has FM redeemed themselves?

[scarletbegonias]

I just want to talk about this past year in sim town. its been almost a year since the Death Orbs update.

Since then we've had quite a few updates that have impressed me quite a bit actually. When my sims started aging, I wasnt sure that id properly be able to enjoy the game anymore. I was pleasantly pleased with a few updates such as cooking, pet park, witches and wizards, and im really enjoying the whole salsa dancing thing!

Theyve also brought back a few older items (pool cleaner, singing fish, easter and christmas decorations) which, as a player who missed two years, I appreciate.

i feel content with the game now. I still highly dislike aging but ive learned to play around it, and often I don't think about it. I think they (FM) have given us a lot of nice content, but the increased cost of wallpaper, flooring - scratch that, EVERYTHING, has really soured things for me. if they didn't make it so obvious that they want us to spend money by making it nearly impossible to finish quests on time (amount other things), I just may be able to forgive them. *grumble*

what do you all think? has FM redeemed themselves in your town? even a little bit?

[JKCher]

Yes and no. I'm pretty much in agreement with everything you say. I like where my game is now, I'm okay with the ageing now. I've loved most of the updates we've had and being able to get things in the game that I couldn't earn through quests because I wasn't there when it happened.
But yes it still irks me about the amount of money for some things (as if everyone is playing on the 'old' system where they get a ton of bonus for town value) and the short time for the quests, either you have to spend LP or give up life & sleep to make sure everything happens on time. That does take them down a few notches for me. Yep they want our money and that's awesome, but give us a little leeway, a little choice here. And I've been glad to spend money on things like a pool cleaner or to have access to the haunted house, even LP because I wanted to buy more cool stuff, but when I feel like I have to spend money to buy extra LP to finish a quest, then it makes me a little angry.

[scarletbegonias]

we love decorating our houses.! they'd get an overall better response if they were more fair. I refuse to spend money cus that's exactly what they want. if they didn't seem do greedy i wouldn't mind buying a thing or two

[ZeeGee]

They will not be redeemed until they give us the option to turn off death and turn off pets lagging around. My 2 cents

[Simmer1]

They will not be redeemed until they give us the option to turn off death and turn off pets lagging around. My 2 cents

At the very least I'd like to be able to buy platinum orbs for all my Sims. I'm not about to waste my time orb grinding. I now have 2 games. 1 without Life And Dreams in which my Sims do nothing and I with Life And Dreams in which they do nothing in between updates

[Perturbee]

I don't feel they redeemed themselves.

Everything has changed for the worse, items have become more expensive, online-store packs too! Times for hobbies changed, XP rewards lowered. They did add some nice detailed content, but also keep taking things away.

We all worked hard on the Xmas quest, each day unlocking a (old or) new item, only to find them taken away again after New Year. Snowmen fit in at any time (on a snowy lot or not), likewise with the coloured lights windows. And even one of the sweaters could fit in any time of the year.
As for the Xmas quest itself, it's absolutely ridiculous that you finish decorating a few days before Xmas (and have to do the last quest day on Xmas day). They should have started it earlier and let us keep what we unlocked.

That brings me to quests in general. Times given are getting short and sometimes nearly impossible to finish on time. And then there are the bugs of course and implementing quick fixes to glitches, rather than fixing serious bugs.

And... and... and... I always fear the next update, because you never know what's made more difficult/expensive/bugged next.

Would I recommend SFP to potential new players? No, definitely not, or with at least a severe warning that their Sims will die at level 26 (which takes quite some time to reach and by then they love their Sims).

[telemwill]

I have adapted to the orbs, although it has changed my game play considerably. I do feel like I will eventually have most of my Sims back to normal. I have not adapted to the animals happiness bars. It is a big waste of time. It was bad enough having to refill the food bowls.. Honestly, I have thought about deleting some of the pets. I am now struggling with the constant time limited quests. If if we don't get a break from those, I may just delete the game and quit playing entirely. I play to get a break from stress, and I shouldn't have to worry about missing out on items due to time constraints. Sometimes I find myself thinking that I have to check on so and so in the game, and dreading it. I just want to read a book, or watch a movie without having to worry about checking on my break dancer.

[dippy]

Updates make me nervous now. I used to immediately install an update to see what new things had been introduced. Now, I wait for info from other players to see what's changed before installing as there's usually some down sides now in every update.

There's too many dead lots in the game. Bingo hall, competition centre and other buildings to only collect Xp from. I'd like more interactive items like the nightclub and restaurant that can be used more within the game. My sims can go 'out of town' to work, lol

I also think newer players should be treated more fairly. They should have the old daily bonus seeing as everything is becoming more and more expensive. I bet that makes playing very challenging in the beginning.

I do like the ultimate makeover to be able to finally change sims names etc and find the cost reasonable. And those new bears are so cute. I hope that in months to come, I'm listing more and more things that I really love in the game.

It's easy to list what I don't like, but quite difficult to think about what I do like. It really should be the opposite.

[ellasweet]

I don't mind my sims aging and dying. I did restart my game after the death update was introduced, though, so I knew when I created these sims that they would die. I am annoyed that it costs so much to have a baby and to get married when the sims aren't going to be around forever, plus the cost of hairstyles and clothes that can't be kept. I bought the teen idol house repeatedly when it was advantageous to sell the pools and made a bucketload of money from it. I hate that I had to do this. It feels like cheating. There are a lot of little cheats and glitches that I have benefitted from, but I really feel lousy using them, though it's the only way to get anywhere in this game. I hate that if I hadn't restarted, I would be getting near a million simoleans a day instead of the lousy $7000 I get when I am level 50. I hate that sometimes I just want to play with my sims, but I still need orbs and whenever I create a nice little life for them, I end up just orb grinding again. I hate that I have finally unlocked the beach and now no one goes there, because it was my sims who were trying to get sporty orbs that visited it the most, but now I don't need those orbs. No, they haven't redeemed themselves, even from someone who doesn't mind having death in their game. These orbs are a nightmare. New hobbies make me want to pull my hair out and I haven't even unlocked the high striker and cat hobbies, which I have heard are the worst. Time limited quests are impossible without spending LP. Asking us to spend Christmas Day completing a quest was a whole new low and something I still haven't forgiven them for.
I would like to see: engagement rings and babies dramatically lowered in cost. More SP for neighbour goals. Hobbies completely revamped. More job options without having more job buildings taking up space. Longer times to complete goals. If they are going to keep the ridiculous competition centre and bingo hall, a decent reward for using them. No more time limited hobbies (a hobby is something you do for fun, not repeatedly day after day for a prize), the happiness bars removed from pets. I'd also like to see them realise that they would make more money by lowering the price of things that people spend real money for. I always have credit on itunes and think nothing of spending a dollar here or there. I won't spend $6.49 to adopt a sim, but if it was .99, I probably would have spent much more than that - I would definitely have adopted a dozen or so sims at a cheap price. Fireworks here were $4.99. I can spend less money feeding my whole family a meal!

[Aline]

I also think newer players should be treated more fairly. They should have the old daily bonus seeing as everything is becoming more and more expensive. I bet that makes playing very challenging in the beginning.

Actually, no. The money, it's not that much of a problem. In the very beginning sure, you can only afford the cheap items. But as soon as you start having a reasonable workforce who goes to work and gardens every day, most items become affordable. 2 months into the game, With 20 sims going to work I earn more than 50k a day. With some amount of grinding I can get 15-20 LP in 2 hours. That's enough to buy most of the things I want. In maybe a couple of days to a week, I have enough together to buy a house, and only very few items take more than a week of sparing.

If I had 100k simoleons a day just for tapping on a mailbox, I wouldn't really have a reason to bother playing at all aside from quests. So it would be easier, sure... but I dunno. Not sure that would be so much fun.