The Sims 3 Expansion In My Head

[pantherpirate]

I wonder if in the next expansion pack, on the gaming console they will include more crappy EA games that nobody buys?

[spaceface]

I am tired of seeing sim children run over by buses and miraculously survive, so I dream of a Law and Order expansion pack.

When a car or school bus literally runs over a kid on a bicycle, the kid dies and the driver of said car or bus goes to JAIL for a suitable period of days, depending on the lifespan you are playing, and comes back with a "Guilty" moodlet. TS3 already has jail, so this is not too much to ask.

Sims can get caught stealing stuff, and likewise go to jail. Teens caught by the police for misbehaving may get sent to a juvenile detention centre if caught a certain number of times.

The Legal career must be included so that sims have the option of retaining someone to represent them and might be found not guilty or obtain a reduced sentence/community service (eg where they have to go and clean toilets on community lots or read stories to children at the library). Sims higher up on the Legal track charge higher fees and there is a higher chance of a favourable result.

If the Repo Man comes to a house, sims have the option of paying the full amount due plus an additional charge for his fees (at least 500 simoleons, irrespective of the actual amount due).

[Aaroc]

I would like to see them get rid of the stupid rabbit holes...  Talk about irritating...

I actually like the rabbit hole thing. That means I can be lazy about 'a night on the town' without having to actually cater to my sims and their fun and hunger and social all at the same time. Plus the shopping is nice and simple; Go in, select what you need from the little popup menu, and you're done. No need to go over to this thing to grab cologne, and that thing to get a magazine, and that rack for video games or whatever the case may be.

Granted, it would be nice to have the option of micromanaging and such, but I really like that you can invite a few friends over and send them off to the diner or bistro together and they will all automatically go and eat, fill their hunger, raise their fun, and get a decent relationship boost without any micromanaging from me; and that's a few hours I have to tend to other sims' needs/wants. It would be nice, however, to have a few more options of places to go and meet new sims. Something like a night club or a shopping mall, or even  a seedy dive bar (though I suppose there is something like that in Riverview).

[VeilSethekk]

I would like to see them get rid of the stupid rabbit holes...

Rabbit holes happen to be a necessary evil for this game, it always was like that for The Sims series. Without them, some of the aspects of the game (mainly school and work) would take much much longer since you have to micromanage every small detail at those places. Imagine having to watch your sims attend each and every lecture in Uni in TS2. That would be exciting at first, but the novelty of it would wear off quickly, given that it's something as boring as a door jam in real-life as well.

[zolabee]

I don't mind the school and work rabbit-holes and while I am a micro-managing fiend *to some degree*... I would like to explore the catacombs, see the movie/show, have the baby and a shop for groceries/books.  And visit the spa... I realize that every place accessible would be hard, but some of the places that are inaccessible don't make sense.   And they need a make-over EP with decent hair and facial templates and more body sliders.  *You know when the females complain about the boobs... there is something fundamentally wrong with the game.*

[Drakron]

Some of the things you listed Zolabee would not work very well, we build cinemas in TS1 and TS2 with the end result was ... a mess.

Similar what would be the point of entering the hospital to just watch the baby delivery? there would be not much of player control over it.

[simsdesperado]

Some of the things you listed Zolabee would not work very well, we build cinemas in TS1 and TS2 with the end result was ... a mess.

Similar what would be the point of entering the hospital to just watch the baby delivery? there would be not much of player control over it.

Yes, and since there's not much difference between home delivery and hospital delivery, it makes you wonder why they went to so much trouble to add in the extra option. Why add it if I can't see it anyway? Same with the diner and the bistro. They are the same only for the bistro the sims change into formal wear and can eat outside. They are nice neighbourhood decorations but if my sims need to eat while in town they can munch on the things they have in their backpack, or they can grill, or have a picnic.

[PirateFaafy]

As a non-impartial observer ...

I don't think this phrase means what you think it means.

Insofar as I couldn't truthfully say I was impartial.

Some of the things you listed Zolabee would not work very well, we build cinemas in TS1 and TS2 with the end result was ... a mess.

Similar what would be the point of entering the hospital to just watch the baby delivery? there would be not much of player control over it.

Yes, and since there's not much difference between home delivery and hospital delivery, it makes you wonder why they went to so much trouble to add in the extra option. Why add it if I can't see it anyway? Same with the diner and the bistro. They are the same only for the bistro the sims change into formal wear and can eat outside. They are nice neighbourhood decorations but if my sims need to eat while in town they can munch on the things they have in their backpack, or they can grill, or have a picnic.

The diners can be useful if you want to throw some Sims away for a while to focus on others. Also, it can be a good option for poor Sims if you can Dine For Free™.

[zolabee]

Throwing away Sims for a while to focus on others would be fine... if you didn't have to edit town, change houses and go back in to play them. 

[Drakron]

Well I guess they want to fine tune things.

Take Unleashed and the sax player door blocking ... also take TS2 and the issues that comes with the slow cashier, the waiter and also Sims decide to start a conversation at most inappropriate locations (front of the cashier, front of a door that would create route failures).

Even in TS3 they still create route failures but since community lots lock the bladder bar we dont really get much a chance to notice itsince Sims have no need to pee as they did before and so the conditions that usually created the "lets talk in front of the door so NOBODY ENTERS, NOBODY LEAVES" problem are unlikely to happen.

[PirateFaafy]

NOBODY ENTERS, NOBODY LEAVES

Horror movie for the Sims' TVs?

[dream_operator]

After playing the game for a month, the only rabbt holes that I really want to open up are the restaurants and the spa (and maybe the theater).  I've actually come to like the grocery and bookstore rabbit holes.  They are very convient and if they opened up, you would only be performing the same action on an object inside.  The thing is though, these places (the spa, bistro and diner) are work places as well.  Which means if they did open up, there would have to be changes made to the way they are run.  I see this most likely happening in an OFB-like EP where rabbit holes such as restaurants are then owned by NPCs by default, but can be owned, operated and worked in by playable sims.  

[simsdesperado]

After playing the game for a month, the only rabbt holes that I really want to open up are the restaurants and the spa (and maybe the theater).  I've actually come to like the grocery and bookstore rabbit holes.  They are very convient and if they opened up, you would only be performing the same action on an object inside.  

That's how it was in Sims2 and that at least gave me the possibility to design the look of my grocery store. As it is, it's either the yellow building or none at all. If you think about it it shouldn't have been too hard to code the vegetable stand outside to sell vegetables, and then they could have added separate stands for fish, one for meat, eggs and cheeze and one for the bathroom supplies. It would have made a lot of difference, especially for people who like to decorate their own lots. The yellow building looks nice but it doesn't fit well in a sims games. What's next? Rabbit hole homes?

[FrickinIdjit]

I would just like to see expansions turning this game into a toy again.  The basic framework is there, but there's really no reason to do most of what my sims are currently doing.  I'd like answers to all the "Why?" questions I encounter when I play.  Why, for instance, would anyone want to become a World-Renowned Surgeon?  So they can play golf and read medical journals?  Sims are dying all around them!  We have ambulance riders (with pagers) and hospital births, fires and electrocutions.  Where are the "Perform CPR" and "Deliver Baby" interactions?  Surely, someone who saves another sim from death or brings forth new life deserves some public recognition for it - the "world renown".  Why is it more important to kick ass at chess than to, say, work closely with farmers, cooks, and scientists to develop cures and techniques to help simkind?  A housewife with a deathflower in her backpack and ambrosia in the fridge is more valuable than a surgeon at this point in the game.

Don't even get me started on the possibilities inherent in the Creature Cross-Breeder career.  I want to see more than a "Nicely Decorated" moodlet after enduring that particular grind.  Dude, where's my robofish crafting station?!

What I Do. Not. Want. is a tropical island filled with "rare" onion seeds, luminorious gems, and Play-Doh locals in hula skirts... unless tourists can return with mysterious diseases that can only be cured by a World-Renowned Surgeon.  Or shrunken heads that require an appointment with a Mad Scientist to restore - for the equivalent of a king's ransom.  A witch doctor career for those sims who'd like to max 3 skills?  Field maneuvers for military personnel to repel the zombie hordes - at the risk of being turned themselves, of course.  No 'hood is complete without a wrench-swinging, undead Junior Officer in it.

The Sims 3 expansion in my head can be summed up in four words: 'Just finish the game'.

[Aaroc]

Also rabbitholes simplify things quite a bit. You can't forget to put a cash register in the store if you don't have the option to build the inside of the store yourself. Granted, it would be nice to be able to, say, have a rabbithole object that you can place inside of a building you build yourself and there you go, custom rabbithole.

Plus now you don't have extraneous amounts of NPC bartenders, servers, chef, cashiers, etc. running around your hood.

Instead you've got all these weird NPCs that I have no idea what function they serve.. like lab technicians and magicians?

[simsdesperado]

Also rabbitholes simplify things quite a bit. You can't forget to put a cash register in the store if you don't have the option to build the inside of the store yourself. Granted, it would be nice to be able to, say, have a rabbithole object that you can place inside of a building you build yourself and there you go, custom rabbithole.

Plus now you don't have extraneous amounts of NPC bartenders, servers, chef, cashiers, etc. running around your hood.

Instead you've got all these weird NPCs that I have no idea what function they serve.. like lab technicians and magicians?

Actually, there's no need for NPC bartenders, servers, chefs, cashiers because now everyone's busy reading outside. I swear, at times, I feel like the whole neighbourhood has been taken over by a sect of family friendly knowledge sims.

[FrickinIdjit]

Instead you've got all these weird NPCs that I have no idea what function they serve.. like lab technicians and magicians?

I can understand the lab technicians (somewhat).  There must be someone to deliver babies and screw up resurrections, after all.  The Magician is confounding, though.  S/he's not even available for birthday parties!  A lot of the service sims are missing traits, as well.

[Aaroc]

Actually, there's no need for NPC bartenders, servers, chefs, cashiers because now everyone's busy reading outside. I swear, at times, I feel like the whole neighbourhood has been taken over by a sect of family friendly knowledge sims.

That shit pisses me off. One of my sims was getting fairly rich and he rolled up a want to buy a tv costing at least X amount of dollars. So I bought him said TV and what did he do? He sat down in front of the TV, whipped out a book, and started reading. Why in Hell are books so damn appealing to every single sim, regardless of their traits? Bookworms I can see preferring to read over watching TV or whatever, and maybe Athletic sims, but everybody? Even Couch Potatoes and Computer Whizzes? Ridiculous.

Yeah, I have a Computer Whiz (my simself actually) who has a laptop in his inventory at all times. He still seems to prefer whipping out a book and reading.

[edalbformat]

My idea of an expansion pack that would make the game uendly for all ages:

What about the concept of "Buyable Portal"?
Very simple - Objects needed : the plumb-bob that is the symbol for TS made like a buyable crystal in different colors where each EP would include one; a special personal inventory named EP inventory or something more creative, user commanded where you should place the plumb-bobs that you want your Sim to use. You don't have an EP, you don't have the respective Plumb-bob; You have an EP, your Sim can only have moodlets, wishes or anything related to this EP if you put the Plumb-bob in his/her inventory.
Example: it is created a Horror EP, full with vampires, werewolves and a lot of terrible interactions. you have bought this EP but want only that your Dark sided Sim would have access to it, so you place the Plumb-bob in the personal EP inventory for only this Sim in particular.

The portal: each plumb-bob would open a different world available to the Sim that have it in its inventory. Clickable by the user at anytime it would open the way to lead your Sim to adventures related to this portal - a travel to the dark, or to the heaven, or to unendless space.
Each portal would give the Sim the option to bring 8 Sims with him on the trip to the adventure. Those Sims have to have a strong bind to the leading Sim: the best friend, the lover, beloved family members or ... the worst enemy - no weak bindings.

Consequences: babies made on such adventures cannot be brought back home - to avoid mixing uncompatible worlds. They will be given for care to a local family on those hidden worlds and Sim could only contact them again by visiting them where they belong to. And will make a dynamic world caused by the user.

Visits: each visit would be hosted in any kind of Hotel or to a chosen Host Family that would be at the time of the visit, non-playable. During the time you are on visit you have to follow the rules and mood of the Hostess, that will behave at its own - and this is a challenge. You control your visitors but cannot control the household you are in.
When not being visited those hostess families can be chosen and playable as any normal one.

Anything else is still cooking in my mind.

[J. M. Pescado]

Throwing away Sims for a while to focus on others would be fine... if you didn't have to edit town, change houses and go back in to play them. 

Get AWESOMEMOD. I rather enjoy being able to play the entire town at once from Supreme Commander.

[Euphemism]

I would just like to see expansions turning this game into a toy again... The Sims 3 expansion in my head can be summed up in four words: 'Just finish the game'.

THIS. Exactly. This is why I just friggin went back to TS2. TS3 is just too effin... stressful! Jesus, it's like real life. Only more pointless, and somehow, they managed to make it even more depressing.

Wanna have a baby?

Why? Does it really matter? The babies are just gonna be fug anyway.

Wanna get to the top of your career?

Why? What are you gonna do with that money? There's no object that is much more beneficial than another one - all your needs can be rock bottom and you'll be fine, and you can just raise them back up on a community lot anyway. (It takes a friggin' Sim week to die for chrissake!)

Wanna skill and grind your entire life?

Why? You're just gonna DIE anyway.

Every single Sim is so effin' replaceable and interchangeable. There's just no reason to play the game anymore, and I hate it. /emo

[Georgette]

Euphemism hit the nail on the head.

These sims have no memories, no aspiration meters and earning money to lavishly furnish your home is pointless when a friggin' plate of cookies and a trip to the day spa has moodlets that can completely erase any mood failure.

A new expansion should add some of the random excitement sims 2 had. Bring back spontaneous combustion, falling satellites, alien abduction, genies, turns ons and offs, matchmakers and all the other fun stuff!

I actually find myself missing the sims 1. Makin' Magic and Superstar gave me some good times.

[MadameUgly]

I don't have sims3 and don't plan to get it until there is an EP that appeals to me.

The rumored Bon Vacation 3 (re-re-hashing of the blandest EP from both of the previous sims games) will not do it.  Nor will a Hot Night Life 3 (aka "open up the rabbit hole") EP.

What would pry cash from my penny pinching fist?

Farms.

It would draw from some of the better sims2 EPs (seasons/OFB, and a bit, pets) to make a full fledged farm career.  Farms would be zoned "agricultural" (versus "community" and "residential") and sims living on an agricultural lot will be the only ones allowed to raise farm animals.  As you advance in the career, you get to maintain more difficult animals (perhaps start with chickens, then move to larger animals).  More difficult animals cost more to maintain but earn you more when you sell them. 

Barns woud be rabbit holes (so if your sim goes to clean the barn, they just disappear for a bit) but paddocks would be viewable.  A few animals would mill about in the paddock and make little messes or have basic needs (like food/cleanliness/happiness).  Kind of like a hybrid of sims and Zoo Tycoon (so simple interactions with the animals).  Your sim would have to maintain a certain level of happiness amongst all animals or the farm could be shut down (there would be an inspector who comes, kind of like a farm animal social worker).

You would buy different paddocks for different types of animals.  Only a set amount of each animal could be held on a farm (but they would not be considered family members--kind of like caged pets in sims2 Pets), either all of one kind or a mix (as long as you don't exceed the total animal allotment).  Animals would breed until they reached that point.  Selling the animals (either live or as meat) would reduce the population allowing for more breeding.  Animals would also produce sellable/edible products (eggs, wool, milk, even manure--though isn't there already a "cheese plant"?  if so, that's crazy and should never have been). 

Farms could either sell the farm products via buy mode or start an OFB style business.  ONLY sims in the farm career would have access to this option (running a farm based business--other types could be available for non-farm folk).  Farms would be passed down through the generations.  If a farm goes under, it is just absorbed into the community (becomes an NPC rabbit hole or some such).  For a teen to take over a family farm, they have to enter the teen version of the job which would be akin to joining a Future Farmers of America or 4H program (meaning they'd have to have certain skills and do certain farm based activities before they can take over the farm).

A farm EP could also include pets stuff (to calm the OMGPETS folks).  Dogs, cats, and ridable horses.  Companion animals would work a lot like they do in sims2 (having their own allotment in the family and all that) and could be bred, sold, and be employable.  Dogs and cats could be put to work on the farm (as protection/vermin control) or farmed (see my pun!) out to neighbors for the same activities.  Horses could be used on the farm or just for recreation (or you could sell pony rides or something).  Companion animals would have basic personalities (a la sims 2) so you could have bitchy cats and mean dogs or untamed horses (a sim being thrown from a horse would be a very amusing animation).

IF they wanted to have a paranormal sim it could be a scarecrow.  Only sims in the farm career would have access to everything to make a scarecrow sim.  It would be vulnerable to fire or perhaps not too smart.  It would be akin to servos so it could be male or female (though with more variety in the looks department than a servo) and fall in love but not breed.

Ok, I think I've dorked out over this enough.

(oh and sims3 needs aliens, too.  or at least a way to make passable ones.  fully black eyes, please)

[Georgette]

Farming would be brilliant. I loved the farm mod I downloaded for the sims 2. Could possibly be a style of business for an OFB EP. Farm, shop, leisure lots?

[kemowery]

A new expansion should add some of the random excitement sims 2 had. Bring back spontaneous combustion, falling satellites, alien abduction, genies, turns ons and offs, matchmakers and all the other fun stuff!

I agree with this.  I want more chance for random wackiness, more supers, etc.  Then again, random wackiness never afflicted my games before, either.  My sims always either died of old age, or I moved them to another lot and stopped playing them.  Freetime was a godsend for getting alien abductions because, outside of my first Sims 2 neighborhood where one sim got abducted every couple of nights, the only way I ever got to play greenies was to play Strangetown.  

These sims have no memories, no aspiration meters and earning money to lavishly furnish your home is pointless when a friggin' plate of cookies and a trip to the day spa has moodlets that can completely erase any mood failure.

This I don't necessarily agree with.  Some things about gameplay need to be touched up, but in Sims 2, the game didn't really do anything to make Sims any more unique than Sims 3.  Childhood was spent skilling.  Teenage years skilling and maybe getting a romantic interest.  College, skilling and romance (and using a mod to jump through as quickly as possible, because it was boring).  Adulthood, fulfilling a LTW/hitting permaplat, unless you'd already managed that earlier.  

There needs to be more of everything, pretty much, and autonomous actions need to be tweaked (so that Sims don't default to reading a book, playing guitar, or running in the sprinkler whenever they've got some spare time), but I don't think Sims 3 is a gameplay disaster.  Heck, Sims 2 was as good as it was mostly because of Awesomeware.