I managed to access my old NeoPets account. But, I couldn't get far before it wanted me to reset passwords and register for ZenDesk and this and that and... I had enough. I'm not going to start using it again really. It was just a bit of nostalgia. I played with my nephew when he was a very little boy. Now he is 30. Time flies. Funny, I do remember the pets I had, their names and colours. Not a lot else. I found my old account because I've been looking at old blog/ online journal posts and I had the link in one of them. Looking at some of the old stuff is making me sad. I'm almost done though. Moving them from old stuff into here. For whatever reason.

Today I was fired from writing for the Sims Community site. Fired is not the right word because it wasn't so much employment as getting paid a little for writing posts for the website, more like contract work (there's probably another word for it). Anyway, that's not so important.

Here is the note I was left on discord:

Hope you're doing well. I was emailed last night by one of our readers about your Twitter profile containing several negative and harmful remarks about the trans community. While I fully support the free exchange of viewpoints and opinions, I can't in good concience continue to work with someone who actively talks negative about the marginalized community that makes up our reader base, and our team of authors who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

This decision is effective immediately. Any finished content that you've completed for Sims Community that hasn't been paid for yet will be paid when / if you provide the filled spreadsheets.

Wishing you well in your future endeavours, Jovan

Cancel culture strikes again. I was fired for personal posts on a different social media account (I only posted about The Sims 4 on the bluesky social media account I used for my writer profile) by someone anonymous. They must have put in time to dig into my social media accounts. I haven't posted often or lately about women's rights. I guess the anonymous reader felt it was worth their time. Of course, I had no say in the firing. No information about what I actually posted that was so upsetting. But, who am I? Just one of the people who used to "make up the reader base" and thought I would enjoy contributing to the site.

Funny, because I only made 5 posts to the site. How many people actually read or knew about me there, not many I'm sure.

What I've thought about since, after being surprised and disappointed in society in general, is that most people who play The Sims 4 are women. Real, biological women. Also, most of the readers at the site are likely real, biological women. Like myself.

I'm not going to get into posting about the issue of women's rights now. I'm just making note of the facts. Cancel culture is very strong, determined and does not care about facts, understanding, or discussion. (In spite of what they claim).

I don't really care who made a point of digging into my social media and sending it to the site owner at Sims Community. It could have been one of the other writers who strongly supports trans people over biological women. The writing was on the wall really, when I attempted to write about the DEI mod and was denied because I did not write strongly against it and turn the post into a strongly worded advocate for trans political beliefs, bashing all those who disagree, or feel otherwise and don't say much.

Sims Community is just one site, about a game. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter a lot. I won't miss writing for it. I'd begun to lose heart in it after the DEI thing. If you want, you can read the very strong trans positive post they did post instead of mine. I'm not going to link it. (Comments were not allowed with the post).

I think its rubbish really, very slanted and biased. Its not what journalism should be and, I guess, its fair enough for them to post as they like. Its not a site with journalism standards. I'm not intending to backlash or put the site down. There are plenty of sites out to make money by getting people to click on ads, more of them are running AI instead of having people write any more. AI is cheaper and can spew out posts much faster with all the right keywords. I don't think a website, or a game, can have integrity if they push their own agenda so belligerently.

Back to the point about The Sims players mainly being women, biological women. What do we think about the game these days? I'm a player myself. I've bought far too many of the packs, etc. I've spent more money than I even want to admit. It bothers me, as a player, that the game is focused on gender issues far more than I am. If some players want it that way okay. But, there is no option to turn it off, to run the game your way. Why not? The Sims is a virtual dollhouse, run by one person, one player. Why can't I have the dollhouse my way?

Are we being brainwashed by EA, or whoever has recently bought out the franchise now?

What will the new owners bring? I'm curious. If they are of the Middle East culture they may not go with the trans culture and beliefs currently pushed in the game. I've read some people posting about this already, concerned about it, one way or another. I'm not so much concerned as I am interested. I'd feel better about spending more money on more packs and such for the game if the gender politics were removed, or became optional at least. I'm tired of feeling like a biological woman in a trans/man's world.

The most recent pack about imaginary friends for children, I am not buying. It gave me a sick, icky feeling in a game with so much focus on gender control and stereotypes. Of course, its being heavily plugged on the Sims Community site. I won't miss that part of writing there.

This is what I posted to the site owner. It may not have gone through because I deleted his account and the site from my discord account. No point in keeping them around, "effective immediately".

OK. But, I will post that I was fired for posting for women's rights on social media. I have nothing against you or the site, but it makes me angry that people are not allowed to discuss or disagree at all regarding trans issues. Anyway, no point in talking about it, as per usual. You can remove my author profile (if you haven't already) and show my posts as written by an unknown author or whatever you like. I won't send in for payment, that wasn't so important for me.

I'm trying to understand about NFT's (non-fungible tokens). The more I read the more this seems to be some kind of backlash to online games in which you work/grind/farm to get what is essentially a digital image or file, one copy of it, which you in fact do not own.

NFT seems to be a way to own something which you still don't really own. You may have fought, worked, or otherwise feel you own it, but you did not create it so you have no copyrights to the original image/game/whatever digital file it is.

If the original artist does not create an NFT for their image and then agree to sell the rights along with the NFT, what does anyone who buys the NFT really own? Kind of claiming to own something without having any real rights to do so. Or, do they own a copy, like a screen capture of the original, and then believe the artist no longer has rights to the image?

Complicated.

Idle, incremental, and clicker games, are they good or bad for people who obsess about things? Can an online game like Cookie Clicker help you beat the worse (less physically healthy) habit of chain smoking? Maybe. Luckily, I'm not a smoker so I can't test out that theory.

But, I thought I would post about my habit, limited obsession, mild addiction, with idle games. They probably are not healthy but, I do wear out some of my obsessive compulsive energy madly making progress while knowing it really doesn't matter at all. It also doesn't bother anyone, and its been a little secret I've kept hoarded to myself, until now.

What are idle, incremental or clicker games?

Any simple (usually fairly uncomplicated) game in which you increase your score in whatever format: points, gold, cookies, cows, candy... anything. I don't think any of these games have an ending. They just keep going with new additions, features, and fluff. Like so many Facebook games, you work to get stuff but you actually have nothing. Little image files you don't own, no copyrights. Why would anyone play such games, you might wonder. Try one and see. But, don't get addicted to it. Be careful, it sneaks up on you.

How about a list of Idle and Clicker Games to Become Madly Focused and Obsessed With:

• Cookie Clicker
• Candy Box
• Adventure Capitalist
• Crusaders of the Lost Idols

I know there are others. I've played others. These four seem to be the ones I've stuck with, or come back to and stuck with again, and again. At least two of them are also on the Steam site. Most of them are free to play, or to start playing.

My Mother likes to watch game shows: The Price is Right, Let's Make a Deal, Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, and the odd other. Wheel of Fortune is the only game show I haven't seen anyone jump on the host. But they do scream, sometimes. I don't think it is especially encouraged there. But, all the others seem to work people up into a frenzy.

I'm sure its a marketing thing. Getting people to show all that excitement helps promote the products, whatever they are. A game show can have people jumping all over the place and screeching over winning a pen and paper. Then they drop a car into the mix to keep everyone on their toes and crazy excited.

I can see how it works for the shows and the marketing which is what the shows are really about. Selling stuff to the public.

But, all this rabid excitement, the screaming and jumping, isn't good for people. That level of excitement, in our past, would have been over seeing a large predator about to kill and eat us.

Have you noticed TV shows and movies and even commercials are all about excitement. They are louder, more colourful, bigger reactions (over reactions), far more emotions and being very emotional and sensitive. Its all gone over the top.

What kind of people are they turning us into?

Of course, its great for marketing. The goal of marketing is to make people feel they need more stuff. Marketing preys on people, as I have written before. Not just to sell us stuff but to make us feel we really need all that stuff. What would we be without blinding white teeth?

But, the funny thing, watching these game shows, we look more and more like prey. But, there are no big predators, no monsters, right?