So what the hell are the benefits of being in The Zone anyway?

[buddha pest]

There are none, right? It's nothing?

I searched, okay? No one is saying anything about any such thing.

It's just more pegs for ocd-ers to compulsively fill, right? Just like the mementos and bug box.

If there are benefits, then I guess they are too subtle to even matter.

I'm so disappointed by this half-assery.

[CAFlanny]

The sim's needs are supposed to freeze, I think.

[Assmitten]

My sim's needs go up, and not just fun.

[buddha pest]

The sim's needs are supposed to freeze, I think.

This for sure does not happen...at least not all of them. Because if it did, they'd never need to stop hobbying, ever.

My sim's needs go up, and not just fun.

Hm.

[jolrei]

My sims needs do not freeze.  Quite the opposite.  I have only had one or two sims in the zone ever, but they tend to disregard everything while their bladder and hunger bars decrease.  One stargazing sim had to be snapped out of it to go to the terlet at one point.  I have not found a particular purpose to being in the zone and do not bother anymore.  It only seems to be good for focusing them on their hobby for extended periods, which is not really anything I care about anyway.

If someone else has noted a more worthwhile reason than "decreased motive decay" it would be fun to hear about it, but excessive and obsessive hobbination does not really seem worth much to me (except perhaps to get the LTA points).

[laylei]

I just had a sim go into the Zone last night while trying to get his gold flower-making badge. His moods still dropped, even with the Zone glow. Honestly, it didn't seem to do anything at all, which was a huge disappointment.

[Gwill]

When I was still trying to figure out the last elusive butterfly bug, I had a Bigfoot who would hunt bugs day and night in the Zone.  The only motive that decreased was hygiene, and that's directly related to the bug-hunting action itself.  He did not eat, he did not sleep, he didn't socialize.  The only thing he occasionally did was take a bubble bath to get his comfort up after being chased by bees.
This went on for nearly two whole generations of sims.

The zone does do something to motives.

[buddha pest]

I think I've had a sim in the Zone for just about every hobby now.

I do believe they've all had to stop to sleep and pee and eat and such. Perhaps it depends on the activities themselves or something. That would kinda explain why it's so hard to decipher wtf is going on, and no one can come to a consensus across the board.

[J. M. Pescado]

Try using the latest lot debugger info to print motive report before/after zoning. It may or may not have a minor, non-perceptible effect.

[cwykes]

...... Perhaps it depends on the activities themselves or something. That would kinda explain why it's so hard to decipher wtf is going on, and no one can come to a consensus across the board.

I'd buy that explanation, but we need to disentangle the effects of the new motive decay aspiration rewards with the effects of being in the zone.  I've had sims in the zone where nothing seemed to decay apart from energy and others whose needs seemed to drop like a stone.  I suspect the difference is partly about the rewards those sims had chosen.  A family sim who chose all the rewards reducing motive decay v. a knowledge sim who picked knowledge and career rewards.

I had high hopes that sims in the zone were going to be able to craft more things before their needs tanked.  That hasn't worked wonderfully well for me so far, but maybe the answer is to choose crafters who have all the motive decay rewards instead.  Does the knowledge sim "learn faster" reward help them with badges as well as skills?

Of course it's always possible the zone has no effort or isn't working properly. 

[jsalemi]

Only good thing I've seen about a sim getting to the zone is that they pick up another lifetime asp point (for the first maxed hobby, at least).

[jolrei]

Only good thing I've seen about a sim getting to the zone is that they pick up another lifetime asp point (for the first maxed hobby, at least).

For me, that's the only reason to do it.  I might also consider getting them in the zone and letting them go if I just wanted to "park" them for a while.  They could go make pottery in the zone and perhaps the pots could be sold for cash while I concentrate on some other sim's life.  I suppose it's a bit better than just power-idle for elder permaplat sims.

[kuronue]

From reading the literature I understand the Zone is supposed to be a temporary activity-specific Platinum mood - they'll keep going regardless of motives until they're dying or whatever. This is unconfirmed rumor, mind, even if it is from the official literature.

[Zazazu]

Only good thing I've seen about a sim getting to the zone is that they pick up another lifetime asp point (for the first maxed hobby, at least).

For me, that's the only reason to do it.  I might also consider getting them in the zone and letting them go if I just wanted to "park" them for a while.  They could go make pottery in the zone and perhaps the pots could be sold for cash while I concentrate on some other sim's life.  I suppose it's a bit better than just power-idle for elder permaplat sims.

Blech. Half my sims above teen are already perma-platted from their LTA (a lot of this is because they've been breeding like bunnies). I need to refind that hack that negates the permaplat effect.

The only sim I bother with getting to max enthusiasm on hobbies is Terrence Rowe, for the asp points. He gives out think caps to his progeny (23 direct descendents living and at least 3 on the way), and he's been permaplat for two generations now.

[buddha pest]

...... Perhaps it depends on the activities themselves or something. That would kinda explain why it's so hard to decipher wtf is going on, and no one can come to a consensus across the board.

I'd buy that explanation, but we need to disentangle the effects of the new motive decay aspiration rewards with the effects of being in the zone.  I've had sims in the zone where nothing seemed to decay apart from energy and others whose needs seemed to drop like a stone.  I suspect the difference is partly about the rewards those sims had chosen.  A family sim who chose all the rewards reducing motive decay v. a knowledge sim who picked knowledge and career rewards.  

And a funny thing about those less-motive-decay things is...they often seem to do jack shit.

And I wonder if that's due to a lot of the new hobby activities draining energy and such like all get out. A lot of them also drain hygiene like hell, but at least that makes sense. Pottery and working on cars are dirty business.

I hate that going jogging drains energy so much though. Shouldn't the extra adrenaline and endorphins actually give them a bit of a boost?

[jsalemi]

I hate that going jogging drains energy so much though. Shouldn't the extra adrenaline and endorphins actually give them a bit of a boost?

The FT patch that was out for a bit and since withdrawn (due to EAxis idiot coders) fixed that bug.  It's not just jogging -- playing soccer or basketball would drain them to the brink too. If you haven't had any sims make custom clothing, you can use the patch -- there's links to it in various threads here. A quick search should turn one of those threads up in the last 30 days.

[buddha pest]

I hate that going jogging drains energy so much though. Shouldn't the extra adrenaline and endorphins actually give them a bit of a boost?

The FT patch that was out for a bit and since withdrawn (due to EAxis idiot coders) fixed that bug.  It's not just jogging -- playing soccer or basketball would drain them to the brink too. If you haven't had any sims make custom clothing, you can use the patch -- there's links to it in various threads here. A quick search should turn one of those threads up in the last 30 days.

Yeah, I made custom clothes pretty early on. 

I know that I can extract a clean skins.package from the cd and all, but I didn't know jogging was fixed along with the other sports activities. Good to know.

[doren]

And a funny thing about those less-motive-decay things is...they often seem to do jack shit.

And I wonder if that's due to a lot of the new hobby activities draining energy and such like all get out. A lot of them also drain hygiene like hell, but at least that makes sense. Pottery and working on cars are dirty business.

I hate that going jogging drains energy so much though. Shouldn't the extra adrenaline and endorphins actually give them a bit of a boost?

At least popularity, pleasure and romance sims get useful motive-decay bonuses. The benefits for family sims on the other hand are of so little value to me that I don't see why I should bother with benefit points for them. Before they get to the - interesting - energy motive benefit they have to reduce fun and social needs (which for several reasons I see as a disadvantage). Fun and social is NOT what a pregnant sim is lacking, why couldn't they get a hunger/energy benefit? Plead with social worker? - I've seen the social worker once soon after I started playing sims 2 and I didn't save then. More twins? - How original, not that there are a zillion ways to get twins already (and who wants twins all the time anyway?).

I think I will adopt my own benefit system and change them accordingly with SimEnhancer because I do see the difference, especially in winter when energy and hygiene drops incredibly fast. I am also beginning to wonder whether I should install the patch, didn't someone make it available here somewhere?

[J. M. Pescado]

I think I will adopt my own benefit system and change them accordingly with SimEnhancer because I do see the difference, especially in winter when energy and hygiene drops incredibly fast.

USDA Grade A BS. Energy decay in winter is the same as it is in every other season except Summer, for adults, -255 to -205 per day (depending on Activeness). Summer decay rate is -220 to -180 for adults. Hygiene is -300 to -100 (depending on Neatness) regardless of season. Oddly, these values mean that slobby sims are the ones that bathe a lot and neat sims are the ones that don't. Very counter-intuitive.

[Liz]

Oddly, these values mean that slobby sims are the ones that bathe a lot and neat sims are the ones that don't. Very counter-intuitive.

There are a lot of counter-intuitive bits in this game's setup, aren't there? Like building relationship points while talking - you'd think you'd "plus or minus" depending on what the other person said to you (as in, "Yes, I like what he's saying. Plus at that. No, I don't enjoy that topic. Minus his ass."). Instead, you get a plus or minus depending on whether the listener "accepts" your inane chatter. Backwards, really. And the 'argue' social is twisted all to hell. The one that really bothers me, though, is that as far as the game is concerned, "healthy" and "fattening" are the exact same thing. Somehow adding some homegrown tomatoes to your salad gives it a massive infusion of fitness-draining calories. Good thing I have noeatcrap; otherwise my sims would all be porking out over salad!

[doren]

I think I will adopt my own benefit system and change them accordingly with SimEnhancer because I do see the difference, especially in winter when energy and hygiene drops incredibly fast.

USDA Grade A BS. Energy decay in winter is the same as it is in every other season except Summer, for adults, -255 to -205 per day (depending on Activeness). Summer decay rate is -220 to -180 for adults. Hygiene is -300 to -100 (depending on Neatness) regardless of season. Oddly, these values mean that slobby sims are the ones that bathe a lot and neat sims are the ones that don't. Very counter-intuitive.

Strange. I see a massive energy/hygiene decay when they are outside in bad weather/snow.

[jolrei]

I think I will adopt my own benefit system and change them accordingly with SimEnhancer because I do see the difference, especially in winter when energy and hygiene drops incredibly fast.

USDA Grade A BS. Energy decay in winter is the same as it is in every other season except Summer, for adults, -255 to -205 per day (depending on Activeness). Summer decay rate is -220 to -180 for adults. Hygiene is -300 to -100 (depending on Neatness) regardless of season. Oddly, these values mean that slobby sims are the ones that bathe a lot and neat sims are the ones that don't. Very counter-intuitive.

Strange. I see a massive energy/hygiene decay when they are outside in bad weather/snow.

Not so strange - the two statements are not mutually exclusive.  All things being equal (e.g. your sim is inside reading a book) energy/hygiene decay will be roughly the same in winter as in any other season.  If you dump your sim outside in the snow, you add a new consideration and all things are not equal.

[Zazazu]

Good thing I have noeatcrap; otherwise my sims would all be porking out over salad!

My sims are still getting fat with noeatcrap, even the non-lazy ones. Although I suppose it depends where you draw the lazy line. The two I've had pork out were at 5 active.

[Emma]

I have lots of fat townies. I purposely make some of my playable sims fat but IMO it is far too easy to get them fit. Exceptions to this of course, are my Grilled Cheese porkers.

[Zazazu]

One fatty I have is a secondary grilled cheese (though he acts like a primary). Fine for him to get fat off of them. He was supposed to own Say Cheese!, which I built after rolling for the mayor to make a restaurant with him in mind, but then I rolled for him to fulfill his LTW, Be a Cult Leader. This works, too. Perhaps one of his cultists will run the restaurant.

The other one is a romance sim, the one who runs a full-service massage parlor and has twins with her sister's husband (who lives upstairs with the sister and their child + one on the way), not that any of the involved know the true parentage of the twins. Thank you, SimPE and Risky Woohoo.

None of my townies are fat yet. Of course, I haven't played any restaurants but once or twice.