Wealth, classism and world building in The Sims 3

This video is something new for this channel so I'm interested to see what you guys think about it. I'm not an expert on these topics, but wanted to share some of my observations on how I subconsciously play in certain worlds. Maybe someone will find it interesting :)

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
02:05 Sunset Valley
05:11 Bridgeport
08:35 Quick announcement
09:11 Twinbrook
12:43 Hidden Springs
15:48 Summary

Comment down what you think about this topic and I'll do my best to respond and have a nice discussion!

Thank you for watching

[NawiTheCore]

I think Oasis Landing would have been also great to explore this topic. The richest Sims can live in the beautiful and ultra futuristic city center, with all kinds of amenities, stores, clubs and cafes; while the poor (which a lot of time end up being your descendants) are relegated to the f-cking WASTELAND or the MINING DISTRICT, living in old run-down houses with ancient tech. It seems income inequality only grew with the passage of time. Even if you turn the future into a Utopia, this disparity will continue to exist.

[quarendeen]

Sunset Valley totally does this too. If you look closer by the bigger houses, they look like they're a gated community. Plus the young single people live in mainly 'apartments'

[renren]

The sims 3 is the only sims that feels the whole social system works. The rich can afford expensive speedy car so even though their home far away from working place it doesn't affect much. Meanwhile the middle-lower class living closer to workplace so the slow taxi /public transportation will not make them late to work.
The sims 2 and 4 while we can make the depiction of rich and poor area it will never affect the gameplay as much as the sims 3.

[cg]

The sims is the only way to live a middle-upper class life for us

[alwaysconfused]

I think we love making our Sims get rich is because in reality, getting rich is often a generational thing. Your parents had money and you can grow that money further by going to university to get into a high-paying career. Your money will get passed down to your kids, and the cycle continues. If your family is impoverished, the reverse is true. If it's not generational, it's still luck based (you need to be in the right place at the right time, AND you need to know how to take advantage of those moments - which is based on if your parents were educated enough to pass this knowledge/skill down to you as a kid).

In the sims, you can reach the top of your career in one lifetime, even if you start off with nothing. Most people reach the peak of their income curve in their 40's to 50's. In the sims, depending on your lifespan, you can do that as a young adult - or even as a teen.

I think we love the rags to riches type challenges in the sims so much because *everyone* can do it.

[liljainanna]

my two favorite things. class consciousness and sims. thank you.

[paperclip]

Man, this is why sims 3 world just looks so appealing to me. Its like each town is a living breathing sitcom set, like truman show stuff, and you're the director. Each town has its own vibe and art direction that delivers its own narrative possibilites. Unlike sims 4 that feels like a hodge podge of different ideas piled on top of each other makes the world feels less cohesive and more like a themepark rather than a real functioning town.

[miffydums]

I never really thought about how money and wealth are so important in every game of the saga, until now, I would love to hear more of this kind of themes and opinions, totally inspired me to play more in those worlds as I play almost exclusively in moonlight falls

[guzid]

8:34 "becoming a celebrity can be quite easy only if you start hanging out with other celebrities even if you don't have any money or any skills or talents" just like in our world

[cammulatterly]

This is such a fun video. There's a lack of sims 3 analysis videos but there's so many for the sims 1 2 and 4 so genuinely thank you

[zohrarora]

The more I learn about the sims 3, the more I absolutely love it and admire the amount of detail put into it. Thanks for making this video, it’s gonna completely change how I play the game!!

[nervosims]

it's so interesting that there was so much thought put into every aspect of this game. especially when it comes to the class divide. when you pointed out that poorer sims in bridgeport had their bars and pubs underground i never made that connection, but it was so eye-opening!

[ellealine]

I spent multiple years only playing in bridgerport and i never realized this. Never even knew that only in bridgeport you can't just talk to celebrities.
It's funny because i literally played by the rulebook. Started out in an apartment, married rich and moved to the rich people area far away from the city.
Great analysis!!! I'm full of love for this game man

[victorvictus]

I've never expected a sociological comment about the Sims 3 but this was very good!

[chaynecooper]

i think there is a far deeper analysis of classism and the sims!! most of the game's systems function around some form of labor and consumerism. however, i think what you mentioned is still great and insightful!

i would love to hear more of your thoughts about the intersection between the sims and other topics!!!

[everythingiseconomics]

You know, in Brazil The Sims 1-3 is rated 16 because of excess consumerism. 4 got rated 12 tho, but by then game ratings were no longer a big deal

[foranzo]

I'm so happy someone is covering this topic!! *Obviously* the Sims reflects real life classism (as a life simulator should) and I think it's seen in Sims 3 BEST. I absolutely love Bridgeport and it's clear the intention behind fame system is tightly-knit with the overall wealth distribution/caste hierarchy, and I'm happy someone highlights it!! This video makes me consider playing in Twinbrook now >>

[therealphantombeats]

This was a perfect breakdown … I love building clubs and bring new building into Twinbrook and Sunset just to see how the town reacts… you literally can turn a slow pace town into a fast paced city… The Sims 3 is an absolute masterpiece..

[olgierda]

The algorithms have truly blessed me with this one since I’m a huge simmer and urban planning freak. Thank you for putting in words for what I somehow sensed and I’ve been thinking about for a while now, as well as making me see some new bits.
I think that even if not done on purpose by the creators, this is a great reflection of real city planning.
Also it would be interesting to check how many of the things you observed in this topic were as easy to spot on for different nationalities: Eastern European here, so when I started playing in the 2000s the sims franchise - even in the storylines that were build on poverty - always seemed just fun and light. I didn’t really noticed that someone was for example living in a basement or with only basic furniture; the things that were supposed to signal the poverty never looked poor enough for me to read it it as clearly (also I was under 12 years old so that might’ve been the reason, lol). Anyway - great video, will definitely look into this topic more now.

[kathham]

Hidden springs was my sims 3 town — as well as twinbrook. I loved playing in cabin-y and rustic places, I always played in the more run down areas—it was just more fun!