set. The world already exists. All I have to do is focus on the characters - and not even their internal lives, just their external ones. I still get to create people and play God with their lives, but all of the hard work of writing goes out the window. If I play for too long, I am sapped of my creative energy, and then I can't write anything worthwhile. Just as I get attached to my characters when I write, I get attached to my sims. I love to see them grow up and live full lives. I don't get as attached to my sims as I do to the characters that I write, but I also hate to see a sim die.

So, while I totally get the addiction factor -- I should be writing right now, actually -- I still say it's my choice. Maxis isn't responsible for the days when I lack the discipline to turn off the game and work on writing; I am responsible for that.

[Lemon&Lime]

Maxis are responsible for replying to queries though! During the summer hols I contacted their help team because of gravestones disapeering on my game, and to this day the techies have still not got back to me on that.

[Annique]

Maxis are responsible for replying to queries though! During the summer hols I contacted their help team because of gravestones disapeering on my game, and to this day the techies have still not got back to me on that.
I've been having that problem as well, and I find it really weird.

[jhd1189]

Please try to stay on topic, everyone... vanishing tombstones aren't really relevant. ;)

[ChrstyFarie07_SC]

Okay I HAVE played the Sims 2 for a very long time before when I first got my own game and learned about CC. I was a super addict, my grades (mainly math)went down (but on my exams I did great, teehee). I didn't bother to eat much, shower (umm, yes I am a girl), sleep, talk to anyone, and so on (I was a monster, RAWR).

I learned to calm down after I stop touching a computer or laptop for weeks. My parents helped me, I helped myself. My grades went up REALLY FAST! I become more tame and "social able".

Over the summer, this year, I spent a lot on the computer but not on the Sims 2 but on the WONDERFUL Sims2community and chatting online with my friends and s2c friends! I study as well, did some stuff, played a little of the Sims 2 maybe for an hour or two. When my parents aren't home I could go on the computer for over 10 hours but the good part I'm not a super duper Sims addict. Unfortunately I became a computer addict :blink: .

And now I started school again, my grades are very good :). I only spend my 10 hours of computer time on Saturdays. I barely play the Sims 2 anymore. And I have been CURED of my Sims 2 addiction. THANK GOODNESS!

[Lemon&Lime]

Hehe I'm a computer addict too. I find that I go on the computer more often when I'm stressed/had a bad day/just need to chill. The computer tends to be my personal space, as I don't like my room. Anyone else like that?

[Color Guard Princess]

I think it is possible to become addicted to anything....i was so addicted to singing for the longest time. Seriously i would find myself subconciously singing during tests and getting in the hugest trouble...I think after a while you just find something else to obsess over........Like me and Spaghetti lol