Just curious! Do men and women play Sims 3 differently?

[Joria]

Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.

Dear one, that's because you never played with doll houses!  They become quite real and very, very Simish to those of us who have played with them.

I'm an elderly female raising the last of a bunch of kids.  I've always wanted lots of kids and in rl I achieved that LTW.  I also wanted to be a famous actress, archaeologist, artist and writer.  Total fail at that, lol!  I also love gardening and fishing in rl and so my Sims often are gardeners and anglers.  I would so love in rl to live the life of the rich and famous, or anyway the very vulgarly rich, but alas, it is the ear wax flavor of every flavor beans for me.  Not total poverty mind you, but definitely not able to use $$ as tp if I so wished.  So I like to take my Sims from total homelessness, (ok, they maybe own a plot of land), to a faboo mansion in several lands.  My Sims love to travel and so do I, but I'm physically unable to do so, so they travel for me.  I'd like to be young and gorgeous, so my Sims usually are, and oh, do I hate it when they age up!  (And I hate even more that EA has made aging a hunchbacked, lip smacking, big nosed, uglifier in bad clothes!  Old folks are not all like that anymore!) 

I voted that I like to play with families, but really I like to play both ways.  The only thing I don't generally play is a male character, except for the spouse or son of my created female character.  I just can't get into the whole male psyche so really don't know how they would act as a Sim.  I like taking a single female and bring her up to full, feminine glory.  Rich, gorgeous, has a great life and even manages to catch her man/men and sometimes progresses to being a mom, but not always. 

When I do play as a family I am totally enamored of the nooboos.  The toddler stage is my all time favorite and I hate it when they have to age up.  When I'm not playing a legacy or dynasty, or some challenge, my Sims have very long lifetimes and very slow aging so I can enjoy my toddlers longer.  They are just so adorable!

And my all time favorite way to play is no Sim at all.  Just build and build and build.

[ratchie]

I am a female and I play with families. I have never ever played with just one Sim over a long period of time they always get married and have kids eventually.
My husband on the other hand always plays with one Sim and never has any kids.
I prefer to play long generational challenges such as dynasties and legacies. I get quite a kick to look at a family tree and see all the Sims I have created(in a roundabout way) from one founder Sim.
I also like seeing how certain genetics get passed down such as eye colour ,skin colour, hair colour etc.

Rachel

[inclement]

I'm an elderly female raising the last of a bunch of kids. 

Darling Joria, you must stop telling untruths. I know for a fact that while you may be wise beyond your years, you are not elderly.

Elderly people are clearly hunchbacked, lip smacking, big nosed, uglifier in bad clothes.

Since I know you are none of the above, you are not elderly.

Wise beyond your years. Learn it. Love it. I demand it.

[ratchie]

I guess those 1920s generalizations never changed! Look at the mindset of all the women!

Could you explain exactly what 1920s generalizations you mean. I am also not sure what you mean by look at the mindset of all the women. Is that women in general or women who responded to this topic.

Rachel

[Metropolis Man]

A majority of the women here play families as they'd rather more likely have one or be part of one. I think it fits women in general but I did note a few exceptions here but yet they majority play a family.

Final answer? Or do you care to cash in your Phone-A-Friend Lifeline?



Tread lightly, my friend. I can assure you that any blanket generalizations will not be well received by the fine women at this establishment.

[Schipperke]

A majority of the women here play families as they'd rather more likely have one or be part of one. I think it fits women in general but I did note a few exceptions here but yet they majority play a family.

I think it's a fallacy to assume that because someone likes to play families it must be because they like to be part of a family.  As a female who prefers to play single sims, the type of game I play has little if anything to do with my own life.  I like to play single sims because I am fairly goal-oriented and enjoy the challenge of achieving LTWs and other goals I set for myself.  But if someone wants to play multi-generational games, obviously families are the only way to go unless you want to adopt simbots.  There are many reasons why someone might prefer a certain style of play.

[Leto85]

Not that the results surprised me, but according to the outcome of it can I asume that most of us here is female? I'm the guy that like to play families in this game. It's not that easy to do, and 'not easy' will lure my interest in games mostly.
But man, that's a huge difference between male and female here! :O Or, at least it is a difference that has actually vote.

[Shenice93]

I'm a female, nearing my prime might I add, and I love to start off with one Sim and have the marry someone and continue the family that way. Occasionally I'll make two Sims and start like that or on one occasion start with one of the families already there and pretty much trash it and make it into something better. I really only play one Sim for the sake of experimenting when I get a new expansion pack, when I want to try something (like collecting all the gems in every cut possible, I have a long way to go on that one still), when I'm in a cruel mood and need a life to ruin, but don't want to go to jail (we all have those moments), and lastly when I need to play test a house I built.

To me Sims is that dollhouse I never got when I was a kid (You know the one with the working lights and sounds). Nope never got it. When I got my hands on sims I was like "Woah...This is absolutely amazing." Best Christmas present ever!

[Anushka]

At this point, 33 females play with families and 13 play with single Sims. 14 males plays with families and 11 plays with single Sims. Now, sample is too small and not really representative to make any final conclusions about global trends among males and females, regarding their gameplay style. Not to mention deeper interpretation of that style.
Now about proportion, 28% of females who voted here are playing single Sims. That is not few exceptions. 56% males play with families. How about that.
Now what is wrong with playing families I really don't know. But I do know what is wrong with any sort of generalisation, and since you're very young, I'll just suggest to read and learn more, take a better look instead of seeing what you want to see, and be more carefull about what you say. 

BTW I never had any sort of doll house, actually only had one or two dolls. I preferred playing with puzzles and reading, etc so I can't really say much about that comparison.

[IloveLlamas]

Yeah I never played with dolls... I played with action figures! I still have yet to find the difference I made Gi Joe in sims and Gi Nurse (less popular) had them start a family and I'm male. But I never only play families or singles, I switch it up a bit.

[Gheez]

I'm female and have no idea what to click in the poll.  Maybe families?  I tend to start of with one sim (it can be male or female), eventually they get to meet someone & that someone will join the family - but I don't really like 'controlling' the other sims, I prefer to concentrate on one and be amused by the antics of the rest, only stepping in where necessary.  (Those 'I'm surrounded by idiots' challenges are perfect for me... gosh, hope that the Sims isn't reflective of my real life as it makes me sound like a right patronising twerp.)  

I generally don't get very far in generations in a family as I don't really like the Sims dying.  (In TS2 I had a go at a Black Widow Challenge and felt so bad killing off the men   )  Maybe it would be better in TS3 - after all, they come back as ghosts that could be playable. Hmm...


When I was little I preferred those little plastic animals (Britains Toys) to playing with dolls and dolls houses.

[Swede1992]

As a male, I'm usually pursuing amasing solo sims, who gets tied down first when they reach that very rich/ambrosia-immortal stage and then live throughout the ages watching over their ancestors.

As for the male-female ratio, I checked now on the forum statistics and it said that there is a 1:2 gender ratio of the overall registered members, i.e. there is twice as many women here as men! What about that!?
Seems unusual for a gaming forum... Shows just how different Sims is.

[Glic2000]

When I do play as a family I am totally enamored of the nooboos.  The toddler stage is my all time favorite and I hate it when they have to age up.  When I'm not playing a legacy or dynasty, or some challenge, my Sims have very long lifetimes and very slow aging so I can enjoy my toddlers longer.  They are just so adorable!

That's the one thing I'll never understand:  I just can't stand the toddlers.  All they do is whine and cry and they need so much attention because you have to train them three different things within a relatively short amount of time.  And they all look more-or-less the same and have no personality to speak of.  

They do have a few cute animations, though, like when they crawl inside the toy box.   Also, did everyone know that children can read books to toddlers?  It's super cute!  I like the children a lot more than toddlers.


When I was a kid, I liked building models.  That's why I like the Sims.  I like the idea of having a lot of intricate detail within a small world you can look in at.  To me it's not quite like a dollhouse; more like a model train set.  There's obviously no train, but the appeal is the same, because you can construct all the buildings in the town, all of the landscaping, and then watch it "run."

[Raventiger]

Well I'm a guy, and so far I've played one Sim single all the way, and I'm currently working on building a family with my next Sim.  Interestingly enough, my wife is also a gamer, but she loves WOW where as I prefer the Sims and Spore.

[Pam]

Just a note for those who have responded to SimManiac's comments that no longer make sense in this thread...  SimManiac has been banned and posts were removed.