By Kieron Gillen on October 12th, 2009 at 10:56 am.
We’ve mentioned Roburky’s Alice And Kev before, in the Sunday Papers. In fact, since it went fully meme-active, you probably saw it… ooh, almost anywhere. However, it’s actually drawn to a close with a final entry, which is a moment I think worth bringing to your attention. If you haven’t been following, it’s the often touching story of Roburky trying to play a homeless parent and child in the Sims. Kev is the worst dad in the world. Alice is the sweet hearted innocent who is defecated upon at every turn. And if there’s a finer piece of extended games writing this year… well, we’ll have been very lucky. Go.
12/10/2009 at 11:22 Thirith says:
Alice and Kev was surprisingly poignant and well written, although some of the fan reactions (the ones along the lines of “OMG, this is soooooo saaaaad!!!!”) struck me as silly hyperbole. You should never judge anything by its worst fans, though.
12/10/2009 at 11:37 Scalene says:
I *loved* this blog.
Made me go out and grab The Sims 3 – so why not support the people who make such a great advertisement for the game?
(And RoBurky deserves an award. Or something. He’s masterful.)
12/10/2009 at 12:04 Fede says:
It has really been an awesome ride.
Thanks, roBurky!
12/10/2009 at 19:01 Pags says:
ThoBurky.
12/10/2009 at 14:23 Wanoah says:
Glad to see this wrapped up. This sort of thing always makes me feel really good about gaming in general, and hopeful for the future.
12/10/2009 at 14:36 LionsPhil says:
What a neat little tale of computer-assisted tragedy.
12/10/2009 at 15:11 lumpi says:
Best fan-made story made out of a game since Concerned.
12/10/2009 at 16:48 Pl4t0 says:
I am amazed by the power of the Sims 3 to tell a story like this; near the end it practically made me cry. It’s a testament to the power of PC Gaming.
12/10/2009 at 19:38 matte_k says:
Kudos, RoBurky, that blog’s been a good read over the last few months, equally sad and insanely funny. I shall miss Kev, in a random way :D
12/10/2009 at 19:58 Vinraith says:
Not having played the latest Sims incarnation I’m kind of curious how much of the behavior described is autonomous and how much is the author shoving things in the desired direction.
12/10/2009 at 20:04 Rei Onryou says:
ThoBurky! A brilliant and well written diary. Although the meme appears to have passed me by. Someone care to fill in the blanks?
12/10/2009 at 21:19 roBurky says:
Kieron just means that it got a lot of reportage in newspapers and mainstream news sites / publications.
12/10/2009 at 20:16 Kadayi says:
It was bound to end in tears eventually. Kevs epic meander across the game world like for days like a lost prophet was probably the stand out moment for me, principally down to the lovely framing of the screenshots.
Wonderful as the new personality options are in the Sims 3, it seems to me that one of the problems is that the Sims don’t necessarily learn from bad behaviour. Once their traits are defined they are stuck that way which is a bit of a shame (and rather sad really).
It would of been great to see Kev come back from his self imposed exile a changed man, kind and benevolent having set his deomons to rest, but life doesn’t work like that in Sims 3. Maybe in Sims 4 the Sims personalities will evolve over time, rather than just their relationships.
12/10/2009 at 20:55 Pags says:
I definitely thought that, as it went on, the quality of the screenshots definitely helped with the storytelling, particularly during Kev’s end-life crisis.
12/10/2009 at 21:09 roBurky says:
Yes, I find it disappointing that there’s no opportunity for character development in The Sims 3.
There’s the mid-life crisis reward you can buy to completely change a character’s traits, but I think a reward to change one single trait would be a lot more interesting.
13/10/2009 at 00:01 Kadayi says:
@Roburky
True that. Probably what I’m angling for is more for personality traits to drift/shift outside of player action in a response to the relationships the Sims and their general well being. Certainly Sims experience mood shifts, but they invariably rubber band back to their default positions. The possibility that a happy go lucky Sim just might transform into an evil klepomaniac , or vise versa in response to good/bad fortune simply as a result of how their life is going I think would make for a much more compelling game (sad to say I simmed like crazy for a month after release, then kind of lost interest when those limitations sunk in..). Still I’ve enjoyed your blog, its been an epic tale. I might try and renew my interest in the game later in the year.
Yes You’re right, I’m deliciously evil
12/10/2009 at 21:38 y2rich says:
Awesome story roBurky. Definitely got me back into Sims 3 after a bit of a haitus. Time to finish Alices story!
13/10/2009 at 10:56 Gap Gen says:
Excellent stuff. I shall have to dabble in Sims 3 – I shamefully haven’t touched a Sims game before…
13/10/2009 at 11:18 Thirith says:
I played The Sims 2 intensely for a week or so and haven’t touched it since. Reading Alice and Kev, I’d say that I appreciate the Sims games for what they do, but I’d get more enjoyment out of reading or watching what others do with it than I would out of playing it myself.
14/10/2009 at 14:51 Cian says:
My favourite bit of Alice and Kev coverage was seeing it mentioned in the Pavement, a free, monthly magazine distributed amongst rough sleepers in London. Good work Roburky.
15/10/2009 at 01:03 Duffin says:
A touching end to a cracking blog.