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Organizing Sim Protests

Shadow Wrought writes "Alternet has an article about how to go about protesting McDonald's in the Sims Online universe. According to the story "A deal struck between Sims publisher Electronic Arts and the fastfood mega-corporation allows Sims players to open up their own McDonald's kiosk and improve their game stats by consuming McD's greasy goodies." This then tells how to vent any rage that such may conjure. Mayhaps a venue to protest other issues as well?"

37 of 566 comments (clear)

  1. Rational for protesting? by egg+troll · · Score: 4, Funny

    Most Sims players are already fat from eating McDonalds and playing The Sims all day. They don't want the shame of having their Sim alter egos puffing up on SimBigMacs and SuperSizedSimFries.

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
    1. Re:Rational for protesting? by Lechter · · Score: 4, Funny

      Perhaps this is foolish optimism, but maybe if hard core Sims players enjoy using their "Simians" (WTF?) to protest corporate greed it will lead them to do so in real life.

      Of course, having only watched others play the game, I look at a story like this and think: "Gee, at least that gives the game some sort of point..."

      Maybe this will give people the courage and the motivation to make their ideas heard, at least somewhere... Or maybe having people live their lives through online characters, protesting online issues, and concerned with their online world will lead to the decline of and fall of human civilization... Maybe it's about time for me to go home, and get ready to go out for dinner...

      I just don't know...

      --
      credo quia absurdum
  2. Re:Uhm... by tomstdenis · · Score: 4, Funny

    Whoa slow down. Common sense? Where did you find that?

    Hehehehe

    I bet it didn't occur to any of the /. crowd todo just that.

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  3. Problem Solved. by cioxx · · Score: 5, Funny

    A simple workaround would be to go "dine" at the particular McDonalds restaurant, spill virtual coffee on player's lap and sue Maxis for damages.

  4. So? by onShore_Jake · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am outraged that they have found a way to keep themselves profitable without charging more. If we don't all get in our comfortable shoes and make protest signs out of recycled cardboard,then the next thing you know we will start seeing animated banners and huge blocky ads on slashdot!

  5. If they don't want to see MacDonalds in game by Captain+Pedantic · · Score: 3, Funny

    Then they shouldn't hang out there. As it is, are these peoples lives so meaningless, that they have to get themselves worked up over a game?

    --

    None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
  6. Could we pay to reverse the effects? by ekrout · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hear me out.

    So, McDonald's wants people to think their food is tasty and fulfilling. We all know that's not true (especially 60 minutes later when you're in the bathroom trying to get their filth out of your digestive system).

    I say we organize anti-ad movements to pay the maker of The Sims to add the following code:

    if(character.justAte(McDonalds)) {
    wait(60, minutes);
    character.CrapBrainsOut();
    }

    --

    If you celebrate Xmas, befriend me (538
  7. They forgot a couple protests... by Tebriel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Virtual women burning their virtual bras....oh...wait...it's a family game.

    Maybe letting people die of heart attacks in at the kiosks and haunting them?

    --
    The Blaster Master Fighting for Truth, Justice, and Evil Pie since 1979
  8. Re:Uhm... by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    WARNING: Your comment "Don't buy the fucking game?" brings common sense into a slashdot discussion. Common sense on slashdot goes against several RFCs.Your karma will be appropriately decimated.

    Thank you,

    The Editors

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  9. Alright! by UncleOzzy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just what we need - SimHippies stinking of SimPatchouli with hygeine meters redder than a baboon's ass sitting around in a SimDrumCircle outside SimMcDonald's because it's SimEvil. Please. Get me some SimTearGas and a SimTaser and I'll have them working the SimFry-o-Lator by SimTomorrowMorning.

    Anyway, there are two problems with The Sims Online, given experience with the current play test: you can't fucking connect; and, when you can connect, it's boring as hell.

  10. Easy Enough by daeley · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just build a swimming pool around your local McDonald's, then include a diving board, but no ladder to get out. Problem solved! :)

    Off-topic note: This is my 500th comment. I asked in my journal what I should do to mark my 500th comment, and somebody (can't imagine who) said I should say this: 'Not few enough to claim I have a life, and not enough to be super cool like gmhowell (who is currently typing number 2694).' So this message is dedicated to gmhowell, poster extraordinaire, to whose lofty heights (up to 2712 comments as of this writing) I can but dream to aspire.

    Besides, he's got FortKnox beat by at least 400. ;)

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  11. sims can't get fat by mr_gerbik · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ironically, there are no fat Sims. Veterans of the original game will know this, and the same is true of the online game. There are various head and body skins that simulate different sexes, ethnic types .. even species.. but there are no various body sizes.

    Maxis (EA) should really turn this into a profitable venture by allowing the Sims to gain weight from eating at the SimMcDonalds.. They could strike a deal with Ballys so that people can work their fat Sims out to loose weight at a virtual Ballys.

    -gerbik

  12. Re:Disgusting, yet strangely compelling by fobbman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Rioting naked UO players? Please reconsider whether you want to be "enlightened" in this manner.

  13. Why not go one step further? by Savatte · · Score: 3, Funny

    and have the characters in Sims sit around all day playing sims where their characters protest Mcdonalds?

  14. The Next Logical Level by limekiller4 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can't wait until they come out with a game in which you take control of a salaryman who plays The Sims.

    Then I wouldn't play that, either.

    --
    My .02,
    Limekiller
  15. Fast Forward to 2005 by fobbman · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maxis has struck so many deals with corporations that players of The Sims discover that their Sims are being oversaturated with commercialism, thereby causing them to buy a copy of "The Sims for The Sims" so that their Sim Family can get away from it all.

    Marketing genius, I say.

  16. They need to finish it up by r_j_prahad · · Score: 4, Funny

    After all that pigging out at MacDonald's, do your Sims end up weighing a simulated 300 pounds each? Do they get simulated atherosclerosis? Sim diabetes? Sim strokes? Sim food poisoning? Do Sim children come down with simulated ADHD?

    Not entirely accurate then, is it?

  17. Rational for plaqueing society? by kalidasa · · Score: 3, Funny

    Umm, that's rationale and plague, folks. A plaque is a small sign. Rational means reasonable or relating to reason. A plague is a widespread disease (and metaphorically a lot of something unpleasant). A rationale is an excuse or reason for doing something.

  18. Re:Uhm... by startled · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you played Everquest, you'd be well aware that half the fun of playing a persistent online game is paying them money while simultaneously complaining about how bad it is.

    In fact, some people buy second or third accounts for the sole purpose of being able to say "I'm going to cancel any day now, watch out!" twice or three times as often.

    Watch for upcoming world-shattering Sims Online events, such as the mass threatened cancellation following the first anchovie pizza nerf, or the mass threatened pizza making work slowdown when a customer service rep says something that isn't very nice.

  19. simPETA is right behind them... by Future+Linux-Guru · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kiosk owners will find one of the business challenges is dealing with virtual nuts who form sit downs and disrupt the business for no good reason at all.

    Maybe the owners will get to own virtual bazookas that fire burger patties...

  20. Oy! by Thud457 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The dining Austrailian philosopher's problem : seven software developers at a table and only one bottle opener!

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  21. GTA3 + The Sims = SimActivist? by omnipotus · · Score: 5, Funny

    New from Rockstar Games: SimActivist

    From the streets of the WTO riots in Seattle to the steps of World Bank in Washington, D.C., your job is to stop globalization where ever it raises its ugly capitalist head. Guide your SimActivist through multiple venues of anarchaic protests! Pickup adhoc weapons of the street like chain-link fences and road signs, or show up to rally with an arsenal of homemade fireworks.

    Invoke your right to civil disobedience, buy SimActivist today!

    --
    "You can't dissect him, predict him, which of course means he's not a lunatic at all."
  22. Related News: Check out this EQ2 press release! by Maul · · Score: 5, Funny

    11/18/2002
    Sony/Verant has announced their partnership with several companies to produce an extensive sponsorship program in their upcoming online RPG, EverQuest 2.

    Players will now be able to interact with several name brands they can associate with in the World of Norrath.

    Verant has released a preliminary list of the new features of EQ2 as follows:

    All armor will be replaced with namebrand apparel. All towns in EQ2 will have an OLD NAVY store instead of local merchants, where players will be able to buy normal clothes. Additionally, apparel designed by several top fasion designers will appear in the game. Only the most uber players will be able to obtain Versace threads.

    PEPSI products have replaced the mundane food and water of EQ1. Players will have to go to the in-game KFC, Taco Bell, or Pizza Hut locations to refill on rations. The in-game stores will also provide Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew rather than normal water.

    Players can now earn extra experience by slaying monsters with brandname weapons.
    There will be a distinct advantage using a CRAFTSMAN Power-Sword Deluxe, rather than a regular sword.

    "We feel that these imrpovements add to the game," said a Verant spokesman. "In EQ1, players had a hard time identifing with the normal items in the game. In EQ2 we are bringing players into a world that is full of the brand names they can identify with. We hope to promote a lifestyle where players can consume high quality goods from companies like OLD NAVY, PEPSICO, and many others both online AND offline!"

    EverQuest 2 is slated for release for fall of next year. Players will certainly be pleased to pay the full MSRP of $60.00 for the game on top of the monthy $17.99 fee with such improvements.

    --

    "You spoony bard!" -Tellah

  23. Re:Interesting Idea by IIRCAFAIKIANAL · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh yeah smart guy? Well what about the plaques that plague society?

    --
    Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
  24. I can see where this is going... by angst_ridden_hipster · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... it's going for Sim Realism.

    Players who have Sim Protests will get their machines Sim Wiretapped.

    Sim players who organize the protests of McVomit's will get slapped with Sim Product Libel suits.

    Players who have too many Sim House Parties will be Sim Evicted from the Sim Neighborhood.

    Players who set up affairs on Sim Hot Date will be Sim Sued for Sim Alienation of Affection.

    Player who have too many Sim Vacations will be Sim Fired from their jobs for Sim Absenteeism.

    Players who go on Sim Safari will get Sim Blood thrown on them by Sim PETA Protestors.

    Then it'll get even worse:

    The people who play "Crush, Crumble & Chomp" with their Sim world will get sent to the Sim Guantanamo Bay for Sim terrorism.

    Players who allow the "incorrect" pairings on Sim Hot Date will be Sim Damned.

    --
    Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
    www.fogbound.net
  25. ... Naked riot? :D by Theaetetus · · Score: 3, Funny
    History has shown gamers that online protest can result in positive change, as exemplified in Ultima Online's 1997 naked riot demanding bug fixes and server upgrades.

    Naked... riot...

    Um, anyone have screenshots?

    -T

  26. Mickey D's Strikes Back by UberOogie · · Score: 3, Funny
    McExec: We're getting some bad press about sponsoring the Sims game. What can we do?

    McExecWithAClue: Quick! Post the story to Slashdot. That will take care of that protest site. Mu-ha-ha.

    --
    "Enough of this wretched, whining monkey life." -- Marcus Aurelius, _Meditations_, Book 9, 37
  27. Kill the employees by mblase · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's fun and easy to kill your Sims. Make your point by targetting the corporate employees specifically.

  28. In other news... by RiscIt · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other new, cases of carpel tunnel syndrome are on the rise as millions of online participants move their Sims avatar back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, and so on, in virtual picket lines

  29. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  30. Virtual Sim Protest by toby360 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Step One:
    Create a lareg "sims" family and purchase a plot of sim land
    Step Two:
    Create a square house with no windows, no doors and a television facing a wall thats turned on so the family can never sleep. Contact EA and eplain that your holding a family hostage in your sim-house and are protesting their McDonalds add-in.
    Step Three:
    ???????
    Step Four:
    Profit~!

  31. Re:Interesting Idea by travdaddy · · Score: 5, Funny

    What if they made a game where you got a better score by shooting people? What happens is that people get densensitized to the concerns about murder. Oh wait, that already happened.

    Nevermind.

    --
    Adidas To Bring Back Sneakernet
  32. Re:Interesting Idea by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or if you elected a Republican, the virtual world would get in SimWW3, you would be SimDrafted and SimKilled. SimWheee!

  33. Re:Uhm... by Dr.+Awktagon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ahh, well you see "not buying the game" actually violates the license agreement. You agreed to this license contract by "referring to the game in a sentence, reading an article about the game, or thinking about playing the game" (paragraph 2). None of those things would be possible without the hard work of the game writers.

    Also, watch your language. You're not allowed to disparage the product (paragraph 23).

    Note also the survivability clause (paragraph 37), which stipulates that "even after termination [of this license], all terms and conditions ... remain in full effect."

    Thank you for your cooperation,

    LawyerDrone

    PS: Every legal paper served by our firm will include a voucher for a FREE McDonalds(tm) cheeseburger. Time is running out, so get sued today!

  34. Re:Nothing makes a statement by Gehenna_Gehenna · · Score: 3, Funny
    Except, of course, staying at home and playing a game about someone who, in order to protest Mc Donalds, stays home and plays games.

    By the way WHEN can I buy the SIMs add on that allows my SIMs to play SIMs? They already work, go on vacation, get dumped women, and kill their pets. Lets go full cirle. It's about time my SIM started spending this money on video games so I don't have to.

    --

  35. Of Course Eating McDonalds increases your stats! by Prien715 · · Score: 4, Funny

    To prove this, I began eating nothing but McDonald's food for the past month. And had an increase in many statistics!
    * Weight -- I went from weighing a pittly 175 to weighing a healthy 350! That's a stat increase of 200% go McDonalds!
    * Running time -- Before I began the all McDonalds diet, I could run a mile in 6 minutes. The McDonalds diet increased my running time by well over 20 minutes!
    * Cholesterol -- Eating McDonalds food dramatically increases your cholesterol intake!

    So, for any of those nay-sayers, I think I have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that McDonalds food does INDEED increase your stats!

    --
    -- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
  36. Re:Interesting Idea by Belgand · · Score: 3, Funny

    I agree... GTA is highly disturbing. After beating a few random pedestrians to death with my bare hands outside the police station after being released and then dispatching some cops in the same manner I'm not able to pop open their skulls and eat their brains like a zombie. What's the point if games refuse to allow me to engage in the virtual cannibalism of my preference?