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The Plumbob Report: Paralives Is Here, Vivarium Is Gorgeous, and The Sims Is Still Chaotic · The Plumbob Report

• 0:13
  [Becca Hartwell] And welcome back to the Plumbob Report.
• 0:15
  [Becca Hartwell] I'm Becca Hartwell.
• 0:16
  [Danny Reyes] And I'm Danny Reyes. And oh my gosh, we have so much to cover today.
• 0:21
  [Becca Hartwell] So much. Where do we even start?
• 0:23
  [Danny Reyes] I mean, Paralives.
• 0:25
  [Danny Reyes] We have to start with Paralives.
• 0:27
  [Becca Hartwell] Right?
• 0:27
  [Becca Hartwell] The game hit early access,
• 0:29
  [Becca Hartwell] the Steam Workshop is already flooded with player-made content,
• 0:33
  [Becca Hartwell] and then, wait for it,
• 0:35
  [Becca Hartwell] a surprise free Unpacking collab just dropped at the Wholesome Direct.
• 0:39
  [Becca Hartwell] Direct. That's giving main
• 0:40
  [Danny Reyes] Wow.
• 0:41
  [Becca Hartwell] menu music energy right there.
• 0:42
  [Danny Reyes] Honestly,
• 0:43
  [Danny Reyes] and the dev team published their own known issues list,
• 0:47
  [Danny Reyes] which is like, that's not something you see every day.
• 0:50
  [Becca Hartwell] Transparent devs. Wild.
• 0:52
  [Danny Reyes] Wild,
• 0:53
  [Danny Reyes] right?
• 0:54
  [Danny Reyes] So we dig into all of that.
• 0:56
  [Becca Hartwell] And there's Vivarium!
• 0:57
  [Danny Reyes] Oh,
• 0:58
  [Danny Reyes] Vivarium.
• 0:59
  [Becca Hartwell] Ghibli visuals,
• 1:01
  [Becca Hartwell] Stardew Valley gameplay,
• 1:02
  [Becca Hartwell] dropped out of nowhere at the Xbox Showcase.
• 1:05
  [Danny Reyes] I
• 1:05
  [Becca Hartwell] PC Gamer called it the most pleasant surprise of the whole show.
• 1:10
  [Danny Reyes] have feelings.
• 1:11
  [Danny Reyes] Strong feelings.
• 1:13
  [Becca Hartwell] We know, we all know.
• 1:15
  [Danny Reyes] Plus, we've got a full summer life sim roundup.
• 1:18
  [Danny Reyes] Seed, Moonlight Peaks,
• 1:20
  [Danny Reyes] Cozy Grove, Camp Spirit,
• 1:22
  [Danny Reyes] Fields of Mistria 1.0.
• 1:24
  [Becca Hartwell] And Fourleaf Fields has a gossip mechanic that Danny completely lost it over.
• 1:30
  [Danny Reyes] I did not lose it. I was...
• 1:32
  [Danny Reyes] enthusiastically engaged.
• 1:35
  [Becca Hartwell] Sure.
• 1:35
  [Becca Hartwell] And we've got some Sims 4 content too.
• 1:38
  [Becca Hartwell] An IGN deep dive into a really fascinating Maxis bug story,
• 1:43
  [Becca Hartwell] a lovely Mashable feature on Lil'
• 1:45
  [Becca Hartwell] Simsie,
• 1:45
  [Becca Hartwell] and Sims 2 mods that are somehow still being used in 2026.
• 1:50
  [Danny Reyes] The autonomy really said choose violence and never stopped.
• 1:55
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay, let's get into it.
• 1:57
  [Becca Hartwell] Paralives first.
• 2:03
  [Speaker 3] We want to hear from you.
• 2:05
  [Speaker 3] Submit questions via the web form in the description,
• 2:07
  [Speaker 3] or give us a call at seven four seven six seven seven one zero three seven and leave your question.
• 2:14
  [Speaker 3] Don't be shy,
• 2:15
  [Speaker 3] our AI assistant makes it super easy.
• 2:22
  [Speaker 3] Okay,
• 2:22
  [Speaker 3] so Paralives dropped, and I genuinely don't think the internet was ready.
• 2:27
  [Danny Reyes] Ready?
• 2:28
  [Danny Reyes] Becca, people were not okay.
• 2:30
  [Danny Reyes] Like, the Steam Workshop flooded so fast, it almost broke my brain scrolling through it.
• 2:36
  [Speaker 3] DualShockers ran a piece this week just about the player-made content,
• 2:40
  [Speaker 3] and the volume is wild.
• 2:42
  [Speaker 3] We're talking hundreds of items already uploaded,
• 2:45
  [Speaker 3] custom furniture,
• 2:46
  [Speaker 3] hairstyles, whole room builds.
• 2:48
  [Becca Hartwell] builds.
• 2:49
  [Danny Reyes] In early access,
• 2:50
  [Danny Reyes] that's the thing that gets me.
• 2:52
  [Danny Reyes] The game just started and the community said,
• 2:55
  [Danny Reyes] sure,
• 2:55
  [Danny Reyes] but what if we made more stuff?
• 2:58
  [Becca Hartwell] Which,
• 2:59
  [Becca Hartwell] honestly,
• 2:59
  [Becca Hartwell] that's giving Sims 2 in the best ways,
• 3:02
  [Becca Hartwell] because that community did the same thing.
• 3:05
  [Becca Hartwell] Modders were shipping before the disc was cold.
• 3:07
  [Danny Reyes] And on top of all that,
• 3:09
  [Danny Reyes] there's the Unpacking collab.
• 3:11
  [Danny Reyes] Sims community covered it on Saturday and it dropped the same day as the Wholesome Direct.
• 3:16
  [Danny Reyes] Correct.
• 3:16
  [Speaker 3] A free update,
• 3:18
  [Speaker 3] not paid,
• 3:19
  [Speaker 3] free.
• 3:20
  [Speaker 3] You get new stories and brand new assets from the Unpacking crossover,
• 3:24
  [Speaker 3] and it was just there waiting for you.
• 3:27
  [Danny Reyes] Swell, swell, and also what the heck, because when is that ever how it works?
• 3:32
  [Speaker 3] Right?
• 3:33
  [Speaker 3] Usually we're out here spending $20 on a stuff pack that's mostly one couch.
• 3:39
  [Danny Reyes] One couch and 18 color swatches of the same carpet.
• 3:42
  [Speaker 3] Okay,
• 3:43
  [Speaker 3] but let's actually talk character creation for a second, because DualShockers also published a piece about the customization options,
• 3:50
  [Speaker 3] and I had feelings.
• 3:52
  [Danny Reyes] Good feelings or I'm never touching CAS again feelings?
• 3:56
  [Speaker 3] Both.
• 3:58
  [Becca Hartwell] They broke down 10 genuinely flexible tools.
• 4:01
  [Becca Hartwell] We're talking body proportions,
• 4:03
  [Becca Hartwell] skin details,
• 4:04
  [Becca Hartwell] the kind of granular stuff where you can literally make any character you're picturing.
• 4:09
  [Danny Reyes] That's wild,
• 4:10
  [Danny Reyes] because CAS in Sims 4 has gotten better, no question,
• 4:14
  [Danny Reyes] but there are still moments where you're like,
• 4:16
  [Danny Reyes] I want this one specific nose and the game has four noses.
• 4:21
  [Speaker 3] Four noses, and they're all the same nose with different amounts of regret.
• 4:25
  [Danny Reyes] Exactly. So hearing that Paralives built flexibility in from the jump is kind of a big deal.
• 4:31
  [Speaker 3] I mean, come on. They're a small indie team, and they're coming out the gate with that level of creative freedom.
• 4:37
  [Speaker 3] That's not nothing.
• 4:39
  [Danny Reyes] OK,
• 4:39
  [Danny Reyes] but I do have to play skeptic here for a second, because this is early access and early access means bugs.
• 4:46
  [Speaker 3] Oh, absolutely.
• 4:47
  [Speaker 3] Sims Community published a full known issues list as of June 3rd, and the dev team put it out themselves to keep players in the loop.
• 4:55
  [Danny Reyes] Wait,
• 4:56
  [Danny Reyes] they published their own bug list?
• 4:58
  [Speaker 3] They did,
• 4:59
  [Speaker 3] which is honestly kind of refreshing.
• 5:01
  [Speaker 3] Transparent about what's broken,
• 5:03
  [Speaker 3] actively communicating.
• 5:05
  [Danny Reyes] The autonomy really said choose violence on a few of those, I'm guessing.
• 5:11
  [Speaker 3] There may have been some paras standing around doing absolutely nothing useful while their needs tanked, so yes,
• 5:18
  [Speaker 3] very familiar energy.
• 5:20
  [Danny Reyes] We love that for them.
• 5:22
  [Danny Reyes] No,
• 5:23
  [Danny Reyes] but actually that transparency thing matters because nothing kills early access hype faster than silence.
• 5:29
  [Speaker 3] And the response so far seems genuine,
• 5:32
  [Speaker 3] like the team is paying attention.
• 5:33
  [Speaker 3] It's a small studio,
• 5:35
  [Speaker 3] Alex,
• 5:35
  [Speaker 3] Maxis,
• 5:36
  [Speaker 3] and crew.
• 5:36
  [Speaker 3] And they're clearly watching what players are doing.
• 5:39
  [Danny Reyes] Which tracks with why the community content flooded in so fast:
• 5:43
  [Danny Reyes] people feel like they're building something together with the devs, not just beta testing and hoping.
• 5:49
  [Speaker 3] That's the thing with indie life sims right now:
• 5:51
  [Speaker 3] the community isn't just playing,
• 5:53
  [Speaker 3] they're co-creating, and Paralives is leaning into that hard.
• 5:57
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 5:58
  [Danny Reyes] but speaking of things that made the internet collectively lose its mind this week.
• 6:02
  [Speaker 3] Oh no,
• 6:03
  [Speaker 3] what did you see?
• 6:04
  [Danny Reyes] There was a game that showed up
• 6:05
  [Danny Reyes] showed up at a major showcase and looked almost offensively pretty,
• 6:09
  [Danny Reyes] like the kind of visuals that make you put down your controller and just stare.
• 6:14
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 6:15
  [Becca Hartwell] you have my full attention.
• 6:17
  [Danny Reyes] And here's my question for you.
• 6:19
  [Danny Reyes] When a cozy life sim actually has a mystery hiding underneath all that beauty,
• 6:24
  [Danny Reyes] does that make it more interesting or does the coziness kind of fight the tension?
• 6:30
  [Becca Hartwell] Hmm,
• 6:30
  [Becca Hartwell] that's a good question,
• 6:32
  [Becca Hartwell] actually.
• 6:33
  [Speaker 3] Because those two things can live together,
• 6:35
  [Speaker 3] but they have to be balanced just right.
• 6:38
  [Danny Reyes] Right,
• 6:38
  [Danny Reyes] so what does that even look like when it's done well?
• 6:47
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay, shifting gears a little,
• 6:49
  [Becca Hartwell] because something snuck up on me at the Xbox Showcase this week and I need to talk about it.
• 6:55
  [Becca Hartwell] Vivarium!
• 6:56
  [Becca Hartwell] How did we not see that coming?
• 6:57
  [Danny Reyes] I was literally watching the show.
• 7:00
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 7:00
  [Becca Hartwell] so now I'm like,
• 7:00
  [Becca Hartwell] okay,
• 7:01
  [Becca Hartwell] guns,
• 7:02
  [Becca Hartwell] explosions,
• 7:03
  [Becca Hartwell] another battle royale, and then suddenly it's just a tiny person living in a drawn anime village.
• 7:08
  [Becca Hartwell] My brain did a full reset.
• 7:10
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 7:11
  [Danny Reyes] And then you look closer and it's gorgeous.
• 7:13
  [Danny Reyes] Like,
• 7:14
  [Danny Reyes] PC Gamer called out the Studio Ghibli influence,
• 7:16
  [Danny Reyes] and honestly,
• 7:17
  [Danny Reyes] that's the only way to describe it.
• 7:19
  [Danny Reyes] It's that soft,
• 7:20
  [Danny Reyes] warm,
• 7:20
  [Danny Reyes] golden hour watercolor aesthetic.
• 7:22
  [Becca Hartwell] The Ghibli comp is right there on the surface,
• 7:25
  [Becca Hartwell] but okay.
• 7:26
  [Becca Hartwell] I'll be real for a second. When I first saw it, I was a little like,
• 7:29
  [Becca Hartwell] is this just vibes? Because there are a lot of pretty,
• 7:33
  [Becca Hartwell] cozy games.
• 7:34
  [Danny Reyes] Fair.
• 7:34
  [Becca Hartwell] So what actually pulled you in?
• 7:37
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 7:37
  [Danny Reyes] so here's the thing.
• 7:39
  [Danny Reyes] Kotaku described it as a life sim with a mystery hiding underneath all the coziness.
• 7:43
  [Danny Reyes] Your characters literally living inside a Vivarium and there are secrets buried in that world.
• 7:48
  [Danny Reyes] It's not just farm crops,
• 7:50
  [Danny Reyes] make friends,
• 7:51
  [Danny Reyes] repeat.
• 7:52
  [Speaker 3] Wait,
• 7:52
  [Speaker 3] a Vivarium?
• 7:54
  [Speaker 3] Like, that's the actual setting?
• 7:56
  [Danny Reyes] That's the actual setting!
• 7:57
  [Danny Reyes] You're a tiny person inside a Vivarium, and according to TheXboxHub,
• 8:01
  [Danny Reyes] the story elements involve meaningful choices that affect how that mystery unfolds.
• 8:06
  [Speaker 3] Okay,
• 8:07
  [Speaker 3] okay,
• 8:07
  [Speaker 3] I'm in.
• 8:08
  [Speaker 3] That sim is not okay,
• 8:10
  [Speaker 3] and I mean that as a compliment.
• 8:12
  [Danny Reyes] Exactly the right energy.
• 8:13
  [Speaker 3] So gameplay-wise,
• 8:15
  [Speaker 3] what are we actually doing day-to-day?
• 8:17
  [Danny Reyes] Player.One had a good breakdown.
• 8:19
  [Danny Reyes] It's Stardew Valley-like.
• 8:20
  [Danny Reyes] Ghibli-esque structure,
• 8:22
  [Danny Reyes] farming,
• 8:22
  [Danny Reyes] crafting,
• 8:23
  [Danny Reyes] building relationships.
• 8:24
  [Danny Reyes] But the Ghibli art direction is doing something specific for the tone.
• 8:28
  [Danny Reyes] It's slower,
• 8:29
  [Danny Reyes] more contemplative.
• 8:31
  [Speaker 3] Mm-hmm. Which honestly,
• 8:32
  [Speaker 3] for the Sims fan base,
• 8:34
  [Speaker 3] I feel like that's a direct line.
• 8:36
  [Speaker 3] Like, we already spend 45 minutes decorating one room,
• 8:39
  [Speaker 3] we are built for slow.
• 8:41
  [Danny Reyes] We are absolutely built for slow.
• 8:44
  [Danny Reyes] And I think that's why Vivarium feels like it's talking to us.
• 8:46
  [Danny Reyes] To us specifically. Sims players,
• 8:49
  [Danny Reyes] cozy game people,
• 8:50
  [Danny Reyes] we're cousins.
• 8:51
  [Danny Reyes] Same DNA.
• 8:52
  [Becca Hartwell] The crossover audience is real.
• 8:54
  [Becca Hartwell] Someone who builds a cottage for six hours in Sims 4 is the same person who will absolutely watch a Studio Ghibli movie on loop.
• 9:02
  [Danny Reyes] 100%! And the timing is interesting too because this is coming to Xbox and PC.
• 9:08
  [Danny Reyes] Video Games Chronicle had the confirmed platforms with a
• 9:12
  [Danny Reyes] The 2027 window.
• 9:13
  [Danny Reyes] So it's not a right now thing,
• 9:16
  [Danny Reyes] but it's real enough that people are already excited.
• 9:19
  [Becca Hartwell] Hmm,
• 9:20
  [Becca Hartwell] 2027 is a ways out.
• 9:21
  [Danny Reyes] It is,
• 9:22
  [Danny Reyes] but honestly,
• 9:23
  [Danny Reyes] after this week, with Paralives and early access,
• 9:27
  [Danny Reyes] Vivarium announced,
• 9:29
  [Danny Reyes] it feels like the whole life sim genre just woke up.
• 9:34
  [Speaker 3] Motherlode energy right there the genre just typed in the cheat code and
• 9:38
  [Danny Reyes] The team really understood the assignment,
• 9:41
  [Danny Reyes] all of them, across multiple studios.
• 9:44
  [Speaker 3] it's not just those two like i keep looking at what's coming this summer and it's a lot
• 9:49
  [Danny Reyes] So much. We've actually got a whole wave of releases stacking up.
• 9:54
  [Danny Reyes] Seed, Moonlight Peaks, Fields of Mistria hitting 1.0,
• 9:58
  [Danny Reyes] Cozy Grove Camp Spirit.
• 9:59
  [Danny Reyes] And some of them are arriving faster than you'd think.
• 10:03
  [Becca Hartwell] How fast are we talking?
• 10:04
  [Danny Reyes] Like, July fast.
• 10:06
  [Danny Reyes] Some of them are basically already here.
• 10:08
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 10:09
  [Becca Hartwell] wait,
• 10:09
  [Becca Hartwell] we need to get into that.
• 10:16
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 10:16
  [Danny Reyes] and we're not even done yet, because summer is genuinely stacked.
• 10:20
  [Speaker 3] Like offensively stacked.
• 10:22
  [Speaker 3] Let's just run through it real quick.
• 10:24
  [Speaker 3] Dean Takahashi over at GamesBeat reported that SEED, the massively multiplayer society life sim,
• 10:31
  [Speaker 3] hits early access July 21st.
• 10:33
  [Danny Reyes] July 21st, and that one's been in the works forever.
• 10:37
  [Danny Reyes] The whole build a civilization with strangers premise is either going to be
• 10:41
  [Danny Reyes] to be amazing or completely chaotic.
• 10:45
  [Speaker 3] The autonomy really said,
• 10:46
  [Speaker 3] choose violence,
• 10:47
  [Speaker 3] and that seeds entire pitch, honestly.
• 10:51
  [Danny Reyes] Exactly.
• 10:51
  [Danny Reyes] And then also in July,
• 10:53
  [Danny Reyes] Moonlight Peaks, the cozy vampire life sim,
• 10:57
  [Danny Reyes] Mike Wilton at All Hallows Geek covered this.
• 10:59
  [Danny Reyes] The demo is out right now on PC and Switch.
• 11:02
  [Speaker 3] Wait, the demo is already live?
• 11:05
  [Danny Reyes] Already live.
• 11:06
  [Danny Reyes] Go play it.
• 11:06
  [Speaker 3] Okay,
• 11:07
  [Speaker 3] and Cozy Grove Camp Spirit.
• 11:08
  [Speaker 3] Same month,
• 11:10
  [Speaker 3] July fifteenth,
• 11:11
  [Speaker 3] Jessica Conditt at Engadget had the story,
• 11:13
  [Speaker 3] Spry Fox bringing it to all the consoles and PC.
• 11:17
  [Danny Reyes] Spry Fox-love them-and then August:
• 11:20
  [Danny Reyes] Fields of Mistria hits one point o-according to GosuGamers we're getting marriage,
• 11:25
  [Danny Reyes] kids,
• 11:26
  [Danny Reyes] the
• 11:26
  [Speaker 3] Mhm.
• 11:26
  [Danny Reyes] full package.
• 11:27
  [Danny Reyes] That one's been in early access and people are obsessed.
• 11:31
  [Speaker 3] Right,
• 11:31
  [Speaker 3] and a one point o is a big deal,
• 11:33
  [Speaker 3] that's not just an update,
• 11:35
  [Speaker 3] that's a s
• 11:35
  [Becca Hartwell] Statement.
• 11:36
  [Danny Reyes] Totally.
• 11:37
  [Danny Reyes] And okay,
• 11:37
  [Danny Reyes] I have to talk about Fourleaf Fields because I saw this PC Gamer piece from Andrea Shearon and I immediately texted you.
• 11:44
  [Becca Hartwell] The gossip one?
• 11:46
  [Danny Reyes] The gossip one.
• 11:48
  [Danny Reyes] It's a farming sim and it has a mechanic where you literally spill the tea about other villagers,
• 11:53
  [Danny Reyes] like gossip is a gameplay mechanic.
• 11:57
  [Speaker 3] That sim is not okay.
• 11:58
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 11:59
  [Speaker 3] And honestly,
• 11:59
  [Danny Reyes]
• 11:59
  [Speaker 3] neither am I. I need this game.
• 12:03
  [Danny Reyes] It's chaotic in the best possible way.
• 12:05
  [Danny Reyes] The PC Gamer headline literally said,
• 12:08
  [Danny Reyes] Your secret is not safe with me. And I felt that personally.
• 12:12
  [Speaker 3] Okay,
• 12:13
  [Speaker 3] so we've got Seed, Moonlight Peaks, Cozy Grove, Camp Spirit,
• 12:17
  [Speaker 3] Fields of Mistria at 1.0, and Fourleaf Fields all landing this summer. That's five games!
• 12:24
  [Danny Reyes] Five!
• 12:25
  [Danny Reyes] And each one has a totally different flavor!
• 12:27
  [Danny Reyes] Vampire cozy,
• 12:29
  [Danny Reyes] civilization builder,
• 12:30
  [Danny Reyes] camp vibes,
• 12:32
  [Danny Reyes] farming romance,
• 12:33
  [Danny Reyes] chaotic gossip simulator?
• 12:35
  [Speaker 3] I love that last genre,
• 12:37
  [Speaker 3] chaotic gossip simulator.
• 12:39
  [Danny Reyes] It's a genre now,
• 12:40
  [Danny Reyes] we're calling it!
• 12:41
  [Speaker 3] I mean, look,
• 12:43
  [Speaker 3] between Paralives' Vivarium dropping in 2027 and all of this,
• 12:48
  [Speaker 3] Life Sim fans are eating this year.
• 12:50
  [Danny Reyes] We really are.
• 12:51
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 12:51
  [Danny Reyes] but speaking of which, we should probably check in on our actual Sims,
• 12:55
  [Danny Reyes] because there is some genuinely interesting stuff happening in Sims 4 land this week.
• 12:59
  [Speaker 3] Yes,
• 13:00
  [Speaker 3] and by interesting,
• 13:02
  [Speaker 3] I mean there's a bug story that is going to make you appreciate software engineers in a new way.
• 13:07
  [Danny Reyes] Oh no.
• 13:08
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 13:09
  [Danny Reyes] let's hear it.
• 13:15
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 13:15
  [Danny Reyes] so the Maxis bug story.
• 13:17
  [Danny Reyes] I've been waiting to talk about this.
• 13:19
  [Speaker 3] I could tell.
• 13:21
  [Danny Reyes] IGN actually sat down with The Sims 4 team about why improving infant pickups and put-downs was so hard.
• 13:28
  [Danny Reyes] And the developer basically said solving a bug is 90% of the work,
• 13:32
  [Danny Reyes] just finding it.
• 13:33
  [Speaker 3] Okay, that quote hit different because every time I'm waiting six months for a patch, I'm like, what are they doing in there?
• 13:40
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 13:41
  [Danny Reyes] And this actually answers it.
• 13:43
  [Danny Reyes] The behavior systems for infants are tangled into so many other animations and AI states that pulling one thread unravels something completely unrelated.
• 13:53
  [Speaker 3] That's giving Sims 2 in the best way:
• 13:55
  [Speaker 3] the code is haunted.
• 13:57
  [Danny Reyes] It is haunted!
• 13:58
  [Danny Reyes] Twenty-plus years.
• 14:00
  [Becca Hartwell] Birth of Spaghetti.
• 14:01
  [Becca Hartwell] I love them for being honest about it.
• 14:03
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 14:03
  [Danny Reyes] but speaking of people being honest about their Sims situation,
• 14:07
  [Danny Reyes] Mashable did a whole piece on Lil'
• 14:09
  [Danny Reyes] Simsie this week.
• 14:10
  [Becca Hartwell] Good.
• 14:10
  [Becca Hartwell] She deserves it.
• 14:12
  [Danny Reyes] She turned playing Sims into an actual career and Mashable, like a mainstream outlet,
• 14:17
  [Becca Hartwell] Yeah.
• 14:17
  [Danny Reyes] noticed.
• 14:18
  [Danny Reyes] That means something.
• 14:19
  [Becca Hartwell] It really does.
• 14:20
  [Becca Hartwell] Because five years ago, saying I make Sims content for a living got you weird looks.
• 14:26
  [Danny Reyes] Now it's a Mashable feature.
• 14:28
  [Danny Reyes] The game has always had this massive community and it's finally getting treated like the cultural thing it is.
• 14:34
  [Becca Hartwell] Hundred percent.
• 14:35
  [Becca Hartwell] And it kind of validates everyone who's been here the whole time, you know?
• 14:39
  [Danny Reyes] Okay,
• 14:39
  [Danny Reyes] chaotic closer.
• 14:40
  [Danny Reyes] Sims Community ran a piece about 10 bizarre mods still being used in Sims 2.
• 14:46
  [Danny Reyes] Still in active use.
• 14:48
  [Becca Hartwell] Wait,
• 14:49
  [Becca Hartwell] people are still actively modding Sims 2?
• 14:51
  [Danny Reyes] Not just modding it, using mods that are...
• 14:54
  [Danny Reyes] and I quote,
• 14:55
  [Danny Reyes] "bizarre," like this isn't the polished stuff,
• 14:58
  [Danny Reyes] these are the unhinged ones.
• 15:00
  [Becca Hartwell] I mean,
• 15:01
  [Becca Hartwell] is that comforting or alarming?
• 15:04
  [Danny Reyes] Both?
• 15:04
  [Danny Reyes] I'm going to go with both.
• 15:06
  [Danny Reyes] The Sims 2 came out in 2004,
• 15:08
  [Danny Reyes] and there's still a whole ecosystem of weird little mods just living their best lives.
• 15:13
  [Becca Hartwell] Honestly,
• 15:14
  [Becca Hartwell] that's the community in a nutshell.
• 15:16
  [Becca Hartwell] EA could do anything and Sims players will find a way to make it stranger and more specific.
• 15:22
  [Danny Reyes] The Autonomy really said,
• 15:23
  [Danny Reyes] choose violence,
• 15:24
  [Danny Reyes] and Modders said,
• 15:26
  [Danny Reyes] hold my Plumbob.
• 15:27
  [Becca Hartwell] That's the whole franchise in one sentence.
• 15:31
  [Danny Reyes] We love it.
• 15:32
  [Becca Hartwell] We really do.
• 15:33
  [Becca Hartwell] And honestly,
• 15:34
  [Becca Hartwell] if you're listening and haven't booted up your game in a while,
• 15:37
  [Becca Hartwell] consider this your sign.
• 15:39
  [Becca Hartwell] There's always something weird waiting for you.
• 15:41
  [Danny Reyes] The Plumbob is always spinning somewhere.
• 15:44
  [Becca Hartwell] Always.
• 15:51
  [Becca Hartwell] Okay,
• 15:51
  [Becca Hartwell] that's a wrap on this one.
• 15:53
  [Becca Hartwell] And honestly,
• 15:54
  [Becca Hartwell] what a week for life sims.
• 15:56
  [Danny Reyes] Right?
• 15:57
  [Danny Reyes] The Steam Workshop flooding with Paralives content basically the second early access dropped,
• 16:03
  [Danny Reyes] the Vivarium reveal doing a full brain reset at the Xbox Showcase?
• 16:07
  [Becca Hartwell] Danny's face when that tiny Studio Ghibli village appeared after all those explosions?
• 16:12
  [Becca Hartwell] Chef's kiss.
• 16:13
  [Danny Reyes] I stand by my reaction.
• 16:15
  [Danny Reyes] Completely valid.
• 16:16
  [Becca Hartwell] The big takeaway this week?
• 16:18
  [Becca Hartwell] The life sim genre is not what
• 16:19
  [Becca Hartwell] Not waiting around for anyone,
• 16:21
  [Becca Hartwell] new voices,
• 16:22
  [Becca Hartwell] new games,
• 16:23
  [Becca Hartwell] and the community is already building before the devs can catch up.
• 16:26
  [Danny Reyes] Which is kind of beautiful,
• 16:28
  [Danny Reyes] actually.
• 16:29
  [Becca Hartwell] So if you loved this episode,
• 16:31
  [Becca Hartwell] subscribe wherever you're listening,
• 16:32
  [Becca Hartwell] drop us a review,
• 16:33
  [Becca Hartwell] and find us on social at PlumbobReport.
• 16:36
  [Danny Reyes] Share your wildest Sims stories with us. We want to hear everything.
• 16:40
  [Becca Hartwell] Thanks for hanging out with us.
• 16:42
  [Becca Hartwell] Sul sul,
• 16:43
  [Becca Hartwell] simmers.
• 16:44
  [Danny Reyes] Sul, sul.