Restaurant Issues - Play Balance???

[Rooby]

I'm pondering whether I need to install a 'virgin' version of the game to see if it is because of hacks, but what the hell is with the play balance on this EP?  If someone comes to my restaurant (I'm up to a 7 rating), they are seated, order, are served, take a bite (or not) and get up and leave.  Nobody buys anything at the attached store.  They will gladly pay $15 to enter the lot. 

I mean, really, wasn't this supposed to be like running a business?  I am a business owner in real life.  My customers come in and actually BUY THINGS.  I may gossip and chat with them, and maybe even occasionally smustle with them, but dammit, I don't charge them admission.  And you know what, I DON'T pay my employees $44 to $90 an hour.

And why did my manager suddenly become a playable sim?  I don't WANT her to be a playable sim - I wanted her to MANAGE THE RESTAURANT.

Why can't I TAKE A NAP?  Even with a bed on the lot in a locked room, I can't sleep.  WHY NOT? 

Why do I have to spend all this time staring at the screens to go from work to home?  If I could just SLEEP upstairs I wouldn't have to do that (yes, I have Merola's painting, but how do you do it without that?)

[Moonshires]

You only need to charge admission if your lot is like a spa (hot tubs and swimming pool everywhere).  If you're just running a resturant, take out the electronic charging thingy, and put in a podium, then assign a sim to host and one to serve.

As far as 'balance' goes, that wasn't thrown out the window with this EP.  I mean, when could you buy a house for under 50k?  As for their wages, take a look at what your sims made during their jobs when then were at job levels 4-7 (roughly the same levels for bronze-gold badges)...it's about the same.

As far as sleeping on the lots, I've no clue about that at all, since if I wanted to sleep on the same lot that my business is on, I'd just start a home business...but then, you can't have the resturant podiums or stove on a residential lot without using a hack.  *shrugs*

Edited to add:  http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=3307.0  ...that has a link to a hack for sleeping on community lots.

[Paperbladder]

It's funny when someone talks about sims and balance.  TS2 is horribly imbalanced, and it gets even more imbalanced with each additional expansion.  Why?  Maxis wants you to use the new method included in the expansion, thus making it superior to previous options.  If a Sim goes through University they get a job that pays more without them really doing anymore work (JM's harder jobs hacks offsets this imbalance, they'll only start at L3 instead of L7).  Nightlife's a tad different since it affects most of the game, but it does encourage dates by giving them easy to satisfy wants sending your sim in platinum.  Let's not forget the mood boosts from successful dates.  The only way a business in OFB helps you out is the fact that a Sim can make friends selling stuff and gets "perks" when they become more friendly with their customers.  This gives them the friends requirements for promotions, which those careers end up giving you more cash... Businesses aren't there for money, which is strange since Maxis tries to make better options....

As to answer your question, I think it has to do with Object advertising in the fact they're not even looking at the objects for sale.  Even if sims pay to visit a lot they'll still attend it like a shop if there's objects for sale.  I ultimately had to remove shopping from my sim's house so they'll actually use his place for entertainment.

[Moonshires]

That's actually a good point, Paper.  The Sims (1 or 2) has never been balanced, even with just the core game.  Also, keep in mind that when I'm using the word balanced, I'm using it coming from an RPG perspective of balance...which I've never agreed with anyways. 

Each new EP adds new options and features (actual features, not just those bug 'features'), but...none of them are needed to play the game.  In fact, you could have all of them installed and never once use one of the new features (as long as the new feature is selectable).  Of course, that'd be a really odd thing to do...but you could do it.

It also helps when saying something is balanced or imbalanced, what your perspective of those terms should be.  I'm pretty positive that my perspective is going to be different from everyone else's.

And, like just about everything else about this game (using cheats/hacks etc.), it's all a matter of your play style.  If for you the game is not balanced, not everyone else will think the same thing, and if asked why, you'll get about hundred different answers.

The only way a business in OFB helps you out is the fact that a Sim can make friends selling stuff and gets "perks" when they become more friendly with their customers.

Yeah but...do you -really- wanna be friends with those butt-ugly townies?   

[Paperbladder]

I don't use townies, I wipe the neighborhood fresh using deleteallcharacters and then use Pescado's "notownieregen" hack.  The friends my sim makes are sims that I've created.  It's the reason why I can't use one of his new hacks which prevents playables from buying stuff at businesses.

Everything except for that attraction system added in NL/OFB can be avoided.  However, the attraction system doesn't mean that much anyway... all it does is change the relationship levels that certain actions, usually romantic, can be commenced.  Everything else though, is optional.  When looking at it that way, TS2 doesn't need to be balanced.

Heck, even RPGs and RTSes usually can't get balances right because they have so many elements.

[Moonshires]

Hehe, yep.  Especially about the RPG part.  I've never understood why people thought a warrior should be balanced to a mage who should be balanced to a thief, etc.  It's why I play the Palladium system.  They flat out say, it's 'not balanced' because not everything is or should be equal.

Of course, YMMV, but for the most part, I've found that both (Sims 2 and Palladium) are balanced just right...for me (and the people I play Palladium with).

[LordHellscream]

Businesses aren't there for money, which is strange since Maxis tries to make better options....

i dont know about you. but OFB is the most imbalance on the money part, i can make million simoleons in a few sims day charging 1000 simoleons per hours per person and selling 20 statues that only worth $500 each for $8000 with no effort convincing my customers that it is a "good deal"

[Shivani]

Balance?  Balance stinks!  The day I stopped being able to keel things with Telekinetic Throw and a sprig of clover was the day I wept in sorrow.  Okay, so not everyone gets a thrill from killing creatures (and the occasional fellow player) with foraged goods and bakery items.  Let me tell you, those slices of wedding cake made for a hilarious death in my opinion.

[Moonshires]

Balance?  Balance stinks!  The day I stopped being able to keel things with Telekinetic Throw and a sprig of clover was the day I wept in sorrow.  Okay, so not everyone gets a thrill from killing creatures (and the occasional fellow player) with foraged goods and bakery items.  Let me tell you, those slices of wedding cake made for a hilarious death in my opinion.

Telekinetic Throw?  TKT?  ...as in a Moonmage?

[Shivani]

You betcha!  And I was a darn good one, too.  Alas, those days are over.  Though, I must be honest.  I never killed another player.  Just used Mental Blast liberally on snotty little wankers.

[Moonshires]

*cackles like mad*  How far back do you go?  I remember the days my Moonie would open rogue Moongates in front of the bank and unleash Void Spawn to clear out the retards.

[Shivani]

Since shortly after beta ended (I only played then using a friend's account that I played GS with previously, to see if I liked it better).  I think...I played for ... I'm pretty sure it was SimuCon '98 that I became a GM just after, and then I did that for somewhere like 3-5 years.  In any case, quite a while.

I remember vividly embarassing the heck out of myself calling down the MM Guru of the time because I opened a rogue gate in town one day--Crossing--in one of the inns.  I was absolutely certain I still had time left on the beam.  I passionately explained how upset I was (because I was horrified I'd actually done that).

As it turned out, I had seconds left, not minutes, so it was my fault.  I took my jail time with appropriate shame, and thankfully my gweths did not break.

But yes, I used to love watching more daring people do that to the bank sleepers while I sat there laughing while invis.  That and cheering all the invasions at the guild to clear out that lot.

I have an even more embarassing moment, but I think if you wanted to know that, it should go to PMs, I suppose.

[Moonshires]

Feel free to PM away...along with your GM name.   I wanna know who you were now!