The life of Michael Else.
So I bought the Sims yesterday (Sunday), wondering if the open-ended play structure would provide me with some kind of game that doesn't rotate on a fixed axis of bloody, enjoyable killin'. How foolish I was.
So my Sim, Michael (in the game I think his last name is Bachelor, but that is stupid, so I call him Michael Else), is fresh out of college and trying to make his way in the world. Omen #1. He is social, not so hardworking, curious. All he wants is a little peace and a little happiness, but in tonight's simulated space he will have neither. At first I try micromanaging, I buy him a nice house with some nice things--not posh, but nice. He gets a job as a medical technician. He even meets some people from across the street (Bob and Betty) and he and Betty get along swimmingly. He has a television, a computer, a good job, a good house.
But something is off. His Social meter drops. Tomorrow night, I promise him, we'll call up Betty and she'll come over. He'll make dinner, and things will progress from there. He calls her up. There's no answer. She picks up finally, and he proposes dinner. Count me out, she says. Michael calls up Bob. They try to talk but Bob is yelling. Michael watches a little television before he goes to bed. He is lonely. The next day he gets back from work and we call up Betty again. This time there is yelling. Michael cannot meet people because they come over when he's gone at work. I decide to stop micromanaging. I simply hit the fastforward key and I watch.
First thing he stops doing is the dishes. They're piled in the corner. He takes a shower, he watches television, he reads. He fixes dinner. Next morning alarm goes off. He doesn't go to work. He watches television, he wanders around outside. There's an infestation of bugs. He cleans the dishes, he eats, he plays the computer. Midday there's a phone call. You miss work once, accident. Twice, it's a sin. He gets fired tomorrow.
He spirals out of control. Sleeps during the day. Plays computer games at night. Runs around outside at the middle of the day. Sometimes he stands in the living room and sobs. Not crying, but full-throated wails. A woman comes over after three or four days and he talks to her outside because the house is shit. She leaves after yelling at him for being such a slob.
When I quit the game he was standing outside in the yard in his pajamas screaming at the top of his lungs. His meter was all the way at the sad mark. Screaming and crying because he's so lonely, out of work, abandoned. When I quit the game it was with the thought, My God, what have I done? One week managing the life of someone else and he hits the bottom.
Why hast thou forsaken me?
So my Sim, Michael (in the game I think his last name is Bachelor, but that is stupid, so I call him Michael Else), is fresh out of college and trying to make his way in the world. Omen #1. He is social, not so hardworking, curious. All he wants is a little peace and a little happiness, but in tonight's simulated space he will have neither. At first I try micromanaging, I buy him a nice house with some nice things--not posh, but nice. He gets a job as a medical technician. He even meets some people from across the street (Bob and Betty) and he and Betty get along swimmingly. He has a television, a computer, a good job, a good house.
But something is off. His Social meter drops. Tomorrow night, I promise him, we'll call up Betty and she'll come over. He'll make dinner, and things will progress from there. He calls her up. There's no answer. She picks up finally, and he proposes dinner. Count me out, she says. Michael calls up Bob. They try to talk but Bob is yelling. Michael watches a little television before he goes to bed. He is lonely. The next day he gets back from work and we call up Betty again. This time there is yelling. Michael cannot meet people because they come over when he's gone at work. I decide to stop micromanaging. I simply hit the fastforward key and I watch.
First thing he stops doing is the dishes. They're piled in the corner. He takes a shower, he watches television, he reads. He fixes dinner. Next morning alarm goes off. He doesn't go to work. He watches television, he wanders around outside. There's an infestation of bugs. He cleans the dishes, he eats, he plays the computer. Midday there's a phone call. You miss work once, accident. Twice, it's a sin. He gets fired tomorrow.
He spirals out of control. Sleeps during the day. Plays computer games at night. Runs around outside at the middle of the day. Sometimes he stands in the living room and sobs. Not crying, but full-throated wails. A woman comes over after three or four days and he talks to her outside because the house is shit. She leaves after yelling at him for being such a slob.
When I quit the game he was standing outside in the yard in his pajamas screaming at the top of his lungs. His meter was all the way at the sad mark. Screaming and crying because he's so lonely, out of work, abandoned. When I quit the game it was with the thought, My God, what have I done? One week managing the life of someone else and he hits the bottom.
Why hast thou forsaken me?
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