TL;DR – My stance on the current state of The Sims/EA and how it will impact my future content, moving forward… (At this time, it’s an indefinite hiatus.)
When this is posted, it will be my 6th anniversary on Simstagram, which was the starting point of my journey as an online content creator.
Every year, on this day, I think about how I ended up here: sharing gameplay screenshots of my Sim households; creating my very first story featuring my Simself (in a poorly developed love drama); working on my feature-length Sims story that took two years to complete; learning how to install/use custom content in my game for better storytelling; creating custom poses in Blender; and streaming my Sims game on Twitch… In the span of six years, I’ve experienced a lot of IRL challenges that taught me about what it means to be a Responsible Adult, all the while turning to my pixel creations for comfort and escapism.
I don’t take any of this for granted. The Sims games meant so much to me in my pre-/teen years; returning to this game as a young adult, during the pandemic, helped me to remember what made me want to become a storyteller in the first place. This game also brought me over to a new community on Twitch (first as a viewer, then as a streamer). I made new friends through playing other games and learned to build charisma so that I could be less shy (and more discerning) when meeting people online and IRL. Overall, this life simulation game opened doors for me when there was little opportunity to experience new and different things outside of my comfort zone…
Which is why my decision to slowly divest away from The Sims is a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking decision to make…
To anyone who met me through Simstagram:
First, I want to thank you for your support throughout my years on the platform. It meant so much to connect with other people who also played this game, especially during a difficult time of uncertainty and anxiety that was experienced globally. The connections I made through Simsta helped me to expand my gameplay through WCIF recommendations and storytelling help. I am also proud of how far we’ve come in our corners of the Internet, to witness someone’s venture into posemaking or Reshade/G-shade or any kind of enhancement to their story, with all the love, care, & attention needed to keep the platform going.
What I have to say here is out of respect and transparency for the community I am a part of.
How you decide to move forward with Sims is your decision. Here, I want to be honest about my feelings that I’ve kept to myself for months about this game and the platform. Please don’t take this as a formal resignation letter or the longest “teastagram” take on anyone in particular. This is more like my usual ramblings that IG could not handle at massive text walls in Stories or post captions, but it still carries the emotional intentions that I put into writing…
So herewego:
For some time, long before the news of the EA buyout, I was uncertain about returning to Simsta with a new story (the long-awaited sequel to WORTHY that took me almost 4 years to develop). At the time, my main concern was Instagram changing its algorithm and tools for content creation, with more focus on Reels than other types of media that Simsta was built on (carousel posts, hashtags, profile grid banners). Then came the inclusion of AI generative tools that were a crushing blow to many artists and creatives that utilize their beautiful minds to manifest their visions into works shared with people that crave art, music, stories, anything that shows what humans are capable of creating themselves. The platform was evolving faster than I could keep up, back when I was dealing with IRL matters (taking care of family, being more gentle with my mental & physical well-being, and re-considering my post-graduate career prospects). I was feeling defeated and doubtful if my little existence on the Internet will matter to anyone, whether it was with my Sims, my blog writing, or my silly Twitch streams.
But I still had the desire to continue writing stories. Sims was just one other medium in my arsenal to craft a narrative that, to me, was a homage and love letter to a game that kept me company in my solitude and creative in my imagination. My first story helped me sort through my feelings of heartbreak and confusion in my personal life. My next stories were meant to bring me out of the dark-clouded overthinking to find joy in what I liked doing (but I eventually had to cancel those stories because of said overthinking…). And now, with this second story, I wanted to show how much I have changed as a writer and new Adult by diving deeper into more mature themes and complex narrative structures while also keeping the whimsy and quirkiness that The Sims was always known for.
And then, the EA buyout.
The final nail to the coffin. Even with collective action (i.e., online petitions, content creator awareness, news article breakdowns of the buyout conditions and potential long-term repercussions) to attempt to persuade those with power and influence to curtail the buyout, the finality of the decision made it clear of who and what mattered in the eyes of EA. The community morale evidently dropped, with divisive takes on whether or not it was worth playing The Sims anymore.
But this is sadly not a new debate; each patch and pack release of The Sims 4 continued to break the game instead of fixing or enhancing it. And we go back and forth with the excuses and dismissals of how we should accept things the way they are, not because we need to work with what’s given to us, but it’s mainly to shut off any criticisms about the game, regardless of constructive feedback. Up to now, we haven’t found a way to break the cycle as a unified Simmer collective… and the EA buyout ultimately sealed the fate of our community.
Ethical gaming: “How much am I willing to sacrifice my enjoyment of a certain game, if it means taking a stance on business practices/decisions that do not align with my values as a person and as a player?”
This is also not a new concept. But it is hard for some people to seriously consider the impact our involvement or association with certain games can have in other facets of life. To say “it’s not that deep” is proudly admitting that you don’t care about other people who may be in the same boat as you are, with struggles and hardships, but you are willing to push them off the boat to drown so you can stay afloat. Telling other people to not worry about what happens next is giving lack of awareness on long-term impacts to things we care about. Maybe it won’t immediately hit some people that the buyout was a bad idea to begin with, but there will come a time when major changes are made to appease the shareholders that the game will eventually no longer be enjoyable or playable. If only we’ve could’ve taken the early warnings seriously…
So here’s my stance:
I will no longer buy any more DLC from Sims/EA, if my money ends up lining the pockets of people in power who will use it to lobby/fund for harmful policies and legislation that target vulnerable communities. As we continue to live under a capitalist reality, the only language we can communicate with companies is Simoleons (money). Given the amount of (the lack of) content we receive in pack releases and the new Marketplace, it doesn’t feel like there are actual cost-benefits to buying DLC for the game to be “playable”. (Side note: independent creators and modders have held it down for Simmers for years with their custom content, most times free of charge, so I think it’s better to give them donations/subscriptions as thanks and appreciation.)
I will also no longer stream the game on my Twitch channel. Even though I am a small streamer (based on the numbers), I know that the devs rely on creators to act as influencers and promoters of the game, sometimes with little to no payout. Regardless, I don’t see myself continuing to stream the game if every patch or DLC release brings nothing substantially different or exciting to the gameplay itself. It’s not enough, as a player, to come up with challenges or stories to “spice things up” when the tools can barely sustain long-term interest.
Does this mean I will stop playing the game altogether…?
I’m not sure… But in the past 3 years, I have learned to play other games that gave me as much as or even more joy and entertainment than The Sims. It was unimaginable for me, as a Sims-only gamer. But by expanding my gaming interests to horror games, narrative-driven games, and simulator games, I discovered new interests and met new friends that I could play with. No longer did I feel lonely with just my pixels…
What happens now with my Sims content…?
With regards to JUNIPER, the story will be on indefinite hiatus. It’s not because I ran out of ideas or feel stuck on where to take the story; it took me almost four years to make all the characters’ storylines come together in a satisfying way. With what’s going on in my corner of the world (the U.S.) and within my corner (personal stuff that seems to never end calmly), my Sims story is the last thing I can think of now… But it doesn’t mean I don’t have love for JUNIPER. That is why I decided to set the sequel aside and rework my first story WORTHY – I need a reminder of why I liked Sims storytelling and what makes me a writer using the Sims as a medium. (It’s also an excuse to retcon a few details to make better sense of the follow-up story… there I said it!)
For posepack releases, I don’t plan to continue those either. I’ve stated before on my Patreon and Tumblr that my consistency with posemaking barely exists. My poses are mediocre, compared to others’ work, but I still take pride in knowing that I did my best to manifest certain poses in Blender when I wasn’t able to find anything that came close to my vision for stories. I will always have respect for any posemakers that continue to do this work! My old posepack releases will remain available (for free!) through my Patreon/SFS if they can be useful to anyone who decides to download them. All I ask, at most, is to credit me and not claim the poses are your own (I struggled with my lack of animation knowledge/background; please make me feel better about my efforts lol).
At this point in my life, I am a 30-something millenial rediscovering her childhood hobbies * interests while finding a healthy balance between mature & quirky. I started questioning how long I will keep this up: will I still make online content in my 40s? 50s? What will my audience look like in the next few years? I didn’t realize how much time and energy I would invest in this venture, but it has taught me a lot of what I will discuss in later blog posts.
For now, I want to end on a positive note: Regardless of what happens next, I have no regrets about choosing to revitalize my interest in The Sims in my new adulthood. Because of that decision made six years ago, I arrived at a strong point on the Nefii timeline that allowed me to recognize my personality, my creativity, and my ambitions for the future ahead. Sims storytelling gave me that sort of confidence to express myself that a younger version of me was too scared to try, given our circumstances…
I’ll be back soon~
Nefarious thoughts. 