More Awesome Than You!

As if OFB didn't have enough annoyances, right?  :-\

So, I found the Reporter on my first business lot that I've opened, writing away on his clipboard. I think, "Okay, the Prima guide claims that the Reporter only needs to gain 100 Customer Loyalty points (enough for the first Star)." So, I go over and Dazzle said Reporter, he gains a Star, and immediately decides he wants to check out. After checking out, he leaves. End of story. No Good Review, no Bad Review; he just leaves.

This is really frustrating me, as my business owner keeps rolling the want to win a "Best of the Best Award." Plus, I want to plant a few of those awards around the store because, according to the Prima guide, Sims who view them will gain a jump-start to their Buy bar on the next item they browse.

Supposedly, he will stay for 5 hours and if in that time he doesn't get +100 or -100 then he'll leave without writing a review. If he left in less than 5 hours without writing a review something is definitely wrong though

Well, the Prima guide mentions an invisible "Shopping" want that all Sims now possess and the goal of a business owner is to not complete satisfy that want. Apparently a Sim whose Shopping want is nowhere near filled will get larger starting bonuses to their Buy bars than one whose Shopping want is almost satisfied. Perhaps the Reporter I had didn't have much of a Shopping want in the first place? I dunno.

I had another Reporter on another lot earlier today who gained three Customer Loyalty Stars within 3 hours, stayed for the other 2, and still left without giving a review.

I have played my home business lot to a full 10 stars and have yet to see the reporter.  I thought it had to do with it being a home business, then my son downloaded my house lot for the exact home and made abusiness on it.  Bingo! Reporter! 

Oh well, at least he didn't have a sim spontaneuosly combust and have to have the Hydrobot put him out.

Glad someone mentioned this. In my first ever shop in downtown I got the reviewer twice. First time good, second time bad. Next, I open a shop which I build myself in Pleasantview and no reviewer until star 10! A guy comes in writing on his clipboard and I dazzle him etc etc. He leaves happy but no report! Frustrating.

I will try again with my real estate business in Blue Water.

You may have seen him and not known it. I think everyone has the same Bluewater npcs and if so he has red hair and that weird pony tail with the sides shaved hairdo. He'll be scribbling on a pad and paper.

I had one just after my shop opened and I didn't know who she was and I got a bad review.  I mean gimme a break my poor sim was still trying to learn how to work the cash register. ???

Same here! It's terrible. My Sim was simply too busy with so many customers in the newly opened shop. The business is doing so well now. I wonder if there is a way to get rid of a bad review. Will another reporter come by or are we stuck with that initial bad review for all eternity? *weeps*

I haven't ever gotten any report, but I have gotten several Best of the Best awards from my reporter.

wait!!! Maxis would never mes up something so vital!!! YOU BASTARDS HAS HAXX!!!

...

sorry...

channelling the BBS.

Question: Where is this "star 10" crap coming from? Last time I checked, customers only had 5 slots for positive Customer Loyalty stars...

And, although I appreciate the input that people have been having regarding the Reporter working in their game, that doesn't really help me now, does it?  :-\

EDIT: D'oah...you meant Business Level 10...  :D

First reporter I had gave my Diva's home-based business a bad review, even though the lot was absolutely full of entertainment, entire floor devoted to refreshments, extremely comfortable seating ... then I'm playing my newly-graduated Fortune female who immediately wants to buy a community lot.  She buys the cheapest one available, hires a townie with a Silver Badge in flower-arranging and while he's furiously making bouquets, she pops a few cheapie vases and plants onto the stands from the catalogue, while this builder person adds a little shack with a toilet, plus a cheapy picnic table, a barbeque, a swingset and a bubble-blower.  The reporter is going around with positive signs all over the place, stops to have a quick swing, then tells my Sim he thinks her business is top-notch and he's giving her a great review.  No stars, though.  I reckon the whole thing is totally random.

TheCheat, I've had this problem too. Actually, I've only ever gotten one review (home business, positive). Other than that the reporter shows up, scribbles, racks up 2-3 loyalty pts, scribbles, makes a purchase, then leaves without giving a review. I know I've met the criteria to receive reviews, dammit.

I've had that sneak bastard reviewer spy through a window outside of the building on numerous occassions, completely out of sight, then come into view and give a bad reveiw.

I had a reporter the very first time I tried to do a business... it was that florist lady.

I've had two reviews...

The first one I had, the business had only been open a couple of days and my sim was still trying to find his feet. Needless to say the review was a bad one!  :P

The second review was when the business reached a 10 ranking and had been open for a few weeks. This time the review was a glowing one  :)

My first review was a great one. I got that award and placed it on my wall. Sims seem to like seeing it, and it helps my rating too.

My first business, first day, got a Best of the Best Award without even knowing what she was doing. I think it was because the environment score was so high (surrounded by masterpieces).

If the reporter leaves and you get do not get a good or bad review, it meant you got a "meh" review that was neither good nor bad.

So what do you have to do to get a good report? I dazzled the reporter sucessfully and talked to him socially. Appreciated him. I made sure he got personal service from my sim at the register (she's a gold medal check out chick) and did everything but kiss his butt.

Pucker up next time.

Yep, pucker buttercup.

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but the second review I got, which was a glowing one BTW, I didn't even realise the reporter was on the business lot until I got the pop up that told me about the good review!

So, I don't think puckering up works (unless one of my other non controllable sales staff kissed arse big time while I wasn't looking?  ;D

He was the second customer on the opening night of my home bakery.  Micha Eliza joked with him for a while then tended another customer.  She worked on her sales skills with him so he wound up buying a few things, hung around for a long time (always getting in the way since the bakery is small), then gave her a great review.

I had no idea who he was until he pulled out his clipboard.

Maybe he liked the jokes she told him...

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?

I have been hassling the Electronic Boutique guys about the Prima guide and 'James' just told me that boxes have arrived, he hasn't had a chance to open them but to call back in 2 hrs. So hopefully in 2 hrs time I'll be in my car driving to the store to get a copy of my guide. I hope it explains all.

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.

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?').

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.

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.  ::)

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...)

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.

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.

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