What's your first impression of OFB?

[kattybiz]

But I will definitely wait until it is cheaper.

Does it get cheaper?  I've never seen an EP get cheaper, at least not where I live.

Only way I've seen one get cheaper is when it shows up at Costco.  I was surprised - when I bought mine yesterday at Target I got a $5 gift card.  Not much, but it's something! 

[Lackey]

Actually woohoo with robots is different sims woohoo is the same.

[Pegasys]

All I can say is I'm finally glad that OFB requires:

a) time and patience
b) a little bit of thinking, and
c) some capital, in some cases, substantial capital.

With Uni, after the first try or so,  there is practically no effort required to get a Sim graduated Summa Cum Laude. Likewise getting Dream Dates in NL. And after a generation or two the money starts to pile up with no use, outside of getting a few bowling alleys (or in my case, pictures of bowling alleys)

But after playing around with two businesses yesterday, it's a different ballgame.  Using the Energizer and Elixir may actually make sense with OFB.

So far, I love it.

And is it just my imagination, or did they tweak certain things like the acceptance of socials and the performing of certain tasks a little bit? My Romance Sim who has always been able to woo even those with negative chemistry, was having difficulty making progress with a certain Sim yesterday. And another Sim refused to clean the toilet when his social was down near bottom. I don't remember that happening previously, although I could be wrong.

[MissDoh]

But I will definitely wait until it is cheaper.

Does it get cheaper?  I've never seen an EP get cheaper, at least not where I live.

Well, if I wait a year yes it will be cheaper lol.  Seriously, if I can save 5$ on purchase of it I will... I see no rush so far in getting this one, but I can of course change my mind I am sometimes and impulsive buyer with Sims 2 stuff.

On the other end, I did not purchase Sims 1 Superstar at 1st, took more than a year before I did.

[siriusthinking]

Anyone else catch the real 80s songs in Simlish? LOL I was looking at the songs and thinking 'I don't remember putting these mp3s in there.' and then I listened to them. 

I caught myself singing along last night then thought "Wait... what?"  I didn't know there'd be new Simlish music haha.

[miramis]

On a slightly different note it seems that one of the bouquets has hidden powers..
http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?threadID=f2a1081b7696ba61a84f34f0dc6a47cb&directoryID=103&startRow=1&openItemID=item.103,item.41,item.23

[Entgleichen]

All I can say is I'm finally glad that OFB requires:

a) time and patience
b) a little bit of thinking, and
c) some capital, in some cases, substantial capital.

With Uni, after the first try or so,  there is practically no effort required to get a Sim graduated Summa Cum Laude. Likewise getting Dream Dates in NL. And after a generation or two the money starts to pile up with no use, outside of getting a few bowling alleys (or in my case, pictures of bowling alleys)

But after playing around with two businesses yesterday, it's a different ballgame.  Using the Energizer and Elixir may actually make sense with OFB.

This is what I like about this EP, too.

[idtaminger]

All I can say is I'm finally glad that OFB requires:

a) time and patience
b) a little bit of thinking, and
c) some capital, in some cases, substantial capital.

With Uni, after the first try or so,  there is practically no effort required to get a Sim graduated Summa Cum Laude. Likewise getting Dream Dates in NL. And after a generation or two the money starts to pile up with no use, outside of getting a few bowling alleys (or in my case, pictures of bowling alleys)

But after playing around with two businesses yesterday, it's a different ballgame.  Using the Energizer and Elixir may actually make sense with OFB.

This is what I like about this EP, too.

I agree. I'm really looking forward to this one. The other games got very boring after just a few days. My first group of simmies - 6 of them! - all graduated suma cum laude the first time I played UNI, and I got dream dates the very first time I played NL. To me, that's just boring. I love the openendedness of the game, but when it has as much challenge as 1st grade arithmetic, it gets pretty dull.

On top of that, about 80% of the sims I play regularly are in the business career. Now they actually have something to be a business person in. Finally some diversification in the types of businesses. And I'm hoping this'll make elders more fun. As of yet, I've only had one sim die of old age. And I bought the game when it first came out! Now that they have something to do - the Oldies are opening a flower shop, for example - maybe I'll actually get to playing some of them.

[Entgleichen]

I'll actually get to play some of my adults who have their skills maxed out and their lifetime want fullfilled. They are becoming interesting again, since managing a business is easier but not too easy with them.

[MutantBunny]

Disappearing businesses?? Omg..... Does anyone have anymore news on this?

[jsalemi]

Hey, I ordered sims2 from amazon on a sunday evening (not a pre-order, about a week after it came out) and just ordinary 2nd class post.  It arrived on the Tuesday!  Amazon only told me they'd sent it on the Monday afternoon!

Wonderful; and I preordered it, and Amazon says they ain't shipping it until 3/5 at the earliest.  If I didn't have such a good gift certificate there, I wouldn't have bothered with them.

[Lackey]

I dont know about disappearing businesses but I have a woman stuck on a business lot. I tell her to go home she goes and I stay so it needs some work.

[skandelouslala]

I am liking it so far (missing hacks like crazy though lol)
It's a bit challenging.  I'll be entertained with this I think way longer than I was with Uni for sure and even NL.
However I'm worried that I will now be compelled to make all my sims have businesses (a little OCD there )

My loading times are now INSANE with OFB installed. I'm not sure why it is taking 2x as long now. I'm in the sloooooow process of trying to clean up my downloads folder.  Don't plan to go on any download sprees for quite a while. 

[BlueSoup]

With no custom content, as I played last night, the loading times were normal.  If they are insane tonight with custom content, I'll be sad (and seriously doing a cull).

[Ellatrue]

How is tune up perverse? Do I really have to make a crankcase ventelation, or oil and lube, or injector, or fluids check, or plugs or anything else joke?

And your idea is just sick. The actual game just involves shoving large screwdrivers where they don't belong as a flirt, but woo hoo with a trash compactor? A dryer in spin cycle maybe, but a trash compactor? WTF?

Geez, lighten up! I think you are putting waaay too much thought into this!

[ElviraGoth]

I'm in no hurry to get this one.  I probably will, but not for awhile.  The business thing doesn't interest me, but some of the things you get with this EP do.  Like elevators, Servo, workbenches.

Do the workbenches increase mechanical like they did on TS1?

And hey, Motoki!  Good to see your nanny avatar on here again!  I was just wondering the other day how you were doing and if you'd show up around here anytime soon!

[aussieone]

I like the fact that this EP is waaaay more challenging than any previous one.

I played for a few hours and I got one business up to Rank 1, which took quite a while. I'm wondering if it's a combination of the sim I'm playing, the business that he's in and his employees which is making it harder to progress to the next level?

I'm planning to open another business with a sim who's maxed out skill-wise and match the interests with the type of business and perhaps that will make a difference to the successful progression of higher rankings 

[BlueSoup]

I'm definitely liking that it seems to be a little bit more challenging.  I can't wait to have some time to really play it. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Hey, I ordered sims2 from amazon on a sunday evening (not a pre-order, about a week after it came out) and just ordinary 2nd class post.  It arrived on the Tuesday!  Amazon only told me they'd sent it on the Monday afternoon!

Wonderful; and I preordered it, and Amazon says they ain't shipping it until 3/5 at the earliest.  If I didn't have such a good gift certificate there, I wouldn't have bothered with them.

.com or .co.uk?  The UK one is shipping on precisely the day I was originally told they would.  As I think I mentioned then, it may be that Maxis have made a bigger effort to get the EP shipped abroad on time this time around!

[rhodaloo]

This is definately going to be a challenging game.  Since 11 a.m. CST, I have run two maxis made busenesses into the ground.   

[BlueSoup]

LOL Rhodaloo.    I decided to play around with it last night with the Goths. I moved them into a new house (their house is just not playable) and then I started mashing buttons blindly.  I managed to get a couple of bouquests and robots made, but then I got bored with them.  I'll give it a real go later and take my time with it.  After all, I do have 6 months, right?

[Lion]

I said "it's my dream come true", because I like management games. I took the bakery lady (Ms. Jacquet) to buy a tiny cafe community lot (with a $70,000 loan). I can't say the shop is taking off, but they sold some stuff, including cakes and fruit baskets. I hired Shirley Baker as an employee, because she looks pretty with a CC hair, I think, but she came to work with a bold head.  Oh-oh, hair has a problem, I said to myself. I then hired BlueSoup because I gave her a CC hair, and she came WITH her hair, so that is fine.

Simmiecal, if you read this, can you help me to locate this Shirley Baker, I couldn't find her anywhere in any of the houses in the MATYville (the painful version). Is she a townie?

Another problem is, this bold Shirley Baker refuses to come to work. So I thought maybe I should raise her salary a bit, but I can't get such an option through phone or computer!  I can click on an employee, like BlueSoup to raise the wages (which I did), but I can't if she doesn't even come to the shop. And I can't find a "fire" option though phone or computer either, only if the employee is on the lot. But BlueSoup is really a good help. Thanks, BlueSoup,  And I don't pay if the employee doens't show up to work, just the seemingly constant pop-up messages saying "I don't want to come to work" are annoying.

Also I don't know how the game generate the employee pool when you call to hire. I got 5 or 6 choices, with their skills/badges shown, they are not the owner's friends or even acquintances, they include both residents and townies from several hoods (main, downtown, and Bluewater), and some of them currently have a job. (After you hire them, they quit their job and work in your shop.)

One thing I'm concerned is the depth of the shoppers' pocket. Since they put their purchases in their inventory, and when you play them, you can keep them or sell them back, we can assume that the game keeps track of their funds, which is really a good thing. But does that mean we have to play all the customers, including townies, periodically so that we can restore their funds so they can continue to buy stuff from our shops?

[vecki]

The idiot robot from ts1 is playabole now. You buy him and when you turn him on he becomes a reverse vampire with a robot skin. Basicly recharge him in the sun outside and let him power down at night.

And they added all kinds of perverse sex games with him. "Tune up" is one of the flirt actions.

And the expansion of furries in this EP is obscene.

Whats next? Will the family pack include tentacle rape monsters?

FINGERS IN EARS!

How is tune up perverse? I mean, I think it makes sense, for a robot. Maybe the robot should get social points from repairing things. It could develop a relationship with the trash compactor.

sanmonroe... you're a little obsessed with sex.  Just a little.

and Ella... having relationships with inanimate objects is bad for the game.  I'm sure it'd be good story-wise, but there's a reason my sims don't get remote controllable cars!

[simmiecal]

Shirley Baker was actually Brynne at one point.  I had loaded her into the game and then she posted a new and shiny version of herself. She hadn't interacted with any sims yet, so I changed her name, hair and clothes. Since she was orignially "Brynne" when you mouse over her household, I believe it still says "Bayfield" as the household name. I also think she was living in the Simburbia section along the waters edge. I think I also put her in the show business career. Do you have a picture of Shirley with the hair you're looking for? I've zipped up the MATYville big enchilada so I can't jump into the hood to check it out, but I might recognize the hair.

[Gus Smedstad]

I took the bakery lady (Ms. Jacquet) to buy a tiny cafe community lot (with a $70,000 loan).

Does OFB actually feature loans, or is this something else (an Inge shrub or a plain cheat)?

 - Gus