"The Sims": Three Lessons Learned

Please be my fortune teller little Sim! What should I do today?? In addition to the last blog I posted, players are not only known to kill off their familiy members but they are also known to put their own real life issues in the game to help them make decisions. Players have done this to see how their Sim would react and then apply it to his or her own life. Is this an easy way to make a hard decision? Sure, it seems simple enough and seems to have no harm attached to it but is it really a good thing to depend on? Should a fictional game in which I created everything make my life this much easier?

So, if I make a Sim who is just like me in everyway possible in the game and I have a real life choice today of cleaning my house (that needs it badly) or watching television, should I have my Sim make up my mind for me? Well, let’s give it a try. I will have my Sim watch television… Not very productive and nothing is accomplished in the end but now I know. *~*Lesson 1: Watching television is fun but the house is still a mess.*~* So the next night in my Sim’s world, I have her clean the house, which is now worse than yesterday because I had my Sim wait until the next night. *~*Lesson 2: A messy house can and will get messier tomorrow.*~* So now my Sim is cleaning the house… Things are getting accomplished but, oh, what’s that? My Sim is getting bored? She wants entertainment? Well so do I my little Sim, but my house now needs cleaned even more than yours does because I just wasted an hour waiting and watching how you would react to the choices I should have made on my own today. *~*Lesson 3: I should just think for myself from now on!!!*~*

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"The Sims": Your World, Your Way

Should we discuss why you killed me off? I think we should.. Players use the game “The Sims” to get their agression and anger out on someone without hurting them physically or emotionally in real life. So, is this a good thing? Should we find alternative ways to express emotion such as this? Or should we really be solving these issues face to face? I read an article entitled ‘My daughter killed her brother in ‘The Sims” and it discusses one issue in which a little girl got mad at her brother in real life, so she killed him off in the game. The father seemed to have no problem with that. He felt that it was just a game and should not be taken so seriously. So killing a relative or a friend in a game is understandable?? Is this an action anyone would do? Would you?

I certainly would not. I personally feel that that would be an act of violence, even if it is just in a game. Even the thought of killing off a relative just because they upset me or made me angry would never cross my mind. Do the kids of today who play “The Sims” and other violent games really think this while playing. It is fine for a child to make their own family in the game but to then decide to kill them in the game is utterly disturbing to me.

Not many games out there exist in which no one wins and no one loses, but is an endless stream of activity that stimulates the players into wanting to play as often as possible, resulting in them becoming addicted. That right there describes “The Sims”. In the end, the game of “The Sims” is truly your world, your way.

"The Sims": An Introduction

Who has not heard of "The Sims"? Anyone? No? This is because "The Sims" has become a sensation throughout the years. When it first came out, I myself was reluctant to buy it. I did not think I'd become one of those people who got addicted to it and played it every chance they got. Well, I have some news for myself..I'm addicted to it,and have been for a while. Of course I have had the game for years now but the possibilities of what you can do are endless. Apart from there being "The Sims 2" and "The Sims 3", players can also get extra applications for their game which include being able to get pets, go on vacations and even become a superstar. It is simple little add-ons such as these that help to make "The Sims" an unforgettable, easily addicted game. On the website www.psychologytoday.com I was able to fine multiple articles that go deeper into the thought of people playing the game to help them in their own lives.

One article I read entitled "The Sims: Suburban Rhapsody" told the story of a mother who played "The Sims" in preparation for the arrival of her first baby. She noted in the article that the game helped her prepare for parenthood and helped her develop better multi-tasking skills. It also stated in other articles that I read that "The Sims" helped people with their every-day life skills. It is true that you must make time for you Sim to study and clean up, just as you have to do with yourself. "The Sims" also helps with making important financial decisions such as, which is more important? Buying a stereo? Or paying your bills you just received in the mail? So is "The Sims" more of a life lessons/ building tool than a game? It's up to the players to decide that one. But I think multiple people will agree that "The Sims" is a game of "it is what you make it".

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The Bumpy Road of a Website

My website (which will soon be in construction) is going to be a travel guide to Highway 1 in Northern California, USA from San Francisco to the Redwood Trees. I want to focus on the tourist experience more so than anything else. I want to expose viewers to “hidden treasures” in Northern California that have not gotten as popular as it’s Southern portion, but still hold a rich history and have deeper meaning than what may seem. So since I’m going to be making a travel guide-type website, why not look at a few websites that are similar to what I’m going to be creating?
The first website I looked at was for Paris, France. It was more of an official travel guide site, including information on flights and hotels. One of the things that I did not like about this site was the fact that the first page you saw had mostly information on getting there and staying there. I did not, at first, see anything on attractions or anything that would make you want to travel there. With further examination though, I saw the side panel which linked you to pages with information on Attractions, Tours, Economy, Language, Shopping, Culture, and Money. I liked this feature; this enabled viewers to learn the many different aspects of traveling there; what you need before you go, what you’ll need while you’re there, what to expect, etc. When I clicked on “Attractions”, I got good information on the popular attractions in Paris, but it would have been nice to get more information on non-tourist, un-known places to visit that bring you more of the Parisian culture. Overall, I did not find this website too exciting and did not feel even more excited to visit Paris, which is the way I think it should be. By looking at this website, I immediately decided that I wanted to be sure to add more color into my site, more pictures, more of a visually pleasing experience is what I will be aiming for.
Now that I’ve looked at a website for an “out of this country” experience, it’s time to look at a travel site for somewhere a bit closer. I decided to look at one for the state of California to see what my competition might be. Once I opened the site, I immediately saw pictures of things that California is known for, including foods, beaches, and cities. If a viewer were to scroll over these pictures, it gives you the option to click on them to take you to a different part of the site to look further into what you have selected. It also included the option to select Northern, Central, or Southern California to focus on and learn more about. There was also an interactive map on the bottom of the page which, I think, is a very useful idea. I liked this site much more than the other one because it focused on tourists and attractions to visit than just how you can get there. This site wanted viewers to get interested in what California has to offer; of course, it did include prices on hotels and planes and such, but that wasn’t the main focus. I decided to go further into the site and clicked on “Northern California”; once I did so, it lead to a negative of this site. It took forever to load one page!!! It could have been the amount of pictures (which I loved at first!) or it could have been a busy time for the site. This factor made me want to make sure that my site will not be a headache to try to visit. I want my website to be exciting, but I also want it to be manageable and easily accessible.
Both of these websites were very good, one of course being more exciting than the other, but at the end of this journey, I took away a positive and a negative from both. Practice always makes perfect so the only way to make my website a sure-fire hit, is to practice my organization of it and learn from mistakes created by myself, and others, along the road of ups and downs of making a website. Well, everyone… buckle up; it’s going to be a bumpy ride! (But one well worth a journey, of course!!!)

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Websites Visited:

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/city/94/city_guide/Europe/Paris.html

www.visitcalifornia.com

Northern California Fun

Has everyone ever been to Northern California? If you have, you know that it's a beautiful place with many sites and attractions for all sorts of travelers. I have been to Northern California quite a few times, in fact, I was born there and travel there not only to sight-see but to visit family. Manyof the sites that I enjoy visiting the most are Fort Ross, a beach entitles "Glass Beach", Alcatraz, the Redwood Trees, Bodega Bay, and all of the sites in San Francisco. San Francisco itself is known for its attractions such as Lombard Street, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Chinatown, and Fisherman's Wharf. Although it seems like San Francisco is the only place to visit in Northern California, we must not forget about other historical sites as I mentioned above. Fort Ross, which was owned by my ancestors, is not as popular as other attractions in California but is historically rich. So wherever you travel to in Northern California, it is very likely that you will stumble upon a piece of history.

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Powerpoint Points

So, after reading two articles, I have come to the conclusion that I am a Tufte supporter. Go Team Tufte!!! I agree with Tufte when it comes to children in school using Powerpoint too much for projects and presentations instead of learning to write correctly and practicing that skill. I think this comes into play when you are a child; if you are not taught when you are young and do not use it constantly when going through school than it will be tough to make that transition. But this point is proven the most in high school when you are supposedly being prepare for college. I know this from a first hand experience. When I was a Junior and Senior in high school, I found myself doing more short Powerpoints than writing actual papers. It was in fact the teachers who requested that a Powerpoint be done, therefore not giving me a chance to learn the "college way of writing" before I actually got to college. My first ever college class, on the first day of my Freshman year was English 101. Of course, being new to the experience, I was late to class, but as I was sitting in class, the professor announced that there was a certain way that we were expected to write, the "college way". Being used to writing the "middle school and high school way" I was lost. Since I was never properly shown how to write professionally and in the proper "college way" I found it extremely difficult to transition and am not really sure if I ever did make that transition. So, as a person who experienced a small amount of poison from constantly Powerpoint, I agree with Tufte. We need to make sure that children are learning how to properly write essays and papers, which is a skill that is needed throughout your life. I do not think Powerpoint is completely bad and I still enjoy using it, it has just been an easy way to get out of actually writing a paper.