Re: Disability for the sims

by jimmysnan
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Original Post

Re: Disability for the sims

[ Edited ]
★★★★ Novice

@jimmysnanYou hit the nail on the head.  As someone who suffers from a severe disability myself, I realize that implementing such a feature would probably do much more harm than good.  I would much rather enjoy the game as is, and not be reminded of my disability, or give ammunition to the immature and the ignorant. Sometimes inclusion is not a good thing.  Quite frankly, I am more concerned about people seeing me for who I am, not for my "Special needs", "Handicapability" or whatever the hell the PC brigade is calling it this week.

Message 10 of 147 (3,648 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

★★★★ Novice
@godslittleangel Not all of us with disabilities feel the same as you about this issue. Some of us play games to escape and would rather play as vampires who can fly and leave our limitations out of it. There are better ways to raise awareness than to make spectacles of ourselves in an online game. To quote myself in another post "Quite frankly, I am more concerned about people seeing me for who I am as an individual, not for my special needs." This is just my opinion however, I recognize that there are several different views about this in the DI/SN community.
Message 11 of 147 (3,639 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

Champion

@Paperdain@jpkarlsen, @godslittleangel@jimmysnan -- that is the main problem with this topic … even those with disabilities are on complete opposite sides of the fence on this issue!  Disappointed  On the one hand I can see,( especially with younger players or those who don't have a community support organization nearby) might want Sims to reflect their reality .  Those who feel this way usually want acknowledgement, respect, and friendship.  Others with even the very same disability might want to escape for a brief while into a world where such things handicaps and illness don't exist.  Those players usually want humor, control over Sims' lives, and relief from harsh reality.  Which is interesting because yet again, as with almost any topic on the Sims, what this boils down to is that some players want the Sims to reflect reality (think of the Laundry Day SP that the majority of players voted for) and others just want innovative gameplay/fantasy (think of the Vampires GP that is a favorite of many players)!  The Sims franchise has always had a mix of reality and fantasy.  One minute our Sims are using the toilet, and the next they are getting abducted by Aliens and end up being a pregnant male! ShockedLarge smile:eahigh_file:  Personally, I am more of the innovative gameplay/fantasy type of player Party hat, but I do see a need for those who play more realistically. Wink  (For those familiar with the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator {MBTI} personality test, this difference in gameplay is probably due to the realistic players being high in the Sensing category with the fantasy players would be high in the iNtuitve category! Raised eyebrowNerdWink)

 

And the other problem with implementing Sims with disabilities is that this would be such a difficult pack to implement in a respectful manner.  The Sims are often very humourous, yet you don't want to show disrespect to people with handicaps. And even if EA were to find the right balance, that doesn't mean that players won't abuse this, which can cause for some very hurt feelings. DisappointedDevil    For these reasons I want this in the game to represent those who are going through this Heart, but at the same time I don't want this in the game because I agree that it could do more harm than good, at least with players who use this as a way to make light of disabled people Angry.   I have had several people in my life with disabilities/illnesses.  They deserve respect and love like anybody.  Heart  But each person has a different idea of what that entails! Raised eyebrowOopsLarge smile

 

I read in an article the other day that Grant Rodiek of EA tweeted the following about the possibility of wheelchairs:

"

Grant Rodiek @SimGuruGrant
 
 

Still something we'd like to do at some point."

 

You can read the rest of his Tweets as well as the article at Sims VIP (I can't give a link there because this site also has Mods and CC).  Or you can follow him in Twitter for furture updates! Angel  Basically he stated that they are trying to figure out how to do this respectfully, even talking with various members of the disabled community, which I think is crucialStandard smile However, as some of have stated on this thread, that doesn't mean that everyone will be happy. Perhaps nothing will come of this.  Or perhaps EA might decide to do a stand-alone game.  Only time will tell! 

 

Happy Simming! Party hat

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Message 12 of 147 (3,616 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

[ Edited ]
★★★★ Novice

This is just a thought, but the best way to implement it without being disrespectful to those of us with disabilities might just be to introduce an optional "Hospital Stuff" pack for those players who want realism. With wheelchairs, crutches, visibility impaired canes, etc.  Maybe even add  a game pack that gives more playability to the  hospital location.    Personally, I would not take offense with props; A wheelchair you can assign to your own character if you so desire, etc.  What would offend me would be a disabled NPC or playable character, because then you are getting into the realm of stereotypes.  Making it a feature update, not an optional pack,  would rankle too, because as I've stated before, some of us play games for escape, not for realism.

Message 13 of 147 (3,595 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

★ Apprentice
Just put in wheelchairs and maybe a cast for broken legs, stuff like that I think no one would take offense to and then those with disabilities and without could play as they like.
Message 14 of 147 (3,585 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

★ Apprentice
You and I are so much on the same page. Having a disability is by no means fun or funny. It is serious. That's the problem I see with EA they either go all out or they do not do enough there is no middle and most times we don't get a real choice. Maybe @SimGuruGraham would like to see this post and comment on what his thoughts are.
I do not see disabilities being done tastefully in this game without it being ignored. What I mean is put in the content mentioned and chair lifts for stairs and lower sinks and stuff and then let the player decide how they want to do them. I would find anymore than just adding stuff and the ability to stay in a chair and not get up would be offensive.
Look at elders in the game they are hunched over and in other games Mrs Crumblebottom hit people with her purse. I am an elder I do none of that. So in my game my elders are actually adults using cas to make a difference.
But I have choices. That's what I am stating mostly put in what's needed in a stuff pack or game pack and let it go .
Choice is what is needed not a whole pack called disabilities.
The wheelchair and ramps canes and walkers are the basics of what's needed nothing more.
Message 15 of 147 (3,587 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

★ Apprentice
Don't just dismiss it there are ways to do things that are not hard to implement. What would be hard was having the sim stay in the chair they cant stay in them now Lol.
Message 16 of 147 (1,060 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

Champion (Retired)

@jimmysnan

 

The problem is that just in order to facilitate wheelchairs the game dynamics would change so much that it would require a major update (read Expansion pack). You would need Wheelchairs (of course) lifts, ramps changes in Toilets, sinks, kitchen and so on. On top of that all community buildings would need to be redone from the ground up. The task is so huge that there are no way I can see that this would happen. While it is doable is there any way they can sell enough of such an expansion to make it feasible? I think the answer to that unfortunately is no. If it comes at all then I think it would be in a Sims 5 (if there is one) where it could be included from the start. I don't think there will be a standalone game either as you will have the same problem as mentioned earlier, will it sell enough?

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Message 17 of 147 (1,040 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

★ Apprentice

I too doubt it will sell enough.  That's why their best bet would be just to include wheelchairs in a hospital stuff pack as mentioned above.  It seems to be hard for the developers to keep the sims in chairs now, can you imagine them trying to keep sims in the wheelchair once they have them?  LOL.  I think it is a shot in the dark that they will come to the sims.  I saw some custom content on  the sims resource, but for sims 3 cant be sure how it worked as I never used it.  I really do hope they do not put out a handicapped EP SP or GP.  

Message 18 of 147 (1,031 Views)

Re: Disability for the sims

Champion

@Paperdain, and @jimmysnan.  I think both of you bring some viable solutions. Standard smile  These would give us the options of using these items for our Sims but not making a game about a disease or disability.  I wouldn't think EA would want to either offend people with these conditions, nor would they want to scare off customers who wouldn't find this idea much fun.  

 

About the hospital pack idea -- I love this idea Heart  for offering disabled people a way to represent themselves in the game in a way that would be respectful to them, as well as provide some fun and interesting opportunites for those who might be turned off by a pack only about disabilities; but, I do find that it won't be likely since EA already added hospitals with the doctor career in Get to Work.  Confused  It is still a good way to solve this dilemma, but even if EA were to implement this, I can just see a bunch of disgruntled players complaining that EA has run out of ideas for TS4 and are now recycling from other TS4 expansion packs! Oops  Still, I like this idea.  I just think others might not.  

 

I also agree that not all elders are hunched over, or hit other people with their purses!  I don't mind it from Mrs. Crumplebottom because she probably did this sort of thing all her life! Large smile  But I would say about only half of the seniors I know walk hunched over. Raised eyebrow  They are usually the ones with a lot of medical problems to begin with, and some of them even walked hunched over when they were middle aged or only when their condition flared up!  Other seniors I know are very active! Cool  So, I agree with the wheelchairs, ramps, canes, walkers, and crutches.  The only problem with this is that some of the people who have expressed an interest in representing their disabilitiess have people in their lives who are blind or deaf, or etc.  This type of addition will not address their wishes for representation in the game. Frown  

 

I have an autoimmune disease that I do not want in the game (it is not fun in any way shape or form).  But I can see that if I had had this disease as a child or teen, and felt like there was hardly anybody like me with this disease, then knowing me I would probably have wanted it in my Sims game!  I've also known deaf people who loved it when they were represented in film or TV or books.  On the other hand one of my best friends was legally blind (she had very little vision) and she certainly would have hated it if her handicap had infiltrated her favorite game! 

 

This is such a dilemma! Disappointed

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