girl-ish
By Valerie Frost I was a Sims addict between the ages of 11 and 15. There was a phase when I turned down several of my friends’ invites saying, “Sorry man, I’ve been thinking about The Sims all day, I’ve just got to go play it.” It was the perfect game for me: I would spend hours making mostly versions of myself with various future husbands, along with Sims versions of my friends and family so they could interact with me in the game. I didn’t spend much time playing as other people, but created them only to be in the lives of the Val Sim. Besides designing the characters to look as similar to their real-life counterparts as possible, I spent the majority of my Sim time creating houses and furnishing them. I usually spent just enough time playing to make my characters fall in love and “woo -hoo.” Since I used cheats to acquire unlimited Sims currency, money was no object. Their objective was to be happy and in love. I wanted all of their “needs” bars to be completely lit up and their relationship to be at 100% with a smiley face and a heart. I didn’t know when I was 12 that my Sims addiction would give way to profound insights long after I quit playing the game. My first realization hit me like a ton of bricks when I was 22 and dating my future husband Al. I, the romantic that I am, would always choose romance as my Sims main aspiration in life, winning over knowledge, family, fortune, and popularity. Like I said, I usually didn’t spend very much time actually making the Sims do Sims shit, but I did become attached to one future version of Val and her handsome husband, Fernando. Val and Fernando were such a great couple- they were both so hot! After a solid amount of time passed, I was horrified to find that my Fernando wanted to have two lovers at once and that Val wanted to woo-hoo with a stranger! Giving them the aspiration of romance made them seek newer and more thrilling romantic experiences! That couple became miserable because I wouldn’t let them cheat on each other. They were always flailing their arms at me, complaining about how badly they wanted to woo-hoo with the neighbors. Eventually, I had to “terminate” that couple by putting them in a room with no doors and a stove. When the room caught on fire due to their lack of cooking skills, there was no fire alarm to save them and even if there was, a fireman couldn’t get into a room without an entrance. My next version of Val, as well as her lover, both had the knowledge aspiration and they were happy simply reading their books and kissing each other. Ironically, Al and I are just like my successful Sim pair and although we’re not an overtly romantic couple, I’m happier than I’ve ever been with a man. Truth is, I’ve had the romantic types before and I’ve found that more often than not (in my experience), they are just like their Sims counterparts and cannot keep their attention on one girl at a time. Along with lessons in love, The Sims also taught me to think about my own needs in a practical and applicable way. It’s a full time job keeping your Sim happy and functional! Their needs bars are constantly going down: the social, comfort, hygiene, and hunger bars are always on the red side…and no one likes a Sim in the red. They’re jerks. I’ve since learned that it’s helpful to think about my own needs in terms of green bars that I can manipulate throughout the day. When I’ve spent very little time with Al, I can feel my social bar blazing a violent red and there is an undeniable bitterness in my heart. I know that as long as that one bar is extremely low, I will not be completely happy. Hunger and hygiene needs are pretty obvious when they’re neglected but comfort and fun needs are not. If you’re inexplicably irritable, maybe take a relaxing bath or buy more comfortable shoes or take a nap in your friend’s memory foam mattress (assuming you don’t have one because if you did, your comfort levels would never be in the red). When was the last time you were truly comfortable? If that doesn’t work, go out and have some fun! I consider fun a crucial component in my life and I need to have lots of it. See how getting together with your friends changes your mood over the next couple days. What needs are in the red?!
Keeping those bars a nice shade of green could easily be a full time job, but gaining skills is quite important, especially for a Sim with the knowledge aspiration. The Sims can gain skills such as cleaning, charisma, mechanical, cooking, artistic ability, and body building. Surprisingly, they need quite a few of these skills to even function around the house. Your Sims will inevitably burn the house down if you don’t have a few cooking points and things break frequently that you need to learn to repair. Since I do consider myself a knowledge based Sim, I know that I need to be learning things, honing skills, and creating to be truly satisfied. It helps to think that everything I do is adding to my lifelong set of skills like it does in the game. If I have a painting or yoga session, that’s one quantifiable skill point towards becoming a master. It may take me my whole life to get enough points to reach master-status, but by believing that everything I do is counting towards my inevitable success in some distant future, nothing I do is in vain. Hopefully, there’s at least one hobby I stick with long enough to perfect it. I recently played the Sims for the first time in years and as ritual would have it, I made a stunning Al and Val couple and built my dream home. After about an hour or so of that, I felt like I had wasted enough time and wanted to make my metaphor a reality. I got out my embroidery paraphernalia and worked on earning a skill point towards needlework.
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