In Which I Feel the Power of the Dark Side… of The Sims Social

Facebook games and I have a cycle.

There is a short initial cycle of interest, usually accompanied by a burst of activity, followed by a period of peak interaction with friends/neighbors, followed by a quick decline in interest leading to me telling Facebook to not allow a given game access to post any more messages or notifications.

The whole cycle can last anywhere from minutes (CivWorld) to months (The Agency: Covert Ops), and the list of games I have played is almost embarrassingly long.  But they all end up the same.  Or at least the ones that don’t fold up shop while I am still playing do at least.  I’ve had that happen to me a couple of times.

But usually it is interest, a quick peak, and then wishing the whole thing would shut up and go away.

And so, it was just a question of time before The Sims Social peaked and became a chore.

Frankly, I have never been very interested in The Sims in any case.  I was a big Sim City fan, back in the day, but down at the individual Sim level, I get bored.  I am not much on decorating and such.  And so, while I cleared most of my yard, my home remains pretty close to the starting point.

Watching the neighbors…

And as amusing as it is to imagine relationships as selecting from a menu of options like “Gossip” or “Express Appreciation,” the whole thing wore off pretty quickly.

Talk about writing with Tobold

Even my sim wasn’t feeling it.

Tell us how it is

Soon I was getting notifications on my wall about friendships in danger because I had not bothered to visit.  Needy bitches!

I decided if I was going to wrap this game up and block it off, I might as well explore all routes.  So I figured it was time to hit the insult button.

Tobold, as it turns out, is pretty thick skinned.  I guess our relationship was pretty solid, as even implying his mother was a llama did not seem to phase him.

And your father smelt of elderberries…

Of course, I have to imagine if there has been something about his bathroom decor choices, it might have moved him more.

Pink!

But no, I could sit there and insult him until I ran out of energy and there was no change.  There even appeared to be benefits from rudeness.

Clearly enjoying my work

I am not sure what a bad mood potion does… or why it requires, among other things, left overs… but now I have one.  And my guy is clearly enjoying himself as he checks off insults from his notepad.  Insults work for me.  It must be that Oscar the Grouch, happy when I’m angry, angry when I am happy thing.

How… uh… unlike me

I guess that it makes sense that apologize is on the list of options once you go the insult route, but flirt?  Is there some sort of “make up sex” dimension here?

Anyway, insulting Tobold was turning into work, so I went searching for other victims.  I quickly found a relationship that was almost on the rocks as it was.  One insult was all it took!

New Status! Ex-Friends!

As with everything else, there is an option to share the news of your new ex-friendship with the world!

Being an ex-friend doesn’t seem to change much.  Sure, there is that gray frowny face, and the insult options are up by default when you interact.

Revive Old Argument!

But the door is still open.  I can still walk around his house, use his shower, and so on.  I cannot sleep in his bed now, only take a nap.  Among the other options

  • Patronize
  • Cat fight
  • Remember the bad
  • Belittle
  • Mock
  • Sneer
  • Insult haircut
  • Mock their dancing

I am so going to scratch you!

You can also wander around their home and retune the TV channels, change the pre-sets on their stereo, re-arrange the keyboard on their computer (set to Dvorak I guess), steal their food, and place a fish in their bed.

I am not sure what this is all in furtherance of.  Is there some sort of negative relationship tree to climb here?  Can I become somebody’s arch enemy?  Will that unlock some evil decor options?

Anyway, that kept me playing The Sims Social for at least one more day.

Epilog: If you imply that Tobold’s mother is a llama, he will eventually unfriend you on Facebook.  He seemed thick skinned, but I guess that skin just holds in all his deep seated resentment.

10 thoughts on “In Which I Feel the Power of the Dark Side… of The Sims Social”

  5. Gina

    Compared to the Sims 3, that looks so weird! And, might I add, pointless. It seems like a way more shallow and watered down version. Not that that’s a surprise.

    I know, I know, you have no interest in the Sims, and that’s fine. :) Just letting you know that I love Sims 3, but I wouldn’t touch that game with a ten foot pole.

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  6. Wilhelm Arcturus Post author

    @Astara – I’ll be over to pee in Coral’s bushes later then!

    @Gina – Telling me The Sims Social is pointless relative to The Sims 3… well… that is a tough case to get me to even care about. But I know a lot of people love the Sims and it has been on the top seller list simply forever at this point.

    Anyway, as blase as I am on the subject, I would submit that The Sims Social has a different point than Sims 3, one besides “Let’s cash in on the Facebook money train!” Relationships with other people’s sims seems to be a key factor. That and spamming other people’s walls. And peeing in bushes.

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  8. Wilhelm Arcturus Post author

    And the really strange thing…

    When you are being nice to somebody, you get + social points. When you fail, for whatever reason, like they think you are boring, you get – social points, which drives down your relationship.

    When you go down the negative path you want – social points, and insults deliver those… unless you somehow mess up the insult, in which case you get + social points.

    So there I was insulting somebody and our relationship was getting better, not worse.

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  10. Wilhelm Arcturus Post author

    Somebody needs to do a WordPress/Blogger plugin that sets up a comment system based on how you interact in The Sims Social.

    You won’t get to make actual comments, just choose from a subset list of things like, “appreciate point made” or “imply mother is a llama.” Or maybe you will pick one of these things along with you comment.

    But the whole thing will track you somehow… IP address or login or some such… I’m not writing the damn thing, use magic for all I care… so that over time is shows what relationship you have built with the blogger.

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