"The Sims" was unexpectedly helpful in real life

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I didn't realize that the Sims was so educational. I really didn't know it was so realistic. I wonder why the realism of The Sims has not been talked about a lot in the media.

Heh, my sims always end up with the skill traits, and completely missing the social ones. Always ended up haveing no social and going "Stir-crazy" though always were the most skilled sims around.

Well, guess it pretty much portrayed me.

Though, keep getting bored with it, I realise I miss the entire social aspect but I don't much find it interesting, and you can only complete the skills/jobs/celeb status so many times -.-

I started playing The Sims in 1999. I learned a lot of things from it. I was 16 at the time and was having a hard time finding friends. The game help me understand the basic rules of social interaction. My social life improved a lot.

It helped me being more flexible with my routines. I still hate when someone comes over without invitation (in real life and the game) But I realized that it means that person "likes your more" and that is why they feel confident enough to do that.

It was great that each version included new characteristics. I see the game as Social Interaction Methodology (SIMs) It was like having school lectures level 1, 2 and 3. Maybe "level 4" will include how to keep friendships in long term...

I disagree in how often you have to do some stuff: like washing, eating, socializing, sleeping. Why can't you sleep if you need a shower?? Why does the sim collapse in the kitchen floor while cooking? instead of rushing. Why do sims need so long to leave the bed? Do babies and pregnant women destroy your life as much as they do in the game? They require far too much time and attention.

I've learned from it, too - I've also played since the first one came out, and now I play "Sims Social" on facebook as well.

I also think it's funny/interesting to see how different traits related to my neurological disabilities play out via the sims. For example, I noticed I line objects up in rows (AS), I can't allow my sim to go to the bathroom without washing it's hands immediately after (OCD), etc.

Some people will hate you specifically because you have lots of cool expensive stuff.

Sims can help autism because it teaches you life skills.

I still love the Sims, I think it's a great game for learning new skills although there is a danger of thinking of real life 'through Sims' or in Sim terms, which happened a lot when I was a teenager. I wish it was still as popular as it was though, a lot of people think I'm strange if I start talking about it now (or maybe that's my age). I also found it helpful for when I'd fixated on people- I could make them on the Sims and 'talk' to them or get them to like me without actually annoying them in real life and it felt like I was actually talking to them, which is probably really unethical but so much better than having people hate me in real life.

I played it throughout my childhood and it was really helpful. For instance, if you repeat the same social interaction over and over again, a little message comes up on the screen telling you the other sim is bored! Very useful in my opinion. It helps you understand things better. But it can be unrealistic. Your sim meets someone in the morning and they can be married that same eveing with a child on the way!! !

I play the Sims 2 a lot but it didn't help me with anything in real life. Anyway, some things in the Sims 2 are things what people don't usually do in real life. I've never heard of a social worker coming to take all your kids and babies away when they get too hot or too cold, or when they don't do their homework.

I do use all the cheats, but I think that if I played a family with 2 or 3 kids, and a couple of pets, and using no cheats, I bet it would be impossible or more harder than a family with kids and pets in real life. Once I got the woman to put the toddler in the highchair to feed him because he was hungry, and then the man came along and lifted the toddler out of the highchair while the woman was at the fridge getting food for the toddler. So basically you've got to distract the other sims on to doing something else while you are trying to feed the kids.

I definitely had the same thoughts about Sims when I played it. When I would stop playing I would also tend to think that way for a while (one thing that was pretty useful was the "queue" of the next few actions you could have at the top of the screen, which I started visualizing for myself).

I do that too!

That's how I play the game too! They go to work, where they supposedly have some best friends and then they come home, eat, sleep and so on. Then my sims use their days off to perfect their skills in writing, logic, painting, music etc. all the things I like or wish I was good at. I hate it when people come over and mess with this system so I have no idea what my sims' best friends are like. Visits are useless. I usually keep two sims living together and make them become a couple. When this is done they are busy with perfecting skills and working but they make out and end up in bed a lot. That's how I wish my life was like the only thing I got more or less down is the part where I hone my skills. The trouble I got right now is that my current couple is about to get married and I have no idea how to arrange this because I want a perfect wedding even with my not-so-good social skills irl and with my sims.

I sometimes cheat and get lots of money so my sims can spend all their time on skills! I like making the sims have kids though, something about that completely fascinates me but I hate the 'baby' stage so usually speed up the time on that.

Ah, I love to cheat and make them hang out at their thouroughly decorated home! Because of AS I've had a hard time with school and jobs so I project that onto my sims and feel like I should give them jobs even though I know the cheat for heaps and heaps on simleons. When I had Sims 2 I didn't really know how to make them socialize, which made some of them almost die if I remember correctly, and going to work for a little human contact helps (true for my real life as well). I guess chatting on the computer will do the trick as well, but the dream of contributing by having a job lives very strong within me and is played out via the sims lol. There is something satisfying about playing by the rules for me as well.
I never was any good with kids in the game but I haven't tried for years, so maybe I'll try to have children and see if social services take them as usual. I hope my sims can be abducted by aliens and impregnated by them I remember the baby stage as very boring, so I'm happy I can change the aging process in the settings.
I don't always do things the way I'd like to have it in real life, sometimes I create very dramatic scenarios and make my own little soap opera with cheating, murder, death and so on.

Do they talk in the Sims 3?
We have the Sims (bunch of diff ones for PSP and Nintendo ds)
Yet they always said unintelligible things

I'm going to have to check out Sims3 now i'm curious lol

I absolutely love The Sims...I started playing when The Sims 2 came out, and I also bought myself The Sims 3. I don't believe educated me as such, but it allowed me to build for myself my ideal society.