What I find sad is that at best, this game is a crap shoot. If the reviews on the "standard" Sims 3 are any indication, you have about a 50% chance that you will really like the game, or at least find it somewhat interesting (three-star), and about a 50% chance of loathing it (one star), or at least not liking the game very much at all (two-star).

If someone tried to sell me a game by telling me that I have a 50% chance I will like it, I wouldn't consider that great odds. Compare this percentage to the Sims 2 on Amazon. About 12% of those who bought the game gave it a one- or two-star rating. The Sims Complete Collection admittedly has a much smaller sampling, but percentage-wise, did much better than this current game. Only about a half-percent gave the Sims Complete Collection a one- or two-star rating.

If you like to gamble, this game might be good for you, though at the rate the price is dropping, you might want to hold out a bit.

Whoa, Nellie!

The price for the "regular" version on Amazon just went down to $39.99. I guess that reflects what a good chunk of people REALLY thought of this game ... more telling, perhaps, than even reviews on Amazon or comments on a message board! The Prima guide is over $6 off, too. The Deluxe version, though is back to $69.99.

A total discount of over $16 for the game and guide ... already? Keep this up, and if you are patient, you might be able to get a very significant discount toward the next expansion ... if you want to play this game.

Interesting.

I came into The Sims 2 in 2006, so compared to others here, I was a newer kid on the block. I never knew about custom content until a few months later. And strangely, I did NOT have the same reactions to the skintones and facial features with Sims 2 that I do with Sims 3. Not even close.

Did many of the templates in the Sims 2 make me wonder, "Why would I want a Sim looking like THAT?" Sure thing. I confess that for a long time, I relied on about 8 or so of the EA facial templates for 70% or so of my Sims. But even using my "basic 8" so much, my Sims STILL looked more distinctive, and to me, more attractive, than the Sims 3 base ones now.

Once again, thanks to a FREE site, Sims 3 players can mess around with the sliders a bit more and produce at least somewhat less puffy-faced people. And thanks to a free site again, the skintones now have a bit more definition. It's my hope that someone can work on the eyes next. Then the hair. Then ....

So there's hope. But it's a darn good question why EA felt that most people would like their Sims like that to begin with.

Back in the early Sims 2-ish days (2005), The Movies came close. I really liked many features of the game, except that the characters looked plug-ugly, and my movie stars kept quitting every ten minutes, no matter what I did. I gave up and gave the game away. Not a big deal, really ... I paid only $10 for the game and the guide combined. I feel much worse for those Sims 3 players who might have to take more of a loss selling their game used, if they want to get rid of it.

The technology is out there. Other companies catering to US customers (I don't know about customers outside of the US, so I won't generalize) have tried their hand at this, but came up short. I know that in other countries, there are games that aren't too dissimilar to The Sims that are doing very well, thank ye. It's just a case of someone coming up with a Sims-ish game that won't get them sued by EA and that have features that Sims customers desire. Oh, and that has international appeal.

It's not impossible. It's just not here yet.  

And PixieStyx26, one concern I do have is that if free sites take too much away from EA, EA might ... no, I'd better not write it. It's just that this recent EULA concerns me a little.


EDIT ... I messed up the timeframe when The Movies came out. Sorry! But just for fun, I looked up The Movies on Amazon, and even THAT got more stars than the Sims 3.

Also, I checked the latest reviews. It's not good when a over a third of the reviews for a game are one-star. Combine these reviews with two-star reviews, and almost half of the reviews are one- or two-stars! Yipes! I know that some of the negative reviewers might be troublemakers, or people who just want to stir things up, but those are a lot of bad and not-so-good reviews!

Well-put.

I believe that many people bought this game because this version is riding on the coattails of one of most prominent PC franchises out there ... Sims 1 and Sims 2. I think that many people bought the game expecting it to be even better than its predecessors. After all, Sims 2 improved in so many ways upon Sims 1. The Sims 3 commercials promised so much more ... an open neighborhood full of potential.  Everything looked so shiny and pretty! Even I was fascinated, at first.

But EA left out a few details, didn't they?  

I believe that many people ... no, not all ... are sorely disappointed that the actual experience wasn't close at all to the hype, once they bought the game. The Amazon reviews show that. But as Tenshii~Akari wrote, it doesn't matter. EA got its money, and is happy as a clam. They probably see no reason to change now. They're making money. Who cares if so many of their customers feel cheated? Who cares if customers use the game box as a doorstop?

This rather diminishes any hopes that the next expansion will take your breath away with its content and gameplay. Now EA feels that it's in the catbird seat. People will buy the expansion, even if it gets a half-star on Amazon. Even if its pure garbage. And EA will push more and more of its overpriced content on its website. Hey ... people are buying!

And hey, if there are problems, there are nameless people out there who will fix them. People who will put in the work, make the effort, and do what the developers of The Sims should have done in the first place. Developers who are PAID to do this.

Same old, same old. EA's behavior is sickening.

Count me in as another person who is doing a "wait and see" approach. I plan to wait at least a year ... maybe more ... before even considering buying this game as a PC game. And that's "considering". It just isn't flooring me, and what is even worse, I'm not sure I can even play this on my computer.

MAYBE I'll consider buying a console version instead next year or so, if one comes out. It almost seems to me that yes, as others here have written, this is a fancy console game for the PC at this point. But the free-site modders continue to amaze me with the revisions they've already made, despite the limitations EA has placed on them. We may be seeing even more amazing things to come. I'm not holding my breath that EA will be doing any improvements worth mentioning. At least, no FREE improvements.

But even if the game comes out on console, I'm very wary. I purchased the Sims 2 for the DS, and hated it so much that I sold it used a couple of days later. (Shudders at that folly.) I'm determined not to make the same mistake again.

Hmmm ... maybe if I find a USED console version, I'll get it. Or an ultra-cheap functional used PC version. I'm not holding my breath waiting for either.



P.S. Yowza! I just looked at the most recent Amazon reviews! 

It might be one of two things, and neither one is very pretty.

See this link:

http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:System_Requirements/MTS2_Recommendations

It looks like the card is iffy at best with some Sims 2 expansions. (Yes, yes, I know that's Sims 2. More on that later.)

Many 8400-series cards had a problem. (As did certain 9600-series cards, by the way ... I have a similar problem with Sims 2.) And if you try getting help from NVIDIA, certain individuals will make it look like YOU screwed up something. Don't let them make you feel that way. Most likely, you didn't.

But you may argue, "AHA! But you're talking about the Sims 2! This is Sims 3!" Perhaps, but I'm not too sure that NVIDIA ever fixed the core problem, or when the card you bought came out. If it was an earlier version, you might be more at risk of having a defective card, I believe. Once again, I found that was the case with me and my 9600.  What is infuriating is that I didn't see the problem with several other games on my machine. It seems like sometimes, the Sims games act as a lightning rod when a video card experiences problems! And I wouldn't be at all surprised if a dozen people with 8400-series cards post on here and proclaim that they never had a single problem with any Sims game. This doesn't affect all cards in a series.

It's frustrating, I know. Boy, do I know. Good luck. If there is any way to RMA the card, you might want to find out, just in case. Or if someone you know has a spare card from another NVIDIA series just laying around ....

Things work OK for me now.

I did notice that the site has undergone a bit of a face-lift, so perhaps you just happened to check in at the time the admins there were fixing things up.

Hi!

First of all, your creation is lovely, and I can't wait to have a Sim ride in it. I have many of your creations already, and thoroughly enjoy them. Thank you for everything you've done!

Problem is ... and this is NOT a problem on your end ... what does the balloon controller look like, and where can I find it? It seems my Sims won't ride in the balloon yet (I have the noEP version), and usually, when this happens, and you see an "NPC Controller" in the Downloads folder, I know that there is usually a control object cloned from something, such as a napkin holder or CD or something like that, that has a menu of settings. You place the object on the ground or floor. Does the balloon have something like that?

I don't plan on buying the game, either, unless the demonic Securom has been banished from The Sims once and for all.

Someone heard a rumor that EA was actually considering using Steam or a Steam-like entity in the future. I think that is really wishful thinking on certain peoples' parts right now. I don't know about you folks, but I've never heard this rumor before.

However, if someone at EA DID finally get the message, and the nasty thing is gone; after at least six months after the thing has been vanquished to make sure that EA isn't putting some other nasty thing on my machine; after I'm sure the main bugs are fixed; after I'm sure I can even RUN the thing on my machine; and after I've read dozens of reviews to see if the game is even worth getting .... in short, even under the best of circumstances, after a very long time ... I would hope that I would find plenty of new skintones (non-Barbie or semi-Barbie, please!), hair and eyes (does someone hear an echo in here? )

Those initial Sims STILL look creepy to me! Kind of like those creepy dolls/androids/robots/etc. you see in The Twilight Zone, the Chucky series, The Stepford Wives, a bunch of anime series, etc.!  It would indeed be lovely to see these Sims customized with creations equal to those we see from such artists as Enayla, Louis, JWilson, Warlokk, Coris, Corvidophile, Barcelonista, Anva, Seomi, Nouk, Bruno ... oh, the list is so long now that I KNOW I'm missing at least a dozen free-site creators, and I apologize to you I've missed!

After that, I guess my next choice would also be Mods, particularly an Insimenator-like creation. At the risk of sounding like a brown-noser, life without the Insim would sure be dull! Oh, and something to remove the blur would be nice, too.

I told myself, "No more new skintones."

I had enough of them, I said. No need for more.

Well, I've downloaded four of your skins here, and am now engaged in a lengthy process trying to decide which one of these I want to keep. All the ones I've downloaded look great!

What sweet torture! Thank you.

This skin is so exquisite in-game. (Although your full Sim is lovely, I opted for just the skin.) It's great for exotic Sims. Thank you!

P.S. For some reason, your Sim reminds me a little of the beautiful Olivia Hussey, circa Romeo and Juilet:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4093942016/tt0063518

http://www.stuckinthe70s.com/images/tb0270unknownpu.jpg

Well, I wound up putting both the Teak AND the Ebony in my game. What others have written here is spot-on ... while there certainly are darker skintones that look great AND are at least semi-anatomically correct (Nothing south of the Equator), there aren't nearly as many of those as there are lighter skintones. Again, thank you!

Darn! I can download only one of these skins because my Downloads folder is getting a bit hefty for my tastes. Which one of these fantastci skins do I choose?

And what a deliciously wonderful dilemma! Glad to see you back whenever you are able to stop by! And by the way, you don't always have to be bringing such luscious gifts, though they are ALWAYS welcome! (I have two computers with Sims 2 on them, and both computers contain several of your skins). Even your dropping by to say "hi" is enough.

I hope you can make a good recovery soon.

Oh, it's good to see that I'm not the only one who has almost completely revamped the oldies section. My music ranges from the 60's to the 90's. While admittedly an "old lady", I'm not THAT old, oh Sims creators!

My New Wave and Tech categories are also heavily revamped, as is my rock station. I like tech/dance music (I combined both on my Tech station), but my tastes lean towards stuff like Fatboy Slim, the Chems, Daft Punk and even Pet Shop Boys, thanks.