More than 200 million gamers have played The Sims since the game’s inception in February of 2000. And one may think, that over the last 21 years, Maxis and Electronic Arts have come up with every kind of feature available.
But the latest update will have something new and kind of dastardly. Called “neighborhood stories,” the feature will allow you to talk your neighbors into major life decisions.
In the past, gamers who became bored with the lives of their own Sims characters could take over the lives of other characters. In the latest incarnation, you don’t have to do that. You can just talk them in and out of important choices.
An EA developer explains:
“Neighborhood Stories begins with gameplay divided between life changes that your sims can influence neighbour sims to consider, things neighbor Sims autonomously consider, and some that fall into both categories.”
And just because you can influence the decisions of the people next door does not mean that you have to give them good advice. In fact, there are two different ambitions. One is called Villainous Valentine where you receive credit for talking your friends into bad decisions. There is also Neighborhood Confident, where you are rewarded for being helpful.
And just because the gamer is trying to be a meddler in the lives of others doesn’t necessarily mean that it is going to work. Whether or not your friend takes your advice is dependent upon your relationship with them.
The feature will debut on The Sims 4 beginning on November 30th
