The Sims FreePlay CSP - Language & Representations

Language / Gameplay analysis

Watch The Sims: FreePlay trailer and answer the following questions:

1) What elements of gameplay are shown?

• Character creation
• Character customization
• Home creation
• Home customization
• Pets
• Romance
• Marriage
• Family
• Exploring the town

2) What audience is the trailer targeting?

• The trailer is attempting to target a mainstream audience as they feature people of multiple different ethnicities and ages throughout the trailer, however it could also be argued that it is targeting the casual female player base as they are the main demographic of the SIMS franchise.

3) What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer?

• Personal relationships:
• Watch the lives of the different sims living in the town as they grow and create new relationships - player gets invested in them
• Personal identity:
• Creating sims based on them and the people in their lives
• Diversion:
• Playing a game

Now watch this walk-through of the beginning of The Sims FreePlay and answer the following questions:

1) How is the game constructed?

• The game is constructed in order to make the developers the most money by using predatory tactics to pressure the player into spending in order to reduce the timers that inconvenience them or to purchase cosmetics as there aren't many provided in the base game.

2) What audience is this game targeting?

• The game is targeting the casual gamers who may be interested in the sims franchise but do not have / don't want to purchase the things necessary to play it.

3) What audience pleasures does the game provide?

• Personal relationships:
• Watch the lives of the different sims living in the town as they grow and create new relationships - player gets invested in them
• Personal identity:
• Creating sims based on them and the people in their lives
• Diversion:
• Playing a game

4) How does the game encourage in-app purchases?

• By gating progression through waiting real life time e.g. 5 hours which can be reduced using an in game item that is given sparsely to f2p players but can be purchased with real life money.

Representations

Re-watch some of the expansion pack trailers and answer the following questions:

1) How do the expansion pack (DLC) trailers reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies?

• Due to the focus on shopping throughout multiple trailers it could be argued that the game reinforces dominant American capitalist ideologies

2) What stereotypes have you identified in The Sims FreePlay?

• There are many gender stereotypes in The Sims FreePlay, such as the girl doing ballet and the boy doing karate, which separates hobbies through gender

3) What media theories can you apply to representations in The Sims FreePlay?

• Van Zoonen's ideas around sex role stereotypes can be applied to the game due to the differences between female and male sims encoded into the game.

Representation reading

Read this Forbes article on gender and racism in The Sims franchise and answer the following questions:

1) How realistic does The Sims intend to be?

• The Sims intends to be a believable model and a caricature of life instead of being hyper realistic. 

2) How has The Sims tried to create more realistic representations of ethnicity?

• One of the special areas of focus in The Sims 4 is improving the Create-A-Sim feature, adding more details to alter the appearance of a Sim with a less stereotypical ways of representing different ethnicities. 

3) How has The Sims responded to racism and sexism in society?

• The game purposefully does not contain a message about racism or sexism within its gameplay, instead choosing to give players control over how to interact with the Sims they create.

4) What is The Sims perspective on gender fluidity and identity?

• The Sims chooses to take a binary approach to gender identity within its character creation systems, only allowing players to choose between male and female for their Sims, however, it has been emphasised that the game strives to inclusivity. 

5) How does The Sims reinforce the dominant capitalist ideologies of American culture?

• The Sims is an extension of the idealised version of American life and culture, focusing around shopping and working, with the tasks you can make your Sims perform (getting a job, gardening to make money) and the ability to upgrade your homes and city representing the American dream without showing the actual social and cultural barriers that prevent people in real life from achieving it. 

Read this New Normative feature on LGBTQ representation in The Sims franchise (the website link no longer works but that will take you to the text of the article - you'll need your Greenford Google login to access). Answer the following questions:

1) How did same-sex relationships unexpectedly help the original Sims game to be a success?

• As an attendee was playing through the wedding scenario on the first day, two female sims had fallen in love and shared a kiss with each other. It had spread like wild fire that the game, which boasted the freedom to create any kind of characters you wanted, even allowed them to have their own sexual preferences, something truly never seen before in gaming. The Sims was truly a game for everyone.

2) How is sexuality now represented in The Sims?

• After some debate, the team decided to adjust the sims programming to determine sexual preference based on repeated actions. If a sim engaged in romantic interactions with same sex characters, opposite sex characters or a mix of the two repeatedly over time, they would eventually adopt that as their natural preference.

3) Why have fans praised the inclusion of LGBTQ relationships in The Sims franchise?

• Upon release, the game was readily accepted and received heaps of praise and accolades. Many heralded its detailed character and home creation, the depth of its systems and, yes, even the inclusion of same sex relationships. For several fans, it was a way to learn about different sexual preferences in a safe way, or for the first time.

4) Why did the Sims run into regulatory difficulties with American regulator the ESRB? How did EA respond?

• Through a lot of effort, determination and standing their ground, EA was able to convince the ESRB to maintain the game’s T-rating, grandfathering the original support for its LGBTQ content into Living Large and down to future instalments of the series without bumping up their ratings from T.

5) How is sexuality represented in the wider videogames industry today?

• In the years following its release, The Sims has only grown in its influence. The game remains a juggernaut within the gaming landscape, and its support of LGBTQ characters remains an integral part of its design. Likewise, it’s not the only game out there with support for LGBTQ relationships in their content: Fable, a popular RPG series on Xbox and Xbox 360, allowed players to have gay and lesbian relationships, and The Last of Us Part II recently made waves with a lesbian kiss of its own at E3 2018. Likewise, a slew of indie titles such as Night in the Woods have offered characters with believable and realistic LGBTQ relationships.

Reality, postmodernism and The Sims

Read this Paste Magazine feature on reality and The Sims franchise. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest about the representation of real life in The Sims 4?

• The article discusses how The Sims 4 has a more realistic and constrained representation of real life compared to The Sims 3, which lacks the level of escapism that videogames usually provide to players.

2) What audience pleasures did the writer previously find in The Sims franchise?

• The Sims franchise provides diversion and escapism, allowing players to get away from the routine of their daily lives, and personal identity through the Sims which players can create. 

3) Why the does the writer mention an example of a washer and dryer as additional DLC?

• It means that the options of tasks such as doing laundry, which are usually menial chores in real life, do not have to be performed in order to play the game to make it an enjoyable experience. 

4) In your opinion, has The Sims made an error in trying to make the franchise too realistic?

• By making the franchise too realistic they risk alienating a majority of their audience who played the game in order to escape from their lives and live out a fantasy through their Sim, by making the game too similar to reality players may feel that the game is too similar to their lives and so find it unappealing to play.

5) How does this representation of reality link to Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality - the increasingly blurred line between real and constructed?

• The Sims 4's representation of reality is constructed to be more grounded for players, simulating every aspect of life and moving away from idealism, requiring players to follow the constraints of money, time and social conventions, conveying a sense of hyperreality that may make in-game tasks such as doing laundry or working feel just as gruelling or menial as if they were performed outside of the game.

The Sims FreePlay social media analysis

Analyse The Sims FreePlay Facebook page and Twitter feed and answer the following questions:

1) What is the purpose of The Sims FreePlay social media channels?

• The accounts are used to promote the game and share news about updates and new content

2) Choose three posts (from either Twitter or Facebook) and make a note of what they are and how they encourage audience interaction or response.

• Hijabs are now available for child, tween, teenager and adult female Sims! They can be found in the newly refreshed ‘hats’ category in CAS which has now been renamed to ‘headwear’.
• This Tweet lets players know about a new feature with the game's character customization.
• We have a MASSIVE update coming your way! As well as updating our Sim appearances and sharing hair, glasses and earrings across genders, we have beautiful new plants and spooky witch content. 🌳🧙‍♀️ Update out now!
•  This Tweet is intended to prepare players for a large update, informing them about new features, and it encourages the audience to post and talk about the new update. 
• 📢 Our Brilliant Backyards Update is now LIVE 📢
• This Tweet encourages players to play and post about the new version of the game. 

3) Scroll down the Facebook feed briefly. How many requests for new content can you find from players? Why is this such as an important part of the appeal for The Sims FreePlay?

• There are many requests from people for more content, either commenting on existing updates or suggesting possible changes. This is important to the audience appeal behind the game as new content both keeps players engaged and incentivises them to spend money on more in-app purchases. 

4) What tweets can you find in the Twitter feed that refer to additional content or other revenue streams for EA?

• There are many tweets on the Sims FreePlay Twitter page that discuss new updates and content, including one that discusses a collaboration with the toy company Funko, stating that "Sims can wear a Funko pumpkin, skeleton or witch Pop! mask on their heads! Plus, add the glow-in-the-dark pumpkin & ghost collectibles to your Sims' homes to spook up the place! 👻"