I’d be willing to bet that a lot of you found yourself in a similar situation that I did back in 2000. The Sims caused me to become fused to my monitor as I developed a sort of digital OCD for my virtual family. I had to make sure that their house was spotless, their lives were perfect, and their futures were bright. I spent hours upon hours pecking away at my mouse to meet this goal, until suddenly it hit me: Why was I cleaning up a virtual room when my actual room needed cleaning? Why did I place more importance on my character getting to work on time than I did on myself getting to school on time? For the love of god Will Wright, what did you do to me? Well, it turns out that SimCity creator/video game icon wasn’t some sort of malevolent conjurer focused on ruining productivity, but rather just one hell of a game designer.
One of the reasons I put so much time and effort in crafting the perfect abode was because that small acre of property was ostensibly the entirety of my existence inside of The Sims. Aside from occasionally zooming out to your neighborhood on a macro level, you were going to be looking at the lot that housed your digital avatars for quite a long time, so you better be sure that it was pleasing to the eyes.
Continue…
