OfB Bookstore Disappointment

[Lalaith]

I'm just wondering if anyone else was seriously disappointed with the 3-in-1 Bookstore that came with Open for Business. I saw it, and my first reaction was "Yay! Buyable books!" My reaction on entering the lot was something more along the lines of, "Maxis thinks I'm too stupid to tell the difference between books and magazines? WTF?"  For those who haven't checked it out, the only reading material for sale in there is magazines, off the old magazine rack.

So essentially this got me started on a long internal rant, resulting in some questions.

1) Is there anything out there that allows for buyable books? Even if it's just a hacked bookshelf, which operates as the magazine rack.

2) I'd like to see a few additions to the magazine rack - something like Playboy or Hustler for example (hey, my sims gotta have a life too), that increases interest in...er. Well, something, anyway. Is that any sort of hack that adds magazines to the rack? Maybe mags that only increase one interest, instead of a grouping of three?


***

[Ruann]

You should be able to just use a normal bookshelf.  Mark it for sale and Sims will buy the books off of it.

[Lalaith]

For some reason that's not working for me, they're buying the whole bookshelf...maybe I have some hitherto unsuspecting hack in place?

[Metalkatt]

I'm having the same zarking problem.  They wouldn't even buy magazines, just huddled around that stupid chess set all day!  I got so fed up that I sold the business back to the community and bought the arcade.

[simmiecal]

There are already adult recolors of the magazine rack.

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=110510&highlight=magazines
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=98864&highlight=magazines
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=85613&highlight=magazines

[Inge]

Someone said you have to get a book out of the shelf first and mark it for sale.

[Sagana]

I didn't have to take a book out at the 3in1. I just set the bookshelf with the business tool and they bought single books just fine. That might be because the shop is already set up tho. I'm sure glad to read this before I tried it somewhere else or I'da been unhappy. Anyone know if custom bookshelves work?

Retail sims has tons of different magazine recolors. And book displays and the like as well. I'm crazy about that site :) The adult racks might be on MTS2 (she has things both places).

[simmiecal]

Retail sims has tons of different magazine recolors. And book displays and the like as well. I'm crazy about that site The adult racks might be on MTS2 (she has things both places).

Two of the three links I gave above are hers.    She's great.

/off topic - have you seen her hospital stuff she's put up in the last few days?

[Metalkatt]

/off topic - have you seen her hospital stuff she's put up in the last few days?

Finally, we can have laboratories for our Mad Scientists.

[Ancient Sim]

I have a Sim I was going to use to buy this bookshop, mainly because I was curious as to how it works.  Will have to get on with it and see how it operates in my game.  I hope they can buy single books, although quite what they would be expected to do with them if they don't have a bookcase I don't know.

[akatonbo]

Same thing that broke Sims who can't afford to keep their bookcase and have to sell it back do (and that sloppy Sims who cannot be bothered to put books away do) -- have the book lying around the house.

[Lythdan]

Hehe, I don't use the Bookstore as a business, I just use it as a basic community lot.

[Sagana]

/off topic - have you seen her hospital stuff she's put up in the last few days?

eep, no. I haven't been in a bit. I'm trying to avoid dling until I get a bit more organized with what I've already got (are you putting each "store" in a collection of its own? I'm having trouble finding stuff when I want it... especially the rack recolors, and as I can't sell the others as singles, they're very important.) But I can't miss that. <runs off to download>

[cwykes]

Has anyone managed to make any money running this Maxis bookstore?  It's an OK place to hang out, but it's not selling any big ticket items and it didn't cover the cost of a manager.  My Sim had to run it singlehanded and not restock to generate cashflow which didn't give her time to hang out (popularity sim).  I didn't try hiring a bartender, but surely the bar surely isn't going to cover his cost?  I had my popularity sim get it to level 10 and sold this loss making business at a big profit to a townie.

The layout is bad too.  The selling area is also too big to keep an eye on and there's no private area for the manager and no shower.  Your female Sim can't clean the gents loos either, she has to influence a customer to do it!  A unisex loo is a better design.  Also when you BBQ the served plates are walked to the counter next to the till and next to the bar and the plate ends up on the floor.  Stinky plates are then in the actual shop lowering environment in the main shop instead of out in the otherwise useless patio area. There aren't enough free surfaces near the BBQ.  It's easily fixable, but annoying!  Coffee cups are walked to the endtable in the next room (put something on them both!).  Bar customers also block access to the sink and the expresso machine.

I did like the books - they are the ones you see lying around in Sims houses and the catalog descriptions are amusing.  Has anyone managed to sell books, rather than bookcases in other stores?

[JadeEliott]

Yep, I am selling books, not bookcases in my sim's store. I mark the bookcases and the books sell. I am using maxis bookcases. I am not sure why you all are having a problem... :-(

But, like in real life, it is not very profitable, unless you sell something else or you mark the books way up.

[Ancient Sim]

Well, I tried it and it was by far the easiest business I've attempted so far (and the most enjoyable, I really liked it).  One of my newly-graduated Sims bought it and went there with hiis girlfriend.  In a very short while they'd built it up to Level 10 and I put the deed up for sale.  At first I marked it Ridiculously Expensive and immediately a townie showed interest, but eventually he lost it.  In the end I kept marking it down (probably too quickly) and he sold it at just over double what he paid for it. 

What annoyed me most was that the bookstore is now on sale for about $20,000 less than he paid for it, which means all the contents have gone.  WHEN is this game going to offer a chance to leave contents behind?  Who sells a business without leaving the stock?  Luckily, I can replace it with the original, but that won't apply to the majority of businesses so I'll have to mess about copying the files and putting them back.  And before anyone suggests Inge's bush, it's never worked for me.

I was disappointed in the books insofar as the titles and descriptions were intriguing, but they're just ordinary books and only offer the same choices when you click on them.  Also, when the Sims have finished reading them, they just vanish, they don't put them back into the bookcase, so they lose their money.  I think the idea of them is more that they're used for decoration, with them standing-up the way they do on tables.  Probably better to use them like that than get a measly $25 for selling them.  All in all, I really did enjoy this business and it's the only one so far that hasn't had me thinking "Oh hurry up and get somewhere so I can leave" the whole time I'm playing it. 

[J. M. Pescado]

What annoyed me most was that the bookstore is now on sale for about $20,000 less than he paid for it, which means all the contents have gone.  WHEN is this game going to offer a chance to leave contents behind?  Who sells a business without leaving the stock?  Luckily, I can replace it with the original, but that won't apply to the majority of businesses so I'll have to mess about copying the files and putting them back.  And before anyone suggests Inge's bush, it's never worked for me.

I haven't seen the contents of a sold lot disappear into the void, but what you MIGHT be seeing is depreciation values. The contents have probably depreciated since you first bought it.

[Ancient Sim]

The contents have probably depreciated since you first bought it.

By $20,000?  It only cost $57,000 to start with as I recall, so that's quite a large percentage.  I'll have to go into it in build mode to see if the contents are still there.

[cwykes]

Well, I tried it and it was by far the easiest business I've attempted so far (and the most enjoyable, I really liked it).

Well yes it was easy to run - plenty of space for Sims to move around and restocking is much less work than when you are selling whole items. The BBQ was just an irritating design floor and I put in a shower.  And yes it sold at a big profit when I got it to level 10, but it barely made enough money to cover staff costs - some days it didn't!  If your two sims ran it without help, I guess you'd see some income, but my 2 romance sims selling mirrors out of their bedroom are rolling in money and it's only level 3 so far.