Sul Sul!

Welcome to my blog...

My name is Beth, I am a post-graduate Marketing student and for one of my assignments I have been tasked to create a blog on something that interests me - so obviously I chose The Sims! 

I plan to produce content that will discuss the debated issues in the community, opinions on the ever-changing game and anything else that I find interesting.

I have been playing The Sims franchise for 14 years so it has been a huge part of growing up for me, following me through my childhood and still having an impact on my lifestyle now. I was first introduced to The Sims when I received a PS2 for Christmas – along with The Sims 2 Pets. I quickly became a fan of the game, creating Sim replicas of myself and attempting to give them new lives in Whiskerton.

and yes, I still have the original one!

Even now I think the gameplay in the stand-alone console version of this expansion pack was beyond its time, being able to directly control the Sim allowed for an immersive experience, which I believe added to my enjoyment of the franchise. The Sims 2 Pets was much more about the gameplay – looking after your pet, doing well in a career, creating relationships – and because of this, my enjoyment of gameplay has stuck with me even now. Despite the increase in focus on ‘create-a-sim' and ‘build and buy’ mode, for me gameplay will always be the most important thing and aspect I spend the most time on when playing the game.

(I've recently found a mod by Victor Andrade that allows direct control in TS4 – I've yet to try it out but here’s the link if that interests you!)

I don’t remember when I began playing The Sims 3 but I don’t think it was long after its initial release. I’d say I probably split my focus in this game on all the aspects because I believe they all thrived. In CAS we had a colour wheel (Sims 4 are you listening?) which made the game so much more inclusive, and the ability to have hair highlights and different roots, revolutionary! In build and buy mode we had swatches, I repeat, swatches – one style of furniture but whatever colour or pattern you want, yes please?! Did I say how much I miss the pond tool? Even in gameplay, we had burglars and cars, and you could follow your Sim to work or school, even if you only saw the outside of the building. And then we were given The Sims 4... 

Photo credit: carls-sims-3-guide.com and sims.fandom.com

For those who have been playing the franchise as long as I have, most think The Sims 4 lacks in so many ways. I play Sims 4 more than any other now, due to the ease of using mods and the graphics being so much better, but I am forever wishing they would bring back things we used to have in previous versions of the game. I hope that in the future we’ll either get a Sims 5 with all the features the community want or they’ll add back some of the features through more expansion packs. Here’s to hoping! 

If you want a little nostalgia, then check out the video below (this intro brings back so many memories!)