IP: Re: Markoff is God (or maybe Will Wright is)

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 09:21:13 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Gerald A Ballman <ballman () nadn navy mil>
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: Re: IP: Markoff is God (or maybe Will Wright is)
>
> My wife purchased this game (The Sims)and often plays it.  I have played
> it and found it to be intensely amusing at first then boring after a time.
> Actually, I don't believe there is a virus that causes deliberate problems
> in the game, it's actually a designed component.  In fact the designers
> call it a chaos generator.  It's intended to throw a curve ball in the
> best player intentions. Basically it mimics some of the realities of life.
> Burglars break in and steal property, people die, appliances break, fires
> start around the house, characters get fired from their jobs, etc. The
> truly interesting component of the chaos generator is the fact that as the
> character is educated (mechanics, cooking) they are able to quickly repair
> broken things themselves without calling the repairman (thus avoiding the
> depletion of their money supply) and get job promotions.  The more the
> character learns about cooking, the less likely they are to start fires in
> the kitchen. They can practice giving speeches in front of the mirror and
> build Charisma points which help them get job promotions.  Basically the
> more educated the character, the easier the game gets to play.   It's only
> after the character becomes fully educated do they become truly boring.
>
> Like Real Life?
>  :-)
>
> Jerry Ballman