Sims2: Appropriate for 10 year old?

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Apologies if this topic is elsewhere being discussed:
My 10 year old daughter is begging us to buy Sims2. We currently are
running Making Magic:Superstar:Unleashed:Vacation expansion packs. Mom
& Dad are not players of this game, so we do not have a feel how deep
the water is into which we would wade by adding Sims2.

The promotion for Sims2 shows a series of women tearing off their tops
and diving onto significant others. This raises the question: What
comes next in these situations? Is it wrestling under a blanket? An
embrace and kiss followed by fadeout? A blurred something? Something
more explicit? Also: What other inappropriate situations might exist
in this game.

Advice and opinions welcomed. Thanks.

BrianZ
bdz000@hotmail.com

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

You've had some fair replies to this - someone said that in the UK it's
rated 7+, I think in parts of Europe it has no rating at all but in America
it's rated teen. I guess it's up to you to decide - as your daughter has a
'mom', I suppose you are North American.

However, one point that struck me - you won't be 'adding' Sims 2 to your
existing Sims 1 games - it's a new game altogether, not an expansion pack.
I just thought I'd clarify that in case you thought otherwise. Oh, and it
requires much more 'computer'
(technically I mean: memory, processor speed and video card memory, etc.)
than the original game.

Best wishes
Maxon

"BrianZ" <bdz000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109449833.843091.83590@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Apologies if this topic is elsewhere being discussed:
> My 10 year old daughter is begging us to buy Sims2. We currently are
> running Making Magic:Superstar:Unleashed:Vacation expansion packs. Mom
> & Dad are not players of this game, so we do not have a feel how deep
> the water is into which we would wade by adding Sims2.
>
> The promotion for Sims2 shows a series of women tearing off their tops
> and diving onto significant others. This raises the question: What
> comes next in these situations? Is it wrestling under a blanket? An
> embrace and kiss followed by fadeout? A blurred something? Something
> more explicit? Also: What other inappropriate situations might exist
> in this game.
>
> Advice and opinions welcomed. Thanks.
>
> BrianZ
> bdz000@hotmail.com
>

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"BrianZ" <bdz000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1109449833.843091.83590@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> The promotion for Sims2 shows a series of women tearing off their tops
> and diving onto significant others. This raises the question: What
> comes next in these situations? Is it wrestling under a blanket? An
> embrace and kiss followed by fadeout? A blurred something? Something
> more explicit? Also: What other inappropriate situations might exist
> in this game.
>

Whatever happens next is all under the blanket. Presumably they are not
wrestling since little sims can happen but you don't actually see anything.

Some of the goals like woohooing with 30 people might be considered
inappropriate.

Gareeth

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Mxsmanic wrote:
> ~Deborah~ writes:
>
>
>>Personally, I have no reservations about a ten year old playing Sims2.
>>Other Simmers may disagree.
>
>
> I think Sims2 is an excellent game for a ten-year-old, much more
> educational than all the other junk out there. Better to have your
> ten-year-old learning about how human beings relate to each other and
> get along in life than to have her blasting aliens in an abandoned space
> station with a shoulder-mounted cannon.
>

They could also read books (that horrid word--literature! Yucky! Only,
if you get them reading it at 10 they won't yet know it's "yucky." ) and
interact with real people to learn how human interaction goes. Sims
don't act like real people and you won't learn bloody much that's useful
watching them interact. Entertaining yes. Useful? No. Let's stop
kidding ourselves.

--
--Cuth

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Destiny writes:

> I know your saying that your both not Sim players but might I suggest that
> you or your spouse try it first and get to know it a bit before you let your
> child play? That way YOU get to use your own judgment on whether you think
> it is or isn't appropriate for your child.

But that takes so much time! Isn't it easier and better to just ask the
opinions of strangers?

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

I'm twenty two and I play all the time, My mom laughs and calls it playing
barbies and getting away with it at my age I personally don't see a
problem with it if she's played sims 1, I don't believe sims 2 has anything
she hasn't already seen, meaning the woohoo, it seems pretty safe too me
Hope that helps
"Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:qq4221t8bkldjf19j4e9ldcdh2vqlk4bcl@4ax.com...
> ~Deborah~ writes:
>
> > Personally, I have no reservations about a ten year old playing Sims2.
> > Other Simmers may disagree.
>
> I think Sims2 is an excellent game for a ten-year-old, much more
> educational than all the other junk out there. Better to have your
> ten-year-old learning about how human beings relate to each other and
> get along in life than to have her blasting aliens in an abandoned space
> station with a shoulder-mounted cannon.
>
> --
> Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Mxsmanic wrote:

> But that takes so much time! Isn't it easier and better
> to just ask the opinions of strangers?

That is unfair. Why not do both? And we DO know better.

T.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:i87321dffgsor66r8bv4uibl1etgqlga03@4ax.com...

>
>> Sims don't act like real people and you won't learn bloody much
>> that's useful watching them interact.
>
> They do indeed act like real people, within the limits of the software
> and the constraints of the game.

Which, as we all know, will really help a child understand about real life
where real people are 'constrained' by predictable software.

Granny.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Granny Crabapple" <marrowjam@[reallywild]blueyonder.co.uk> schreef in
bericht news:xOlUd.24586$8B3.3312@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>
> "Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:i87321dffgsor66r8bv4uibl1etgqlga03@4ax.com...
>
>>
>>> Sims don't act like real people and you won't learn bloody much
>>> that's useful watching them interact.
>>
>> They do indeed act like real people, within the limits of the software
>> and the constraints of the game.
>
> Which, as we all know, will really help a child understand about real life
> where real people are 'constrained' by predictable software.

Hm sometimes it seems that way IRL too, that people have some software
installed which they can`t reach beyond.

> Granny.
>

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Granny Crabapple" <marrowjam@[reallywild]blueyonder.co.uk> writes:

> Which, as we all know, will really help a child understand about real life
> where real people are 'constrained' by predictable software.

The behavior of real people is not that unpredictable, especially when
they are considered as a group.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

>
> The game is what you, the player, makes of it.
>
>
> On another note, did anyone ever consider that the original poster
> was just a troll?

Not at all. That seemed like a perfectly natural post to me and a perfectly
natural place to ask it, among players of the game. Not troll like at all.

Jeanie

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

BrianZ wrote:
> Apologies if this topic is elsewhere being discussed:
> My 10 year old daughter is begging us to buy Sims2. We currently are
> running Making Magic:Superstar:Unleashed:Vacation expansion packs.
> Mom & Dad are not players of this game, so we do not have a feel how
> deep the water is into which we would wade by adding Sims2.
>
> The promotion for Sims2 shows a series of women tearing off their tops
> and diving onto significant others. This raises the question: What
> comes next in these situations? Is it wrestling under a blanket? An
> embrace and kiss followed by fadeout? A blurred something? Something
> more explicit? Also: What other inappropriate situations might exist
> in this game.
>
> Advice and opinions welcomed. Thanks.
>
> BrianZ
> bdz000@hotmail.com

Many others have posted replies to this and I'll just add my own two cents
worth, since you did ask.

The only problem I personally would have with allowing a 10 year old to play
the game is that romance sims actually have the want to have woohoo with
multiple partners and/or to woohoo in public. Granted, you have to
purposely make such things happen (I've never seen them happen spontaneously
in the game), but once you do, the sim is actually rewarded for that
behavior with gold or platinum aspiration bars. In some cases, that's the
ONLY way to get to the platinum level. My own personal opinion is that I
don't think that is the sort of behavior I'd want a 10 year old child to
perpetuate, thinking there are rewards at the end of it.

That being said, there are repercussions to such behavior in the game, like
watching the romance sim's spouse have a nervous breakdown or seeing their
children weep if they get caught fulfilling those wants, but I do think
that's a tad intense for a 10 year old.

But then, I'm one of those weird parents who actually doesn't allow my own
kids under the age of 17 to go to R rated movies, too. They might well see
them at other kids' houses, but they won't see them here. I frown on
cursing and sass, as well. Everybody has to make decisions for themselves
about what they want to allow their kids to do or not do.

Jeanie

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Cuthbert Gurdlestone wrote:
> Jeanie wrote:
>
>> The only problem I personally would have with allowing a 10 year old
>> to play the game is that romance sims actually have the want to have
>> woohoo with multiple partners and/or to woohoo in public. Granted,
>> you have to purposely make such things happen
>
> You have to purposely make them happen it's true, but as to the
> argument that children won't discover them if they don't know to look
> for them, that's not true. The multiple and public woohoos, among
> other promiscuous things, pop up autonomously as aspirations
> continuously. And once you see them, it doesn't take a rocket
> scientist to figure out how to make them happen--point and click,
> just like everything else in the game. Saying "If my kid isn't shown
> how to do it they won't know" is malarky.

Very true. I simply meant that the sims don't do them autonomously. But
the fact that they are listed as aspirations means I don't think the game is
suitable for young children.

Jeanie

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Cuthbert Gurdlestone wrote:

>
> Sure they do, uh-huh. Real people slap each other relentlessly if
> someone dances with or hugs someone else's spouse.

Seen that. Too many bar scenes.

Real people give
> birth on their front lawns and leave the children on the step.

Read about the one teen who gave birth in the bathroom at her prom and
left the baby in the trash.

Real
> people fantasize routinely about "multiple woohoos" with the maid every
> time she walks through the door.

Seen that too. Though it is less often done...

> Real people pee on the floor when they
> have to go. Real people burn to death making lobster thermadore.

Love that commercial where Allstate gives the figure of houses catching
fire from some idiot trying to deep fry his turkey. I don't know anyone
who can cook lobster thermidore.

Lttle kids will pee anywhere if they are still being potty trained. Not
quite the same as an adult, but I've had to run out and buy clothes for
kids and an adult who wet themselves accidentally. (at the time and
places, not convenient to use a washing machine)

> I guess you think Hee-Haw is realistic and kids learn from it too.

I watch Hee Haw as a child. It didn't harm me none.

The Benny Hill my da watched with me -- now that may have done some damage.

Do I think a 10-year-old should play? I'd advise the adult to play it
first and see what they think. One of my nephews I'd not allow near it.
Another one- he'd probably be sending me objects and swapping storylines
with me. But then, he's read Harry Potter 'ship fics. I'd like to slap
his mum for allowing *that*, but she doesn't really care what he does on
the computer.

-georg

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Cuthbert Gurdlestone wrote:

> georg wrote:
>
>> Cuthbert Gurdlestone wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Sure they do, uh-huh. Real people slap each other relentlessly if
>>> someone dances with or hugs someone else's spouse.
>>
>>
>>
>> Seen that. Too many bar scenes.
>
>
> We're talking about what a small child would see. Did you hang out in
> these bars when you were seven?

Have seen small children in that particular bar, yes. Did I? no. My
parents were better than that. But then, my parents didn't go to bars.
Thatnks to those kids and bartending, I know minors are not allowed to
sit at the bar after 5 pm. And while you can play solitaire with cards
on the bar, you cannot share a game with someone. Move to a table first.
This is the state of NY.

I am not trying to argue about how responsible parents try hard not to
let their kids do such, but that some kids will encounter it. And some
parents will encourage them to encounter it.

>> Read about the one teen who gave birth in the bathroom at her prom and
>> left the baby in the trash.
>
>
> See above.

I went to my own prom the year I heard about that. It freaked out
several young women.

> Didn't say it harmed anyone. The issue was whether, like the Sims, it
> is educational and teaches children about growing up in the real world
> or if it's just fun, mindless entertainment. I wasn't analogizing The
> Sims with Heehaw for its sexual content. Heehaw is way too wholesome.
> But not "educational."

I learned how to pop out of a corn patch and tell bad jokes.

Number of times I've used that as an adult, maybe 3.

If a parent wants an educational game- Get them an Educational game.
Sims is entertainment. I agree with you on that.

> It saddens me all the materials that *are* around that are educational
> for small children, but parents don't bother or seem to think their kids
> are too young for such "serious" fare. Ten year olds aren't too young
> to play Sims, but somehow they **are** too young to start reading great
> books, watch shows about science, nature and history, and listen to
> great music. Interesting double-standard.

Ooo- now you hit a nerve with me. I grew up reading lots of the
classics. They are really good for kids to read- and sometimes, that's
the only chance we get to do that much reading!

I was allowed library access and unfettered choice of books. I read
anything and everything, and only got in trouble for reading a
collection of Playboy Party jokes. Da was blamed, and he was yelled at
more than I was, but he did get to have supper that night. I was nine. I
didn't know what they meant, but some of them were funny.

Had the Sims been around, I think they'd have let me play.

>> The Benny Hill my da watched with me -- now that may have done some
>> damage.
>
>
> Never thought Benny was that funny. Now Monty Python occasionally
> touched on genius.

Monty Python had less tits shown. I still adore MP, and can quote lots.
BH- I gotta be in the mood for still, and I think more about my da than
I do poor old Benny.

>> Do I think a 10-year-old should play? I'd advise the adult to play it
>> first and see what they think.
>
>
> I agree, though I already know I wouldn't be nuts about a ten year old
> playing it, period. As for the "I can't supervise what my children do
> on the computer/television" argument, bullshit. If you can't, you are
> by definition not a parent. That is the very definition of a parent,
> one who supervises and raises and educates their children.
>
Agreed. There are parental controls for both. My sis didn't even know my
nephew's email address, or that he has several of them. He's all of 12,
going 40.

-georg

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

My personal opinion is every parent has their own definition of what they
think is appropriate for their child at given ages, so it is a controversial
issue to begin with so I say that if your child wants to play a new game
give it a whirl yourself and then make your own call on it because in the
end your the one that has to live with the decision

Destiny

"jo" <aeracura@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:422231f3$0$5190$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Hi Brian,
>
> I personally think sims 2 is fine for a ten year old. I let my 3 boys
> play, they are 11, 9 and 6. I don't find any of the content graphic or
> disturbing. I find it more disturbing to think that people find a couple
> under the covers, kissing, and what looks like tickling/playing as
> disturbing!!! AND kids see more violence on cartoons these days... Let
> her play! She'll LOVE it
>
> ~ jo
>
> http://thesims2.ea.com/mysimpage/m [...] _id=223269
> "BrianZ" <bdz000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1109449833.843091.83590@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>> Apologies if this topic is elsewhere being discussed:
>> My 10 year old daughter is begging us to buy Sims2. We currently are
>> running Making Magic:Superstar:Unleashed:Vacation expansion packs. Mom
>> & Dad are not players of this game, so we do not have a feel how deep
>> the water is into which we would wade by adding Sims2.
>>
>> The promotion for Sims2 shows a series of women tearing off their tops
>> and diving onto significant others. This raises the question: What
>> comes next in these situations? Is it wrestling under a blanket? An
>> embrace and kiss followed by fadeout? A blurred something? Something
>> more explicit? Also: What other inappropriate situations might exist
>> in this game.
>>
>> Advice and opinions welcomed. Thanks.
>>
>> BrianZ
>> bdz000@hotmail.com
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Mxsmanic" <mxsmanic@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:qg24219pso7a08nvvr30nqeldvq9ljdppm@4ax.com...
> ~Deborah~ writes:
>
>> Remember folks, the child in question is a 10 year-old. A lot of
>> what we
>> may consider adult behaviour may never occur to her to play it out.
>
> Then again, a lot of ten-year-olds are already _engaging_ in behavior
> that many of their elders might think of as "adult."
>
> --


Now, *that*....I agree with!!!!

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Cuthbert Gurdlestone writes:

> We're talking about what a small child would see.

A lot of small children see this every day. Those people in the bars
often have kids.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Jeanie writes:

> Actually, it's a bit more than just hugging and kissing. That looks more
> like what they call "dry humping" around here.

A ten-year-old won't interpret it as "dry humping" unless she has
already seen that in real life.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

jo writes:

> I find it more disturbing to think that people find a couple
> under the covers, kissing, and what looks like tickling/playing as
> disturbing!!!

It's the American way.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Mxsmanic wrote:
> Cuthbert Gurdlestone writes:
>
>
>>Other people have said or implied that children have to be shown the
>>raunchy stuff, otherwise the game plays pretty clean.
>
>
> Children are not naturally interested in raunchy stuff before puberty.
>

You know this how?

--
--Cuth

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Cuthbert Gurdlestone" <chgurdlestone1154@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:42220F78.10004@earthlink.net...
> Mxsmanic wrote:
>
> > Your children must lead extremely sheltered lives. I remember being
> > exposed to a lot worse just talking to classmates in first grade.
> >
>
> I don't have children, but if I did, at seven, yes, they would still be
> leading "sheltered" lives, or else I would be a very neglectful parent.
> That's part of a parent's job when they are such an age. The fact
> that many parents do not think so anymore, who think that parenting
> involves passing children through the birth canal and little more,
> explains why we have the society we do.
>
> --
> --Cuth

You hit the nail on the head....................You don't have children!!

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

"Cuthbert Gurdlestone" <chgurdlestone1154@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:422213E3.5070808@earthlink.net...
> Jeanie wrote:
>
> > The only problem I personally would have with allowing a 10 year old to
play
> > the game is that romance sims actually have the want to have woohoo with
> > multiple partners and/or to woohoo in public. Granted, you have to
> > purposely make such things happen
>
> You have to purposely make them happen it's true, but as to the argument
> that children won't discover them if they don't know to look for them,
> that's not true. The multiple and public woohoos, among other
> promiscuous things, pop up autonomously as aspirations continuously.
> And once you see them, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out
> how to make them happen--point and click, just like everything else in
> the game. Saying "If my kid isn't shown how to do it they won't know"
> is malarky.
>
> --
> --Cuth

Suggestion to original poster here. Since it looks like wrestling under
blankets, why not just tell the child that woohoo means wrestle? Then
'wrestling' with various partners would not be such a no-no.


>

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

Bluegenie2 wrote:

> Suggestion to original poster here. Since it looks like wrestling under
> blankets, why not just tell the child that woohoo means wrestle? Then
> 'wrestling' with various partners would not be such a no-no.

I'd become terrified of wresting then, because that's where babies come
from.

-georg

Archived from groups: alt.games.the-sims (More info?)

My twins (age 8) have started to play Sims2 and enjoy it immensely. They
are just moving on from creating unplayable houses (something that kept
them occupied for 3 weeks!) to actually going live and getting their
characters to interact.

As has been mentioned there are hacks out there for all sorts of ruder
things but, as Sims2 stores all configs and downloads in My Documents
you can setup an account on the PC for the kids and keep their
installation devoid of anything but patches you have approved.

One thing I have discovered is that it is the only game so far tried
that holds their attention and encourages them to read.

Recommended.

--
Glyn Royds .-=^=-. Xavier Educational Software Limited
Special Software for Special Needs
http://xavier.bangor.ac.uk/
.... (A)bort (F)ail (C)reate a holographic image in plasma memory?