Monday 5 June 2000

Pic of the day: Baby trees in sunshine. These small ones grow with a fabulous speed this summer. Especially the pines seem to have a glory time.

Scattered thoughts

Confession: At 23:20 (11:20PM) I haven't thought of what to write in today's entry. This is unusual - on average I write ca 2 entries a day, and some of them are edited several times over. To quote my favorite RPG: "The Mages Guild is nothing if not conscientious."

But last night I was the recipient of not just one, but a whopping TWO e-mails! Have I mentioned that I love e-mail? Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about those and my replies. And I've been thinking of my novel (and writing a little). And I've been playing The Sims. And I've been sleeping. And I've become a customer of SkandiaBanken.no (Norwegian residents only). This despite them using a browser-dependent ASP thingy. In banks, cheapness is not necessarily a bad thing. (Though stupidity may be. I'll find out which is which, given time.)

***

Playing The Sims, I have reflected on their oligarchy of needs. These are: Hunger, comfort, hygiene, bladder, energy, fun, social, room. However, not all needs are created equal. If all the need bars are half red, the Sim will likely run for food first. (Personality type and training may modify them, but food seems to be the top priority.) Comfort is also fairly popular. On the other end of the scale, most Sims will not go to bed before they are swaying on their feet. (Much like me.) And the state of their estate, as it were, does not bother them overmuch either, though the neat ones may pick up dirty dishes. If a need falls to near totally red, the Sims panic. They stop doing whatever they were about to do, scream loudly and wave their arms. That does not necessarily mean that they do something about it, though.

I take it that the Sims are modelled on the supposed American customer?

I think I have a similar but slightly different oligarchy of needs. To the Sims, all fun is created equal, some is just more concentrated. So painting a picture and playing a computer game are both fun, but they will generally prefer the computer, given the choice, because it is more fun. Me, I have a need to express myself, a need to create. If I don't feed it for the longest time, I get problems too. When I was younger, I think I might have gone stark raving mad if I hadn't had a typewriter. I would write and write and write. I'm feeling better now, but part of it is that I have so many outlets of creativity now. From RPGs to JPGs. If I were locked up with no computer and nothing to write on, there would probably not go many days before I would scream and wave my arms and make faces, too.

Glaring omission: Sims don't need sex. I can see how a family friendly game (for American values of family) would try to evade this issue. Adult Sims can have romances, with kissing and some fondling of backsides. But that's it, and more disturbingly, it's just a powerful social interaction. (Well, and a way to summon the stork.) Sims don't really need a spouse - they do just as well with a roomie or even a kid. (Pets don't help, though, at least not yet. Updates come each Thursday.) I can see how discretion is the better part of marketing, here, but the sad fact is that some people seem to need sex in some form. While others of us need prayer fairly regularly. And a lot of folks need both. Unlike the Sims, humans don't live by electrons alone.

Oh, and yesterday I noticed what were the last words in the Sims instruction booklet, before the appendices:

They want it all..

(Yes, this is intimately connected to the heading of today's entry. Heh. Think of it as a birthday present.)

***

Confession: I don't recognize Britney Spheres, neither voice nor picture. I associate it with "English-speaking female teen singer", but that's pretty much it.

And some people say I'm not old yet...