Here to kick off SimsVIP’s June Community Spotlight is Simsoholic Luthien! In a brief introduction below, Luth gives readers a chance to learn a bit more about their involvement within the community. Take it away Luth!
Hi! I’m Luth (or Luthien or Lu) online, and I’m a Canadian Simsoholic. I’ve been part of the Sims community on the Official Forums since the Sims 4 CAS Demo, but I’ve been playing since The Sims.
Back in 2000, when I had two young kids plus a new baby, a new house, and a new business, my eldest pointed to The Sims in a store. It looked okay to us (rating? what rating?), so it came home. I watched the kids play, and pretty soon Sims was my game. (The kids still played back then too, though they stopped playing as “us” after “I” was killed in The Great Backyard Rocket Incident.)
When Sims 4 was coming out, something clicked. The clever people at Maxis had designed this game especially for ME! As I hung out in the Official Forums to share in the excitement, I discovered a huge, diverse creative community I’d never known about, so many ways of playing and creating that I’d never imagined, and wonderful people from all walks of life, both Sims 4 players and not, some of whom have become my friends.
Then the game itself opened up some part of me that had stories to tell. In my business, I work with other people’s stories, helping writers hone their narratives and words. Who knew I had stories too? My “Happy Families” stories, which I’d played throughout The Sims and Sims 2 and 3, started to linger over details, and then I was finding stories in a crazy-different (for me) save full of celebrities and premades and Aliens. Another save turned out to be chock-full of stories about teenage life. I share scenes from my stories on the Official Forums (especially in “Favorite Screenshots”) and, when I remember, on Twitter or Tumblr.
But mostly, in the community, I’m a “helper.” In my “real” life, I’m a small cog for a few weeks in often years-long projects I might not see the end of. In the Sims community, I can quickly answer a question on how to do something, or I can help someone solve their game problem in just a few minutes, and poof! that person can enjoy play again. That’s really satisfying to me.
I also share how I play the game, what in it supports my play and what doesn’t, and what I wish I could do… doing that where I know some of what I say might get to Maxis staff. Working with creators every day, I see the difference constructive feedback can make. And you never know with creative people which feedback or suggestion will trigger something, or what it will trigger. Maybe someday, a conversation I’m part of in the Forums will make a difference in the creative process behind the game I love, and that’s pretty cool.
I figure we all could use something in our lives like Sims is for me: a break from real life, a creative outlet, a giggle, someone to empathize with, a way to tell our own story or try a new one on for size, a chance to play.
I feel so lucky that Sims is all this for me. Being part of the social Sims community — helping in Bugs, answering how-to’s, tracking patch-broken mods, sharing a funny screenshot or a new Sim, or talking about gameplay — is my way of helping Sims be all this for more people, in more ways… spreading the joy. And along the way, I get to marvel at someone else’s build, laugh with their story, discover new-to-me game details, “meet” another AweSim person (hi, Alexis, and thank you!), and be inspired again to play.
Official Forums: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/profile/luthienrisingTwitter: https://twitter.com/luthsthings
Tumblr: http://luthsthings.tumblr.com
