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Mad Poster
#51 Old 19th Dec 2017 at 11:21 PM
Seriously though, California is cool. California is different. I don't have any issues with it. It's high up on the list of places I'd probably want to live if I didn't live here already. And the northwest's fun too. It's a damn shame I've never been, because I've been to so many other places that really aren't very good at all, comparatively.

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Mad Poster
#52 Old 19th Dec 2017 at 11:32 PM
California is like everywhere else that there is good and bad and good people and bad people. I love that we have so many different areas. Where I am sitting right now I can drive a few hours and be at Donner Pass, maybe in some snow, probably not now, or the other direction and be at the ocean. We have the high Sierras, Death Valley. etc. It is a very diverse state and I like that. And there is Disneyland, so what else could we want?

I think EA has done a good job of representing places in a general and diverse way.

If we cannot travel all over in RL we can at least do it vicariously through our Sims. And mine sure live in fabulous houses which put mine in RL to shame. Sometimes I am jealous of pixels. (!)
Forum Resident
#53 Old 19th Dec 2017 at 11:42 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
I feel like your second point here kind of defeats your first. Sure, you can't expect everything to be perfectly accurate and true to life, but maybe people wouldn't go around asking stupid questions like that if the entertainment industry put any actual effort into making other places (that aren't America) seem even slightly accurate.


I don't feel I should be expecting the Sims to "educate" me about other cultures, unless its Sim culture.
If the entertainment industry in any form is to put effort into accuracy for other countries, then it should be a documentary not a Sims game.

EA weren't creating a doco about France China or Egypt. They were taking certain aspects from said cultures to help inspire a non-real country in Simland, it wasn't supposed to be an accurate representation of said countries at all. They drew upon them to create SIM countries.
It's merely unfortunate that EA were stupid enough actually advertise them using the real names of the country.

Not to mention the actual point I was trying to make in regards to my running water remark, that you seemed to miss, is that someone believing those things about Australia isn't offensive to me. American actors messing up our ( hard to imitate ) accent isn't offensive to me.
I simply don't understand why people fall all over themselves to be offended. Then again, thin skin and easily offended seems to be the order of the day these past few years, in regards to anything and everything.

Even fake countries in a pixel video game.

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Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#54 Old 19th Dec 2017 at 11:54 PM Last edited by Don Babilon : 20th Dec 2017 at 12:13 AM.
I remember this discussion from back when EA released that TS4 EP that came with that Windenburg town. "OMG it looks so European!" The EU alone consists of more than 20 - very different - countries and I am still struggling to find a single one where places look even remotely like that town. So I don't even know what "European looking" is supposed to mean. But hey, I'd still play in that town - well, if it wasn't TS4 - and pretend that it's closer to home than the desert town.

And, btw, people don't wear lederhosen in Germany as everyday wear and hardly anyone knows the movie "The Sound of Music" in Austria except for nerds.

I am, however, a bit disappointed to learn that kangaroos do not roam every street in Australia

----

ETA: This is Solvang, a town in California:



And this one is in South Korea:

Mad Poster
#55 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:00 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Pary
Not to mention the actual point I was trying to make in regards to my running water remark, that you seemed to miss, is that someone believing those things about Australia isn't offensive to me. American actors messing up our ( hard to imitate ) accent isn't offensive to me.

Sure. It wouldn't offend me either. As I said, it's funny at best and cringeworthy at worst. I think it would be unreasonable to be so passionate about your own culture that something like that would cause you a great deal of offense.
But that doesn't mean that the phenomenon is a good one. If we ever want to be one united, peaceful world, we have to know and understand each other. And when there are people who ACTUALLY think this or that about other countries, or that the Chinese go ching chong chang, that Australians go shrimp on the barbie, mate, or that The Hague is somewhere in Bulgaria, that's kind of problematic. It undermines the notion that we're all equal. I know for a fact that many people, native English speakers in particular, somehow find it hard to believe that someone who doesn't speak English can be as intelligent or developed as themselves.
Quote: Originally posted by Don Babilon
ETA: This, btw, is town in California:[/IMG]

Don't get me started on the Huis ten Bosch theme park in Japan. Those crazy bastards love us so much they built an entire Dutch city in painstaking detail. Convincingly, too, but it's still tacky as hell.
Not to mention that Chinese project where they built something like a dozen new cities, each in a different theme from around the world. London, Paris, Amsterdam, [generic Spanish town], [generic Wild West town], you name it.

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Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#56 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:07 AM
The difference being that this town in Santa Barbara county is more than 100 years old, just like Leavenworth in the state of Washington, and the people who live there built it for themselves:



Now imagine I came from Germany to California and the only place I ever saw was Solvang. "How is California?" "Uh, nothing special, just looks like Denmark with bigger cars!"
Forum Resident
#57 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:09 AM Last edited by Pary : 20th Dec 2017 at 9:34 AM.
I find it really hard to believe that people can be quite that stupid as to believe that the inspiration taken from certain countries to create those in WA, is portraying those countries as true to life. Surely no one can be that dumb.

Edit - The rest of this post isn't really appropriate in retrospect, so I should probably edit it out.

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Mad Poster
#58 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:12 AM
It's tacky for sure, and have you heard of Holland, Michigan? It may not be a generic, nonexistent European theme, but it's still Dutcher dan any Dutch place it's imitating. Which makes it pretty fictional too.


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Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#59 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:17 AM
Ha, and this is Pullman City in Germany:



Cultural appropriation is the basic engine for cultural progress and it has been going for thousands of years; it's the norm not the exception.
Mad Poster
#60 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:21 AM Last edited by GrijzePilion : 20th Dec 2017 at 12:41 AM.
Probably the worst one of them. Reminds me of the Lucky Luke comics, which I loved as a kid.
Or the fact that if you go to a McDonalds here, you get "American mayonnaise" with your fries. Like Americans....who eat mayonnaise with their fries...just like us. (It's not only not American, it's also not mayonnaise.) Or "filet Americain", which is a spread made of raw beef, invented in Amsterdam.
So it's not exactly one-way traffic. We make shit up too.

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Mad Poster
#61 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:40 AM
I have been to Solvang. Touristy, very, but a fun place to visit. I have been to Chinatown in San Francisco many times, which I think is/was the largest in the US. Do I think if I visit China ever it will look like that now, of course not. But I want to go back soon as darn good food and totally fun place to shop for anything from junk to antiques.

I have never seen anyone eat mayo with fries here. Some folks like catsup. I like them plain. Too well. :D
Well, I have been known to dip a few in tartar sauce when having fish and chips.
Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#62 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:48 AM
Things like that even happen within the same culture and country.

Take this, for example, what many believe is the paradigm and prototype of medieval castles north of the Alps:

Except, it's completely fake. Not a single stone is medieval there and the style is a mixture of Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic and a heavy dose of Renaissance. It was built from scratch in the 19th century.

This, on the other hand, is authentic:

Unfortunately, not as glamorous, though
Mad Poster
#63 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 12:52 AM
Aw, you have busted all my illusions. LOL Still darn beautiful though even though clearly not built in Medieval times.
Instructor
#64 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 7:31 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Don Babilon
Things like that even happen within the same culture and country.

Take this, for example, what many believe is the paradigm and prototype of medieval castles north of the Alps:

Except, it's completely fake. Not a single stone is medieval there and the style is a mixture of Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic and a heavy dose of Renaissance. It was built from scratch in the 19th century.

This, on the other hand, is authentic:

Unfortunately, not as glamorous, though


Hehe, if anyone would like to find authentic AND glamorous, try Burg Eltz in Germany As far as I know, however Disney-like it looks, most of it is really medieval. The interiors are also worth a visit!
Mad Poster
#65 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 11:24 AM
My local "antique" windmill, as I recently figured out, was built in 1987. Totally fooled me until I saw the dedication plaque, then looked at the buildings across the street, and noticed they used the same bricks for both.
I suppose real medieval stuff is cooler, like the Muiderslot:

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dodgy builder
#66 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 1:03 PM
The main problem with France, China and Egypt is their name. If they called the towns something else, it wouldn't be a problem. That's why worldbuilders finds other names to their towns, you don't have to argue about things that doesn't fit. Like my project Angkor Wat, I will rename it to something else when it's released, because then I won't offend anyone.
Top Secret Researcher
#67 Old 20th Dec 2017 at 5:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by daisylee
Where I am sitting right now I can drive a few hours and be at Donner Pass, maybe in some snow
Good place to stop and eat someone you like when it's snowing.

Sims are better than us.
Test Subject
#68 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 11:21 PM
I wish EA would make a stereotypical Canadian world. I don't get why people are "offended" by benign stereotypes of their country. You have to be able to laugh at yourself.

Edit: When my new computer comes in, I'm gonna make a stereotypical Canadian town based on the town I grew up in.
Mad Poster
#69 Old 25th Feb 2018 at 11:46 PM
Quote: Originally posted by endlessgalaxy
I wish EA would make a stereotypical Canadian world. I don't get why people are "offended" by benign stereotypes of their country. You have to be able to laugh at yourself.

Not all of us are so lucky to have been born with the wonderfully wholesome, open-minded spirit of a Canadian.

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Field Researcher
#70 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 9:14 AM
I still do not understand why they decided to name the destinations after real countries. They don't speak English, they speak Simlish. They use simoleons instead of dollars and live in Simland. I like the puns, even if they were lame like Simqypt. what gives?
Scholar
#71 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 6:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by tunafishfish
Head Canon:
Appalousa Plains is in Missouri


A bit off-topic, but I'm wondering where you're getting this from?

I haven't explored all of Missouri, but everywhere I've been in it looks nothing like Appaloosa Plains. Missouri is not a nearly desert/plateau region at all. I would peg Appaloosa Plains as more like Western Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, or somewhere like that. I've been out to Western Oklahoma.

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For now, though, my decorative Bassoon conversion for TS4. =)
Scholar
#72 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 7:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by bassoon_crazy
A bit off-topic, but I'm wondering where you're getting this from?

I haven't explored all of Missouri, but everywhere I've been in it looks nothing like Appaloosa Plains. Missouri is not a nearly desert/plateau region at all. I would peg Appaloosa Plains as more like Western Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, or somewhere like that. I've been out to Western Oklahoma.


When you look at the backstory of the denizens there's a lot of country music, rodeo, performing arts, and startup culture. It made me think of Branson and St Louis. Then there's the fact that it's got a lot of hills and it's supposed to be a sort of perpetual autumn. Just my head canon.
Mad Poster
#73 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 11:06 PM
I think more of Arizona and New Mexico when I played Appaloosa.
Mad Poster
#74 Old 28th Feb 2018 at 11:35 PM
As a layman on US geography and region-specific cultures, and the devs try not to be TOO specific about geographic locations to appeal more to people like me, I would definitely place Appaloosa in the southern half of the Midwest. I have no idea what differentiates one state from another but somewhere around Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota sounds about right to me.
Bridgeport would be somewhere around the great lakes. Maybe Connecticut like its real life namesake or Massachussets or Pennsylvania or another hilly state with a hard to spell name.

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Mad Poster
#75 Old 1st Mar 2018 at 12:12 AM
Appaloosa is nothing like the Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri. Minnesota areas. I have lived in Illinois and Kentucky and my cousins are in Missouri. And if Minnesota is at all like Wisconsin it is zero like Appaloosa. EA did not model Appaloosa after those areas.
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