How would you like to wake in the morning and be the conscience of the world?

Over the last several years, Maxis has been creating countless simulation games including SimCity, The Sims, and Spore, portraying almost anything from managing a city, a family, and even the evolution of an alien race, respectively. When will Maxis attempt a slightly more controversial title, such as SimStandards?

SimStandards could be a game putting the players in charge of a large group of people, be it a city, country, or perhaps even an entire planet, to create their very own ideal simciety. The player will try to teach what is right and what is wrong to the inhabitants with various methods including what is taught in schools, what the media tells the public, the content of various religions, and, of course, the internet. Variations will occur between groups of people based on region, depending on what they have access to and settings would be available for what previous generations have deemed important. For example, the player can decide the teachings of religion should be more important to their SimCitizens than what is said in school, or to ignore rules all together and pledge total anarchy.

The game will always have a random number of residents that will disobey what is "normal" in the player's SimCiety in order to create disorder, be the norm thinking in a scientific, rational way, or trying to be as drunk and bumbling as possible. It's all up to the player to decide what happens. The point of the game is to try and determine the most appropriate way of dealing with the public at hand and how to have them follow your ideals, while observing what is created and destroyed along the way. Eventually, "hero" characters can be unlocked that serve as a major influence on the SimCiety, be it a well spoken inhabitant, a celebrity of sorts, or a trusted politicion. Some parts of the game could end up somewhat similar to SimCity, but instead of creating a metropolis, the player will program the SimCitizens that will build and run cities themselves. Perhaps, the people won't even build large cities at all. Such a place could stray away from their principles or possibly are not civilized enought to construct such a place. Again, the player determines what sort of world can be created.

The game could even include sub-populations in charge of politics and economics. Players can explore the effects of a difference in values between those in charge and those under control. One could set the public to be caring and charitable, while those in charge of governing the masses might be as ethically challenged as possible, or those in charge of business might have the best intentions for everyone while the rest of the population is greedy and hold on to what they have.

Since this would be a Maxis game, there are no limits to how long a SimCiety can develop and flourish. On the other hand, a world full of rambunctious hooligans might cause the destruction of everyone and everything. SimStandards could be a great game for anyone who has ever wondered "what if people were this way?..."