Love it and Shove it - Sim style

[strangetomato]

I have a gripe, but I also brought along something I like to balance it out. I'll start with the bad, then end with the good (like sugar after the medicine).

I've been enjoying the glimpse at Sims 3, but I've been turned off in a big way by the new heap of gender stereotyping and the fact that sims wish specifically for a male or female baby. I'm really hoping there's also a "don't give a shit" option.

 

And also that someone makes a mod to remove the blue/pink blankets or make them purple or bright red or anything other than the two gendered colours. 'Cause, you know, it's so important to know the gender of a baby. Otherwise, how would you know whether to say the baby is pretty or smart or strong or... and so on and so on. *gags*

(An image can be found in this GoS thread - just as an example, of course. My gripe is obviously with the game, not the player.)

But, lest I jump to conclusions, maybe this is just one of many options and we can now change the outfits of babies? I'm just making assumptions, based on the baby gender wants. *crosses fingers* Dear EAxis, please change this before the game is released. Oh, who am I kidding?

Now for the good, to wash that bitter taste from my mouth: the Late to the Party - Short Hair for Men mesh by fantasyrogue. This is a brilliant male hair mesh, in my opinion. I LOVE it. To echo my comments on her post at GoS, this really looks more like typical male hair to me (especially those gents who are 30+), which I'm always eager to have more of. I'm in love with the suggestion of a receeding/thinning hairline on this mesh, because so many guys do have that, and I find it endearing.

Comments

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

I thought the gender wants were kinda cool for a moment, but then I stopped and thought about it and yeah, it's a pretty dumb feature. Why does it matter? Also, seems like the new mother is now FORCED to take a few days off AFTER the birth of the baby. That bothers me even more. What if dad is staying home and she wants to be off to make a career, huh?

I'm mostly concerned about the fact that the game seems to be hardcoded to be unmoddable, though. WTF, EAxis? Just so you can sell all your shit that you swiped directly from TS2 in your new store, is it? There's just no limit to their greed.

I have hopes that Pescado & Co will figure out how to mod the game anyway, though. From the sounds of it (the people over on MATY who are currently, er... play-testing), the game is going to NEED mods and fixes pretty swiftly.

Phew. But yeah, while I do want to try out TS3, I don't see myself quitting TS2 anytime soon. I like both legacy-style playing AND the micro-management of many families, and it seems like the latter is unavailable in TS3, so.

I'll shut up now, though, and say that that's a quite good hair. :) Would like it with more Maxis-y colours though... hmm.

[fantasyrogue.livejournal.com]

Regarding the gender thing, I hadn't given it much thought (although the pink and blue blankets annoyed me, I hate it in real life too. Gah people dressing their baby girls in little pink ruffles. What's wrong with other colours damnit). But you make a good point. However, I would think someone can mod it, eventually. A pink or a blue blanket is still an image file, replace it with a different one and the blanket could be... I dunno... green. Black. Neon orange with purple polka dots.

Also, I just saw your comment in the thread. Thank you very much! <3 I shall glady accept your firstborn sim child and ehm.. well I'd want to say give him/her a good home but I barely get around to playing my legacy this few weeks and considering the amount of kids they have, I don't think they would like another one added to the mix (well... one of them would, but he's got no say in the matter). It's probably better if I left the firstborn in your capable hands ;)

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

I don't even see the necessity for the blue/pink blankets. There's your reasons, and ... uh, did they think we'd forget the baby's gender? When we can just tooltip it and see the name and infer from there?

People in real life wish for their baby's gender, too. But at least EAxis hasn't taken it as far as to make Sims pissed if they don't get what they want, like some people in real life do. Even if I wanted a boy or a girl specifically I wouldn't mind getting the other instead.

But like you said, maybe the blankets are just the default clothes for when a baby is born, and maybe other colors can be bought or something.

And thanks so much for the link to the hair! I saw that simgaroop used it for Gallagher Newson in the latest maxis_taste dare and I was going to ask her. But now I don't need to! Thanks again!

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Ugh... I didn't know they had wants for a specific sex of their baby. I don't particularly like that. Now, I do like the blanket idea (but I also wish it could be in more gender-neutral colors... or just a standard white or yellow baby blanket for all babies.)

So... if they can have a want for a girl, does that mean they have a fear of having a boy?

Mind you... that *can* mimic real life. I knew someone who just didn't ever get pregnant because she couldn't see herself parenting a boy and so didn't want to take that chance. Instead, she adopted two girls.

I can understand having a specific sex want. I didn't until I was pregnant with my fourth. By then I had a girl, boy, another girl, and my son really wanted a brother. I wanted a brother *for* him. DENIED, lol. Then the next time... same thing. He wanted a brother and I hated to "disappoint" (silly, I know... like I could do anything about it, but still...) DENIED AGAIN, lol.

What was funny was with the sixth kid, EVERYONE just assumed he'd be a girl... my oldest son included. So we were all really surprised, lol!

Anyway, I hope they don't have a fear of having the other sex, because that just seems sort of sad. :(

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

been turned off in a big way by the new heap of gender stereotyping
juts out of curiosity, do you mean for the boy/girl wishes and blankets, or is there other aspects of the game that shows that kind stereotyping as well??

Knowing this about the gender wishes annoys a lot, is it something all sims have? or maybe something that some traits/personalities trigger?? the second would made more sense, but as a generalization its just wrong and sad!! (the blankets don't bother me as much, tho, guess its just adding standard *cuteness* for the average costumer lol)

I haven't seen much about the game yet, but so far my initial impression hasn't changed. The game lost a lot and ain't giving much in return (but better graphics and lighting imo). It has potential, yes, but only a modding miracle will save it lol. (I'm happy to see better looking sims, tho, still all look very bloated, but there is hope)

[naughtydolphin.livejournal.com]

my sim had wants for: to have a baby, to have a girl, to have a boy, to massage his wife's back, all at once. And this is the hopeless romantic over emotional kleptomaniac evil genius.

With the wants, though, you can save them (by left clicking) or ignore them by right clicking on them. If you haven't done either, and they're sitting in the box above the saved ones, and it fulfils, you get the points. But if you don't want your sim to have those wants, you can take them away. They'll get new wants sooner or later, but they don't refill instantly.

[simnovoris.livejournal.com]

The stereotyping is just... my mind aches. Men who has "woohooed" good enough can get mood boosts for days. Women who get pregant get the same boosts. Because yeah, women never enjoy a good shag unless we can also have babies.

My girl got pregnant and had all sorts of baby-related wants. Read books about pregnancy, make the father read books about pregnancy (because as a man he wouldn't want it without being forced to, it's only his child after all), buy high chair and whatnot. What did the father roll? "Have a boy." If we could see the birth-giving at the hospital I bet there would be cigars in the waiting room for him while the mother gave birth alone.

The 50's called, they want their gender stereotypes back.

[ownsimscorner.livejournal.com]

I had a couple first wish for a girl and then wish for a boy, a day later. It was a boy.

I read somewhere that maybe what gender they wish for is what you`ll get but I have my doubts. I`m not bothered much by that, it´s a bit realistic as loads of parents have some preference beforehand (I know my mom really wanted a girl).

The gendered colors are awful, though. Do they think players are morons that can`t tell the gender of the baby otherwise? I wish they`d stick with white or yellow for all.

[simgarooop.livejournal.com]

When my youngest sister was born, my parents wanted a boy. Although my father never expressed it openly, it was implied around the family that after having me and my other sister, my mom was due to have a boy. My grandma even said that mom owed it to my dad.

So my sis was born and we were all very happy to have her in the family. Dad loved her just as much as if she had been a boy, but my mom was devastated. The pressure from my paternal family affected her, so she definitely believed she had failed my Dad for not delivering the boy he deserved. The one he could watch soccer with and all those manly things :P. She had an awful case of postpartum depression, something that didn't happen with her other two babies.

My sister grew up just fine and she has never felt rejection for not being a boy. And now that she's recovered from her depression, my mother says it was stupid to get so upset for that reason, but she couldn't help it.

And Dad definitely has someone to watch soccer with, by the way :D.

I really hope the game doesn't have a negative "moodlet" for having a kid of the opposite gender. Now that would be a huge turn off for me.

And the blankets are cute, but I prefer the diapers. Or at least a pajama. Now I can't see the babies' feet (that meaning there won't be cute toys like the last one, complete with foot sucking :P)

That hair is awesome, indeed. I haven't looked at it in BS, though, but I'd love to give it a try at recoloring it. The textures are fine as they are, but I prefer bright colors (I told you, I'm from the school of obnoxiously bright colors with my sims!)

[tabbyban.livejournal.com]

You don't get any sort of negative reaction to have a baby opposite your "wish". You just don't get any points. The Sims 3 has already lost my interest and I have only had it maybe 2 days.

There are things I wish they would have incorporated into Sims 2, like taking a nap on the bed, you sleep less time and you don't get under the covers. You don't buy clothes either, every time you change appearance you go to the CAS screen; it is so much easier to see what you are doing!

Without mods or the ability to add our own custom textures, I really don't see how this has long term playability. The textures they have are, well they are EAxis textures, so not very good in my opinion.

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

That is one of the things that I can't stand about the game too. I especially dislike the happy "glowing" moodlet they get when they're pregnant. Because you know, not all women want to get pregnant! But seriously? I HATE THAT BLANKET! Forget the colors- take it off, damnit!

Anyway...

I love that hair too! But of course, it's sort of mandatory for me to love anything FR does. *snort* I've seen it in progress- boy has it come a long way! (And it's perfect for my Sim! Gustav Mahler. :D

[(Anonymous)]

Of all the things that suck about TS3, it seems pretty silly to be upset about the pink/blue thing - it's a cartoony representation of gender, just like the eyelashes for female servos in TS2. It's not like the game makes you pick girly traits for girls and vice versa. As for the gender wishes, if they work like other wishes than you can make them go away if you want to. Also, real people have wants for particular genders, and not usually because of sexism.

Also, it's been really hard for me to tell male and female sims apart in the game as it is - their faces all look so damn similar. It's really a relief when sims are dressed in stereotypically male/female clothing.

The mother having to stay home with the baby is annoying, but I got done being outraged over it back in TS2. (Sigh.)

[chicgeekchick.livejournal.com]

Well, asking for one gender isn't the rule. My evil family female sim married a bookworm good male sim. The family sim wanted a baby, but the bookworm didn't, probably because he didn't have the family trait. Neither one of them wished for a particular gender. (The mom, being evil, wanted to steal candy from a baby, and since her son was the only baby around...muahaha.)

BTW, MATY reporters discovered that eating apple-related food guarantees boys, and watermelon stuff guarantees girls. I'm guessing the 'pick-a-gender' thing is actually this foodie minigame. Sorta like cheesecake made twins back in TS2.

What I want to know is how to have male pregnancy. I also miss the aliens...