Insimenator.org

So sorry for the double post but...

I guess I'll start by saying I don't like the fact that when your at the top of something (Enthusiasm) you glow. It would be fine if you had that option but for storytelling and stuff, that might not come in handy.

I'm also not a big fan of the already chosen Hobbies. It's cool under some circumstances but in few it's kinda contradicting.... Even if there was a cheat or something it would be better.

Also there are a lot lacking in the science department, Hobbie wise. Starting off all I could find is ants and the telescope, and in the day time I hate spying on people because they come over and slap you and Sims get tired of the ants after a minute or too.

The constant phone calls and that random dude showing up at the house is a little annoying too. I just don't get his purpose. I know he gives you the Sims 3... but showing up at every house gets a bit annoying.

I do like the fact that there are sports and you can gain points for doing everyday stuff. "Fixing broken items, Raking leaves"

So far it's an Alright EP for me! :)

Is Free Time one of the best EPs?
I guess the answer to that is really determined by what you want to do with the game.  For some people, just collecting custom content is enough.  For some, it is all about building great lots.  For me, it is about my Sims doing real life things like exercising and playing sports, having hobbies like car restoration, cooking, writing, and playing with model trains (things I do in real life).  I don't think I will be all that enthusiastic about ballet and playing music, since I don't do those in real life. All in all, this EP does add a dimension of play to the game that adds to the verisimilitude and game immersion in the same way that Nightlife added the romantic activities of dating and Seasons added the aspect of seasonal change and weather.

I could do without most of the new Free Time NPCs and all the goal-oriented overhead of the hobbies, but that's EA, they think in tiny, little boxes arranged all in neat rows.  I could have done without the Genie... and most of the other craptastic "creatures".  I really have no use for anal-probe-wielding aliens, brain-eating zombies, blood-sucking vampires, etc.  If I was into that scene, I'd probably hang out with more lawyers.

Game immersion is a different experience for everyone, we approach the game with different goals, so it's impossible to say that this EP will please everyone, it obviously won't. All I can say is that Free Time adds something that has been conspicuous by its absence more than it adds something demanded by the fans: Another layer of complexity to make both the Sims and the lives they lead more like the lives we lead.  If you play The Sims 2 to escape life, then you don't need this EP, you can do quite well without it, in the same way that anyone who has ever worked with the public would think that the additions made by Open for Business are about as much fun as working a ten hour shift at the mall.

University is a mixed bag -- I honestly only install if for the objects and additional want slots, the university experience of the Sims ain't nothing like my real experience of it, so the University EP is just a toilet-humour driven American movie to me.  The Pets EP is utterly useless fluff, the little crescent of skin that sticks out between your thumb and forefinger is more useful to the game than Pets EP.  After all the marketing hype for Bon Voyage, the single addition I find of any use in BV is the beach lots and the beach & camping objects and interactions -- the rest could be dropped into my system dustbin without remark.

I think everyone knows by now that I am very critical of EA. I openly and cordially hate them and want every man and woman among them to die of ass cancer; so, when I say I like Free Time EP... well, I feel like I am selling my soul for pocket change to buy a "40" of malt liquor... I still like Free Time.  Maybe I have the brain worms after all.

Is Free Time one of the worst EPs?
Certainly not, the Pets EP holds that title far above all others. see above for more commentary

Is Free Time worth the money?
I would say yes, simply because it finally gave me many of the things I have wanted since day one: male oriented activities that allow my guy Sims to act like guys.

What are your favourite things about Free Time?
"Guy" stuff interactions, there are far, far too few of them to suit my tastes.

What should have Maxis done differently?
I'd have been in Heaven if EA had added real boxing matches, American football, ice and field hockey, lacrosse, tennis, hand-ball, volley-ball, competition swimming, jai-alai, REAL water-skiing, and tobogganing... in other words, if they had left every single female-gender-biased item out of the EP and gone over-the-top male-stereotype.

Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches?
No, but I don't use many hacks or mods. I have a total of four mods that I use: Lizzlove's no privacy mod, LizzLove's no jealousy at all mod, Merola64's multi-purpose painting, and InSIMenator.  Since I knew that there would be issues with InSIMenator, I pulled it out and not so much as a hiccough.  The EP has performed without a single defect or bug for me... the first EP for The Sims 2 to ever do so.

Any advice for those still on the fence?
If you want hobbies for your Sims, get it, if not, pass it by, it's your decision, it's really about what you want from the game.

Haha, you're definitely not the only one who thinks that.

As for me, i don't think it's one of the best EP's, or the worst either.
It's okay, i really hate those idiots showing up at your house at random times aswell.
The hobbies are also okay, could have been made more interesting i guess, being  "In the Zone" is stupid though, the whole glowing thing.
I would have loved to see some more hobbies though aswell, volleyball would have been cool, and some martial arts, like Karate. And surfing would have been cool, or knowing EA... They could have merged it with NFS and put street racing in it LOL :D
Shockingly enough, i don't have any glitches with this EP, i removed all my hacks, and i'm gonna try them out a couple at a time to see which ones work.

Umm... What's with the Genie? Has anyone seen that "creature" yet?
I only like vamps from NL anyway, since i have some twisted little thing for anything vampire-related.

Any advice for those still on the fence?
Look at the screenshots, read all the topics about it you can find, and then decide when and if you wanna get it.

So I happen to be an attorney and into that "scene" ...what does that say about me Beosboxboy?

Duncan

there's a lot of fun features with this EP. some I've missed terribly (like football, though I hate football/soccer in real life, it's fun seeing them play :D). it's also fun that the toddlers can do more, and the clothes for them are really cute. I miss a few new hairstyles for them, though. I tested the game yesterday, and still didn't get through everything (like secret lots and such).

so yes, I love it!!! (exept for the little ingame screenshot problem I've got, but it might be something else than a bug. does anyone know what it might come from?)

I'm really enjoying it so far.

so far seasons is still my favorite and I have all the EPs, including freetime

I am mostly reading this thread for everyone's opinion on the EP so that I can decide whether I'll be getting this EP or not. Beosboxboy, I had to laugh at your comment about EA dying of ass cancer! I mean you have a right to express your opinion but isn't that just a little extreme? :) Anyway has anyone done anything with the "seconary aspirations"? How well do they work? I'll probably go ahead and get this EP because I am a Sims 2 ho!

I've never had a problem with an EP before. And I always just left my hacks in when I installed it.

So I took them out this time. And I was able to play it after I installed them, and then it suddenly stopped.  So now I have to take them out again, I guess.

I love it :D I'm with you on the lack of science-y stuff - pretty disappointing really, but the rest of it I'm happy with. I even have a certain affection for the present guy because it means I can scrape up a bit more money for some of my less fortunate sims.

My big thing is the family oriented stuff, like the toddler activity table and *new* clothes not to mention the new interactions. And I love the car restoration :D Not to mention the basketball and soccer!

The pre-chosen Hobbies annoy me though, just about every sim I've played so far has "Tinkering" or whatever that is. Really grinds on me.

Overall, I think its easily the best EP and you'd have to pry it from my lifeless hands to get it away from me *lol* :D

they "choose" those hobbies according to personality if I'm not mistaken. just make sure they all have different personality point levels, and they'll choose a different hobby.

oh, and I have to say I love the fact that toddlers suck their thumbs. it looks soo cute! and that children can learn toddlers songs is just as cute! I love all the new toddler things, and of course everything else. not a single thing I won't use here. FT is definitely worth the money, in my opinion.

and the "call on aliens" action is just hilarious - though I had to try for a long time before he finally got abducted. he got the cutest alien baby ever in my game, too :D

The toddler are a lot more cuter and I'm in love with he nursery rhymes. :)
The thing that is most annoying is that every time my sims are studying something just because they need it for their promotion, I have a bunch of people in my house and they get a bunch of phone calls who wants them to subscribe to magazines and stuff.

Well, I'm mostly into Open for business, to me it's my best sim game.
free time, I won't be getting this EP, cuz i just don't want too many sim games on my PC. Free time looks interesting, but not for me at the moment, I'm more interested in Changing my NPC,Townies,Downtownies and College Students to Real people. In my game, I'll say that maxis is dead lol.

Personally i love Freetime, way more than i do Bon Voyage..and Pets...and University, simply because once my teen sims go to college i rarely even play with them anymore *so sad* and with Bon Voyage its like...they go on vacation and i get bored :x

Freetime should've been the first or second EP, ive found myself more driven to play the sims after i installed it then i have since Nightlife came out. Somethings i don't like at all about the EP is the fact that those club memeber NCPs walk into your house weather your doors and locked or not and just...stare at you. Onetime my sim was sleep and apparently he got a membership to a club and the creepy NCP stood over his bed for hours then walked away.

I don't like that hobbies are kinda like goals, instead of things to do and im really not pleased with the natural talent random..select thing. o___o my sim likes painting and dancing why is her natural talent sports when she has no interest in it? but thats somethin small. Another thing that bugs me is the colors of the custom car that your sims build, their kinda ugly and bland, expecially since black comes with this ugly fire design on the side.. but im sure someone will fix that as well

I also like the fact they added more games for gamer sims as well, because installing some of the custom games that people create gives me a headache trying to install. Sims can play sports now, so ya'know. Sports parties have more use. And i like that sims can watch movies. Random crappy movies, but movies none the less.

uhmm..overall its really good, i love it. its just hard to play when ya don't have your InSIM and Teen installed cuz...teen sims can't woohoo and get pregnant so their stuck with jus makin out. but overtime when people start to really get into the hacks and CC for it, it'll be better...

did i make sense?

Is it one of the best EPs?
Its up there! Not THE BEST but its one of my top favs

Is it one of the worst EPs?
nah. Pets take the cake

Is it worth the money?
Yeap

What are your favorite things about Free Time.
i like to make my male sims get shirtless and work on a car...to be honest.

What should have Maxis done differently.
make it less goal driven, take out some NCPs...put a little bit more effort into the overall design and concept.

Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches.
actually i am, but im not sure if its cause of my hacks or what. but apparently when my sims leave the lot on their car (ex. goin to school, work, community lot, takin a spin) and when their comin back. my game freezes for about 5 seconds. and then resumes. it gets kind of irritating expecially when im busy with other sims.

Any advice for those still on the fence?
if you got all the other EPs, you might as well get this one and complete your collection o___o;;; its better than Bon Voyage IMO

It's one of the best for me, and it was worth the money. I have played on it quite a lot and there is still lots for me to do. I aint sure what I do rate as the best, one doesnt stand out as being amazing from the others. They all rate highly in my books. I know people werent much for pets, but I do love having pets available to get. Freetime definately scores high for me :)

I like it a lot, but if youre deciding on your FIRST EP, I'd go with Nightilife, THAT'S the best EP.

I love Freetime, but I like my game to be more realistic and this seems to add a lot of realism for me. I like all the new hobbies(could do without the hobby lots, but I can see how they're needed), the new skills. New careers, etc. Now that you no longer need Nightlife to own cars. I could go with Season's and Freetime, (on second thought I may need to keep pets. I like the little critters.)leave the rest behind wouldn't bother me in the least. But, Season's and Freetime are my favorites. Except for all the phone calls. ;)

I would like it a lot if it wasn't for those dorks constantly calling about my Sim having developed a certain taste for one acitivity or another. Got it the first time, thank you very much indeed.

I love that Freetime has added a lot of interactions and hobbie objects.  Ok, so its not in the league with "Seasons" but it is great. Now, when do we get a new Insiminator for the new Freetime?

I love freetime it,s one of my favorites eps and worth the money-pets was by far the worst ep for me disappointing.

Is it one of the best EPs?
No.

Is it one of the worst EPs?
No, it's pretty much right in the middle.

Is it worth the money?
Not at the moment, but I guess it will be worth it eventually.

What are your favorite things about Free Time.
The new aspiration benefit system.

What should have Maxis done differently.
They should have left out all hobby related NPCs, phone calls and pop up messages. I'm not retarded, I can read a progress bar. Also, it would have been nice to be able to murder Mr. Humble, either by walling him in and letting him starve to death, or by setting him on fire. Sadly, he possesses the ability to magically disappear.

Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches.
Ironically enough, the thing I like best is also buggy as hell. Spending your benefit points on a secondary aspiration screws up your primary one, resulting in your Sims getting incorrect memories and the wrong tombstones. "Pleasure" as a secondary aspiration doesn't even work at all, since it breaks your aspiration meter. Also, the violin's tip jar leaves dead spots all over the place.

Any advice for those still on the fence?
Wait for the patch.


All in all, I think Free Time is a decent expansion, even though the new NPCs make me want to create a serial killer Sim. It's also a bit weird that keeping your Sims enthusiastic about their hobbies requires more constant effort than maxing out their work related skills. Well, I guess you could say it adds to the challenge. I really love the benefit tree concept, though, despite its bugs.

I absolutely love it!! I never had as much fun in 9 hours, than I have just had. LOL, I laughed, I awed, and felt so much pride in my self-sim's children accomplishments. There are some aggravations, like the constant phone calls, so I turned those sounds down and tried to ignore it. Maybe someone can mod that, but I can't wait for my self-sim to really learn some parenting skills, now that's she is expecting her last kid, and a knowledge/family sim. :D

Yeah, me too. That needs some serious modding.

For those of you who have sicken of seeing Rod Humble ( I had been calling him Himmel, Humble, what an ironic name.) Pescado has a fix for that here. (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,11215.0.html)

Rod Humble isn't the problem. He only turns up once. It's those constantly calling dorks, who make me want to go on killing spree.

Yeah, I finally know what you all mean.  Will be looking at my fav hack sites for a remedy, but I was tired of the Rod Humble character, and had to turn up the music, turn down the other noises in the speaker stage, just I don't have to hear the phone.  Now I may have missed the important calls to the family, sheesh!

i love it too.. wow

where you find the Genie?

Look at your frontlawn. The lamp is sitting there. I don't know if some event triggers it, but I certainly didn't consciously bargain for its appearance.

OK, back to the troublesome calls. I downloaded the nice assault gun from the simwardrobe and I will try it on the next uninvited hobby NPC showing up. But since EA saw fit to implement that nuisance feature, I guess they keep respawning after having eaten lead. One of my Sims might even pay them a visit at their hobby shops - I just want that darn phone to stop ringing.

I have my Sims ignore the NPC's that show up. And why is it always the Gypsy and the Plant lady first? I have some Sims in University right now and here they come. Ok firstly their living in a dorm lady. There is no place to grow plants. Go away. Secondly I hardly think they'll need a love potion. They're going to be concentrating on getting good grades and dating several people. Not one. For the phone, I'm to the point they don't get one. If there is a teen in the house they get a cell phone. That's it. For the adults I take their cell phone out of inventory till they want to make a call. They email everyone else, so they're not doing real well in the friends dept. But I'll fix that when Insim is updated, to make up for me taking their phones.

The gipsy and the ones from the previous games are quite harmless. With FT, EA has taken the nuissance to a whole new level. The phone keeps ringing day and night, virtually, during every activity your Sims are taking, just to tell you something along the lines of "oh, you took some pleasure in farting ..." - well, you get the picture when playing FT in a matter of minutes.

Is it one of the best EPs?
  No, I think the business EP was the best one.
Is it one of the worst EPs?
  No, I think that Seasons was the most disappointing for me.
Is it worth the money?
  Always.
What are your favorite things about Free Time.
  Making clothes and pottery.
What should have Maxis done differently.
  Added more "new" clothing options for the sewing machine.  :-)
Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches.
  Still crashes after a while--always has, always will--I have  2GB Ram on my HP laptop but it's appears to be a problem with the graphics card (NVIDIA 7600).  :-(
Any advice for those still on the fence?
  You can never go wrong with a Sims expansion pack in you're truly a fan of the game.  Even if some are more fun than others, it's still cool!
-Gail

I like FT, but it is definitely not my favorite EP. If this is truly the last EP for TS2, I think EA went out on a somewhat low note. I don't like the long, tedious hours I have spent getting my characters hobby interests up, the "hobby people" are really annoying when they constantly show up at my house, the phone is ALWAYS ringing, and the bugs I have experienced have been a headache. Again, it's okay but not great.

The phone ringing has been stomped by Pescado @ MATY with the nohobbyspam you can find on this list (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/ffs/ft/hacks/).

I only get the subscription phone call, all the other info come in pop-ups. :D

Finally :D Thanks for the link lewis!

Thanks for posting this long needed fix

Is it one of the best EPs?
No. No it isn't.
Is it one of the worst EPs?
Eh....none of them are BAD.
Is it worth the money?
I'd wait for the price to go down, honestly.

What are your favorite things about Free Time.
Having hobbies, of course!
What should have Maxis done differently.
Let you choose your natural talent. -____- I have gone through over 20 new sims trying to get one to like art. Seriously, I get tinkering almost always. I haven't had Film, Art, or Cuisine and I've only had one fitness, two sports, one game, and two dances. The rest are nature, science, and tinkering. This is with over 20 sims made.
Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches.
Yes, whenever my sims go to work, their paycheck says something like: $-30000. They don't lose the money, but they don't earn it, either.
Any advice for those still on the fence?
Wait for the price to go down and wait for the patch.

I have stopped trying to have my sims be interested in one hobby. Mine go with whatever they are enjoying at the moment. ^^ JoeyClone, do you tend to have many sims with the same aspirations?  I tend to go more toward knowledge sims, but I still have a good variety of hobbie choices. Also personality comes in play, do you have a large amount of the same personalities? I try to get my sims to have different personalities. I knew right away which sims would get certain interest in certain hobbies, but now my sim kids, are having interest in their parents hobbies. LOL, oh well, I would love to have chosen my own hobbies also.  I have some sims with high points in 3 different categories. :D

I'm the same. I really like the idea of it, love the hobbies & items. The only thing spoiling it for me is the swapping of interests. I know that you can have more than one hobby, but I get kinda sick of the pop-ups telling me they're losing interest in a hobby I never even noticed they gained, just by swimming in the sea or reading someone elses magazine grrr! However, I haven't played much since installation as was waiting for the new InTeen, but now I have it-I will be on it all the time!! (i.e. couldn't get up for work this morning due to playing until 3am :spank2: )

The objects in Freetime are cool. I really think the pack is all about the objects it included, not the actual gameplay. But in conjunction with OFB, I made this really great dance studio and the dance instructor who can not only charge people to use the dance studio but instuct them in dance and music and share hobby tips (her enthusiasm is high). So I love all the objects, and the hobby options. But the best is still Seasons followed by OFB for me and the worst is Pets.

1. Seasons
2. OFB
3. Nightlife
4. Freetime
5. University
6. Bon Voyage (beach lots save this pack)
7. Pets

The gap between 6 and 7 is big though. For an ep I thought Pets was the worst. 1-5 are pretty close in my book though. All are pretty good however.

Foxbaby, I got a hack that stops the losing interest in a hobby, but I can't find it now. I will post when I find it. :D

free time is an interesting and useful EP but I prefer Seasons

I like freetime...its an interesting piece of fluff...
Im not totally against it... i didnt hold much hope for it at first, but its better than i thought.

i just get a little annoyed with some of the behaviors -like the people that keep phoning you...? Im also one of those that just dont care enough whether sims become members of hobby clubs..

but its something nice to follow up on when you get bored playing.. just fill up some hobby bars.  

IMO though badge skilling takes to long... I had a sim sitting and sewing for 2 days straight, and he still can only make those oven mits.  so i gave up on that.  

i like the new way of writing novels, and that you can actually read them afterwards, and the fact that there are movies on tv now.  

but with both: they could have made it custom content compatible... im sure that wouldnt have killed EA. Now i have to replace all my nice bookshelves and tvs with EA made ones to get the new options... damn.  

Id also have liked the DIY cars to look a bit better after its done...and maybe had an option of a dad and kid working on the engine together or something?
ah well...i guess i am just nitpicking..
but like i said.  its a nice add to have.

I am with you Tomkat. The badge skilling takes too long for pottery, sewing. It is quicker to get the 1st badge in fishing and gardening. I did get a sim to sew curtins, and laughed at the choices. What came up? The single and double expensive maxis curtins.

I wish that the tinkering could go on with the DIY cars, like tinker with the engines and break them, fix them after the building has been complete. I have sim fathers and sons going to a lot I built to tinker on a car for a community Auto Body shop. I do wish they could tinker together on the engine, that is the most interesting part for me.

All and all I still enjoy the EP, the toddlers are more fun for me. I make them sing nursery rhymes so much, so I can see the thumbsuck, they are just about full in charisma when they become children. LOL :D

some things I like about it, same for all the ep's {though pets should have been part of the base game}, my biggest complaint with freetime is that every time I start to do almost anything the phone rings and someone wants to tell me about this new activity! um, I have to stop attempting the activity to answer the phone and if it is a group activity the group has broken up by the time i get back from the phone
I am also not too sure I like the game picking the "favorite" hobby for me either, I am just glad my self sim got one that I don't hate, like sports...
those are two things I would like to see a hack for. I am getting to where I hate phones in the sims almost as much as I hate them in real life. I start to play pool, the phone rings, I start to paint something, the phone rings, I start to dance, the phone rings..... always something like we at club bla see you are doing XX hobby, well I say GET YOUR CAMERAS OUTA MY HOUSE!!!!!! QUIT SPYING ON ME!!!! lol who wants to join a club that uses paparazzi and CIA techniques to spy on me, thx to sim-bush and the sim-patriot act our sims are now wired up to be spyed on!!! AAAAHHHH!H!!!! RUN AWAY! and  drive my sim-car to my sim-dentist for my sim-root canal {I've got news for you, putting 'sim' in front of everything dosen't make it hurt any less!}
I do really like the computer from mr. humble (when I have a place to put it, tyvm prebuilt family designers) or is THAT how they are spying on me? DAMN YOU MR HUMBLE! now I want to kill him too! lol I need to work on my tinkering so i can fix that system! the music dosen't bother me because I have never heard it, i keep the music off in almost every game I play, so annoying {thx lewis, I'll have to see if I can find it in that list}
speaking of annoying music, anyone know a way to auto-bypass all that noise from the intro stuff? its so loud and i am usually starting up the game when people are sleeping.

and seasons, just wonderful, now my sims can sit in the hot tub in their basement and spontaneously cumbust! great addition to the game, catching fire while sitting in water, good planning. :blob6: maybe if they wanted to add sim-body temp, they should have added sim-central heat and air!

but its still alot better than what I have heard about sims3 if I wanted to play the entire neighborhood at one time I would play sim city

a change I would like to see is to be able to build underground, and I dont mean like a basement that is poking its head above ground, but more like a bomb shelter, where you have earth above your head, or underground tunnels kind of thing. thats something I have been trying to do since ts1 all those years ago, kinda got close once, but not really... {foundation bridge over top of an basement level walkway} but it was a neat house lol

Thats true - never thought about it! That IS creepy....:oogle:

Found it! Whew. no enthusiam decay (http://www.sims2workshop.com/viewtopic.php?t=2836).

I think Seasons, Open For Business and Nightlife are probably my favorites. I don't have Free Time yet and don't know if I will get it.

I agree with everybody. I just waant these people to stop interupting my sims by coming in their houses. I'm starting to hate it more and more!

Personally I just want to say I completely 100% agree with Yacov , they have too many women based things I like to play as a guy and need more guy based stuff..

Is it one of the best EPs?
Well... It's up there. They should have come out with this sooner (like... Before OFB?!), but better later then never, right?
Is it one of the worst EPs?
No...
Is it worth the money?
Yes, though it wouldn't hurt to be a bit cheaper...

What are your favorite things about Free Time.
I love the Secondary Aspirations! A lot of those options are a pain, but things like "Plead with Social Worker" and "Grandma's Chicken Soup" make it worth it.
What should have Maxis done differently.
Custom-content compatibility and none of that "predestined hobby" crap. I don't want my artsy sims being obsessed with fitness, thank you very much! Thankfully, SimWardrobe (http://www.simwardrobe.com/) has an object that can change that...
Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches.
Not sure if this is because of FT, but it doesn't seem to be because of my hacks and CC... Some of my families won't load fully. The screen will show that everything is loaded, and then [when I've got "boolProp testingcheatsenabled true" on] something will pop up saying there's an issue with... A curtain thing? Reset and Cancel doesn't work, but if I hit Delete, the family never ever loads...
Any advice for those still on the fence?
Be prepared to download many, many mods and hacks.

Hmm, I was thinking of getting Free Time, but with everyone complaining about annoying neighbor visits & phone calls... I think I would go insane.

I like this Xpac, I'll enjoy it even more now thanks to Lewis and that link about the spam phone calls! =)

The only thing that kinda gets on my nerves is the time...like you need to do so much to keep your intrests up and combind that with all the normal stuff you need to do (shower, pee, eat, ect) and you really dont have alot of time to build up the skills to 'get into the zone' so your time will go slower...it's kinda aggervating. I would be less pissed if, oh lets say peeing, didnt take almost an hour! They should really either speed those kinda things up now, or slow the clock down so we can do our normal things and our free time hobbies.

Otherwise this is one of my Favs. for Xpacs...Uni was my least favorite.

Well, haven't had a chance to play that much with it yet, but so far I love it :D Haven't touched my custom 'hood for ages, so I've been having a blast finding out which of my Strangetown friends like doing what, not to mention playing a bit with the "check on baby" - something I wish they'd added ages ago. I laughed so much when planning Tank's Uni wardrobe - the poor guy got a ballet leotard for his sports outfit! :laugh: Yes, I've had a few surprises already, and I haven't found everything yet :D

For those of you complaining about every sim having the same hobby, check their interests. Yes, they actually have another use! Although in Maxian 'hoods it makes for some interesting combinations...

Anyway:

Is it one of the best EPs? One of, definitely. I think Seasons was the best :)

Is it one of the worst EPs? Nah. What was the worst? Hmm... I dunno. a) I'm a storyteller, so I can find something useful in every one, and b) I'm easily pleased - there's something in all the EPs I've enjoyed playing. Despite the complaint about Uni and how different it is from the real thing, with the right combo of students I'm easily hooked ^_^

Is it worth the money? Oh, I'd say so :)

What are your favorite things about Free Time? The extras! Especially the animations, they'll come in handy. I like the benefits and love the secondary aspiration feature - how long did it take EA to realise you just can't shoehorn people into just one!? I also like finding out which sim is PD to which hobby, although there is a flip-side to that - see below. Also the sports - I'm not the sporty type myself, but I'm not too shallow to know some sims will be on their knees thanking the powers that be for adding them ;) Won't ramble too much longer, but I love that they finally added more interactions for the toddlers! Took them long enough...

What should have Maxis done differently? What's with the non-stop phone calls?! Every time a sim does something the phone rings. I'm so glad someone here (forget who) posted a link to a fix, I grabbed it in an instant. I also had to update the visitor controller, owing to the sudden appearance of these other NPCs. Why do they keep adding these new annoyances? :mad: I also don't like that it takes so long to get a bronze sewing badge - hope there's a fix pretty soon. In fact, raising enthusiasm could be a bit quicker too, given how long everything else takes. Oh yes, and there's the matter of the PD hobbies too - I don't like that you can't change or even choose which one a sim is given; I'm just glad that there's a hack available to fix that. Although it was creepy with my self-sim getting Tinkering - that does happen to be one of mine... Ah yeah, someone mentioned lack of objects for things like science - I couldn't agree more.

Are you experiencing any problems, any funny glitches? Usually it can be traced to a rogue download if I get any, but in the main I seem to be pretty lucky on that count. Although there does seem to be a bit more lag in things like cars leaving, that kinda thing.

Any advice for those still on the fence? If you like the sound of the added features etc. then go for it - just be prepared to do loads of updating, downloading new annoyance/bug fixes, and waiting patiently for the Insim to be updated :P