Restocking Cleanbots and Hydrobots

[cwykes]

I'm still finding that restocking can't distinguish between Cleanbots and Hydrobots.  Ajay starts off with 2 of each on display and after restock has 4 of one kind.  Best I can tell it takes the oldest one out of the inventory of either category.  If the oldest batch were all cleanbots, it takes all cleanbots even though it's supposed to be finding 2 of each.   I've had this problem since I got OFB, but I haven't seen anyone else post about it.  I'm hoping by now someone else has noticed it.  If not - has anyone any idea what's wrong with my game? 

I don't see how not having Uni and NL can affect this, but that's the main thing that's unusual about my game.  Today's problem was not in the same business or even the same neighbourhood as the earlier problem.  Today I have all my hacks and body files in but no other Downloads.  Nearly all my hacks are awesome.

[J. M. Pescado]

This is a core limitation of the game, since the game seems to only be able to identify the inventory object by its "Root" object, namely, the stand.

Therefore, clean/hydrobots, as well as munche/sentry bots, share stands and are indistinguishable.

In practice, this makes little difference since sims don't care what they buy.

[cwykes]

At least its not a cwykes problem - stupid game! 

Olive Specter definitely wants a cleanbot - those ghosts make a lot of puddles every night.  The last thing she needs is a hydrobot especially when it breaks down!

So when a reporter asks to see a hydrobot, is the owner going to say "sorry out of stock" or is he going to show her a cleanbot?  Is she going to be happy with a cleanbot?

The pricing seemed to be right most of the time, though I did notice one hydrobot on sale for a cleanbot price.

[J. M. Pescado]

I'm pretty sure if a Cleanbot eats a puddle, it will go berserk. As for what the reporter will ask for, I suspect a reporter will ask to see a robot base, and thus be happy with any of them. As for pricing, price more expensive. You won't make money worth crap at defaults anyway.

[tIIsuggas]

 In theory then, for profit reasons, could the cheap models be made, and sold as the expensive bot?   Would the sims know the difference?

[cwykes]

I'm pretty sure if a Cleanbot eats a puddle, it will go berserk.

I've had them do it before quite happily.  I thought that's what they were for - cleaning up after faulty hydrobots!

As for what the reporter will ask for, I suspect a reporter will ask to see a robot base, and thus be happy with any of them.

Let's hope that's right.  I have enough trouble getting good reviews in my starter businesses without that.

As for pricing, price more expensive. You won't make money worth crap at defaults anyway.

You get stars with little effort though and stuff walks off the shelves with minimum effort if you price it low.  It also gives you stuff you can sell to playable sims.  I tend to price crafted goods very high 'cos they are hard work and sell catalogue stuff cheap.  Sims make money hand over fist even on that pricing model as long as you include a couple of high ticket items.  I've got bored with dazzle, dazzle, energise/caffeinate.  Estate agencies are just laughably easy - like owning a mint. 

In theory then, for profit reasons, could the cheap models be made, and sold as the expensive bot?   Would the sims know the difference?

I suspect so, but it needs a bit of research in game to see exactly when it screws up the pricing.  Mostly it got the pricing right I think.  By the time I noticed one wrongly priced it was 2-3am and I was falling asleep.  I'm away for most of the next 6 weeks so may not have time before I go.

[J. M. Pescado]

You get stars with little effort though and stuff walks off the shelves with minimum effort if you price it low.

Yes, but since the amount of profit you gained tends to lag behind by a factor of about 200, you'd need to sell 200 of that to make the same money.

It also gives you stuff you can sell to playable sims.  I tend to price crafted goods very high 'cos they are hard work and sell catalogue stuff cheap.  Sims make money hand over fist even on that pricing model as long as you include a couple of high ticket items.  I've got bored with dazzle, dazzle, energise/caffeinate.  Estate agencies are just laughably easy - like owning a mint.

I tend to price nothing less than $500 because less than that means it's not even worth my time to sell it, and I lose money just for handling that crap. Catalog items are priced ludicrously expensive because my sims would never bother going there to buy them, craftables are priced ludicrously expensive because I demand a reasonable profit for them, and my sims will buy them at that price anyway, BECAUSE I COMMAND IT TO BE SO. If I say Servos are worth $50K, then they're gonna pay 50K for them!

[cwykes]

I tend to price nothing less than $500 because less than that means it's not even worth my time to sell it, and I lose money just for handling that crap. Catalog items are priced ludicrously expensive because my sims would never bother going there to buy them, craftables are priced ludicrously expensive because I demand a reasonable profit for them, and my sims will buy them at that price anyway, BECAUSE I COMMAND IT TO BE SO. If I say Servos are worth $50K, then they're gonna pay 50K for them!

I guess you don't run many starter businesses then...  either that or you only have a couple of items on sale in them.  Working capital for stock doesn't run to a lot of items at 250 or more in the catalogue.  If I priced everything up, I'd have to have no-playable shoppers and it would be too easy.  Having playable Sims buy things is a actually a discipline to stop me going down your route.  It's kind of nice when they come home with a houseplant or two and a couple of flower beds and you know they weren't ripped off for them. I tend to be pretty mean about letting them waste money on that stuff.

Servo's should definitely be hideously expensive - people are finding them a real nuisance in the game after a while.  We've a thread on the old sims board about "How to get rid of Servo"  Apparently they are hard to kill and I've had to warn people who thought deleting them from the Sim bin actually got rid of them.

[J. M. Pescado]

They don't have to be $250 or more in the catalog. I take $16 flamingos and price them at $500. As for playables, well, ANYTHING they buy is a useless ripoff, because what the hell good is anything? What on EARTH would I need a couple of flower beds for, other than to immediately toss them, always at a loss, and never without a lot of bothersome micromanagement and bookkeeping of who bought what? At least with my pricing, nothing moves unless I will it so, thus preventing what few playables I may allow to visit from buying things that I know they have no use for. Which is most things.

[cwykes]

Might have guessed it would come down to custom priced flamingos!  Sounds like you hate spending money even more than I do!  If your sim has the full discount business perk and sells things at a minimal markup, aren't the playables actually getting a bargain? - or at least not being ripped off.  So anyway there's a challenge for you - 5 top businesses Ethiopian style - no bathrooms and all priced rock bottom because ethiopians are broke. 

[J. M. Pescado]

Might have guessed it would come down to custom priced flamingos!  Sounds like you hate spending money even more than I do!

Err, yeah. I am widely regarded as the most miserly person people have ever known.

If your sim has the full discount business perk and sells things at a minimal markup, aren't the playables actually getting a bargain? - or at least not being ripped off.

No. Buying of any junk at any price which cannot be immediately sold for a profit is a ripoff. Period. Furthermore, I don't enjoy playing inventory garbagecleaner. It's not fun.

So anyway there's a challenge for you - 5 top businesses Ethiopian style - no bathrooms and all priced rock bottom because ethiopians are broke.

It's easy to get business rank, but businesses like that don't make money worth crap. In order to be considered a truly successful business in my mind, it must also make profit. Granted, I demand that the business model make SOME kind of sense, so no alley bubbles nonsense, but the pricing can be outlandish. Simland is pretty inflationary anyway.

[cwykes]

No. Buying of any junk at any price which cannot be immediately sold for a profit is a ripoff. Period. Furthermore, I don't enjoy playing inventory garbagecleaner. It's not fun.

Being able to resell at normal catalogue or close to works for me.  If you've gone to a family with a specific purpose in mind and find they are broke because of their shopping habit, then yes, inventory cleaning is a chore - especially when you know they were really ripped off.  But if you wander into a lot because you haven't played them for a while, then it is kind of fun seeing what they have in the inventory and placing the decor items.  If you know they didn't pay over the odds for them that is -knowing they were ripped off stops it being fun.  You can always find a space for a few decor items and if not it can go into a teen inventories for when they move out - or they get the old junk and mum and dad get the new stuff.

It's easy to get business rank, but businesses like that don't make money worth crap. In order to be considered a truly successful business in my mind, it must also make profit. Granted, I demand that the business model make SOME kind of sense, so no alley bubbles nonsense, but the pricing can be outlandish. Simland is pretty inflationary anyway.

Yes I guess it would still be too easy to get stars.  It's just money is so easy to make in Sims2, I want a different objective than make millions.  We just got through saying we don't spend it!    I'm just experimenting with an "alternative", "socially friendly" business model I guess.

[J. M. Pescado]

This is my current business model. It's very expensive and sims need to earn a lot of money to be able to afford such a thing. Because hey, it worked for the Ancients, so why can't it work for your sims?

[cwykes]

Awesome is about the only reply to that.  Don't think my sims can afford it.      gotta go...

[J. M. Pescado]

Awesome is about the only reply to that.  Don't think my sims can afford it.      gotta go...

See, and that's the entire point of earning a hojillion dollars: So you can be buried with it in a magnificent $1.5M tomb!