Office workers

[tizerist]

I honestly thought this would be pretty easy to implement, but it's anything but.
Is there a way to  make a corporation office lot that involves the employees mainly tapping away at the computer, whilst periodically taking breaks and going for lunch?
Something like what would go on in this type of place:
http://www.hull.ac.uk/geog/research/images/RH01a.jpg

I just need them to concentrate on working away on their desktop PC's, I don't care if they're really just checking their emails or whatever.

I thought of the "Real estate" model, but that involves other, non-employed sims coming in and checking out the deeds if I am correct.

Only employees need be on the premises.
EA should have really included this in OFB.

Any ideas?

[tizerist]

Darn it. There is simliar-ish type objects there, but not what we need.

Perhaps I will suggest it in the macrotastics thread. Cheers though.

[kutto]

I am reminded of a "Call Center" pack that may be similar to what you are looking for, but I cannot recall where it it kept.

[jolrei]

I just think the whole idea sounds incredibly dull.  I mean, this is why the office jobs are all the ones where the career is to disappear off the lot for a few hours and then come home in the carpool, because who wants to watch a bunch of sims sitting at a computer every day for hours at a time?  No lulz potential.

[Yaakovashoshana]

It's just a thought, but if you have Freetime and if your Sims have a primary or secondary Fortune Aspiration, you can direct them to Give Financial Advice or Give Financial Consulting (can't remember the exact wording), and they'll sit at the computer until the proverbial cows come home. You could also direct them to write a novel.

[Dragon Slave]

I am reminded of a "Call Center" pack that may be similar to what you are looking for, but I cannot recall where it it kept.

PC Sims had the call center.  They're closed now, but you can find their stuff at the graveyard - http://sims2graveyard.com/. 
It's under business-type-stuff.  Check out their bank and post office set too, while you're there.  They might have something in them that will help.

[KellyQ]

I just think the whole idea sounds incredibly dull.  I mean, this is why the office jobs are all the ones where the career is to disappear off the lot for a few hours and then come home in the carpool, because who wants to watch a bunch of sims sitting at a computer every day for hours at a time?  No lulz potential.

No kidding. Also you just summed up my entire job in just a few short sentences, especially the part I bolded.

[Zazazu]

Mine is usually lulzy. This week is bad. Very, very bad. I blame Canadia.

[dragoness]

Ehh, I see the entertainment potential just because I love the run-your-own-business idea but hate having to sell yet another television to yet another townie. I always set up sim-owned businesses to either a) provide something the neighborhood needs and can't get otherwise, or b) be something other than the standard "Hey! You! Buy my useless junk!" business plan.

For example, the local grocery store is sim-owned by the family who owns the greenhouses so that everyone who can afford it has access to fresh food without having to litter the urban streets of my neighborhoods with inappropriate numbers of garden plots. Ditto a back-room electronics shop for robots. Other than that I don't run any standard shops so far. I've built a garage/car dealership where employees build custom cars. A computer shop where the owner refurbishes computers. (Oh man, I love SimWardrobe's custom business stuff!)

I would love this, myself, if someone made a controller hack to help run it. I like the suggestion for Finance sims to give financial advice at the computer. A good way to profit from sitting at the computer without getting a load of novels. (Though that's another idea. A book publisher's office.) The entertainment would come in from seeing how many you could get to work at once and still get them to behave, and you could add in some lulz by building the breakroom and then sitting back and seeing if they're bright enough to use it, and/or tanking some relationships to get some office drama going.

[Inge]

I made something like this for Sims 1.  It was quite fun in as much as the workers were teleported in and forced to sit at their computers apart from a lunch break, and in the meantime the family on the lot could continue to be played as usual, while earning money depending on how well the workers did.  I think I factored in algorithms like what skills and personalities the workers had, and what levels of motives they had.  So if the player suspected one of the workers was not being productive due to an imminent need failure, they could authorise her to take a short break.  If the needs went low enough, the worker could actually make a mistake which cost the business money.  So they could be sent home early too.

[ingeli]

I tried to use Moniques computer (Chaaviks updated version) for this, in my Newspaper Head Quarter. Before (as in before Freetime) I recall that I had the computer set to auto write articles and visitors was very eager to sit down and work at the comp, write an article, get skill points and earn money for the house. So I planned to use this for a newspaper house, teleporting in staffers with Inges controllers. Seems like it doesnt work anymore though, at least not for me, last time I tried with the Freetime version of the comp. I will try again when I get to that house in the rotation.

[Lion]

Ingeli, I used to run a newspaper publishing house too. I use Inge's employee ID/token to get them in, they usually autonomously sat down to write, after a little chitchat with each other.  I also have a section locked off just for visitors to come in, and some of them autonomously sat down to write too. If they could finish a story, I gave them half of the money generated. I looked at it as citizens coming in with stories and the newspaper pay them for the stories.

Haven't tried with AL. I have been doing the apocalypse challenge, and the newspaper business is only permittable if the journalism and business are unlocked.

Like MoonDragoness, I'm tired of selling useless stuff to townies. I enjoyed making the newspaper office work. If this Financial Consulting Corp. can work, that would be great. Inge, want to try?

[Inge]

I have to finish making Chosen Landlord first

[ingeli]

Not to speak about having a cup of tea and not stress out. Chosen Landlord rules

[talysman]

I haven't tried the One Shiny yet, but isn't it possible to fill a commercial lot with computer stations and then block autonomy for playing computer games for employees and for every computer action for non-employees? This would seem to be useful, since placing a couple other objects would allow some office shenanigans, like workers slacking off around the water cooler.

[tizerist]

Sounds like headway is being made. This is potentially very good indeed.

block every computer action for non-employees?

Well in a "corporate" environment you wouldn't even have non-employees on the lot whatsoever. I think the TwoJeff's Visitor Controller allows employees only. I know one of my CC items does that at least.

[pbox]

I've been running a publishing house in my previous hood thusly:

1. Get some hack that can make any sim selectable (I use Dolphin26's "ControlThisSim" from mts2, but there's other means too -- I believe even the batbox has that feature meanwhile)
2. Start a business, put in desks and computers (vanilla maxian ones will do) and hire some employees
3. Call In Employees, select them for a moment, and tell them to Write Novel

That's it. You never actually *open* the business, so there's no customers to deal with. My employees were taking care of themselves just fine, taking pee/lunch breaks as needed (after that I had to send them back to work manually -- select and tell to Write Novel again --, but that was perhaps once a day, so not really an issue).

This worked very nicely for me, both with and without FT. I had between one and three employees, and the publishing house was the most profitable business in that hood. The owner kept the revenue from the novels of course, and paid the employees 200§ per day, so it was a bit of a sweatshop .. on the other hand she built a public library and a park, so it was all for the greater good =). Less creative employees' novels would also sell for less than the ones by 10-creativity types. It did work fine to have employees start a novel on one day and finish it on the other, as well (the progress got properly carried over I mean -- they don't start from scratch every morning).

If your goal is not to create revenue, you could also just make them chat or write emails I suppose (but that would probably require more management than novelwriting, getting them back to "work" when the sim they are chatting with goes offline etc). 

[Inge]

Hehe if you did open the place to customers imagine the number of complaints as they found nothing to buy and no one offering "May I help you?"

[Lion]

Hehe if you did open the place to customers imagine the number of complaints as they found nothing to buy and no one offering "May I help you?"

No, they wouldn't complain if there is nothing to buy and therefore they wouldn't need to be helped. They may complain about dirty dishes if you have, though. I had my newspaper publishing house open to the public, and they just pass their time doing what they usually do.

[Quinctia]

You could sell some magazines and stuff, I suppose.  There isn't a buyable newspaper, is there?  My mother worked at a newspaper, and I temped there one summer when I was still in college.  They had a small storefront where you could buy copies of the couple newspapers they produced, or place an ad.  So if you wanted to go that route, you could still have a public side to the business.  Assuming you want one. 

[sleep]

There is a buyable paper on MTS2, but it's pretty old and broke the newspapers in my game (up to FT). I couldn't find an updated version.