The Sims Online

[Guest wwF1587]

Ok, anyone have this game? I guess its really not a game but a chat room.... for 10 bucks a month is it really worth it? Thanks

[Guest HollywoodSpikeJenkins]

It came out already?

[Guest Flyboy]

Yep.

 

The Charter Edition is around $79.99, I think.

[Guest HollywoodSpikeJenkins]

Well, after looking through the EA Games/Sims website, I decided that I'm going to buy it. It just looks cool.

[Guest GeneMean]

Basically if you are/were a fan of the Sims and its eleventy bajillion expansions then you should enjoy the Sims Online. The gameplay is as expected, almost identical to it's predecessors.

 

I downloaded the beta a month or so ago with the idea that this was a good way for me to check it out and see if it's worth the hype. Even though I REALLY enjoyed the Sims when it first came out I thought going in that, 'This is gonna be stupid.' However several play hours later I was left scratching my head thinking, 'This was fun. It shouldn't have been, but it was really fun in the strangest way.'

 

You start out by selecting a starting city (server) and creating your avatar. There are literally tons of options (bodies and heads) available. It's no SD4 CAW but it doesn't need to be. Next you can fill out an optional profile about your Sim. Think AOL's profile system and you get the picture. From there you are taken to the city map, where you can select a smaller section (a suburb I guess) that takes you to what looks like a very primitive SimCity map filled with player made homes/bars/etc. Running your mouse over a property tells you if the property is online/offline, how many players are there if it's online and who the owner is. If a property is offline (meaning no owners/roommates present) then no one can visit, so don't worry about creating a place and having some ass come trash your place when you aren't playing.

 

You get a small amount of starting cash which can buy you a very small lot and apartment. All of the same building options from the Sims appear to be present, however I didn't test this much. I found I had plenty of time to just check out other peoples' homes. You can join together with other players and become roommates, allowing you access to bigger lots and pooled resources. This seemed to be the most popular trend in beta as eight or nine folk would team up and build a swank home with tons of rooms for visitors, while still having private rooms for each individual roommate.

 

Your Sim still has the individual 'needs' found in previous titles, though I found them easier to manage here. There is still present the 'body, logic, creativity' attributes needed to raise by doing various activities. TSO fosters this by allowing greater improvements when you 'practice' with another player(s.) Playing guitar by yourself and you'll see a small amount of improvement, but gather 5 people around all playing guitars and you will all advance at a much higher pace. You can then take your applied skills and participate in group job stations that some properties may have. These seem to replace the career path found in the older games. Most of these involve three to four players with different skills. Completing each task, such as making a pizza, will earn you cash based on how high your combined skills are.

 

Socializing is a breeze, simply type in your text and your Sim spits out a little cartoon bubble of your text. Standard chat tools are present with PMs, etc. Still present are the classic sim animations for the various interactions like greeting, kissing, tell joke, etc. If you want to kiss someone for example, pick the option just like in the previous games and then the other player has the option on their screen to either accept the smooch or deny. This is handy as it prevents some flamer in a sailor suit from running around and kissing everyone (actual example.)

 

Any of this is of course, subject to change as it was during play test. During my brief time playing I became a guitar whiz, portrait painter, was the best man in a HLA wedding, made pizzas and several other little things. It shouldn't have been fun to me, but it was. I've played massively multiplayer games like EQ and Camelot for years now so the social factor was nothing new. I guess it's just it has the same hook that made me like the Sims and throw in other people. However I won't be buying it. I would easily recommend TSO and say it's definately a fun experience and a perfect game for someone wishing to try out a MMO game for the first time. I'm waiting until April when Star Wars Galaxies is released.

[Guest wwF1587]

Thanks Gene... I think I may just go ahead and get it, you get the first month free... see if i like it then and if I dont give to someone else or something.

[Guest Mad Dog]

I got it for Christmas with a 90 day prepaid card.

 

But I haven't played it yet since I live elsewhere to go to school.

 

I figure if I like it I can probably get a second prepaid card as a birthday present and not actually have to pay the monthly charge for a long while.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

Sounds interesting.

But i'm going to pass....I really do not need an extra monthly bill.

[Paul Stanley 0]

Where did you get a 90day prepaid card?

 

I want this--but the old lady will nag me about being online too much when i play it cause i KNOW it's addictive.

[Guest Lethargic]

I don't get the whole pay to play online thing with these games recently. Why would I wanna pay 10 to 25 dollars a month to play ONE game no matter how good it is? Sims was OK for a while but I wouldn't pay to play it.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

My sub 28.8 internet connection holds me down once more (the min requirement is 28.8, which surprised the heck out of me, but I only get 21.6 on good days..and 19.4 the rest of the time..)

[Guest GeneMean]

I had aversions to paying a monthly fee when I first jumped into Everquest back in '99. My usual trend was to buy a 40 or 50 dollar game and play it for a month, maybe more depending on how long it takes to get to completion or how good the title was. When I got hooked on EQ, that was basically the only game I was playing period, unless some must have title like Unreal Tournament would come out. I actually ended up spending a lot less than I did previously.

 

That being said I still understand the whole 'monthly fee opposition.' If you've never played a game of this nature before keep in mind that this monthly fee does go right back into the game. Sure there's a profit margin in there. It is a business after all, however someone has to pay for the MASSIVE bandwidth these games eat up, server space for your character(s) data, maintenance, and in game customer support (the quality of which at times can be debatable depending on the title you play.) Just like the games not having a true 'ending,' they also get patched A LOT. There is always a constant revision of some code going on.

[Guest Mad Dog]

You can get the prepaid cards at BestBuy.