The Sims

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

I got the Sims 2 when it came out, and was mildly amused for a while.

Now they've already released 3 add ons.

Normally, I'd ignore these. My main problem is that in many cases you can tell in the original game where people were thinking "ooo, and here we can add this, this, and this. When I look at the features in the add on, I find myself thinking... wow... that's cool, but why wasn't it in the original?

I just wondered if I'm being realistic, or if I'm hard on the Sims because of my negitive feelings towards EA.

[Big Fuzz]

I think it's a very strange split between "we could have given them this on the initial release, but it would have pushed the date back" and "we can make a horse-load of money if we arrange features into themes and charge for them".

As far as I am aware, each add-on in the series gives the little babbling gimps something new to do with their infinitely-better-than-mine lives. First the went to University (I didn't). Then they went and got social lives (I don't have one) and now they have reliable jobs (again, a no).

Yes, it would have been possible to put all these things in a multi-DVD release, but the game would probably still be in development as we speak. It's just a clever marketing scam that breathes a little extra life into a game that would, within a month or so, become very very boring. It's almost like a wave at the fans to say "HI! We're still here! Don't forget your little people!".

[Oath]

No it's just EA being moneygrubbing assholes as always.

I mean, it shouldn't work. People should notice that what they're buying is stuff that, as you said, should have been released earlier, without an additional charge. But obviously a couple of dudes aren't that observant and keep giving their money away without question, so that's what keeps EA's method afloat.

It's not like the expansions cost a lot to develop, when you look at the feature-list it seems like most of them are equivalent of patches for other games, so EA must be making some mean profit and are thus unlikely to stop. I don't really see that many downsides to it actually, other than the annoyance factor for those not interested at all. The people who pay seem to be satisfied, since they get each and every expansion, so it's not like anybody is getting hurt or scammed.

[Redwall]

This sort of thing reminds me of Generals and Zero Hour. The feature that THE GAME WAS NAMED FOR was held back for the expansion pack.

[Big Fuzz]

Surely you don't think that ALL of the ideas that are in the game now were devised at the exact same time as the original game?

Yes, the objects and such like that are added could have been added in during the original development phase, but the expansions to the engine, such as the new types of building, new types of interaction (not just animations, but behavioural interactions) would have been after thoughts. Possibly thought of during the original phase, but not implemented due to time restraints. After all, there were literally millions of people waiting for the game's initial release.

Don't get me wrong, I hate EA with a passion having tested with them for a month. But I honestly don't think these expansions are just an excuse to garner more beans from the players. I really do believe that the folk at Maxis are trying to expand their product in to something more broad and meaningful than a pretty dollhouse. I will admit that I have played the Sims, and as a male gamer, that takes a lot of baws to admit. But I'm not a rabid gotta-have-it-all player that needs every model released on the net. It was a fun game to play for a few hours, but got boring with out things to do. These expansions are things that really do expand the game. I would imagine the things that we are seeing in the new bundles are things that fans have requested and the Devs have obliged.

[miffy495]

I've played the Sims before, but never really managed to get into it. If it were the sort of thing that I could get into, I could see being ok with paying around $10-$15 per pack, but at the price they are, it's just not worth it. I just can't see paying that much for a list of litte features that I can do without. Of course, my sister is hooked and has all the packs, so there must be something to them for those that can get into it.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

Here's a better example of my thought line. When I started The Sims 2, I went to a lot to buy something. My menu set remained, and I thought, "hmmm, I wonder if I can buy a store." They clearly left the hole available.

I bought the new buisness expansion. It's good. (I bought it because of the robots.) However, I found myself cheating right off, as I wanted my buisness to be in my community, and not in the "buisness district."

A store costs between 30-200 K.

I wanted to start a home buisness, and grow until I was rich... but there is a complete lack of a sign that says employees only. I would try to use the bathroom, only to have the customers in it.

I had to wait 10 minutes for my computer to be free just to abandon my home buisness.

The open/closed sign is a good feature, but it needed to allow for individual rooms.

The best feature is the "life time goal," which can keep your sim happy forever.

So far my Sims life has been hard.

1. His shower broke on the first day at 5 pm.... he was forced to stink until 9 am.

2. His garbage can tipped, and roaches ensued.

3. His computer broke. This caused a downward spiral in his world, because I've been trying not to cheat after giving myself the "startup loan." There's no money in the budget to fix it, so the noble Fuzzy tried to fix it on his own.

3.5. The freakin' computer exploded while he was fixing it. I missed that part, because I turned around, but when I came back he was sitting shirtless, charred, and with his hair ascued. Seconds later a theripist appeared, and hypnotized him, I assume trying to repress the memory of it all. He's still recovering.

[-MaSQuE-]

You know it reminds me a quote from videoGaiden, "it's an add-on, or as I like to call them: all the stuff that should've been there in the first place". It's a bit harsh to say but some of those features would have made sense in the original game.

But hey, they got a song by Depeche Mode singed in "Simsian" (sorry, forgot the real name for their language).

[Big Fuzz]

I wanted to start a home buisness, and grow until I was rich... but there is a complete lack of a sign that says employees only. I would try to use the bathroom, only to have the customers in it.

I had to wait 10 minutes for my computer to be free just to abandon my home buisness.

The open/closed sign is a good feature, but it needed to allow for individual rooms.

If you have the University pack, you can use the dorm door to section off the part of the house you want to be only accessible to you. You will need to make a kitchen and rest area for employees though. People will still be able to access your garage, so don't have an internal connection to the house through the garage.

I wish I didn't know this.

OK OK I PLAY THE SIMS DAMMIT!

[Lechimp]

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

This could possibly be the only reason why I'm interested in the expansion BUT how is it compared to the other expansion packs? Does it add anything aside from being able to own a store? And does it still do that thing where if you go to town at 6 pm and stay there a few hours, it goes back to 6 pm when you get back to your house?

Yes, it still has the time warp. This allows you to have a normal career track as well as a buisness.

It adds a few other things, like chemistry (your sim is attracted to certain people.), the lifetime goal, and an on sim inventory. (I'll let you know others as things develope.)

I recommend putting in a cheap bed and shower at the buisness. I've left the game running before and come back to find my sim giving himself a sponge bath in the office sink.

[Big Fuzz]

Put in the communal showers if you have them. That could be hilarious.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

Ok, you can't sleep at the lot. It almost killed Fuzzy to try, as I was stubborn.

However, you can do something better.

If you're like me, and you built a robotics shop, you can build robot sims. (So far this is the best new item I've found. Build them for use, or sell them for $6000.

Robot Sims:

1. Function just like a regular sim, only have fewer needs.

2. Recharge quickly in sunlight.

3. Never age.

The only thing they can't do is be submerged in water.

When I built the first one, I had her go to the lot by herself. She built, and sold, and cleaned... and she was happy about it.

Fuzzy now has 2 robots in his family, a male and a female. They've gotten married.

One is working in organized crime, the other is in science.

I'm trying to max them in everything so that they can live with the McBitty family for generations to come.

[DanJW]

Strange confluences with Bicentennial Man

[fov]

In response to the original question, Sims 2 has a lot of stuff in the core game that Sims 1 didn't have until expansion packs came out (i.e. parties, community lots). They could have made Sims 2 as bare bones as Sims 1 and churned out the same old expansions, but they didn't, and I'm glad about that.

3.5. The freakin' computer exploded while he was fixing it. I missed that part, because I turned around, but when I came back he was sitting shirtless, charred, and with his hair ascued. Seconds later a theripist appeared, and hypnotized him, I assume trying to repress the memory of it all. He's still recovering.

You're lucky. This happened to my first Sim's only son, but he died. In my panic to try to restore to a point before he died, I pressed "yes" when I thought the game was asking if I wanted to quit without saving, when in fact it was asking if I wanted to save before quitting.

His charred ghost still haunts me.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

I need to kill someone off. All of my Sims want to see a ghost.

I turned the aging off for the first generation. I want to hit the lifetime goal, and then reproduce before I let him die.

I wish they wouldn't have let the robots woo hoo... it's weird. I also wish that Fuzzy didn't have double lightning bolt chemestry with the female robot.

(They added a way to tell if your sim found another sim attractive. Up to 3 lightning bolts.)

[Karimi]

Money grubbing.

[fov]

I need to kill someone off. All of my Sims want to see a ghost.

That's funny.

I had a sim who wanted to be saved from death once, for like 8,000 points. He could have really used the points but I was too chicken to try it.

I wish they wouldn't have let the robots woo hoo... it's weird.

That's disturbing.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

I don't know how, I don't know why, but Fuzzy and a robot have a mutual crush.

Fuzzy and a male robot. Fuzzy and a MARRIED male robot.

She got pissed, and beat the shit out of him. Now she's pissed at Fuzzy and her Husband.

Fuzzy has had a hard life.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

Now that Fuzzy is married, the robots randomly attack him and his wife.

At one point several of the Sims had conflicting feelings, ie: Friend-Crush-Enemy-Married