TS3 L&P

[J. M. Pescado]

Doubt that. More likely the MOAR PEE that Rod Humble has repeatedly promised us will come into play, as the sims pee themselves out like Brynne.

[sudaki]

Traits of baby Sims are determined by their mother humor during the pregnancy. While we played a baby had difficulties to sleep and other problems, because his mother hadn't an easy pregnancy.

This is an interesting idea, but ... does it only affect the baby's behavior as a baby?  I do not want babies whose personality for their WHOLE LIVES is entirely determined by mom's mood while pregnant.  I would have a lot of bland, boring, well-behaved sims.

[J. M. Pescado]

I wouldn't worry about it. The facility to edit all that will almost certainly emerge early.

[witch]

I wouldn't worry about it. The facility to edit all that will almost certainly emerge early.

It will if you have anything to do with it. 

[Inge]

It will if you have anything to do with it. 

At last count, Pescado wasn't writing the modding tools.

[J. M. Pescado]

Your count is wrong, then, because I'm definitely interested in the subject. I just never got into it in TS2 because by the time I noticed, there was already an existing set. My specialty does tend to be "take it and run with it", as opposed to "writing things from scratch", though. I'm not the best at starting a coding project, but if someone has a base from which to start, I AM very good at taking it and running with it in a spree of furious coding.

[sloppyhousewife]

This is an interesting idea, but ... does it only affect the baby's behavior as a baby?  I do not want babies whose personality for their WHOLE LIVES is entirely determined by mom's mood while pregnant.  I would have a lot of bland, boring, well-behaved sims.

From what I've read, bad mood during pregnancies will push the kids' traits to "evil", but I hope there will be other ways to get mean sims, like neglecting them during childhood or just encouraging them.
As for the pee obsession: One of the achievement boni (?) is called "iron bladder" - I think there must be a reason why such a bonus even exists.

[rosess]

As for the pee obsession: One of the achievement boni (?) is called "iron bladder" - I think there must be a reason why such a bonus even exists.

Ah, streets lined with puddles.   Yay.

I'm wondering what sorts of epidemics will inadvertently come with the seamless neighborhood.  I left a lot running overnight once and returned to find the whole hood sick with trashroachian flu.  With everyone's aging on, that's your apocolypse challenge right there.  Or there might be non-lethal epidemics - walking out of the house one day to find that every Sim in the neighborhood has learned an often-inappropriate gesture or song, like the "hang loose" alien brainwashing just set in.

[Alex]

Turns out the game was delayed simply so they can "market it better."

They must be getting worried... 

[KellyQ]

Turns out the game was delayed simply so they can "market it better."

They must be getting worried... 

A source or a link, please.

[spaceface]

That rumour was doing the rounds at the BBS, IIRC.

It's pretty obvious that the delay is simply because the game is not even nearly ready for release.

[Alex]

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/thesims3/news.html?sid=6204057&mode=news

JR mentioned it in a conference call to analysts: "In the case of The Sims 3, Riccitiello said, "We see this as being one of the most important launches in our company's history, and certainly in the upcoming fiscal year." He added that the delay was called in the interest of investing more time and effort to make the marketing campaign for the game more innovative."

I too personally think it's because it's in an unfit state for release (but since when has that ever stopped them before?) but then again, something like this seems very typically EA.

[DrNerd]

It's probably a combination of "too buggy even for EA to release" and "have already written 2009 off as a loss for the fiscal year due to Spore, and want to push Sims 3 to the 2010 fiscal year."  Sadly, that was my first thought when they announced the delay, particularly a delay of that duration.

[MidnightVoyager]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

If stores already have it... I doubt it's for any game-changing purpose, unless they want a patch on release.

[Tingeling]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

If stores already have it... I doubt it's for any game-changing purpose, unless they want a patch on release.

That is just... scary. *Envisions EA as a gigantic vampire sucking all life out of it's merchandise*

Show of hands: How many of you want to bet that there is going to be another Sims 2 expansionpack before Sims 3 come out?

[Solowren]

Show of hands: How many of you want to bet that there is going to be another Sims 2 expansionpack before Sims 3 come out?

EA has said no--the extra time is going to be spent working on Sims 3.

And besides, everyone would be pissed off. Especially the modders.

[J. M. Pescado]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

If this is true, and not a mistake or simply bullshit, it would be a massive DISASTER, because there is only so long it can sit in the back room before someone pirates it, and a pirate version *4 MONTHS* before the release of the actual game would DESTROY sales.

[rohina]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

Pix or it didn't happen.

[ShortyBoo]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

If stores already have it... I doubt it's for any game-changing purpose, unless they want a patch on release.

If that is the case, it's only a matter of time before someone gets a copy. I know when I worked at Toys R Us, some of the new employees would sell the games in the back that weren't supposed to be officially released, to customers if they asked for them. And some employees would buy them before the release date too, especially when the store manager wasn't around. And there's always the slight chance of some employee at some store walking out with a copy hidden on them. I wonder though, if the game leaks this far ahead of the release date, would EA just ignore it and pretend it didn't happen, or would they rush to release the game to get whatever sales they can before it's too late?

[theresatv]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.
If this is true, and not a mistake or simply bullshit, it would be a massive DISASTER, because there is only so long it can sit in the back room before someone pirates it, and a pirate version *4 MONTHS* before the release of the actual game would DESTROY sales.

EA makes their share of mistakes, but not allowing customers to give them money for something is not the sort of thing they'd come up with.

I'm guessing that the reason for the delay is the obvious one - that a major part of the game is so incomplete that they can't even pretend that it's ready.

If the delay is strictly to jockey around earnings, it seems to me that they'd release it as soon as possible after their fiscal year ends on March 31.

If it's to "come up with an innovative marketing strategy," who in the Sims world is unaware of the game, and who else would they reach in four months that they haven't already reached?

[Zazazu]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

If this is true, and not a mistake or simply bullshit, it would be a massive DISASTER, because there is only so long it can sit in the back room before someone pirates it, and a pirate version *4 MONTHS* before the release of the actual game would DESTROY sales.

This would be awesome. I'd laugh harder than when I watch Bill Cosby: Himself Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey!.

[MaryH]

I know someone who works retail. She didn't even know about the delay yet. In fact, they have it in their back room, just waiting to be put on shelves.

If stores already have it... I doubt it's for any game-changing purpose, unless they want a patch on release.

In the game manufacturer's world, isn't there such a thing as "going gold", which indicates the game being released is about to get pressed into DVD or CD format?
EA would undoubtedly advertise that fact.
I think your friend might be mistaken, and is confusing another game for the Sims 3 game-which has not been manufactured yet-by even EA's sloppy standards.
It would truly be a disaster if this was the case-as Pescado pointed out, a pirated copy of it available four months before the actual release would swamp EA's sales under the water.
I'm sure that the master copies are very safely tucked away in a vault somewhere-and nobody but senior people even get to look at it.
They're guarding the crown jewels very carefully, I daresay. They can't afford anything less.

[Sigmund]

If it's to "come up with an innovative marketing strategy," who in the Sims world is unaware of the game, and who else would they reach in four months that they haven't already reached?

To be fair, the advertising for TS3 has been kind of shoddy compared to what they did for TS2. The television commercials in particular come to mind, since I haven't seen anything that widespread for TS3 yet. Maybe that's what they're aiming for between now and June. *shrug*

[Lorelei]

Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey!.

LOL!

That's the name of the Best Toy Ever Discovered By Ferretkind.

A portrait:


A short sample of the sound that drives them wild with glee:
http://www.4shared.com/file/85142142/cf52c596/Jeffrey_Toy.html

You're the first person I've met who might have figured out the reference from whence Jeffrey the Toy's moniker came.

[MidnightVoyager]

I kinda hope she is wrong. I haven't had a chance to ask for clarification/pics yet, but I'll be doing so the next chance I get.

She works at a Wal-Mart in the electronics section, so... She's in the right spot to look out for it. And part of her job would be stocking it. I admit that I was extremely surprised when she said that she hadn't even heard of the delay and that they had it ready to do.