Date gifts

[J. M. Pescado]

I'm trying to imagine a sim pulling a car out of their ass.  I must get sims out on moar dates.

I would imagine it to work much like when a burglar STEALS a car. Not to be constrained by SENSIBLE forms of auto-theft, like simply driving off with it, he puts it into his sack much like any other stealable item.

[talysman]

I'm trying to imagine a sim pulling a car out of their ass.  I must get sims out on moar dates.

I would imagine it to work much like when a burglar STEALS a car. Not to be constrained by SENSIBLE forms of auto-theft, like simply driving off with it, he puts it into his sack much like any other stealable item.

Which raises the question: does buying a car alarm do anything besides deduct money from the household, waste a little time, and add those all important "turn on/off car alarm" animations?

[Drakron]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZhE84yvTamA

They seem to function as a standard burglar alarm.

[jolrei]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZhE84yvTamA

They seem to function as a standard burglar alarm.

So, what then?  The alarm goes off, the burglar still steals the car, but the police show up to watch him do it and then there's the standard fight, followed by the burglar running off into the night?

[Doc Doofus]

I had a child invite an adult man on an outing and afterwards the child dropped off a Mr. Bearlybutts chair.  I thought it was exactly the sort of thing a child would choose as a gift. 

Wow.  The creepiest Sim story I have heard yet.

I have a challenge I might suggest to you all, one that I started playing on one of my lots.  Let's call it the Date Gift Challenge.  A married couple with your basic cooking/mechanical points move into a house and try to survive and raise a family on money they get SOLELY from dating and going on formal outings with townies.  No jobs, no performing for tips, no home businesses, none of that.   Use the NPC/Townie maker if you need more townie victims.

I get more gifts from the formal outings  than I get from the dates.  Time can pass a bit slowly because of all the time spent out on commercial lots on dates.

[Liz]

They seem to function as a standard burglar alarm.

So, what then?  The alarm goes off, the burglar still steals the car, but the police show up to watch him do it and then there's the standard fight, followed by the burglar running off into the night?

Because the burglarms inside only work for the room in which they're placed, an alarmless car outside can be yoinked without the police being summoned at all. The car alarm sounds while the burglar is still out in the yard, well before s/he has a chance to start plundering your sim's interior booty, so the cop arrives that much more quickly. Not that it makes the cop any more or less likely to win the fight, but I've never seen an 'alarmed' car get poofed into the Sack of Holding.

[sloppyhousewife]

I get more gifts from the formal outings  than I get from the dates. 

I never send sims on outings, but the game seems to regard same sex dates as outings, too. At least, that's what the message boxes say. And it's indeed always the men (i.e. "outing" partners) who drop the cool stuff. My current legacy founder had three dream dates recently, where Johnson Pai (townie) dropped a piano, Gilbert Jacquet a bust of whatshisname and Jill so-and-so (garden club) nothing at all.

I have noticed though, if my sim becomes 'best friends' with the other sim while on the scored outing then the chance of a gift being left is very high.

That would explain it, as my dates never end without crush/love and several woohoos, so if they're really considered as outings, the gifts aren't surprising.

[Zazazu]

They seem to function as a standard burglar alarm.

So, what then?  The alarm goes off, the burglar still steals the car, but the police show up to watch him do it and then there's the standard fight, followed by the burglar running off into the night?

Because the burglarms inside only work for the room in which they're placed, an alarmless car outside can be yoinked without the police being summoned at all. The car alarm sounds while the burglar is still out in the yard, well before s/he has a chance to start plundering your sim's interior booty, so the cop arrives that much more quickly. Not that it makes the cop any more or less likely to win the fight, but I've never seen an 'alarmed' car get poofed into the Sack of Holding.

This is why you place the burglar alarm outside. Ye olde trick from Sims1 days.

[Liz]

Because the burglarms inside only work for the room in which they're placed... but I've never seen an 'alarmed' car get poofed into the Sack of Holding.

This is why you place the burglar alarm outside. Ye olde trick from Sims1 days.

No wai, you use trickery and sneakiness in your game? That's, that's cheating, that is!

* Liz is disillusioned and deeply saddened.

[Zazazu]

I'm sorry, Liz.

My burglars never seem to get anything with the alarm inside the house ('hood is actually about 50/50 on the houses that have alarms, and most lots don't have one at all). So I don't see any reason to put up with the slow motion and squealing alarm any longer than I have to.

[Liz]

I'll manage to get over it, somehow. 

Yeah, in an alarmed house I've never actually had anything *stolen* from my sims. No, wait, I think it might have happened once or twice in the years I've been playing. So, not that huge a percentage. I'm also not getting burglars visiting my families who have pets (I'm sure none have come to the dog families, and I think the cat households have been exempt as well). To tell the truth I've also started skipping the car alarm lately just because by the time my sims can afford a car, they're at most a couple days away from being able to replace it if it's stolen. Poor financial strategy in real life, but those whomploads of § have to get spent somewhere, I guess.

[Zazazu]

Taxes. Tax those simmies into the ground. It's so funny looking at Tobias Outlaw, who has had to sell basically everything but his stove, fridge, a counter, couch, shower, and potty just to afford his bills + mortgage. Tax time is going to be grand, considering that his cousin/girlfriend is moving in and all her money is going to tuition. That, plus a pending mouth to feed and 3k taxes....delicious. The sins of the father blah de blah blah.

[Liz]

The sins of the father blah de blah blah.

Ah, truer words were never spoken. Sage with the wisdom you are.

I actually like the idea of taxes. And moar random junk. Lately I've tried to be less iron fist-ey (which is not only monotonous, but also sounds menacingly pervy) and started letting my sims' own impulses & Wants dictate their actions a bit more. I'm not quite up to rolling for random whammys per household yet, but the taxes sounds like a good way to curb my hood's exploding nouveau riche population. How do you calculate your tax rate: salary, lot value, total worth?

[Zazazu]

10% of lot value each season. I'm thinking of making future mayoral programs require additional taxes. The current one gives a slight rebate, one time, upon stray adoption. There are only two strays left. I I do education next time, I'll have them pay an additional tax dogeared for the expansion of Teardrop Isle Community College. The facilities there are in a sad state.

Still, everyone's doing pretty well with the exception of Romello's descendants. One kid died of what appears to be suicide. His widow and three children are struggling, with one teen daughter now kicked out of school due to her horrible grades and bad attitude (and there's more drama llama coming). Other kid and husband just starting to dig themselves out of debt now that their kids are out of the house, with their children either struggling for money or involved in some sort of debauchery. Not that everyone else has a perfect life, but sheesh! Those sims get the short end of it.

[jsalemi]

So I don't see any reason to put up with the slow motion and squealing alarm any longer than I have to.

FYI, jfade has a nice little hack over on DJS that silences the alarms, and just pops up a box telling you the alarm has gone off and the police/fire dept. has been called. 

[kiki]

Taxes. Tax those simmies into the ground. It's so funny looking at Tobias Outlaw, who has had to sell basically everything but his stove, fridge, a counter, couch, shower, and potty just to afford his bills + mortgage. Tax time is going to be grand, considering that his cousin/girlfriend is moving in and all her money is going to tuition. That, plus a pending mouth to feed and 3k taxes....delicious. The sins of the father blah de blah blah.

see I was doing that too - I was taking $50 a day out of my sims' funds for a mortgage before I installed ikea stuff, but once I installed that I found that the familyfunds cheat stopped working so now I've gotta mess around with insim and I just can't be assed to do that all the time.

[J. M. Pescado]

To tell the truth I've also started skipping the car alarm lately just because by the time my sims can afford a car, they're at most a couple days away from being able to replace it if it's stolen. Poor financial strategy in real life, but those whomploads of § have to get spent somewhere, I guess.

Well, in real life, car alarms don't consume immense amounts of time when used. They also won't prevent your car from being stolen at all. But a big black guy named Ben can.

[Count Four]

On most lots, I don't even use the burglar alarm anymore.  As soon as the burglar music starts, I smite them via the batbox. It's much more fun than the stupid fight with the wussy cop.

In my most recently established hood, taxes are half of the lot value per week. Families get the handout reduced to 5K before they even buy a lot, and EAxis careers are verboten.  They've got to come up with other ways to make their money.  Most of them are still living under roofs with no walls (except the lucky woman who married Mr. Big on Thursday.) 

Any family that reaches zero family funds must immediately move to a Poor House.  Money from the sale of their lot/house goes immediately to the mayor, because it's an awful, oppressive system. In the Poor House, they must work to pay off their debt (earn $1000 per family to merit release.) 

I've just started this as an experiment, and it's sim-Sunday night.  Sim-Monday morning is tax time, so today I find out who's going to the Poor House.

Edit to clarify, to my own satisfaction.

[floopyboo]

Any family that reaches zero family funds must immediately move to a Poor House.  Money from the sale of their lot/house goes immediately to the mayor, because it's an awful, oppressive system. In the Poor House, they must work to pay off their debt (earn $1000 per family to merit release.) 

Oh, that is evil. I'm borrowing that idea!

[Count Four]

Any family that reaches zero family funds must immediately move to a Poor House.  Money from the sale of their lot/house goes immediately to the mayor, because it's an awful, oppressive system. In the Poor House, they must work to pay off their debt (earn $1000 per family to merit release.) 

Oh, that is evil. I'm borrowing that idea!

Cool. I'll probably be raising the 'release merit' amount for sims that have more badges, otherwise some smartass who has a gold robot making badge could get his family out in a day and that wouldn't be any fun. I may end up charging bed-and-board for each family member against their Poor House earnings.

[Zazazu]

Half is probably going to be too much in the end (unless you want absolutely everyone but the mayor starving to death), but I like the way you are thinking.

[Count Four]

Half is probably going to be too much in the end (unless you want absolutely everyone but the mayor starving to death), but I like the way you are thinking.

You're probably right, but I'm so bored with easy money, I wanted to try something else.  This system requires that they build and shop with stringent economy at all times.  Part challenge, part experiment.

There are currently four families in the neighborhood; three of them are living under roofs on pillars--no walls, no floor tiles under their feet and not much of anything else.  It's mid-summer, everybody is gardening, but there's not a lot of cash around, which is what I wanted.  I'll be interested to see how it progresses. (Unfortunately, real life intervened and I didn't get to send anybody to the Poor House today. Maybe tomorrow. *sigh*)

[J. M. Pescado]

Unless you meant based on the LOT value, I.E., the actual value of the lot, and not the equipment inside, half would make it pretty much pointless to buy anything as a even a level 10 CEO wouldn't be able to afford a house.

[Zazazu]

Oh, that wouldn't be much at all. Half of blank-lot value for a 2x2 is approximately 1k. Most of my sims are paying at least 2.5k/5 days. (Founder lot pays almost 8k/5 days)

[J. M. Pescado]

Dumping 2.5K or more a week could represent a significant chunk of change for a family that isn't being played for optimal advancement. If you're not aggressively levelling and/or use dead-end OFB-jobs, 2.5K a week can easily become bank-breaking when your sim works minimum wage at $120 a day. Don't underestimate the craptacularity of a dead-end minimum wage job! All the TS2 advanceable careers are *WAAY* too generous. If you want suffering, give them a shitty OFB job! The hours are terrible and the pay is worse!