The
career tracks in The Sims are admittedly bland and typical of a stereotypical "soulless,
capitalist society". But an official, "work for the man" job isn't the only choice available to your sims.
One
alternative to a traditional
career is
freelance artistry; a sim with lots of "
creativity points" can live comfortably by selling one picture a day. They have more free time, and have fun "working," too. This source of income surpasses the lowest paid jobs, and gives your sim the same freedom any real-life freelance
worker would have.
Contrary to popular suspicion, the game itself isn't overly geared towards a typical
capitalist lifestyle; this is evident from the remarks in the descriptions for highly paid jobs ("better pay, but will there be time left for your family and friends?") and the sims' actions - movie stars have a higher propensity for
bragging than
sports mascots in fluffy
tiger suits. The sims themselves are geared towards the
path of least resistance. Painting for a living isn't viable until a sim can paint, but a sim can pick up a
newspaper and get a job straight away. In some subtle aspects, The Sims is an accurate reflection on
western society. Rampant materialism will only devour you if you allow it to.
On a more general note, I've found The Sims a rewarding game to play from the standpoint of examining its behavioural algorithms. To date, I have watched two sims (at different times, from different
households) apparently commit
suicide after missing their
carpools by about one minute. In both cases they changed for work, watched their
car leave,
screamed for several minutes, curled up in the
foetal position and died. At the time, I was utterly
disturbed.