OK, so why would I want this mess?

[timelycorruption]

EA has given TSR some sort of perk which has allowed them to make their own content creator. (Which accounts for a good chunk of the remaining 19.56% of the reason I'm avoiding this turd.)

Who didn't expect TSR and EA to be in bed together on Sims 3?

I think the EPs will definitely be a help. I mean, Sims 2 base game alone is sort of boring, too, unless you do a lot of challenges.

[LauraW]

Jorganza, That is because it plays like a game and all games get boring after playing them over and over. I can see myself eventually getting this, playing for a while, and then putting it away until the next expansion pack, playing for a while, putting it away....rinse and repeat.  As someone said somewhere, its more like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing than a toolbox/dollhouse/sandbox.

Of course, I keep thinking with enough mods and the ability to ignore some of the things you don't like, the game could be more similar to Sims 2. But that probably won't happen until all the expansion packs are out..maybe another 8 years?

[Marhis]

I don't know, I'm still perplexed. Perhaps it's my gaming background that pushes me on, but I usually tend to look at games having in mind Richard Bartle's essay on MUD players(it's old and somewhat outdated, but still awesome and valid, according to me), which can be easily applied to any kind of game, as a matter of fact.

Bartle essentially said that MUD players can be categorized in 4 basic types: Achievers, Killers, Socializers and Explorers. A well-balanced and long-living game should somehow satisfy all of them. Make your own adaptations of player types (creators, modders, powerplayers à la Pescado, storytellers, etc.) and you'll se that TS2 is clearly a game of this kind: any tipe of player can enjoy it at full: there is no emphasis in specific areas to the detriment of another.
Somehow, TS3 smells to me of a rather unbalanced game. Maybe it's just me, and I haven't fully explored the game, but I have the feeling TS3 can be a great game for some players and crap for others: a strong dichotomy which would have never been happened in TS2.

I'm still playing TS2 for now, and sitting on the fence; I'll give TS3 another go some day, but the gameplay so far has only bored me to death, just like Spore. :/

[Tuesday]

I can honestly say that I'm glad I arred this before buying it because, in my opinion, it's worse than I imagined. I've been playing it for a week and keep waiting for the fun to start. I know I'm repeating what a lot of others have said, but anyway...  

Stuff I like:
I like the idea of the work rabbit holes and the option to direct your Sim to act a certain way at their job. I like the moodlets. I like the traits, I have a Sim running around like a spaz "woo - ing" at everyone (excitable or party animal or some such thing) and it's funny for now. CAS is finally what it should've been this whole time.  

Everything else:
Like someone else pointed out, this game is very similar to a clunky version of Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing. I hate the game interface, the Sims are painfully ugly, the only social place to watch your Sim is outside at a park or a gym, story progression is broken and I hand washed a load of dirty dishes last night while my sim was at work with the time moving along at a painful speed 2. Oh & I keep finding Sims that seem to have immaculately conceived children.

[Soggy Fox]

I remember that study and I agree.  Sims 3 as it stands is horribly unbalanced.  Its designed for people who wish a game -or- want to make stories.  It is horribly designed for people who like to build, like myself.  Its like building in Sims 2 before we got stages and with half the tricks from 2 disabled.  But when I want to play with a sim, instead of build, then 3 is great.

[Druscylla]

I think it basically boils down to what game style you prefer.
I personally like collecting things, so the scavenging appeals to me a great deal. I also like the concept of the open neighborhood - but I am not sure if I like exactly how it was implemented. But as a lot of my initial issues with it are being taken care of by modders as we speak, I am not really counting that yet. The look of the sims has grown on me since I have seen sims the community made. EA's sims seem rushed and have little to no facial personality, while the sims I have seen made by the community look better. I also hate watching my sims do shit without being able to interact with them if I want them to complete a task. But as of yet this has been in all the Sims games, and if the fast forward isn't working, I have no counter to that.

My biggest complaints about the game from an observer's standpoint (I get my game Tues. as a gift) are the Store and the broken Story progression mode. I am really disappointed just looking at it, but it has cheered me up a bit to see that the few things I actually want will be covered by my free points, and that the items in the Store are pretty Fail. But that is not to say I excuse the Store, because I find it exorbitant to say the least, and the fact I only see about 1/3 of it is new non-recycled objects rubs me the wrong way. As for the SP mode, Pescado is fixing EA's mess ups, and I really feel the game will become very enjoyable once the community fleshes out what EA did not.

[dream_operator]

I don't have the game yet and this is my question.

Is it the broken Story Progression that is the main cause of the Sims3 feeling like a game to beat instead of a toy to play? It seems to me that this may be the case.  Everything else seems akin to the Sims2 base game play with enhancements.  I mean what is there to do in the base Sims2 game? Build a house, get a job, socialize with other sims, have a family and skill, basically what you do in the Sims3 with collections added for those who like those.  After reading most of the comments in this section, I think that just fixing the SP (either with an EA patch or with an awesome fix) is the key, right? Or am I missing something.  Also a lot of people seem to be forgetting or ignoring that a lot of the improvements to the Sims2 either came with third party modding or EPs.  

[Zazazu]

I don't have the game yet and this is my question.

Is it the broken Story Progression that is the main cause of the Sims3 feeling like a game to beat instead of a toy to play?

I can only speak for myself, but yes. I'm at a point right now with a family I really like. The two teen boys both have mates picked out. The parents have met (or almost met) their LTW. They are swimming in money. Now it's time to focus on the boys, but with Story Progression always active no matter which way you toggle it, that's not an option. Either I expand the household to epic proportions and go to China rules on kids due to the 8-sim limit, or one of them lives his life in an unapproved manner. Or I split both off and only hear about the parents dying through a late-night phone call.

There are few things in life you can control. I'm absolutely fine with that. But the things I can control, I'd better be able to.

[missyye]

It's not that bad. That's what I thought at first but it's starting to grow on me, slowly but surely. On a positive note does anyone have any idea how to move in a sim from another household? Im getting irritated now because I CAN'T DO IT. They've woohooed, they can try for a baby yet there is no option for move in. How? Enlighten me please.

[seelindarun]

I mean what is there to do in the base Sims2 game? Build a house, get a job, socialize with other sims, have a family and skill, basically what you do in the Sims3 with collections added for those who like those.  After reading most of the comments in this section, I think that just fixing the SP (either with an EA patch or with an awesome fix) is the key, right? Or am I missing something.  Also a lot of people seem to be forgetting or ignoring that a lot of the improvements to the Sims2 either came with third party modding or EPs.  

I'm sorry, that's bullshit.  When I look at purchasing Photoshop CS4, I don't ask myself how similar it is to CS3.  I don't have to play the TS2 basegame.  I can play TS2 with all EPs/SPs +CC right now.  TS3 has to compete for my time with the current state of TS2, just as it has to compete with other games, movies, music, etc.  It logically follows that how much you like TS3 is influenced by how bored you are of TS2.

I keep launching TS3 after reading about this or that cool thing, to find I'm not as enthralled as I thought I would be.  It's really not a bad game concept, but I simply have not become attached to any of the sims I've made.  Their traits do not make them any deeper, or more complex than their TS2 counterparts.  The game still requires the engagement of my imagination to make them live, but the wall of text spam repeatedly slams me out of immersion.  When I've gone back to TS2 in the interim, I haven't missed TS3 at all, even though I've played that family into 3 generations.  To be honest, I shouldn't have to keep hammering away in order to let the game grow on me.  That's work, not play.

I like TS3 a little better than I liked Spore, but it's the less-favoured child and will probably get uninstalled.  Like marhis, I leave myself open to the possibility of looking at it again in a few months if/when hacks, and CC can expand the gameplay.

[Soggy Fox]

That's the thing that bugged me with sims 1 to sims 2 - there are so many -new- things they could do with expansions that making us wait for seasons, apartments, university, pets, magic, etc. is lame, especially making us wait again.

In addition, they removed pianos.  Why in the hell did they remove pianos.  Why did they make it a guitar skill and not a music skill?

[LauraW]

Somehow, TS3 smells to me of a rather unbalanced game. Maybe it's just me, and I haven't fully explored the game, but I have the feeling TS3 can be a great game for some players and crap for others: a strong dichotomy which would have never been happened in TS2.

I'm still playing TS2 for now, and sitting on the fence; I'll give TS3 another go some day, but the gameplay so far has only bored me to death, just like Spore. :/

I LOVE Bartle and I think maybe you have something here. Sims 2 appealed to a variety of people on the hierarchy, maybe killers a little less than the others. Sims 3 appeals to the achievers most of all I think, maybe a bit to the explorers although once you have collected umteen rocks and seeds, it gets a bit boring. I have taken the quiz in the past and am a socializer, which is probably why I enjoyed Nightlife the best and the lightbolt attractions. The chat nests are very nice but again, its all the same thing. Building a romance is so easy and so predictable compared to Nightlife.

Or maybe my expectations were just too high. I had hoped the AI with the townies would be better and its disappointing. Genetics are screwy, romance is dull, keeping friends is really hard and no nightclubs to hang out in! I used to love having a bar/nightclub business and just watching the sims interact. Something is missing..and I can't quite put my finger on it. Some say Sims 3 seems more alive..but to me, it doesn't. It seems less interesting somehow...could it simply be the missing expansion packs?

[GnatGoSplat]

You're stuck with balloon faced Sims.  And second generation Sims are even worse.

Agreed, though I think males look okay for the most part, females are fugly.  You can make your own good looking sims, but I managed to hit slider limits (i.e. face width) before getting the look I wanted.
You should, however, be able to make acceptable looking sims.

You're stuck with nasty dead-looking eyes.  (About 80% of my reason for thinking I'm going to hate this.  All I can think of when I look at them is a Victorian porcelain doll in a horror movie.  You know the one that tries to strangle the hero the minute s/he falls asleep.)

You're the first (other than me) that I've seen mention that.  Most people think the new eyes look more realistic, but I completely agree with you.  They look creepy in game, especially when facing away from the lighting.  I got used to it though.  It was one of the first things that disturbed me about their appearance.  Don't forget also that even the lightest blush makeup on a female sim comes out looking gray/black, making what may have been an ugly sim look even uglier.  The sims always look soooo much better in CAS and the pie menu than they do in game for some reason.  I think they really need to tweak the lighting.

The Story Progression Toggle is either borked, not borked, or works for a while and then stops.
You can only run one family at any given time because the game will randomly delete them if you run any other family.  This problem is either fixed or not fixed by aforesaid SPT depending on whether it's borked on purpose or not.
Most of the game consists of chasing all over the open concept neighborhood collecting stuff which has no use in the game other than display.
Relationships are either too easy to make or too hard.  Or both at once.
All public areas are rabbitholes.
EA has given TSR some sort of perk which has allowed them to make their own content creator. (Which accounts for a good chunk of the remaining 19.56% of the reason I'm avoiding this turd.)

I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said, but how long have you spent with the game?  For me, it's still real enjoyable, but then I might play my game a bit differently.  I like making corrupt families and corrupting towns.  The sims I'm playing are a dysfunctional couple who cheat on each other, but don't know about the other's sexcapades.  The woman has babies that don't belong to her husband.  The man goes out and knocks up just whoever, and then doesn't care to visit his illegitimate love children.  He'll hook up with and impregnate mothers and daughters in the same household.  I've got a Jerry Springer-like story going on in my town, and it's been quite amusing so far.  Sims being able to impregnate townies was something I thought would be fun, but couldn't be done in Sims 2.

[missyye]

That's the thing that bugged me with sims 1 to sims 2 - there are so many -new- things they could do with expansions that making us wait for seasons, apartments, university, pets, magic, etc. is lame, especially making us wait again.

In addition, they removed pianos.  Why in the hell did they remove pianos.  Why did they make it a guitar skill and not a music skill?

Maybe they thought it would smart to do that as they can later put it up for sale at The Sims 3 store, since they seem to be more concerned as to how take money off us. Maybe not though, just a guess.

[dream_operator]

I'm sorry, that's bullshit.  When I look at purchasing Photoshop CS4, I don't ask myself how similar it is to CS3.  I don't have to play the TS2 basegame.  I can play TS2 with all EPs/SPs +CC right now.  TS3 has to compete for my time with the current state of TS2, just as it has to compete with other games, movies, music, etc.  It logically follows that how much you like TS3 is influenced by how bored you are of TS2.

I actually agree with this.  What I was trying to say is that as more and more mods, CC, and EPs come out for the Sims3 more and more people will switch over to it (especially when a tool to make our own neighborhoods comes out).

[Avi]

I'm definitely regretting my decision to let my husband go ahead and order the collector's edition for me . . .  But I am a Sims whore so I gotta have it all—but that doesn't mean I won't arr when necessary.  This is the first time I've ever arr'd a complete game in the Sims franchise but it's because my gut wasn't too happy when the first pics came out and I discovered the fugly Sims.  I'm usually pretty good about buying a game to give the company their due.  I'm seriously only looking forward to the thumb drive and fucking over the store; I was pissed when it came around for TS2 and now even more so considering their lack of objects in this base game. 

In the meantime I keep pounding away at TS2 hoping it will eventually go back to the way it was.  Yes, I'm still working on it for those of you who remembered my rambling plea . . .  Hell, fixing TS2 is more fun than I've had playing TS3 so far.  Hell, waiting 2 hours for TS2 to load is more fun than I've had playing TS3!  It's fun for like five minutes before your Sim has to head off to 7 hours of work or goes to sleep then forget it.  I was warming up to it and then got promptly bored again when I got sick of waiting for my Sims to come home from work, etc. Simday after Simday.  I'd rather spend the $250 or so to get another ATI Radeon 9800 which ran my game a lot better than my current card than to spend $60 for TS3.  So I'm taking it as a collector's item and not much else. I'll probably play it once in a blue moon but get annoyed by something in it and stop for ages unless some good hacks/mods come out.  So far that's how it's been.  So until it becomes more playable thanks to you guys and other modders, it'll probably just sit on my hard drive collecting dust.

[TashaYarrr]

You're stuck with nasty dead-looking eyes.  (About 80% of my reason for thinking I'm going to hate this.  All I can think of when I look at them is a Victorian porcelain doll in a horror movie.  You know the one that tries to strangle the hero the minute s/he falls asleep.)

You're the first (other than me) that I've seen mention that.  Most people think the new eyes look more realistic, but I completely agree with you.  

The Creepy Doll Eyes problem has been discussed quite a bit in various threads.

One pet peeve of mine is the larval babies.

[Jorganza]

You're stuck with nasty dead-looking eyes.  (About 80% of my reason for thinking I'm going to hate this.  All I can think of when I look at them is a Victorian porcelain doll in a horror movie.  You know the one that tries to strangle the hero the minute s/he falls asleep.)

You're the first (other than me) that I've seen mention that.  Most people think the new eyes look more realistic, but I completely agree with you. 

The Creepy Doll Eyes problem has been discussed quite a bit in various threads.

One pet peeve of mine is the larval babies.

Ha! Be lucky it only looks like larvae to you. The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the babies was the creepy Tarako babies from a Japanese spaghetti commercial. Watch and be freaked out like I was, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN8zAQbUB38&feature=related

I try to stay away from making babies in game because how creepy they look

[vagabondher]

Or just pop out a cake and age the baby up real quick, either way.

[Zazazu]

Feh. Creepy doll eyes? Why is no one else creeped out by the fact that their heads keep moving when you pause? Video evidence. The move at the very end might send you screaming from the room.

[vagabondher]

Feh. Creepy doll eyes? Why is no one else creeped out by the fact that their heads keep moving when you pause? Video evidence. The move at the very end might send you screaming from the room.

Very, very creepy. They're puppets suddenly going still, but having that tiny moment at the last minute where they move. Or something. But yes, very creepy.

[GelatinousSubstance]

I'm sorry, that's bullshit.  When I look at purchasing Photoshop CS4, I don't ask myself how similar it is to CS3.  I don't have to play the TS2 basegame.  I can play TS2 with all EPs/SPs +CC right now.  TS3 has to compete for my time with the current state of TS2, just as it has to compete with other games, movies, music, etc.  It logically follows that how much you like TS3 is influenced by how bored you are of TS2.

I actually agree with this.  What I was trying to say is that as more and more mods, CC, and EPs come out for the Sims3 more and more people will switch over to it (especially when a tool to make our own neighborhoods comes out).

I've been wrong before. But I honestly can't see that happening in my case.

When I played TS2 after playing TS1 with all the EP's, it was a complete "Wow," factor. Everything was a new experience and I never got bored. I did, however, get quite upset when I ran into the jump bug because of my excessive playing.

TS3 simply doesn't hold my attention or interest for very long. I'll play it for a couple of hours, get extremely bored, and think about TS2. Then I find myself closing it down and going back to TS2. Even thinking about playing TS3 is a chore for me.

I know not everyone is going to agree with me. But so far, the game is too slow, and hunting for rocks and plants gets too old too soon. Simply waiting for text prompts and having the neighbourhood age in weird spurts also irks me (they don't seem to age with the same type of time-span, it appears erratic, and the game moves too many of them away too soon).

Bottom line is that there's just not enough balance in the game to keep my short attention span happy for very long.

Not only that, a good game does not need CC or additions to make it a good game; A good game should only be enhanced by the aforementioned - Something is very wrong and naive about thinking otherwise.

[missyye]

"But so far, the game is too slow, and hunting for rocks and plants gets too old too soon."

That is completely true. It takes forever to get through a night, I find myself going downstairs and snacking in between. This game is going to make me fat. Yet I still don't feel the urge to play Sims 2. I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm bored of it or just figured the whole concept of it so there's nothing for me to discover. Either way I think the games are different and TS3 appears to be MUCH shitter than TS2.

"Bottom line is that there’s just not enough balance in the game to keep my short attention span happy for very long."

I don't really agree with this because there seems to be enough balance in my game. I have sims neighbours die of old age, his son getting married, my Sims parents moved out, aged well and got rich. I don't know what else the game needs for it to be balanced.

"Not only that, a good game does not need CC or additions to make it a good game; A good game should only be enhanced by the aforementioned - Something is very wrong and naive about thinking otherwise."

True say that.

[Sparks]

Feh. Creepy doll eyes? Why is no one else creeped out by the fact that their heads keep moving when you pause? Video evidence. The move at the very end might send you screaming from the room.

Thank God! I'm not the only one who has seen this. I screamed when I saw that, scared the crap out of the husband.

The first time I paused the game to queue up a bunch of conversation interactions, my Sim had the most annoyed look on her face, then I paused and she looked up at me while her head was still moving. I swear to Jeebus I wanted to turn the game off, it was so fucking creepy!

I still haven't made up my mind about this game. It's enticing enough to make me want to keep trying to like it but, I just can't help but try and understand why EA spent all this time developing this piece of shit game. It's as if they had a very specific Focus Group of players who knew/know nothing about the Sim community and just focused on creating some new gameplay for the people who have never played any previous version.

I think I'm mostly let down by the fact that I was expecting it to begin where TS2 left off. I knew they'd scale it back a bit to leave room for EP's but, to completely ignore Genetics is just lazy. Okay EA, if it's FORCED LEGACY play for TS3, then Genetics would have to be theeee most important aspect behind the game. Not...collecting stupid rocks and shit.

I was really looking forward to buying this game when it came out. I've arrrred all of TS2  and dr whatever idiot reason have immense guilt but, not anymore. I'm interested enough to keep trying to like but if the genius Modders are not able to make strides in a mesh tool or pretty extreme level hacks, then like many, I won't continue playing.

[GelatinousSubstance]

"But so far, the game is too slow, and hunting for rocks and plants gets too old too soon."

That is completely true. It takes forever to get through a night, I find myself going downstairs and snacking in between. This game is going to make me fat. Yet I still don't feel the urge to play Sims 2. I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm bored of it or just figured the whole concept of it so there's nothing for me to discover. Either way I think the games are different and TS3 appears to be MUCH shitter than TS2.

I keep changing the way I play and I'm a major builder. I'm also in the middle of a huge TS2 project which I doubt I'll be dropping any time soon, and I can't see any way I could replicate my latest project, or even carry it on in TS3 - this makes TS3 useless to me since I'm not a legacy player. It is also the reason TS2 has kept my interest for so long.

"Bottom line is that there's just not enough balance in the game to keep my short attention span happy for very long."

I don't really agree with this because there seems to be enough balance in my game. I have sims neighbours die of old age, his son getting married, my Sims parents moved out, aged well and got rich. I don't know what else the game needs for it to be balanced.

I guess I'm just hard to please. Though, the game does seem to offer far less choices on how to play. Maybe that's what I meant. Either way, something feels incredibly off, or it could simply be that TS3 is a game that never would have caught my attention in the first place because it's not my kind of game - I really don't know what it is.

I'm basically at a point to where I don't even think mods could make this game interesting enough for a player like myself due to the harebrained limitations EA implemented.

On the other hand, my daughter seems to be enjoying it (She also likes games like Harvest Moon). So, take my opinion with a grain of salt.