Survey at Official Site

[jsalemi]

FYI, I just tried the link to the survey and got a "Sorry, the survey is full." message.  So I guess it's over...

[Ellatrue]

I would like it if they could build their own furniture, even if it is only the stuff that they already gave us in the game. It would have been really nice as a part of OFB.

Am I the only one who liked the kids expansion idea? I normally cheat to make childhood last longer anyway, and I think it would be nice if they could have a prom party. In fact, any excuse to make all of the visitors dress in formal wear is fine by me.

[cyperangel]

I must admit that I am not that fond of a kids expansion, mostly because I think toddler, child and teenager takes too long in my gamme...

But then again, we all play in different ways.

[kasumiarmstrong]

I agree; I usually end up aging them up when I get tired of them.  Those ages are pretty useless and need to be more involved.

[furryjackal]

I wasn't able to get into the survey, either. Honestly, though, I do want pets. As much as you folks don't want it. Let me illuminate a few things regarding this. Firstly, I'm not a teenager, I'm in my thirties. Secondly, everyone expects that a pet expansion will be Unleashed all over again. Not going to happen.

A business is not going to repeat the same exact thing if they can improve and upgrade things with a new engine. This is just common sense, folks.  Truly, I think a lot of you reflecting over the bad of Unleashed are not giving programmers some credit. Look at how far this game has come from the old game. Look at what they've improved. I have faith in Maxis that they'll improve the engine and make it something enjoyable. Sue me, that I do.

Another thought: You have the choice to A. Not buy the expansion. Noone is forcing you to buy something you don't want. I'm not jazzed about the notion of Vacation but I'm willing to keep an open mind that they'll make improvements from the old and if they add weather, then heck yeah that'll be some interesting interactions. If it's not something that appeals to me once it makes the announcements (Which I'm sure it will, I have a strong feeling) then I won't buy it. Simple as that. If others want it, good on them. This game's about our own personal choices and gamestyle play anyways. B. You do not have to have pets if you don't want them. They made ways from Maxis, themselves, in the old game to keep pets off your lots, completely. I'd not even be surprised if TJ makes an addition to visitor controller to ban pets from lots if they become 'annoying.'

Please, just get over the whole 'OOooh pets r teh sux0r! ' thing. Really. There are a great many people who do want it and they will cater to what will bring them money. If you don't want it, don't buy it but don't bag on the rest of us or bag on Maxis for wanting to provide it for those of us who do. Food for thought.

I for one, want the weather implemented, I do want pets, I even would like some more interactions with the kids. I'm in the minority, for two of the three of those. But apparently not to Maxis.

[J. M. Pescado]

I treat everything with the same level of skepticism. Although I did like the free-answer question, "What do you think could improve the game", to which I answered, "Me".

[MsMaria]

Lol, Pescado

Actually I was able to complete the survey, even giving my age of over 12.   They did ask why I didn't want to buy anymore Expansions and I said :because you do not beta test them thoroughly!!

[Motoki]

I don't think the mystery idea would work very good, what happens when you solve it? 

I think it could work IF they give us tools to create our own stories and upload them. Custom content is one thing that has always kept the game going when it gets dull so I see no reason why this would be an exception.

I've always wanted some sort of defined stories with the game personally. Maybe it's because I come from playing RPGs. The game has a skeleton of story but doesn't follow up. I know you are supposed to decide for yourself and make your own stories, but there's some things you just can't follow up on like the whole Bella thing, unless you cheat or use the resurrect-o-nomitron heh, but technically she wasn't supposed to be dead according to the story.

Anyway, I've always thought it would be nice if we could make our own story scenarios and share them.

[Ness]

I treat everything with the same level of skepticism. Although I did like the free-answer question, "What do you think could improve the game", to which I answered, "Me".

I'm left wondering how many people suggested something like this - I gave the answer of "employ JM Pescado" with some further elaboration about the need to actually play test before release.

The fact that I could not take the survey if I admitted to owning any sims 1 products left a very bitter taste in my mouth, though. 

[Paperbladder]

Well, about the expansions improving TS2...  They butchered the dating part of TS1:HD with TS2:NL.  They'll probably do the exact same thing with pets, and I personally didn't like the pests pets all that much.  The Careers that came with the thing weren't as good as LL's.

Oh, and I'm done buying expansions until they make it worth paying $35 for.  Heck, I only had to pay $30 for TS1 expansions and you got a lot more content.  I always was looking forward to what new crap Maxis would come up with, but now there's nothing.  The fact that OFB only came with 1 disk really made me angry, which is why I didn't buy it.

The amount of disks that came with each expansion of TS1 are as follows.  TS1-1 TS1:LL-1 TS1:HP-1 TS1:HD-1 TS1:V-1(Could have been 2) TS1:UL-2 TS1:SS-2 TS1:MM-2 plus a TS2 video disk.  The amount of disks that came with each TS1 expansion are as follows. TS2- 4 CDs or 1 DVD plus bonus DVD TS2:Uni-2 TS2:NL-2 TS2:Holiday-1 TS2:OFB-1 TS2:FFP-1.  Though, most of you probably already knew these numbers.

[eaglezero]

The fact that I could not take the survey if I admitted to owning any sims 1 products left a very bitter taste in my mouth, though. 

I think they think if you own Sims1 stuff you're already hooked and will buy anything, even though that is SO not the case with me because I haven't bought either of the stuff packs OR OFB because they didn't appeal. And then after that, when I found out all the wacky things that were going on with them (especially with regards to copy protection and such) it made me want to buy new Sims things even LESS.

But I would really like something where my sims could grow crops. That would be cool. I'd buy that expansion. And if pets were done right I suspect I'd really like them, but I have no faith in EA/Maxis anymore.

[BeckerCheez]

Animals + gardening/farming + weather = yes! 

I didn't mind pets in Unleashed, but they seemed pretty useless.  The strays were especially useless because you couldn't do anything with them...I wouldn't have minded adopting them.     If Maxis could figure out how to make the pets so that they're not useless additions and take up household space, I wouldn't mind them. 

I made the mistake of having a custom neighborhood take place in the middle of nowhere...farmland...and I have no way of showing that it is farmland except for the neighborhood decor.  Otherwise it's just urban houses with urban commodities in the middle of farmland and an alien crashsite.     If I had gardening/farming, that would make this neighborhood fit what I had in mind.  Weather would also be neat in terms of videos/pictures and to make it seem more realistic. 

[nikita]

I don't think the mystery idea would work very good, what happens when you solve it? 

I think it could work IF they give us tools to create our own stories and upload them. Custom content is one thing that has always kept the game going when it gets dull so I see no reason why this would be an exception.

I've always wanted some sort of defined stories with the game personally. Maybe it's because I come from playing RPGs. The game has a skeleton of story but doesn't follow up. I know you are supposed to decide for yourself and make your own stories, but there's some things you just can't follow up on like the whole Bella thing, unless you cheat or use the resurrect-o-nomitron heh, but technically she wasn't supposed to be dead according to the story.

Anyway, I've always thought it would be nice if we could make our own story scenarios and share them.

I agree!  I dont play RPGs, or any other game for that matter save for this one, but I'm always wanted more structure in the game.  The whole "Where's Bella?" saga, the rivalry in Veronaville and the Roswell-esque theme of Strangetown would actually had been interesting (and I probably wouldn't have deleted them) if they had actually done something with it.  I like that the Sims is open to individual interpretation but there's a difference between being open-ended and not being given enough to work with. 

I'm really looking forward the mystery idea, if it's chosen, which I hope it is.  It's an idea I've never thought of before and would add a whole new spin on playing the game and telling stories.  I think the Mystery ep was the most original idea out of all of them.  Will Wright had suggested something like this a while ago but it didn't get much positive feedback from the fans. 

[laylei]

I must be a huge geek because I really liked the pets in Unleashed. If they put pets in TS2, only with more options, I'd be thrilled. Add gardening and I'm all over it. One of my favorite Unleashed families to play was the old lady and her 4 cats. She had pets and gardening, I was a happy camper.

Then again, I do play a lot of Harvest Moon.

However, even more than pets, I want a magic expansion. I loved the "Magictown" neighborhood, with it's dirt roads and spooky lots. I loved making nectar, making honey and besswax, growing grapes and berries. I loved making spells!

Everyone seems to bash every idea Maxis comes up with for expansion packs, so here's my question: what exactly is it you guys want in the next expansion pack? And no cop-out answers like "no bugs" or "for it to work out of the box", because we ALL want that

[BlueSoup]

Hrmmm....it's actually an interesting question: What do you want in an EP?

I want pets and more stuff for my Sims to do at home.  I am not one of those OMGZ PETZ!!11!!! people, but I think if done well, it would be a nice add-on.  I don't really like going to community lots, so I would like it if there was a lot more to do at home so I didn't have to send them anywhere.  A farm would be great.  I would love to see more careers - they haven't updated those in forever, and OFB doesn't count. 

I would love to see just more stuff in general added to the packs; nicer clothes, hairstyles, furniture, decor objects, etc.

I think the concept of the neighbourhood "whodunit" is an interesting one, but it would have to be done properly.  I also like the idea of a "Lost on a desert island" type-deal.  There were a few ideas they mentioned in their survey that I didn't think sucked.

Magic never really appealed to me, but by that point I had been playing TS1 non-stop for about 2 months and didn't really "play."  I only built houses, tore them down and rebuilt more houses.  So I didn't get a lot of most of the EP's.

[Sagana]

And no cop-out answers like "no bugs" or "for it to work out of the box", because we ALL want that

Well it is a cop-out and all, but the truth is I'm really wary of anything from Maxis right now. I'm disappointed by bugs in the patches and bugs in what was supposed to be little object packs. It's one thing to have a buggy EP and another to have a buggy patch. And I guess part of it is that I love OFB, am nowhere near bored yet, so I'm too happy with my game to mess it up.

Mostly what I'd like now are game engine fixes and expansions. Careers and Uni majors, more ways to specialize for shops (foods and clothes and for it to work right to have specialized restaurants and stores), the interface for nightclubs and bed & breakfasts and the like to work well, the ability to walk next door :p, stuff for kids so you could take toddlers for walks and have play parties and parks, but not a whole EP of that, same with hotels/vacation-type stuff. I can do almost anything, so I'd really like it all to be smoother and work better in a whole bunch of ways and I'm not expecting to get that.

But to answer the question, I'd love a scenario creator so if that's what they do with the mystery thing, it'd be great. I'd like farming - I enjoyed that in Sims 1 and several of the others sound fun.

[eaglezero]

As to weather, I tend to think that it would just be really annoying and slow the game down. Currently the only time my game really slows down is on med/large lots when the day/night change occurs -- I dread to think what it would be like if it started raining.

What I'd really like in terms of gameplay expansion is some sort of antisocial delinquency aspiration where the sim always wants to pick fights or quit his job or cheat on his spouse, or whatever. It would really spice gameplay up to have a few of those floating around. Also, although I hated[ vacations in TS1 I think they could be much better in TS2 if done right (like if you can only stay as long as you have vacation days or days off of work, or if it's a weekend for the kids, or whatever).

One of my favorite Unleashed families to play was the old lady and her 4 cats.

Ahahha, that was my favorite Unleashed family! Crazy old catlady family! I really liked her house too, I don't know what it was about it but it was one of my faves.

I would love to see just more stuff in general added to the packs; nicer clothes, hairstyles, furniture, decor objects, etc.

HECK YES. Top on my list of things I'd like in an expansion pack are a Medieval castle theme, a Roman theme, and more Maxis hairstyles (which I feel almost always look better than custom hairs, even if some of them are so fugly it hurts). Those would be cool. But they'd have to have a lot of stuff, very much unlike this so-called "nautical theme" from FFS.

[Batelle]

If done right, I would love a mystery expansion pack, although it would probably be more Scooby Doo than C.S.I.   

I would love the sort of furnishing/wall options we had with the Sims 1.  Mostly, I miss the "spooky" items/decor/clothing and skill building items that came with Makin' Magic as well as the French Quarter stuff from Unleashed.  Then there's the different party theme type collections that came with House Party that could be used for homes, hotels and businesses. 

I would like for there to be more careers, but also for those careers to have more of an impact on a sim's life.  Like a doctor would have other sims asking him/her health questions, or people would be edgy around a Mad Scientist.  For a Mystery pack, they could beef up the careers of Paranormal and Natural Scientist- they could get bonuses for using their craft to help solve the mysteries. Things like that would make the careers more vital to the game without resorting to "follow your sims to the office!"

[kattybiz]

What do I want?  I'll second everything in Blue's post.  I would like pets, since I enjoy playing myself and my friends in the game, and we all have pets in RL, so it would be nice to include them in the game.  However, I do hope they're done better than in Sims1.  Farming would be good too, although Echo's and SimAddict99's objects are filling that need quite nicely!

Mostly, I'd like new careers and new LTW's.  Oh, and more stuff to do at home would be nice...I have a really low-end computer, so I almost never send my sims to community lots because the load times are too long.  Since I'll probably buy an EP before I upgrade the computer, more home stuff would be great.

Oh, and for Maxis to actually TEST the thing would be nice too, but that's a given.

[knitro]

Ok, i kinda like pets ( I know bad me) but they have to be done correctly ya know..

Health and sickness: could be cool, random diseases and heart attacks and stuff, everyone living til old age in my 'hood gets old and i don't have the heart to kill them myself.

Gardening...totally, i would love to have farms!! including the animals, and growing your own food and stuff, that would be great.

Karen

[kasumiarmstrong]

Nothing would be wrong with pets, however they really need to take into consideration what has been said in other threads.  I'd also like to see more aspirations and turns ons/offs.  That pleasure aspiration didn't really do much for the series.  A "vacation" neighborhood wouldn't be bad, as I'd like more businesses for the sims to own.  And as for natural disasters, if there isn't one that uttterly destroy my sim's  home to point where they'd wished that house insurance existed, maxis can forget it.   

[TaWanda]

Well, not really an expansion idea, but one I think they could make tons of money with and make us non-awesome users very happy, if it's feasible.
 I think they need a "Create and Organize" type of add-on. I would dearly love to see an idiot proof  simple program that would let you customize clothing, furniture, walls and floors, etc INGAME and let you see what it would look like in CAS or on a lot. Having to make something in body shop or homecrafter, import to the game and then wait to load the game up seems kind of inefficient.
 Also a better way to make and organize collections , INGAME. If I want to make a theme I want to be able to put in clothing , hair, furniture, the whole bit, and be able to subfolder it..
 I also wish that deleting ingame would simply put those items in a folder somewhere rather than completely deleting them from your computer. Surely I am not the only one to have deleted something ingame and then realized that oh no... that  awful green puke color couch I didn't ever use was the mesh file And of course being able to delete maxis stuff that you never ever use (most of the clothing!) would be great too.
 

[Ellatrue]

Considering the enthusiasm at Maxis for natural disasters with simcity, I am a bit fearful to see it come to the sims. It would be neat, but if it is like the other game, too frequent to be realistic- and more of an annoyance.

That having been said, can you imagine them getting hit by a TORNADO?

[J. M. Pescado]

That having been said, can you imagine them getting hit by a TORNADO?

Can you just imagine the annoyance of disasters you can't actually properly defend against like in real life?

[geekily]

Considering the enthusiasm at Maxis for natural disasters with simcity, I am a bit fearful to see it come to the sims. It would be neat, but if it is like the other game, too frequent to be realistic- and more of an annoyance.

That having been said, can you imagine them getting hit by a TORNADO?

I'd love to see natural disasters, and just weather in general. It provides plenty of new ways to kill of my Sims (I'm deranged, I know). As far of destruction goes, I think there should be home owner's insurance available. If you buy insurance, then after a disaster scenario is over, the insurance company will arrive and repair your house to its pre-storm state.