One Small Question

[cecim2]

To the staff, mods and Admins of this wonderful site,

This question has been on my mind for a while.  However, I could not find a proper section to voice this question.  So, after remaining quiet for quite a while and pondering upon it, I've decided to break my silence and ask:

1)What is the deal with the Sims 3? Does anyone know what the primary differences will be in terms of custom content and the SimAntics behavior?

2)How will the Sims 3 affect the Community as a whole? Will sites (including yours) stay the same?

3)Since I have a mac, the Sims 3 might not come out until 2009, while PC players will have it next year.  So, for the mac folks, what are we going to do when TS3 comes out?

4)What is everyone's opinions about TS3?  I would like to hear the details about this game and how it might differ from TS2 since it already has affected the overall  Sims 2 community drastically.

If I am speaking out of turn, I apologize profusely.  I would just like to know the scuttlebutt regarding this upcoming game because the rumblings of it has already made changes affecting some sites and well regarded members in the Sims 2 Community as a whole.

Thank you for allowing me to ask these questions.

Take care,

Ceci

P.S. If this thread is posted in the wrong place, please feel free to move it where it might fit on the site.

[summersong86]

I'm kinda worried about the same issues as you.  It's not just the money I've put into the expansion packs and some pay content I got last year, and not just the fact I basically pick my computer components on the basis of whether or not they could run Sims2.  What it really boils down to me is TIME.  I don't have much of it and I've taken some time away from my daughter to explore this facet of art as a creative outlet.  I still have loads of stuff I am proud of but lack time and energy to prep for uploading.  I fear a repeat of what I went through with Sims 1--no sooner had I gotten comfortable creating for it and amassing enjoyable content than Sims 2 came out and I felt compelled to abandon Sims1.  

Sims 2 is different because it was a far, far steeper learning curve and this time around, with a small child, I have paid dearly in sleep so I could make time for the little bits I have been able to share.  So I just don't feel the desire to move onto bigger, better and buggier.  Stop the madness, already! LOL.

I'm actually a bit depressed over the prospect of Sims3.  I think Sims 2 gets suckier as it gets bigger and bloatier.  I won't even touch Bon Voyage now after hearing all the difficulties it has caused people.  I've just had my own game crash for no apparent reason just when I finally finished completing 7 custom sims and was trying to get them photographed and uploaded.  

Please please please don't abandon Sims2 just when we finally got it more or less stable up to the first 3 EP's...more or less.  

[kaneonapua]

I am worried about Sims 3 too.  The new SimCity release, SimCity Societies is just plain miserable. If this is how EA maintains one of their best known franchises, I am not looking forward to the Sims 3.

I am spent a month trying to play SimCity Societies and it was just rife with bugs. I knew I was in trouble when the first patch was waiting for me on the day it went on sale.  It took about 2 weeks for me to get it to work on a fairly high end PC with 2 GB RAM. I had to download new drivers and upgrade .net and C++ executables. I can play it now but the game locks up my whole PC until the city gets beyond a certain size. That is kind of the reverse of the problem you would expect.  They finally put up patch number 2 on December 21, way too late and probably after most people stopped caring. If you want to see how bad it is, scan through the titles of the irate posts in the tech support forum.

Perhaps people will keep playing the Sims 2 and making things for it since it looks like you will need a state of the art computer and a lot of patience based on my experience with SimCity Societies. The SimCity Societies graphics are pretty amazing when you can get it to work and you can see the Sims walking through the city. Their walk changes according to their mood. The sad thing is most people won't be able to appreciate all this since they will have to dumb down the graphics to get the game to work on their PCs.

[cecim2]

Summersong and kaneonapua, thank you very much for your answers.

I also apologize for taking a little longer to answer you back.

But, I am very glad to hear from others who have been thinking about this.  From what I've read, I've been totally dismayed about Sims 3.   And, since it will be coming this year to PC, I had wondered what you folks might have to say.  

I am equally dismayed with the possibility that EA might do away with custom content (with the introduction of the stuff packs ). I also am getting comfortable with TS2.  My love is building houses.  And, I am finally learning how to use the game to build things the way I want.  As a result, I'm starting to enjoy it.

Just the thought of a *new game* on top of all these "Stuff Packs" and "Expansion Packs" is very exhausting right now.  I would also hope that they would take a little bit more time.

From what I've heard about TS3, not a lot of the word is good.  

So, that's why I asked.  

I love Sims 2 precisely because it is a game that allows you to design and watch your simmies grow throughout the generations.  I don't know if the new game (from the trailer on You Tube that I saw) will allow you to do that.  In fact, more seems to be emphasized on the "simmies being more alive" (whatever that means).

Again, you have my thanks for answering my question.  

P.S. I did take a look at the support forum, and I am horrified at all the problems!

Take care,

Ceci

[Tenshii~Akari]

At first, I was very excited about the prospect of Sims 3.  The possibility of EA adding more interactions for babies excited me, (mainly with toddlers and children being able to at least take more notice in them, and also for older sims to do more in caring for them other than just standing around holding them, laying them on the floor, and not sitting down with them as so falsely advertised in its earlier development... :roll:) and I was also looking forward to what they could possibly do more with how sims react and everything... even the hopeful thinking I had with being able to mix and match clothes and adjust body shapes like in the console Sims games... now that excitement is just shattered because of EA's greed and stupidity.  :?

After all this hub-bub with SecuRom, not even the newest Free Time EP excites me at all.  Every EP they've made has a doggone patch to each one, and that's a big bother to me.  I know the Sims is a complicated game with so much coding and all, but even so the game's expansions still shouldn't require so many fixes that they miss.  We all know they never fail to do something wrong and half-@$$ed with them (even with the patches, too), so I'm just not going to look at buying it for any reason.  And if that's what they plan on doing for Sims 3, (bugs, glitches, bugs, screw-ups, sticking with Sony and "SuckyRom", patches, more bugs, cover-ups, etc.) then they can keep their product laying on the shelf for all I care.  I'm just not touching it.  :angry7:  

I'll still play the EPs I have and enjoy my Sims 2 for as long as I can, but it's just so disappointing how such a good game can get a bad rap from all the things the company does to it.  It's just not the same, and you can definitely tell even EA isn't as passionate about Sims 2 like Maxis was when they made Sims 1 and found it to be an accidental success.  

[Stelio Kontos]

After seeing how EA neutered SimCity with SimCity Societies, I'm much less excited that I'd normally be for the Sims3. :notsmili: