Quests and their order of appearance

This section is all about (discovery) quests.
Post Reply
User avatar
Perturbee
Administrator/Owner
Administrator/Owner
Posts: 1891
Joined: 10 Sep 2013, 08:12
Location: Europe
Contact:

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by Perturbee »

Jan_S wrote:It is a cynical update, because the baby glitch was not cheating, but FM or EA have decided that because so many (apparently, or otherwise why would they bother) have used the baby glitch to create double and sometimes triple the the 32 sim limit, they are determined to kill off those extra sims. It may be because their servers are having a hard time trying to cope with the extra sims.
Their servers have absolutely nothing to do with the chosen direction. Having 80 Sims or 32 Sims reflects only in the save game files that are uploaded to the cloud. Even that is questionable as a reason. A house filled with 256 objects makes a save game file considerably bigger than the 48 extra Sims.
For a commercial point of view, they should be happy with these large towns. Resetting ageing timers cost LPs (same as not advancing in age), so a large town owner might be spending more LPs on keeping their favourite Sims around. In any case, this doesn't look like a big town owners witch hunt.
They are also apparently targeting the deer farms and pet farms people have created, again because they don't want those types of anomalies to occur in their game.

This is basically a clean up operation targeting the multiplication of sims and pets in order to force players to get back to the original level limits they believe the game should have.
Sadly they just want us to pay more and earn less. No real surprise there...
Whether people can avoid this by not updating is questionable. Every update that I have experienced (and I'm an original player from day 1) has eventually been mandatory and you are forced to update whether you like it or not.
You're right in that. You can decide to hold off on this update, but eventually there comes a point that playing on the 'old' version becomes impossible. A lot of players who postponed updating will make a decision to continue or abandon the game at that point.

I have only updated two test games in order to make a relatively educated opinion about the new features. I'm far from positive about it. They only added features that cost more, earn less and make it overall a lot harder to progress. New hobbies have 10 mins or 1 hour options and contain a lot more to collect: 18 and 1 even 24 items! To make things even worse, the Shell Collecting (needs 24 items and is for toddlers) works only on certain times in a day. (There are shells for noon, dusk, night and dawn). The only upside of these hobbies is that there isn't any levelling involved.

Ageing is one of those features that a lot of people are upset about and I wholly agree. Aside the sentimental aspect of getting an attachment to the little lives (and Sims) and the associated pains of losing them, the game is becoming a Sims Farm.

Some seem to consider the attachment unnatural, which isn't. Painters gets attached to their paintings, writers to their stories and we wouldn't be human if we wouldn't create attachments to many things in our life. Not doing so means being cold hearted. Just because the impact of the digital world isn't fully understood by 'those who seem to know everything about attachments', it is considered 'unnatural'. Again it isn't. I was very attached to my characters in the world of text adventures and certainly felt a loss when my character died after sometimes hundreds of hours playing. Having a visual aspect added to this phenomenon makes things only worse, especially considering the new ageing process. Spending a lot of time with something you like does create a bond (or attachment).

A lifespan of 42 days (of activities, not idling) is short, too short if you consider the amount of work that is needed to fill up the Life Dream Orb bar. The orbs themselves serve hardly any purpose once you've built the Beach and Arcade and the associated hobbies. Pausing the life timer costs an orb, but ... it lasts only 7 days for a silver orb. This is in stark contrast with the cost of LPs to reset the timer. Even more so if you consider the conversion on the Beach or Arcade building (300 LPs/4 orbs and 150 LPs/2 orbs).

Life Dream tasks are boring, there is only one task per life phase that needs to be repeated over and over to make any progress. So far it looks like that about 3 hours of doing the life dream task yields 1%. What was shown in the quest about additional action is just a nicety, these special actions do NOT count against filling the orb, they are just an extra.

Then there are a few more changes to the existing parts of the games. Most hobbies moved from 4 mins to 10 mins as the minimum and the maximum was cut in half. The Senior hobbies' times have been cut in half. Nice, but it hardly makes up for the other changes, these (Senior ones) should have been implemented from the introduction. And there are changes in career times, I haven't fully examined them, but I did notice that a level 1 Athlete needs to start working at 6am. Incidentally this was a life dream for my 'Sporty' Sim ("I want to go to work at the Stadium").

They certainly managed to suck the fun out of the game and slap the long time players in the face with the meagre rewards added to the game on top of the horrible ageing process. Anybody on level 53 isn't going to be interested in the 'bonus' XP for doing the life dream task. I wrote 'bonus', since I don't consider a small percentage (a completed Bronze orb gives 2% extra XP) a real bonus. They're worse than the monuments.

Considering everything they did to the game, it is not surprising to see a major buzz of people annoyed with this update all over the internet.
User avatar
blackbrit
Sim Adult
Sim Adult
Posts: 616
Joined: 12 Sep 2013, 03:10
Location: USA

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by blackbrit »

Perturbee wrote: I have only updated two test games in order to make a relatively educated opinion about the new features. I'm far from positive about it. They only added features that cost more, earn less and make it overall a lot harder to progress. New hobbies have 10 mins or 1 hour options and contain a lot more to collect: 18 and 1 even 24 items! To make things even worse, the Shell Collecting (needs 24 items and is for toddlers) works only on certain times in a day. (There are shells for noon, dusk, night and dawn). The only upside of these hobbies is that there isn't any levelling involved.

Ageing is one of those features that a lot of people are upset about and I wholly agree. Aside the sentimental aspect of getting an attachment to the little lives (and Sims) and the associated pains of losing them, the game is becoming a Sims Farm.

Some seem to consider the attachment unnatural, which isn't. Painters gets attached to their paintings, writers to their stories and we wouldn't be human if we wouldn't create attachments to many things in our life. Not doing so means being cold hearted. Just because the impact of the digital world isn't fully understood by 'those who seem to know everything about attachments', it is considered 'unnatural'. Again it isn't. I was very attached to my characters in the world of text adventures and certainly felt a loss when my character died after sometimes hundreds of hours playing. Having a visual aspect added to this phenomenon makes things only worse, especially considering the new ageing process. Spending a lot of time with something you like does create a bond (or attachment).

A lifespan of 42 days (of activities, not idling) is short, too short if you consider the amount of work that is needed to fill up the Life Dream Orb bar. The orbs themselves serve hardly any purpose once you've built the Beach and Arcade and the associated hobbies. Pausing the life timer costs an orb, but ... it lasts only 7 days for a silver orb. This is in stark contrast with the cost of LPs to reset the timer. Even more so if you consider the conversion on the Beach or Arcade building (300 LPs/4 orbs and 150 LPs/2 orbs).

Life Dream tasks are boring, there is only one task per life phase that needs to be repeated over and over to make any progress. So far it looks like that about 3 hours of doing the life dream task yields 1%. What was shown in the quest about additional action is just a nicety, these special actions do NOT count against filling the orb, they are just an extra.

Then there are a few more changes to the existing parts of the games. Most hobbies moved from 4 mins to 10 mins as the minimum and the maximum was cut in half. The Senior hobbies' times have been cut in half. Nice, but it hardly makes up for the other changes, these (Senior ones) should have been implemented from the introduction. And there are changes in career times, I haven't fully examined them, but I did notice that a level 1 Athlete needs to start working at 6am. Incidentally this was a life dream for my 'Sporty' Sim ("I want to go to work at the Stadium").

They certainly managed to suck the fun out of the game and slap the long time players in the face with the meagre rewards added to the game on top of the horrible ageing process. Anybody on level 53 isn't going to be interested in the 'bonus' XP for doing the life dream task. I wrote 'bonus', since I don't consider a small percentage (a completed Bronze orb gives 2% extra XP) a real bonus. They're worse than the monuments.

Considering everything they did to the game, it is not surprising to see a major buzz of people annoyed with this update all over the internet.
Thanks for these additional tips. I've been reading your blog, too, but caught several things here today as I came here first. I am glad to hear it is 42 days worth of activity. Some players have mentioned that their pre-teens "circle" was filing up fast, so it made me wonder about this 42 day limit to life. A baby to senior and death has that amount of time, correct?

Existing Sims, most of which could well be at adult status might not have 42 days of life left. Do you think that might be correct?

Aside: This is not the game I signed up to play. I would never have downloaded this game. Not my thing. Now what to do with my creation, because it is, in fact, my creation. EA gave us the tools, and now EA just crushed what I did with them. Epic fail, EA. Please try to win us back. Turn off auto-aging. That's probably all it would take. Nina, I know you are here, as are some of your compatriots. If your downloads are up, you'll go ahead with SFP 2, for that is what this is. SFP, the original, is gone as soon as I update.
L 55, Easter Update
HFN, #2 Firehouse RD.
Haunted House #20 West Side. Pre-built HH @ #1 Firehouse RD.
"C" for 74 cats, "R" for 80 reindeer; See map view
GC: blackbrit.1
For GC: Mention Hay Day or SFP
User avatar
Palmjill
Sim Adult
Sim Adult
Posts: 606
Joined: 11 Sep 2013, 01:31

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by Palmjill »

Same here, blackbrit. This was not the game I signed up to play.
Sadly, unless FM has a change of heart (not likely), I foresee the orbs being an integral part of future updates to unlock further content. So waiting for the next update wouldn't do any good. Either you play this totally new game or stop playing altogether!
Not updated and Not playing! (please excuse zombies)
User avatar
Perturbee
Administrator/Owner
Administrator/Owner
Posts: 1891
Joined: 10 Sep 2013, 08:12
Location: Europe
Contact:

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by Perturbee »

Repost from my FB timeline:
Life Phase timers info

There might be a few errors here and there, since the "reverse" or rather reset timer option is vague. This is tested with speeding up Hibernations.
Pausing (at the cost of an orb, might be orb dependant) is NOT indefinite, the one I tried with the orb from the quest gave a Pause of only 7 days!!! Some say Platinum orbs do pause indefinitely, but I haven't reached that yet to confirm it.

Babies: 1 day - 2 LPs to hold back ageing
Toddlers: 3 days - 4 LPs to hold back ageing
Pre-Teens: 5 days - 6 LPs to hold back ageing
Teen: 8 days - 8 LPs to hold back ageing
Adult: 18 days - 18 LPs to hold back ageing
Senior: 7 days - 10 LPs to hold back ageing
Total life span: 42 days

The formula is weird, resetting (or reversing) the timer roughly costs days + 1 LP, so if your Sim is 16 or 17 days old, it'll cost 18 LPs to reset the timer, but if only 1 day has passed you might need to pay 10 LPs, less than one day was 6 LPs. The days + 1 seems to apply mostly to the non-adults.
The amounts mentioned are effective at the start of their phase. When updating the last completed action is taken into account, so if an Adult was hibernating, they'd have 17 activity days left (= 408 hours).
User avatar
blackbrit
Sim Adult
Sim Adult
Posts: 616
Joined: 12 Sep 2013, 03:10
Location: USA

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by blackbrit »

Perturbee wrote:Repost from my FB timeline:
Life Phase timers info

There might be a few errors here and there, since the "reverse" or rather reset timer option is vague. This is tested with speeding up Hibernations.
Pausing (at the cost of an orb, might be orb dependant) is NOT indefinite, the one I tried with the orb from the quest gave a Pause of only 7 days!!! Some say Platinum orbs do pause indefinitely, but I haven't reached that yet to confirm it.

Babies: 1 day - 2 LPs to hold back ageing
Toddlers: 3 days - 4 LPs to hold back ageing
Pre-Teens: 5 days - 6 LPs to hold back ageing
Teen: 8 days - 8 LPs to hold back ageing
Adult: 18 days - 18 LPs to hold back ageing
Senior: 7 days - 10 LPs to hold back ageing
Total life span: 42 days

The formula is weird, resetting (or reversing) the timer roughly costs days + 1 LP, so if your Sim is 16 or 17 days old, it'll cost 18 LPs to reset the timer, but if only 1 day has passed you might need to pay 10 LPs, less than one day was 6 LPs. The days + 1 seems to apply mostly to the non-adults.
The amounts mentioned are effective at the start of their phase. When updating the last completed action is taken into account, so if an Adult was hibernating, they'd have 17 activity days left (= 408 hours).
Ah. Thank you. Question: If I interrupt hibernation of an adult and don't allow it to complete, then start hibernation again for that same adult (or toddler, etc.), do you think this, too, "resets" the clock - as the Sim didn't complete the task?

Again, and as usual, thank you for the information!

[I have not updated, and won't be for as long as possible. I only have one game, but have two devices, so you are giving me ideas. :D (I don't know how to access your FB timeline, btw. I just read your blog.)]
L 55, Easter Update
HFN, #2 Firehouse RD.
Haunted House #20 West Side. Pre-built HH @ #1 Firehouse RD.
"C" for 74 cats, "R" for 80 reindeer; See map view
GC: blackbrit.1
For GC: Mention Hay Day or SFP
User avatar
ErinPW
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 6185
Joined: 10 Sep 2013, 10:41
Location: Germany, UTC +1

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by ErinPW »

Perturbee wrote:Repost from my FB timeline: [snip]

The amounts mentioned are effective at the start of their phase. When updating the last completed action is taken into account, so if an Adult was hibernating, they'd have 17 activity days left (= 408 hours).
Thanks for all your infos and effort!
Handcrafted Homes Update, 5.83.1
iOS 17.4.1

HFN 3 Eastside includes cat and dog.
Haunted House 1 Museums Boulevard and Volcano View
User avatar
Perturbee
Administrator/Owner
Administrator/Owner
Posts: 1891
Joined: 10 Sep 2013, 08:12
Location: Europe
Contact:

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by Perturbee »

blackbrit wrote:Ah. Thank you. Question: If I interrupt hibernation of an adult and don't allow it to complete, then start hibernation again for that same adult (or toddler, etc.), do you think this, too, "resets" the clock - as the Sim didn't complete the task?
Yes, that works to keep both their needs up and their ageing halted. I fail to see the need to do it, they become unproductive. As I do with my current game, I simply don't play a week and when I return they're inspired.

If you have a FB account, you can see my timeline here: https://www.facebook.com/perturbee (No need to befriend me, I post everything public).
User avatar
blackbrit
Sim Adult
Sim Adult
Posts: 616
Joined: 12 Sep 2013, 03:10
Location: USA

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by blackbrit »

Perturbee wrote:
blackbrit wrote:Ah. Thank you. Question: If I interrupt hibernation of an adult and don't allow it to complete, then start hibernation again for that same adult (or toddler, etc.), do you think this, too, "resets" the clock - as the Sim didn't complete the task?
Yes, that works to keep both their needs up and their ageing halted. I fail to see the need to do it, they become unproductive. As I do with my current game, I simply don't play a week and when I return they're inspired.

If you have a FB account, you can see my timeline here: https://www.facebook.com/perturbee (No need to befriend me, I post everything public).
Yes - I've been known to leave the game for several days, too, and not return until rogue cupcakes appear.

I made several toddlers with the baby glitch who don't have story lines yet though they are part of family story lines, so they are hibernating now, pending future - possible - plans. Under the current game they were slowly going to age up. Under the new update I am flummoxed, so "unproductive" feels safe. Sad statement of the game's current status in my life, at least.

Thanks, too, for the link. And hugs, if that's okay. You are awesome. :D
L 55, Easter Update
HFN, #2 Firehouse RD.
Haunted House #20 West Side. Pre-built HH @ #1 Firehouse RD.
"C" for 74 cats, "R" for 80 reindeer; See map view
GC: blackbrit.1
For GC: Mention Hay Day or SFP
User avatar
SheilaB
Sim Pre-teen
Sim Pre-teen
Posts: 209
Joined: 23 Sep 2013, 22:07

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by SheilaB »

Perturbee wrote:
blackbrit wrote:Ah. Thank you. Question: If I interrupt hibernation of an adult and don't allow it to complete, then start hibernation again for that same adult (or toddler, etc.), do you think this, too, "resets" the clock - as the Sim didn't complete the task?
Yes, that works to keep both their needs up and their ageing halted. I fail to see the need to do it, they become unproductive. As I do with my current game, I simply don't play a week and when I return they're inspired.

If you have a FB account, you can see my timeline here: https://www.facebook.com/perturbee (No need to befriend me, I post everything public).
That wasn't what I experienced in my daughter's game which accidentally updated. I created a new sim to do the goals. I set her pre-existing sims to hibernate. I interrupted hibernation at 23 hrs. They completed no other actions, but their life circles had begun turning green. The toddler's circle was most advanced at 1/4 green. The life circle of the sim I missed when hibernating showed no color change. I have left all her sims to idle and there has been no further change except in inspiration.
User avatar
Hufflepuff Karen
Sim Veteran
Sim Veteran
Posts: 1002
Joined: 22 Sep 2013, 21:26
Location: South Florida, USA

Re: Quests and their order of appearance

Post by Hufflepuff Karen »

SheilaB wrote:
Perturbee wrote:
blackbrit wrote:Ah. Thank you. Question: If I interrupt hibernation of an adult and don't allow it to complete, then start hibernation again for that same adult (or toddler, etc.), do you think this, too, "resets" the clock - as the Sim didn't complete the task?
Yes, that works to keep both their needs up and their ageing halted. I fail to see the need to do it, they become unproductive. As I do with my current game, I simply don't play a week and when I return they're inspired.

If you have a FB account, you can see my timeline here: https://www.facebook.com/perturbee (No need to befriend me, I post everything public).
That wasn't what I experienced in my daughter's game which accidentally updated. I created a new sim to do the goals. I set her pre-existing sims to hibernate. I interrupted hibernation at 23 hrs. They completed no other actions, but their life circles had begun turning green. The toddler's circle was most advanced at 1/4 green. The life circle of the sim I missed when hibernating showed no color change. I have left all her sims to idle and there has been no further change except in inspiration.
If you do the goals you automatically start the aging process. That's why your sims are aging - you have one doing the goals. Folks are reporting on FB that if you ignore the quest, don't speak to Osiris and don't get the aging controller from him, you can keep playing and your sims won't age.

I'm waiting until a week or two has gone by to see if that holds true for anybody that updated and is ignoring the quest. If they updated, but don't do the quest and their Sims don't age, you can just keep playing the way you always have and nobody would age up or die automatically. I might consider updating at that point.
I think, therefore, I Sim! (Or I did before they told me to "harvest" them)
HFN at Starter House (22 West Side); Pools& pets at several homes
Ghost hunting 2 Museum Blvd
GC: Hufflepuff Karen
TV $330,648,445 on 03/12/2014; Lvl 48
Post Reply