I really like this game. It's fun, there's a lot to do, and the customizing is SO FUN. (Seriously, take that tool away from me!)
BUT there is one huge problem for me. Maybe it's more a bunch of little problems thrown together and maybe it's more my problem than the game's.
I can't bond with these sims. While I'm playing I sort of care, but I care in the way I care about my Harvest Moon farmer. I just want my Harvest Moon farmer to reawaken the goddess, plant good crops, and have that baby.
It's the same in TS3. I find that very often, playing a sim isn't about the story, but about getting tasks done. Get that promotion, pass on those genes, get that garden!
Since I can't hop around to see what is going on in the other house holds without loosing out on what another family is doing, I can't really bond to anyone other than the sim I am playing. And even then, they are only a vehicle for me to do what I want. They are cute, and there are a lot of surprises, but all in all, I don't feel my sim has a personality.
Maybe I need to play more or watch my sims closer. Amberle sim is cute, but other than her moodlets, I can't really get any feeling from her. You know how romance sims walk that walk when they're going to hit on someone? Or how shy sims look at you with the "why me" when you tell them to do something like flirt with someone? Yeah, none of that. Or how I catch Alberta looking awkward or with her eyes closed in pictures like all the time-- none of that either.
Now, I don't want to sound pessamistic or like a regular Sims 3 hater. I really like the game. It's pretty fun. But I do find myself getting bored of playing one family, and then I find myself too scared to move on from that family to play another because they'll lose inventories and wants.
Also-- no memories! As we've seen countless times, those memories can be handy. Sometimes sims surprise you when you aren't paying attention. But when I visited Angie, I have no idea what she's been up to. Has she had her first kiss? Did she date anyone in high school? Why does she dislike that one sim so much?
I'm pretty sure the answer to all of those is no, of course. But I wish there was a way to keep in contact with sims like that. Like writing letters or something! Can you imagine how fun that would be? Angie moves out and I follow her. Her parents can send her letters letting her know what's going on in their lives. Like "Dad won the eating contest over at the Bistro!" or "Mom got a promotion. She's on her way to World Leader!" That way I would care about those sims and they wouldn't just become NPCs with no personality or lives.
6 comments:
Yes, how did they figure they could do away with memories? I find them so handy in Sims 2. My sims are always getting into trouble behind my back, so Sims 3 would really be no different except that we have no way to find out what they did!
Maybe some more of the personality stuff will be added with further expansions? I really can't remember how much personality they had in the beginning of Sims 2, but I know they added things as we went along - the angry footstomp with Nightlife, or the logic ball and knuckle cracking with Freetime.
Just a few more reasons I'll wait a few EPs before I jump on board - I'm pretty sure I will switch over at some point though. I'm so impressed with what the modding community has done in just days, so imagine what the game will look like in another year! :)
Thanks for doing this blog! Are you going to continue it any longer? I'd like to see more of it - though, I'm thinking, wouldn't it be weird continuing Amberle here while still playing her for your story? It would be like she has two lives :)
I guess the deal is that these sims don't seem to do much of ANYTHING when I'm not playing them. I mean, they didn't skill or make new friends really. I'm spied on their house while Amberle sim was working, and Norm just stood outside his house-- he didn't read or work on his garden or clip coupons at the outside table. No one came to the house and no one left. :\
Maybe that's how they figured they could get away with no memories. The sims don't do much on their own it seems.
I'm hoping that more stuff will be added. I remember I got bored of the TS2 base game too. I stopped playing for a long time after Uni came out, and only picked it up once Seasons was out. It took that long to give me what I wanted which was free play and plenty of options.
I think I will keep doing this blog. There's a lot to find out-- though I would hate to spoil anything for anyone.
As for this Amberle, I keep thinking of her as Amberle's Sim. Isn't that weird? XD Like this one is just some little model of my real Amberle. My real Amberle is a little somber and sad, but also silly from time to time. This Amberle can't be anything other than sweet, cute and clumsy.
Have you tried reading the newspaper? Apparently that updates you on happenings around the hood. I'm playing with story progression off right now so there's not much in mine, but it apparently updates you on new babies and deaths and the like. Not sure how in depth it goes.
I miss memories but as good as they were in TS2, they also caused a LOT of problems. I think this was the main reason they were left out of TS3. Honestly though, I would have preferred if EA looked at memories and thought about whether there was a better way to handle them or not. Maybe they did but it just seems like they might have taken the lazy way out. If Sims are going to continue living without you, it'd be nice to know what they're doing.
I have, but with a hood full of pre-made sims I only hear news about sims I don't care about and don't know. Or about sports which I don't care about in real life either. XD
That's why I suggest letters or emails or something like that. It's the same as the newspaper, and you hear from the story you actually care about, the one you've played or tried to bond with. Plus, it doesn't have the hassle of memories. And the sims still wouldn't have to actually DO anything. It would just be nice to pretend that they were actually doing little things like winning contests, getting promotions, or saving the city.
My sims were actually in the newspaper. It was a birth announcement saying something like "The Burbank household has welcomed baby Maxwell into the neighborhood. Both mother and son are sleeping soundly." It was the funnies thing, because Jamie herself was reading the newspaper when the message popped up. Talk about awkward!
LOL, that is awkward. But that's kinda cute, actually. In real life, a mother might read about her baby's birth announcement while on maternity leave. They might even clip the little announcement for the baby book.
Perhaps I just need to make more characters and read the paper more. I am thinking of experimenting some more and trying maybe some rotation style playing next!
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