The scarecrow

[ChamiMinds]

Tigerlilley and Naillati: The creepy animated snowman may be from the Holiday SP, which was bundled in with the base game when I bought it this January. You have to assemble the four segments in buy mode: base, middle, head, hat. In game, clicking on it gives the option for animation. It's definitely pre-Seasons, however.

Hey thanks Lorelei. I actually can do that animated snowman thing. But only recently so I had no idea that it was included in the pack. Mostly cause I got it from well.. uhm Arr! And got it for a reason I now don't remember. But now I can see for myself if the snowman is creepy or not! Ha. Simple pleasures.

[julialenn]

Tigerlilley and Naillati: The creepy animated snowman may be from the Holiday SP, which was bundled in with the base game when I bought it this January. You have to assemble the four segments in buy mode: base, middle, head, hat. In game, clicking on it gives the option for animation. It's definitely pre-Seasons, however.

It's also available on the official website: http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/object_detail.php?asset_id=67&view=maxis&search=1&asset_type=object&hideFramework=&languageCode=&hideFramework=&languageCode=

[Liss]

you beat me to it! I was going to say, I downloaded it at the sheep pen.

[Dark Trepie]

Actually, its been up on the official site forever it seems.  If I'm not mistaken, I've had an animated snowman in my game since Uni.

[witch]

I've had that snowman, I had no idea it animated after being built though, I'll have to try that. Winter is coming in my hood. I just love Seasons, it really makes the game feel more complete and real.

[Ellatrue]

I should probably clarify, since my post has obviously been misunderstood.

I wasn't saying that actually being twenty-something predisposes someone to the "death is a kick" perspective. No, not at all. I was saying that MaxisEA seems to have made the *generalization* that its target audience of twenty-something prefers to see lots of accidental death in the game -- ala the same generalization that twenty-somethings prefer to engage in shooters because they think death is a kick. It was a commentary on the game industry *generalizations,* and not on an age group. It's the whole "violence sells" mentality, when aimed at the youth market.

Oh. All right then.

I personally don't mind most accidental deaths, but it's obnoxious that they can be killed so many different ways by fire and electrocution. I mean, things that shouldn't normally kill someone in their right mind (ever heard of unplugging the computer? I've had the reaper come for a repairman too, so yeah, wtf?). And I would like the opportunity to place things like a bookshelf and an armchair by the fire.

[Sagana]

Well that was fun. Entertained me all morning. 20-something hm? I feel like I just got carded at a bar. Quite the compliment, my gray-hair usually keeps that from happening much anymore.

[LordHellscream]

They must either be smoking something, or just be warped. I have seriously wondered about the creaters of the Sims 2. They call it a wacky sense of humor, etc. But I find nothing humorous about their purposeful creation of the impovershed, the mismatched, the colorless, and the truly ugly; all when they could have created sometihing elegant, colorful, and beautiful -- or at least something balanced somewhere between the two extremes.

I also don't appreciate their sadistic fetish about killing off my Sims. Especially killing them with things that should normally be wonderful parts of life, like sitting in front of a warm fire on a cold night, or gathering around a Christmas tree to celebrate. I customize and mod everything to bits -- all so I can play a decent game, pleasing to my eye, without burying most of my Sims before their very short lifespan has been fulfilled. If I wanted some adreniline pumping slaughter, I'd buy a shooter. I play the Sims to relax and enjoy myself.

Come to think of it, I remember being told in Sims 1 that the price of having eternal sims, was some chances of accidental death in the game. Well, now my Sims are NOT eternal, by purposeful design, and STILL MaxisEA adds *multiple* new ways for them to accidentally die with practically *every* expansion.

Think about it for a moment. If you have all the expansions up to and including Seasons, and you play without a protective mod in your game, what are the odds your Sim will never live long enough to become an elder?? He/she can die from kissing too long, sitting in a hot tub too long, eating spoiled food, sitting by the pool too long, running with a scissors, catching a random plague, getting hit by lightening, getting hit by hail, getting burned up while cooking or sitting in front of a fireplace, taking an elevator ride, getting burned up from being too close to a Christmas tree or outdoor Christmas ornament, running on the treadmill to long, getting hit by falling sky debris, fixing a broken appliance (even if the Sim is skilled to the max), flying a kite, drowning in the pool, or too much whoopee. And if he is sloppy, he can even die from a sudden attack of flies. In addition, female Sims can also die of pregnancy, even if their hunger never goes into the red. (I may be forgetting some other peril, there are so many.) And all that isn't even counting the chance to become the undead because of a wandering vampire autonomously biting him or her.

Trying to avoid death in this game is like constantly dodging a bullet, if you don't have protective mods. Ridiculous ....

Chill! that's why they give you the resurrection phone, its just added difficulty to the game, thats all

[neriana]

About the 20-something comment: I've read lots of reviews of The Sims, and if EA/Maxis is going by reviewers, they could very well think that what people like most about the game is Sims dying for stupid, random, unrealistic reasons on a regular basis. My problem with the deaths isn't that they happen often in my game (they don't). It's that they're highly stupid. Causing a flaming inferno while cooking an omelet doesn't happen, and if someone does set something on fire accidentally, they don't stand there screaming about it waiting to burn to death. I caused a kitchen fire when I was about 10 and knew to get the baking soda, for crying out loud. I am also not terribly fond of the game designers' sense of "humor" in a lot of areas, because calling it sophomoric is an insult to sophomores.

This game is also a relaxation and "escape" for me. Especially in the building of houses that I can't currently afford, and the manipulation of my little people so that they enjoy their little lives. I am a (usually) benevolent goddess to my pixel people. Some of us are Utopian players, some of us aren't, and there's nothing wrong with either style.

Anyhow, I have nothing against giving my Sims a good scare now and then, and am going to buy them a scarecrow now. It's too bad it doesn't do something more interesting. Maybe it could be possessed around Harvest time or something.

[Shivani]

It's a damn shame.  I keep having visions of a vengeful Great Pumpkin stalking around the lot causing 'Death by Pumpkin Implosion' or something equally silly.  Now that'd be animation... er, NPCification, actually.  Right, whatever.

ETA: Ew, just had a transmogrification thought, where the GP makes a sim's head into an actual pumpkin, then practices a form of cannibalistic murder by making pumpkin pie.

[Ambular]

Hmm, well, without commenting on the various issues that have cropped up here, this thread has left me with one impression: it might be cool if one of the Mod Gods put together a variable-deadliness mod that would let you choose just how likely premature death would be in your game overall.  I seem to recall Inge made an experimental "no deaths at all" hack once, but I have no idea how well it worked or what happened to it...

[toriamos]

This game is also a relaxation and "escape" for me. Especially in the building of houses that I can't currently afford, and the manipulation of my little people so that they enjoy their little lives. I am a (usually) benevolent goddess to my pixel people. Some of us are Utopian players, some of us aren't, and there's nothing wrong with either style.

I agree with Neriana, that is how I play ( I have had two accidental death since the start of the Sims 2. One was the pregnecy thing in the very beginning and the other  was dying from fixing a microwave.  What was real strange with the microwave, I called the repairman after the death and he would not touch the microwave so from then on out I wouldn't have them fix anything, just called the repaimen.) but my 12 yr. old son (when he plays) burn them up, locks them in rooms and lets them go swimming without a ladder. He also make the most god ugly sims just for laughs. To each their own. It's just a game.  That's what I like about this game, it's an open end game you play as you like.  This game can be played by any age group it just how you play the game that suites you.  There are many things that can drive you nuts in the game but all in all the game does have a huge number of things going on at the same time,  input from yourself on top of the games input, it really is amazing when you think about it, and with all the great modders out there it's even better.

[sara_dippity]

You can sit on this bunny's face.

[kewian]

I hate to interrupt this derailment but where is this FREAKIN scarecrow?

[gynarchy]

I hate to interrupt this derailment but where is this FREAKIN scarecrow?

Decorative -> Sculptures, 850 Simoleons

[Liss]

Actually, its been up on the official site forever it seems.  If I'm not mistaken, I've had an animated snowman in my game since Uni.

yep. i've had it forever. didn't know it was animated, though.  it always seemed kind of silly to me to build a snowman when the weather was perfect all the time. 

[kewian]

heh.. I looked there..guess I missed it.

[Sagana]

This game is also a relaxation and "escape" for me.

Yeah I play to relax and escape too. Get up, get ready, run to work, run home, eat/do chores, take care of kids, make sure homework is done, learn stuff to do better at work, and maybe watch some tv or something for fun, sleep, rinse, repeat is what I do every day. It's boring to me to have my sims' lives like that also. In order to relax and escape I want to get away from the tedium of everyday life and have stuff happen.

Ok the deaths aren't terribly realistic, but neither is turning from a 2-year-old to a 10-year-old in 1 spin or being forever happy because I sent some kids to college, not to mention alien abductions or vampires or whatall. It's a game - I can accept the game rules/world just as well as I can suspend disbelief for a book or movie as long as it's internally consistent.

I don't think enjoying those aspects that take it out of the humdrum of daily existance is either childish or sophomoric. I have no objection to mod (or even EA provided - tho I wouldn't hold my breath) options so everyone can have it however they want - quite appreciate those - but do a bit resent the comments that seem to be implying Maxis is/was catering to teens with those portions as surely adults wouldn't want them.

[Nailati]

please make it stop

[kewian]

This game is also a relaxation and "escape" for me.

Yeah I play to relax and escape too. Get up, get ready, run to work, run home, eat/do chores, take care of kids, make sure homework is done, learn stuff to do better at work, and maybe watch some tv or something for fun, sleep, rinse, repeat is what I do every day. It's boring to me to have my sims' lives like that also. In order to relax and escape I want to get away from the tedium of everyday life and have stuff happen.

Ok the deaths aren't terribly realistic, but neither is turning from a 2-year-old to a 10-year-old in 1 spin or being forever happy because I sent some kids to college, not to mention alien abductions or vampires or whatall. It's a game - I can accept the game rules/world just as well as I can suspend disbelief for a book or movie as long as it's internally consistent.

I don't think enjoying those aspects that take it out of the humdrum of daily existance is either childish or sophomoric. I have no objection to mod (or even EA provided - tho I wouldn't hold my breath) options so everyone can have it however they want - quite appreciate those - but do a bit resent the comments that seem to be implying Maxis is/was catering to teens with those portions as surely adults wouldn't want them.

[Tigerlilley]

This game is also a relaxation and "escape" for me.

Yeah I play to relax and escape too. Get up, get ready, run to work, run home, eat/do chores, take care of kids, make sure homework is done, learn stuff to do better at work, and maybe watch some tv or something for fun, sleep, rinse, repeat is what I do every day. It's boring to me to have my sims' lives like that also. In order to relax and escape I want to get away from the tedium of everyday life and have stuff happen.

Ok the deaths aren't terribly realistic, but neither is turning from a 2-year-old to a 10-year-old in 1 spin or being forever happy because I sent some kids to college, not to mention alien abductions or vampires or whatall. It's a game - I can accept the game rules/world just as well as I can suspend disbelief for a book or movie as long as it's internally consistent.

I don't think enjoying those aspects that take it out of the humdrum of daily existance is either childish or sophomoric. I have no objection to mod (or even EA provided - tho I wouldn't hold my breath) options so everyone can have it however they want - quite appreciate those - but do a bit resent the comments that seem to be implying Maxis is/was catering to teens with those portions as surely adults wouldn't want them.

I agree Sagana.  Being 21 myself, and having my own share of real life death and illness you come to realise one thing.... No matter how realistic the sims can look ITS JUST A DAMN GAME.  That and if you resurrect them they have no memory of dying so you can just go on pretending that the accidental death didnt happen.

I still stand by my comment that in order to have THAT MUCH accidental death as amjoie claimed, one must be rubbish at playing.  Use the pause button!  

[amjoie]

In order to return this thread to the scarecrow, and so everyone can have their say, I just put up a poll about accidental death in the Sims 2. Have fun voting.

[jsalemi]

Tigerlilley and Naillati: The creepy animated snowman may be from the Holiday SP, which was bundled in with the base game when I bought it this January. You have to assemble the four segments in buy mode: base, middle, head, hat. In game, clicking on it gives the option for animation. It's definitely pre-Seasons, however.

Ah.  I have that, but I don't think I've ever used it, so I didn't know it was animated.  I'll definitely have to check that out next time I play.

[sara_dippity]

I had it and never used it too! Again with the perfect weather, a snowman looks silly on grass.

[gynarchy]

Do the inflatable cat and cauldron do anything special or is it just the snowman? I'm not a fan of yard decor so I've never even purchased one to see what they do, if anything.