The Alphaville Herald

Interview with EA’s Jeff Brown

by Alphaville Herald on 13/04/04 at 11:10 pm

EA’s Vice President for Corporate Communications, Jeff Brown, recently agreed to answer questions from a reporter from the Michigan Daily. Following is an excerpt from the interview that was prepared for publication in the Daily and leaked to the AVH. We will call the reporter “Woverine.” The interview is pretty remarkable given that Mr. Brown claims the following:

(i) that the Alphaville Herald, fan sites, and player-run radio stations are “part of the fiction of the Sims Online” – implication being both that they are fictional and that EA has the right to control their content.
(ii) that “despite the chat, despite the sign on the door, there is nothing that game charactors [sic] can do that even approximates sex or S&M.”
(iii) that ”Simoleans on eBay is the exception that proves the rule: outside of the game, Simoleans have insignificant value.”

Wolverine: Why do you contend that Ludlow is a “pretend journalist?” I liked your Monopoly example, but he wasn’t running a newspaper in game (at least, that wasn’t his only newspaper). It was a real online newspaper. Is it fake because he’s writing about a video game? Would you say that all blogs are fake journals?

Jeff Brown: Ludlow’s “Alphaville Herald” was one of the many newspapers which, like player radio stations, are linked to an outside site but are run and promoted as part of the in-game fiction. Players chose to run newspapers and radio stations as income generating activities. To that extent, we consider these to be part of the fiction of The Sims Online.

Wolverine: You say there is no sex. As Kenneth Starr forced us all to admit, reproduction isn’t the only kind of sex. Does cyber-sex count as sex?

Jeff Brown: I’m not sure you understand; there is no sex in the game. These conversations, and brothel signs that have Ludlow so freaked out, only that, conversations and signs. Let me give you an example: in chat, you and I can agree to do something lewd, and I can even promise to pay you some Simoleans. But when our charactors [sic] meet in the room, they can’t do anything more lewd than shake hands, hug, slow dance and lay on a bed next to one another. We can do that and call it a sex act, but the fact is, the charactors [sic] within The Sims Online are not capable of committing sex acts.

I urge you to go into the game, and then into one of the locations that professes to be based on S&M. The house is probably done in a castle mottiff [sic], there may even be cages. Players can chat about off color topics and unless one of them complains, we don’t intervene. What you see is, players agreeing to clean and cook dinner for others. But most importantly: despite the chat, despite the sign on the door, there is nothing that game charactors [sic] can do that even approximates sex or S&M.

Wolverine: You wrote, “Simoleans which, like Monopoly money, have no real world value.” Are you aware of the Online Exchange Banks and eBay trade? It would seem as if Simoleans have a very real value, complete with its own fluctuating exchange rate.

Jeff Brown: No doubt, even Monopoly money has some value to enthusiasts. However the limited amount of trading in Simoleans on eBay is the exception that proves the rule: outside of the game, Simoleans have insignificant value.