Reporters not reporting?

[PattyB]

I've only seen the reporter once in my home business and the only thing he did was steal my toddler. No review one way or the other

On a related note, I'm trying to recreate the kidnapping. So far, no "playable" Sim has been able to wander off the lot with a toddler. I'm beginning to wonder if it was a random fluke with the Reporter NPC.

[J. M. Pescado]

So we're to assume that the Prima guide's info concerning the Reporter and how many Customer Loyalty points he/she needs to gain is BS?

Always. The Prima Guide should always be taken as nothing more than speculation. What else can you expect from a book that was printed before the game even existed?

[akatonbo]

So we're to assume that the Prima guide's info concerning the Reporter and how many Customer Loyalty points he/she needs to gain is BS?

Always. The Prima Guide should always be taken as nothing more than speculation. What else can you expect from a book that was printed before the game even existed?

What I expect from it is a general gameplay overview that I cannot get anywhere else (and I have looked, because I'm always running into people who really desperately NEED a gameplay overview because they have no idea how basic elements of the game work, and I'd love to have a decent free one to point the broke ones at -- if you think the Prima guide is bad, you should see what some of the stuff on GameFAQs looks like, and those were actually based on gameplay), and a description against which to test behavior rather than doing it blind (if it turns out to be wrong, which it inevitably will on a certain number of issues, at least I had a starting point to figure out 'oh, they said it did this but it actually does that' instead of 'damn, how the hell is this SUPPOSED to work?').

[Darkstormyeve]

I personally have never had a problem with the Prima Guide before. Not once. And yes, I'm at the point with this game where just some basic tiny tips would make a huge difference to my game play. Hence I never knew about the wholesale price thing when buying your stock. I was just buying stuff from the "buy" screen and just thought it was wholesale.

[TheCheat]

If you buy an object while not in Wholesale mode and then mark it as "For Sale," you are refunded the difference between what you paid for the object and the Wholesale price. Just watch your cash next time you do that and you'll see what I mean.

So, a Reporter finally did his job. So well in fact that my newly opened floral shop got the Best of the Best Award on the Reporter's first visit while the business was still Rank 0. 

[trancejeremy]

You can usually spot the reporter the first time he shows up, because it takes a tiny bit for the game to genrate them. (Hopefully the game will stop at 3 reporters...)

[Darkstormyeve]

My reporter turned up last night after only 20mins of playing. He has a flat top hair cut, tank top and jeans. Square jaw. Again, I thought that I did everything right, but alas, no report.

I did however get my Prima Guide last night and it says that if get some stars from the reporter but still no report, that just means you didn't get enough. BUT the next time the reporter visits you carry on from the star count from his first visit. I.E. you reach 80% of your stars from the first visit, no report. Next visit you only need 20% to get a positive report.

[TheCheat]

But see, that's not all the Prima guide says. It claims that you need 100 Customer Loyalty points gained by the Reporter in order to get a Good Review. Obviously, if the Reporter is newly-spawned and is on his/her first visit to your business, 100 points gets you his/her first Loyalty Star. Now, think about it: When you get this first star, wouldn't it tip you off, "Hey, I just got 100 points, where's my review?"

Anyways, another Reporter came by the floral shop a day later and gave me a Good Review. Apparently you can't get a Good Review when the Best of the Best Award is awarded.

[Darkstormyeve]

Well he has the hots for my sim tycoon so hopefully it won't take long. He rings EVERY day. Talk about keen.