Remember The Sims Online? I sure do. How could I forget the days of grinding skills just to make some money in crowded lots where everyone was working for the same goal: simoleons. It had its moments though, and that was thanks to being able to play it with friends. But there were several issues throughout the years, and the game fixes were basically too little, too late.
Almost five years after shutting down, we are now hearing some rumors regarding the return of The Sims Online, bigger and better. But what to expect of The Sims 2 Online?
From what we know, it’s taking the basics of The Sims 2, with the exception of generations (no toddlers, children or teens), and applying The Sims Online concepts to it. The Sims 2 had enough expansions that offer plenty of options for skills and jobs, particularly with the Nightlife and Open For Business expansions. There are community lots designed specifically for skilling up and do jobs. You will find the DJ booth and instruments to play on, and if you get enough people together, they can all participate in a band. There are restaurants and bars where you can just hang out or be a barista, a bartender, a chef or a waitress. Crafting workbenches let you make flower arrangements, toys and little robots that you can then sell.
A number of other items help you increase your Logic, Cooking, Cleaning, Mechanical, Body, Charisma and Creativity. Depending on your skills, you can offer your services and set a fee for them. You can be a cleaning lady, a repair man, someone’s personal chef or a painter.
A little bit of information surfaced regarding the ability to upload user-created skins, which could potentially allow fashion designers to make their in-game careers. The system would work much like the Sims Exchange, but with the creator placing a price (in Simoleons) on each skin added to a clothing rack. The sale price of the outfits available on the sale rack would depend on the creativity of the maker.
A quest feature would be the other new feature, inspired by The Sims Social, where players can take on timed challenges to earn rewards.
Just as in the original game, the more people skilling up on the same object, and the higher your skill for the object, the higher the payout. You can raise skills on your own as well, but it’s much less effective that in a community lot with others working for the same purpose.
Sharing a home with some roomies makes paying the bills easier, and allows everyone to work together to transform their lot into something useful or amazing. You can embark on a joint venture and invest in workout machines and massage tables to create a healthclub, or fill your house with the famous lovebeds and hottubs and get ready for some sleazy clientelle. There are endless possibilities, and the only real limitation here is the funds.
We expect the economy to be rather ridiculous as it was before. Items were much more expensive in The Sims Online than in The Sims, and considering how time-consuming it is to make money, let’s hope some measures will be in place from the start to make things a bit more enjoyable and fair for everyone.
But at least, if taking its basic format from The Sims 2 and its many expansions, The Sims 2 Online will already have much more creative potential for building and decorating right from the get go than its predecessor.
Editor’s Note: At the risk of upsetting EA, Maxis and Sims fans from all over the world… Sorry to disappoint, but this is yet another of our April Fools jokes! 😀
For more silly fun, read our previous spoofs:
– Doctor Who: Puzzle Battle
– Harmonica Hero
– PMS Survivor
– The First Annual Overhyped Electronic Entertainment WTF Briefing