More Awesome Than You!

OK, so I know I'm months behind in the expansion packs (it gives me time to assess if the new game is worth the money, and it gives EA time to fix all the bugs), but I'm just beginning to get used to Nightlife and so it's time to look at the next interesting EP. I'll never go for pets but OfB looks like fun. If you have it, how often do you use the business side of things? What other features are added that Nightlife didn't have (Is lockable doors one of them? Cos I bet that would come in handy!) Any nice new messes? Anything that the wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_2:_Open_for_Business) doesn't include, like awful gameplay? I figured you guys would give me an honest opinion rather than those at the TS2 forums or the BBS...

My first and only bit of advice would be to search this site using the keyword - or acronym if you like - 'OFB'.

OFB is worth its weight in gold, if only for the smooth and cleaned-up game engine. It's STABLE. And fast. 

Lockable doors are the awesomesauce, but not enough reason to buy the expansion pack. Ok, OFB isn't one of my faves, but I don't regret getting it. So here are some pro/cons from a slightly less enthusiastic consumer.

Pros:
1. Servos, your own personal 24/7 slave. Get 'em to perma plat fast, don't tell them to repair the leaky shower, and ignore them. With Seasons, they are the perfect farmers.
2. Easy-ass money. Just put a ticket machine in front of the house. Plop down a chess table and two chairs. Ignore it. Never work again.
3. You can do that whole, like, "realism" thingy, where you have furniture stores and stuff for your sims to go buy stuff at.
4. IIRC, this expansion pack has good items.
5. More ways to hit that stupid "Make $100,000" goal.
6. Some of the craftable items are cool. Watching adult sims play with the brick cracks me up. Snapdragons are better than coffee, and don't give you the jitters.
7. Super-networking rewards for business owners: one lets you know the whole neighborhood. Combined with the earlier starter boosts you get, instant masses of buddies.

Cons:
1. Servos making way way too many meals. Lock the kitchen or get noservochores.
2. Running a real business (non-ticket) takes time and balancing.
3. Employees are flaky stupid jerks who quit for no apparent reason. Family-owned and run all the way, or get Business Runs You. If you are even contemplating a restaurant, get Business Runs You.
4. The good craftable items take both a long time to get the badge level for, as well as to make. But, eh, that's why there's a badge juicer (boolprop + spawn...badge juicer)

Short answer: Yes, get OFB.

Longer answer: Zazazu summed things up pretty well but I'll add my own sage advice.

* Personally I think servos are overrated, but everyone else likes them.  Maybe I'm missing something.
* RIDICULOUSLY easy to make tons of money.  This could be considered either good or bad.
* I finally figured out the "employees quit for no reason".  Employees salary requirements go up when they gain a new badge.  Rather than asking for more money, they suddenly up and quit.  Now that I stay on top of raises, I've never had one quit.
* Get "Business Runs You" for sure.  That was the mod that finally got me to install stuff like macrotastics and is absolutely critical if you have a business with employees.  You should probably also the other business fixes such as relevantwages, missingmanagerfix, etc.  Of course "get all the MATY mods that fix the stupid crap" is standard whenever you get a new EP anyhow.

OFB is more work than any of the other EPs. I love it, but it seems to depend a lot on your playing style. I enjoy running around and finding things to make some weird business that I've thought up and love that OFB lets me do so much more. I don't care if I lose money, don't get all the perks or whatever like that. It seems like people like it better since Seasons as running a farmer's market type thing is a lot of fun. Those two work well together.

I'd think if you tend to get frustrated with stupid sims actions and non-sensible code and really don't like the micro-managing parts, enjoy the game-aspects more than the story aspects and like it best when sims behave something close to intelligent (oxymoron) or do more on their own, it probably isn't the EP for you. If you like taking it slow and figuring out how to make something work, telling stories, don't care if your sims max things out or how quickly, download a lot of hacks to make some different-type thing work in your game and tend to direct your sims most of the time anyway, you'll probably like it.

Like the above poster said, it depends on your playstyle. I personally like the business angle (and even better, the business rewards!), the furniture looks good, and some of the craftable items are pretty nifty. Servos, on the other hand, are More Ugly Than You. But hey, they free up your normal Sims' time for non-cleaning-related activities.

As for the game engine, I'll take katenigma's word for it. *shrug* I have the holes fixed with MATY hacks anyway.

Thanks for the input guys. I've also found a couple of useful threads about OFB here, but most of them are of the "Does this hack work with OFB?" kind - not really useful one year later.

I know OfB came with new build mode options.  Now, is that the sort of thing that's grandfathered in, so to speak, in newer EPs?  The building stuff and the crafting benches are the only things that interest me, and if I can get the build mode stuff by jumping straight to Seasons, then I probably won't bother with OfB.

The crafting benches wouldn't be, as they are intended to create items to sell.

Building items? Not sure. I got all but seasons in one jump.

Oh I know the crafting stuff wouldn't be.  They'd be nifty, but I wouldn't put in an EP just for them.

I know that some more roof shapes/types whatever you call them came with OfB, and the stage foundation?  I'd tolerate having business stuff I know I wouldn't use, if it was the only way to get those.

from the Seasons guide:

carried forward from OFB to Seasons

lockable door
change lot name button


carried forward from Pets

game tip encyclopedia
collections enhancements
flatten lot tool
sledgehammer tool
rotating floor tiles
revamped collections
inventory hotkey
invite household interface
and although it isn't mentioned in the guide - I know you also get the Paintings folder for making custom paintings on the easel  (I tried giving up Pets but ended up re-installing it cause I wanted the new phones and fishtank and some other stuff)

roofs and the stage foundation weren't mentioned


I don't let my sims run businesses very often but I like knowing I can if I want too. OFB isn't a intrusive EP (like Pets), you can install and just enjoy the new stuff and forget about the business part of it. Some of my favorite objects came with OFB.

If you saw the snapdragons in action, you just might.   Every bedroom in my game has them.  Makes for pleasant mornings: my Simmies wake up with all their needs fulfilled.

 

The nursery is always the first room to get snapdragonned in my lots.  You still have to change diapers & put the babies/toddlers in their cribs to sleep, but once the toddlers are potty trained they can use the potty themselves and I use Atavera's toddler blanket so the toddlers can put themselves to bed/get up.  Adult sims no longer need to drop everything every time the infant needs a bottle, a cuddle, a bath, or to go to sleep/wake up.

Three snapdragons next to a baby's crib and you won't have to do anything to it at all until it's a toddler.  With two snapdragons you have to change their diaper once, but not feed them.

Hmm...I'll probably still get Seasons first, and then see.  I know OfB isn't that intrusive (though I would hate getting business oriented LTWs), but even Pets seems more interesting to me.  Though from everything I've heard, I don't want to install Pets. :D  Also, if I get Seasons first, I wouldn't have to update my hacks and stuff twice...which is the only thing that's stalling adding another EP.  The dread of WORK.

I'm a micromanaging player despite all my efforts not to be, and if I can handle lots with 10+ sims and raising multiples without all that much of a headache, I don't think the snapdragons are all that necessary in my case.  It's just a gameplay style thing.

...eh, I just got paid and I have the day off, maybe I'll grab Seasons today and report back on the building mode stuff.

There's only one business LTW; "Own 5 top level businesses".  And although that really sucks (it's not really hard, it just takes a lot of time, and requires a lot of useless interaction with townies), it's easy to reroll with the lot debugger.
Pets truly sucks unless you're very keen on OMG PUPPIES!

OFB had some nice hairstyles and clothing that made me reinstall the EP after nixing it for awhile.

Best part for me: Salon chair, I could un-ugo all the townies.

OFB basically has no real negatives, and if you only have NL, it's also a much more stable engine (The NL engine has this annoying habit of dying on stuff for no apparently logical reason). Even if you don't do anything business-related, the features are still useful.

Maybe that's why my game has been crashing on me for no apparent reason recently then? Thanks for all the input everyone, I think I will go and get it...

Season Build mode report:

I got the stage foundation, but none of the spiffy spire roofs.  So I'll probably add on OfB eventually, but I've got a lot of new shinies to get bored of, first.