Rarely has a game had so much hype: the cover of a national
newsweekly, articles in every newspaper from L.A. to New York,
comments that The Sims Online--or TSO for short--will save PC games
from console-game encroachment. The Sims earned such attention because
the concept was brilliant. The Sims was less a game and more a fun
software toy, with no way to win. The Sims Online follows the same
formula. Unlike other online games, TSO was specifically designed to
not have traditional rewards such as gold, power, or magic items.
There are no levels to attain, or princesses to rescue. Instead,
players take joy in little victories--maybe your Sim cooperates with
others, and all four of you manage to bake a pizza without burning it
and then sell it. Or maybe you throw a party, and all the cool kids
show up and have a good time. The core reward for playing the game is
nothing... nothing more or less than the joy of playing.
Unlike the original Sims, where you created a number of Sims and
controlled them all as a god, in TSO you create and control only one
Sim at a time. This is a significant change, as you can't direct one
Sim to perform a time-consuming task and then switch to another Sim
until the task is complete. Instead, if you want your Sim to do
anything in the game, you have to watch him do it in tedious real time
(the fast-forward button, so vital in the original Sims, is gone). For
example: when your Sim is sleeping, you have to sit and watch him
sleep for the five minutes it takes him to refresh. This real-time
aspect is excruciating. The game designers probably thought that a
group of ten people, while watching their Sims work out in an exercise
room together, would alleviate the boredom of watching Sims pump
virtual iron by striking up a conversation (the chat aspect gets a lot
of comment from TSO designer Will Wright). The problem is that unlike
a chat room, where a topic or passion is already shared by everyone in
the room, the only thing a player has in common with other folks in
TSO is that everyone is watching their Sims power up. Such basic
commonality doesn't spark quality conversation. The best you can hope
for is some idiot inevitably commenting "nice grunt" or making some
other silly sexual innuendo (often with *%$^@*# fake words generated
by the much-needed obscenity filter).
If you're willing to put in the time, there's still the issue of
paying month-by-month to access your Sim. For this reason, word of
mouth, which caused The Sims to rocket from obscurity to the
Best-Selling PC Game of All Time, is working against TSO. Casual game
players loudly criticize the idea of paying for both a game and a game
service, despite the fact that many of these same players are
comfortable shelling out hundreds of dollars for cable, magazines,
TiVo, and other monthly subscription-based entertainment services. The
overall trend toward pay-per-month-of-play service is generally
accepted by the hardcore gamers who play dynamic online adventure
games like EverQuest, where gamers can see their monthly tribute at
work in the form of fancy new spells and labyrinths. But TSO is a
quietly suburban diversion for mostly casual gamers, filled with
objects that are mundane by design. In TSO, you putter, you work out,
you chat with others in the real world via your avatars. To put it
another way: you live a slightly zanier version of everyday life, and
frankly, that costs a lot already.
TSO still has the core elements that made the first game a classic:
obsession with the minutiae of daily life, amusing content from the
game designers, and the mind-bending thing that happens when you've
been playing too long--that the real world starts to look exactly like
The Sims. (Couch shopping caused that surreal "Is it Sims, or is it
real?" experience for a friend.) TSO may still prove to be the Goliath
the media predicted it would be thanks to the nature of ever-changing
online games. Ironically, the monthly fees that bother so many new TSO
players will pay for the improvements those same players crave. For
example, EA plans to release new functionality that will allow players
to design clothes and objects (a big hit with players of the original
Sims).
TSO is fluid, and the game reviewed as it is at launch may be very
different from TSO in a year, when the designers are able to respond
to player requests. Even until that time, there are good things about
this game. When your character is "greened up," dressed in disco
finery and looking to hit it lucky with the dice, TSO can be a blast.
But the tidal wave of hype may have done more harm than good for a
game that has a simple, Seinfeldish heart. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Pros:
* Gameplay similar to The Sims
* Wide variety of social interactions, including a deep menu of
dance moves
* Persistent online world lets you share the Sims experience with
others
Cons:
* Lack of fast-forward feature is a drag
* At launch, too few in-game money-making opportunities
* At launch, game world seems empty--there's not enough to do
* Players of The Sims, used to easy money through cheat codes, may
balk at having to actually work for in-game cash
From the Developer
New and improved The Sims Online version 2 now adds more of your
favorite characters and pets from The Sims, plus the ability to take
your Sim to work in all-new, fun-filled job experience.
The Sims experience explodes to a new level of fun with the added
features that Sims fans crave and the endless imagination of you and
your friends. Experience a whole new life of enhanced power, wealth
and reputation as you create your dream home, build your own business
or throw the most outrageous parties. The random behavior of your
favorite characters, including pets, maids and gardeners, adds comedic
mischief and unpredictability to The Sims Online. And, for the first
time ever, your Sims embark on a whole new venture of employment which
includes fun and entertaining mini-games to earn money, achieve status
and strengthen the Sims community. This vast online world just got
even bigger and better.
Current Features
* Unique Characters: Create your own unique Sim by choosing from
litteraly hundreds of characteristics.
* Homes and Business: Build a home, a shop, a dance club or whatever
you imagine in this fascinating online world.
* New Friends: Make friends as you design houses, neighborhoods,
businesses, museums and more.
* Never-ending Entertainment: Experience new happenings everyday as
the players control the outcome of the game.
* Secure Trading: For the entrepreneurs at heart. Trade or sell
objects with other players to find the ultimate bargain or top off
your crazy flamingo collection.
* Casino Objects: Feeling lucky? Manage your own casino, while
guests hit the slot machines or roulette table.
* Clothing Racks: Ready to wear! These clothing racks provide a new
look and feel for your Sims everything from swimwear to formal
wear. Get ready to shop till you drop!
* Death: Spook. Possess. Mourn. Revive. Yes, its now possible for
your Sims to die! But a Sims sort of death: whimsical and fun
while still being a little, well, morbid.
New Features
* Jobs: Working has never been so fun! Get paid as your Sims work in
unique new jobs designed as mini-games. Choose to be a Waiter,
Robot technician, DJ and more.
* Pets: Its raining cats and dogs! These favorites and more from
The Sims create a new level of mischievous behavior!
* Service Characters: Need help around the house? Just hire some
maids, gardeners and repairmen!
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Search Customer Reviews
80 of 88 people found the following review helpful: The Sims
Online in a Nutshell, December 23, 2002 Reviewer: A gamer
I was hoping for so much more from this game, but I found myself
extremely disappointed. Before spending your money on it, here is what
you can expect.
You will start out in a city with very little money, maybe enough to
buy a lot and some walls. So, you will need to raise some cash. In
order to raise any significant cash, you will need to build up a skill
or two.
To build up a skill such as mechanical, your sim will sit down and
read a book for hours. If you are lucky and find a large group also
studying mechanical, it might only take 6 or 7 hours to maximize this
skill. All the while you have the exciting pleasure of sitting in
front of your screen watching your sim study. Occasionally you will
get a chance to break up the monotony by having to make your sim use
the bathroom, eat and sleep. Oh, you can also chat with other sims
while your sim studies, but most of the other players have figured out
how boring it is and go away from their keyboard (AFK) to do more
interesting things like laundry or watch TV while their sim studies.
Most likely you will be talking to yourself or maybe one other person.
Now that you have a skill, you can make some cash. This is done
through group objects such as the code machine, pizza machine or maze.
All of which are fun for maybe the first 10 or 20 times you play them.
You can also use solo objects, such as the gnome workbench to raise
cash. Essentially these work the same as studying, everyone goes AFK
and you watch your sim do the same repetitive task for hours on end.
Now you have enough money to start building your home. However you
have a 100-object limit on what you can buy. After you have reached
that limit, which many have already done, you have essentially
"completed" the game. You can then try to attract visitors to your
property so that you can run around acting as their personal maid
service, feeding them food, cleaning the toilet after they are done,
making beds, etc. You have now hit the peak of excitement and
entertainment in the game! Congratulations!
In my opinion, there is no inherent fun to this game. Most people who
love the game will tell you that the fun of the game comes from what
you put into it. I can find ways for a piece of string to be fun too,
and I don't have to spend $50 to buy it and pay $10 a month to play
with it.
The only hope for this game is that in the "future" additional content
will be released to make the game more fun. (No exact or even
estimated dates are provided by Maxis, it could be two weeks or two
years) In my opinion, this is still a beta quality game that people
are being charged to play while the bugs are worked out. It still may
turn out to be good in the "future", but right now it is about as
entertaining as watching laundry dry.
Also, if you purchase this game and find yourself upset with it, do
not complain on the official Sims Online message boards. Anything
other than praise and raves can now be considered a violation of the
terms of service and your account can be revoked for it. Several
threads expressing dissatisfaction have already been shut down and
locked by Maxis administrators.
39 of 49 people found the following review helpful: WIsh I
Could Give Negative Stars, April 12, 2003
By
Jim Mitchell (St. Louis) - See all my reviews
Holy cow, this is a bad game! I cancelled several months ago, but from
the sound of current reviews it doesn't seem like things have gotten
any better. What a complete waste of money (not to mention time). I'm
not too much for online games to begin with, because in my experience
you run across a bunch of socially inept geeks who are at least
adolescents on an emotional level. I can't tell you how many times I
was called any number of names that if spoken in person in some states
would qualify as a hate crime. This game is basically a glorified and
expensive chat room. Chat room culture is part of the underbelly of
the internet (second only to obvious illegal and heinous activities
that we all know occur over a computer) and I certainly don't care to
pay money to engage in it. People keep talking about how this game is
going to get better, and I believe that it has potential. But to
charge money for people to play a game that is clearly in the
development phase is just plain wrong. There is nothing to do here,
folks, especially if you don't like chatting! No creative ways to earn
money, thereby leading to great difficulty in obtaining the objects
that made the single player game so much fun. You could entertain each
other, but as I said, the game seems to attract a lot of socially
inept types who can't even interact effectively in a pretend computer
universe.
Do not spend your money on this game unless you buy it from the rare
store that allows you to return it. I know, I know, you've convinced
yourself that you really want this game and that reviews are
meaningless. Well, trust me, they aren't in this case! The reviews you
read here are accurate, if not overly generous! This is a terrible
waste of time and money. I'll be very surprised if it's still up and
running in 6 months. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! [...]
Did I mention that I don't like this game at all and that you won't
either?
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful: A Great
Game that's Dying.., July 8, 2006
By
Andrew Mote "Andrew Mote" (Indiana) - See all my reviews
Fun: The Sime Online has been one of the greatest online
RPG/Simulation games of all time. It provided players with pretty much
all of the old features that we all fell in love with before the
online version came out, along with the added new features that have
proven to be just as enjoyable. Since it's an online game, obviously,
players can now chat live with one another--which is, in my opinion,
one of the best and most fun aspects of the game. The Sims Online is
the best social game online, without a doubt. The tons of new social
interractions and the all-new self-interactions are utterly hilarious
and even though I've been playing for around three years (my first sim
is 835 days old), I laugh every time my sim's head explodes in
frustration. The game provides people from all over the nation with
infinite situations and the most entertaining and amusing drama you
could ask for.
However...
now, over three and a half years after being released, The Sims Online
is becoming a ghost-community. The previously-over-populating cities,
of which there are over ten, are now nearly empty. There are only
around ten high-profile lots and properties online on average at a
time currently, and probably half of the users that do go online are
AFK (away from keyboard) while their sim studies or builds their
skills, which admittedly takes a little bit more time than you'd want
it to. However, while your skills are building, you do have the option
of chatting with the other players who aren't AFK, which is always
fun, and is pretty much the main aspect of the game--interacting with
people who are just as much in love with The Sims as you. So,
basically this is more of a 'plea', rather than a review--all you
faithful TSO'ers out there: keep playing! Those of you who have the
game but have quit playing--come back! There are so many new
features--and just because the population is down right now, that
doesn't mean that we can't bring back all the fun! And, those of you
who haven't even purchased the game yet--at least think about it. If
you buy it, I'm sure you won't regret it if you just give it a chance.
And if you ever want someone to chat with while your sim is skilling
or if you need someone to serenade to you when your energy and social
are low, look up Andrew Mote in Dan's Grove! :) (That's me, by the way
:P)
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful: My mom
always said... "If you don't have something nice to say... don't say
it at all", April 28, 2006
By
S. Lopes "GrUvGrL" (Blazing Falls) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Fun: I can't say I never listen to Mom but sometimes I forget
the saying myself, as I'm sure some of these people offering such
NEGATIVE reviews have forgotten. EA & Maxis did not make the game to
please a few people. They made it to target a wide selection of people
who enjoy RPG's
Ok, I have been playing the game since before the game was released as
a beta tester. I will admit after a couple years of playing I did get
a lil bored with it. But I played EVERY chance I got for two years
straight. The wonderful thing about TSO is... YOU DO NOT LOSE YOUR
ACCOUNT IF YOU STOP PLAYING, you can simply suspend your account as I
did with mine for about 1 year without having to pay the montly fee. I
just recently came back to the game and I did notice many changes. Now
to shed some light on negative feedback here...
1) I HAVE NEVER seen or been in a room where men have EVER lured a
girl to show herself naked on cam... the fact that an adult would
choose not to allow their kids to play, does not suprise me at all...
I wouldn't let mine play either if I had them. The game isn't really
"for children" although you must be 13 or 14 to play. Lets not forget
that there ARE parental controls that may be set on a child's
account... they are there for a reason... and why is a young girl of
14 allowed in a RPG with a cam attached to her computer anyways...
where are the parents??? Did they check the game out themselves before
allowing the child to play? Oh, wait maybe we should ask EA & Maxis as
I am sure that FORCING parents to deal with and monitor their kids
online must be their fault it's not like there are ads posted
EVERYWHERE informing parents that kids aren't safe on the net. Oh gosh
I could go on and on... but I'll leave it at that... I think you get
the general idea.
2) In the years I have ever played I have NEVER been involved in any
sort of DRAMA in the game... if you look for it hard enough I'm sure
you WILL find it, but the game isn't like that at all!!! If someone
gets divorced while playing TSO... lets face it... chances are one of
those people were playing TSO to get away from the reality that they
were not happy to begin with, but if it makes you feel better to say
that someone other then the people involved in and responsible for
their own realtionship is at fault, so be it i guess.
3) For someone who likes the sims so much, and has played the game
since the begining of time off line, the person who finds it hard to
make money has to come to grips with the fact that there are no money
cheat codes on line (hasta la buh-bye to the rosebud cheats dude) Off
line you are given a few simoleons more then online from what I
remember, your sim has to work in a "secret location" you will never
see, leaving you at your un-occupied house, forcing the time to go by
until ur sim returns, items are still expensive to buy, and if you
think that making gnomes or potions for 100-400 each online is
harsh... instead of entering a cheat code to advance yourself in less
then a week, I now realize why you don't like the game, cause you
can't be a cheater!!! Ha! Oh by the way... you may wanna get your
computer checked out. I have never seen someone take all day to make
just 500 simoleons.
I wish i could address everyone's negativity, but I might get banned
from amazon for doing so.
I love TSO i think it's a great game, yes things were a lil slow to
start, but i think that it's come along way since they first started.
I rated the game a 4 because as with everything in life nothing is
100% perfect and there is always room for improvement and that is what
makes the game so cool. Now with most of the negative thoughts coming
from people who are either complaining about other players, how these
players conduct themselves or how slow it is to advance in the game.
That's life!!! Opps did I just say that? Funny, last I checked...
that's exactlly what the game was a simulation of life!! And in the
real world you have cheaters, and drama queens/kings, liars, honest
people, people who are good people who are bad. My sim advances
through the game just fine, I meet new people, and the sims my sim
socializes with are nice. If I go on a property where I don't like the
conversation or what they are doing... guess what I do? I LEAVE!!!
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful: The Best
Online Game, April 20, 2006
By
Bryan "Dark Joker" (Richmond, Virginia) - See all my reviews
Fun: TSO is the best online game. You hear all these other
reviews on how the game blows or how it sucks well it doesnt. These
other reviews havent explained enough of wht you can do on the game
what so ever. All they explain is how you talk, yea big deal. Trust me
this is coming from a VG expert here... TSO is more than just a giant
chat room. Yes, there is way more. You control about up to three sims
on one account and four on a betaville server. BTW, betaville is one
of the cities you can play yet it gives you freedom and lets you
control four sims all at once! TSO offers you to get jobs and actually
see them work and do the work. You can also get money and prizes, play
games, get married, do a lot of things you could do on the old sims
games. There are some pros and cons on the game though...
PROS: 1. Get to choose from four jobs and see them work
2. The number of cities to play on and the number of people to meet!
3. You can be a roomie with someone else or make a house of your own
and make it sweet!!
4. The game is addicting and you'll spend endless hours playing
5. TSO has some live radio stations broadcasting music and you can
make requests!
6. the best online game ever!
CONS: 1. there is an object limit of 100 when u build a house which
sucks.
2. EA does maintenance on the game each morning around 7 or 8 o clock
eastern standard time which sucks because the cities shut down.
3. Some objects on the game can be quite pricy
4. Skilling to build up your skills to make more money can take a long
while to do.
Well thats it, i didnt explain much since i want you to find out on
your own so... go out and buy the sims online, ill b waiting for you,
BTW, my sim's name is "Jim Goth"
12 of 17 people found the following review helpful: I like
TSO...try it, October 27, 2005
By
AO "AO" - See all my reviews
Fun: I like TSO. It passes the time..ya meet kool people. I
love my house and my roomies...After reading a ton of reviews here, I
have found most of them to be true (good and bad)but this game is not
for everyone and not everyone can afford to play (keeps the riff raff
out)...but if you play you play for a reason...and that reason is
yours alone. You can be anyone you like..act anyway you like...the
choice is yours. It's a shame that some people slame the game and
probably a good thing that they no longer play. And as there is good
and bad in everything we do ..I choose to see the good in TSO. I think
the free trial period gives you more than enough time to assess the
game before you have to pay for it. I kinda wonder why people would
continue playing when the billing starts if they hate it that much.
Anyhow...I like TSO...just try it
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