Spliff
Admin
843
Jan. 2003
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Jan. 11 2003, 4:37 am |
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I would especially like to hear from those who have beta tested THERE and also played Sims Online.
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ThereSucks
Members
5
Jan. 2003
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It might be a little while before that occurs. It would be in your best interest to know about these things yourself otherwise there's no point to this exercise in futility.
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Alyssa_Princess
UNREGISTERED
Guests
N/A
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I participated in the sims beta and decided not to continue with it. It just wasnt that fun. there was alot to do......but all of those things were boring....it wasnt fun navigating the world at all. Ive been in there for about 5 days and even in its unfinished state its many times more enjoyable than the sims online. especially the main focus of both, which is socializing, the avatars in there are a million times better than TSO's 
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Karey
Members
35
Jan. 2003
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I'd agree. Sims Online is really not very good at all. It's really just "the sims" "online" not a real online world. You can see the "city" with all the "properties" but all it really is is a directory of individual games of the sims with a maximum of 20 people in them. It's like like There where you can walk or drive around the world. It's also all the exact same graphics as the sims.
The other thing I really didn't like in Sims is all your actions are delayed. So, if someone tells a joke, you can hit the button to laugh, but it'll take 10 seconds or so to actually laugh. In There, it might take you a sec to '''laugh or click the laugh button, but once you do it, you laugh.
They still haven't implemented changing clothes. And even when they do, you will change your body and head to preset combos. Like I said, the graphics aren't changed at all from the offline sims, so body is everything shoes to shirt and your head is stuck on top.
Sims is flopping by the way. They are so desperate to keep people subscribing they turned off the web site where you cancel the game and make you call an 800 number and argue with people.
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Spliff
Admin
843
Jan. 2003
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I was browsing one of the Sims Online's fan sites last night and I noticed there was quite a bit of anger over the $10/month subscription fee after a lot of people already payed $50 on the physical game. It is wise for There to take its time and come up with the best payment plan to suit both its needs and the needs of its user base. I personally feel 5 dollars a month is more reasonable since realistically I could get ISP service for about $10 from Netzero or Juno. I dunno if that figure is economically feasible for There though 
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BrewOfDaos
Members
64
Jan. 2003
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I've played enough MMORPGs that I don't mind a $10 monthly fee. That is less than movies for 2 for a single showing. If you understand what a world like this takes in server size and internet bandwidth, than you see why its necessary. Also, my experience with games like EQ was that I stopped doing all other money spending entertainment while playing EQ, saving myself much more by not going to the pubs with friends and such (but costing a social life  .....I got better). They do need to make it clear to everyone Beta testing that there will be a monthly fee once it goes live.
My biggest fear is all the additional money sinks that they are adding in. If it gets to a point that people feel that they need to spend more per month just so that they can go to the hottest clubs in There and wear the best clothes, then there may be a backlash. Looking at the list of companies backing this venture, they are counting on making money off it one way or another, and that worries me.
-Brew
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Squeaker
Members
192
Feb. 2003
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10 dollars is average for MMORPGs. I have seen higher (Dark Age of Camelot was 50 dollars for three months when I played it.... no idea what it is now though).
As far as the additional money sinks in There it isn't really all that different from any of the games that I have played in the past. Only difference is that instead of paying a fellow user for specific things (items, $$$, a few houses) I am paying the company itself for the money to do those things. I look forward to how else they plan on giving players the chance to earn the money in game because there are players who will pay RL money for money in-game and there are others who are going to want to earn it..... both will be paying the monthly fee that will bring in the moolah for the companies!  "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skills, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter - or at least, most minds are."
-Severus Snape
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FatHamburger
Members
171
Feb. 2003
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Sims online was a travesty lol, the only thing it has over There is that you can have your own place and decorate it. The game is very tedious where most people are AFK because of the nature of the game, skill building and the repetitive 'working' of the job objects. It is just not any fun. The primary object for most people is to fill up their house with as many job objects without rhyme or reason making the place look uglier and uglier all in the name of trying to get people in there and on the top40.
Once we get the opportunity to get our own houses (and I really hope that we dont for awhile until theres more space available) and do it up, TSO is dead. The houses in There are kinda boring right now, only get to change furniture and not even where its placed, that all needs a massive retooling
check out the amazon reviews Spliff
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sint_u
Members
2
Feb. 2003
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never played sims ONLINE..but offline, yes.
i get so extremely board of sims..to the point that i find new and insteresting way to 'off' people. im so twisted:laugh:
like..make fires in far off rooms..and capture my very own fire fighter 
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Veshka
Members
22
Feb. 2003
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I beta tested for TSO as well, and when it went live, I dropped out immediatly. It was a change, for sure, as any fan of TS can tell you, to actually be able to interact with other sims, but that novelty wore off quick when you realized a good 75% of the people there were AFK, or didn't care what you had to say, just either help them raise the learning percentage, up their home income by working with them, or some other way to scratch their backs so that they can make more money and gain more visitors. EA tried to give people ideas for things... Create a cafe for people to come and socialize in... Yeah, no one wanted to go to those, they were too busy cranking out hours upon hours of study or work so they could afford another 3 feet of wall for their house.
I'm loving There myself and enjoying the way they've essentially not repeated the same problems TSO has. I'm just hoping that there's a way to keep people from going the way of TSO when and if jobs are brought in... There's economy, while not integral to the game, might be its downfall. That's what I'm worried about.
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WaterSign
Members
562
Feb. 2003
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Actually, I think There's economy is the best part (in terms of balance) You need very little money if you want to participate in the world and its events, and there are ways for creative minds, good hosts, and so forth, to earn T$ without having to invest too much real money into buying $T. The reason There's economy is so much better than TSO's, really, comes down to that the world it not based heavily upon it.
Unfortunately, TSO really requires you to have money or promise to make people money if you ever want anyone to show up at your lots or parties, etc. And there's nothing fun to do in the TSO world! And even if there is, people would rather be out making money somehow. I had a lot with a giant chessboard that you could actually play chess on with big pieces, etc., and no on ever came becaue of our No-Job-Object policy. And it was like  !!!! On the otherhand, there's always fun to be had at There, whether that's just in exploring, borading/buggying, or finding places to hang out, show people around, having conversations, playing games... browsing the catalogue is even fun!
WaterSign
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Squeaker
Members
192
Feb. 2003
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No-Job-Object? What is that? (I never played TSO) "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skills, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter - or at least, most minds are."
-Severus Snape
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WaterSign
Members
562
Feb. 2003
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Sorry... a Job Object is an object in TSO that you stand in front of to make a small amount of money... i.e., a chalkboard that you stand there and solve an equation and sell it for a payout It's all done autmatically so you don't even have to be at the keyboard to do it. The higher your skill levels (for example, logic for the chalkboard) the more money you make. And, the more people you have in the room working on the same job object also, the more money you make on top of that... so, basically, you can make money just standing in a room full of people who are not at eh computer at all and remaining on the whole pretty silent. It's a self-destructive system if they are really concerned about making an online community... which they NEVER will at this rate.
WaterSign
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Squeaker
Members
192
Feb. 2003
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Ohhhhhh so you mean like an item that would allow a user to either run a "macro" or run a "bot" ?
I am (and have been for a while) a heavy "online gamer" but I decided after getting the invite for TSO beta not to touch that one (glad I did that too) so there are terms that I am not familiar with in the slightest but I am not an online-game newbie "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skills, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter - or at least, most minds are."
-Severus Snape
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WaterSign
Members
562
Feb. 2003
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Oh, no bots that I know of. But if you people were encouraged to use objects to mkae money that didin't require their attention, they would set their Sim up to do the equation, go watch TV (in r/l) or whatever and then check back when the sim was done, sell the equation, make the money, and set the sim up to do another one. Repeat x 34,297 or until your sim had to pee/eat/watch TV/sleep. And by then end of the night, you could have tens of thousands of dollars for buying things just by doing virtually nothing. The problem was that those were the only places anyone went to... places with tones of job objects so they could get max payouts, so therefore the top tyen lists didn't have any of the more fun places to be, because no one went to those. And the cycle really just kills itself.
WaterSign
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Aime
Members
116
Feb. 2003
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I beta tested for TSO as well. After it went live, so many things changed. Most of my friends thru the beta left in January, and many of the new players were afk constantly, or disinterested in anything but themselves and their neverending quest for money and top ten fame. Definitely not my fave game now. There has everything TSO did not have.
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Chiasmodus
Members
71
Feb. 2003
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A big PFFFFFT from me to TSO. I beta tested for it and I'm feeling idiotic for actually having bought it and subscribed through to the end of this month. Basically I consider it to be a fancied up chat program, where you have to provide your own entertainment because the game itself isn't going to provide much. Read some of the reviews that have come out since it's (extremely premature) release. Most of them are spot on in their negativity. You should not have to put a lot of effort into having a good time, and most of the time that I'm in there I feel like a rat in a wheel.
Granted I've only been playing There since Thursday, but so far it seems to be much more enjoyable, especially since it's still possible for people like me who sometimes are feeling antisocial, to still have some fun boarding or exploring, etc. Not so with TSO where you're pretty much forced to constantly be social. Polly Gone Mad
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Websurfer10457
Members
2
April 2003
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I love TSO, I think it's a great game, and personally I have nothing aginst it, no problems at all, I am one of the origional BETA testers from it, and one of the fouding 12 for Test Center City
BUT, I am new to There, and I have High Hopes for it, so come on There SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!!!! 
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BigMike
Members
49
Feb. 2003
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I beta tested TSO as well...... I played for 2 days then stopped and said  to that
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Rayce
Members
789
Feb. 2003
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TSO is the best I'm thinking of giving up playing there to go and play TSO full time! That's how much I love it. There are no better games than TSO.
Spliff how did anyone take your question seriously  ...just call me Number 2
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Melora
Members
130
Feb. 2003
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| Quote (Websurfer10457 @ April 07 2003, 9:30 pm) | I love TSO, I think it's a great game, and personally I have nothing aginst it, no problems at all, I am one of the origional BETA testers from it, and one of the fouding 12 for Test Center City
BUT, I am new to There, and I have High Hopes for it, so come on There SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!!!! |
Ok while you may like TSO you have to admit that its falsely advertised. A series of chatrooms you teleport back and forth to does not equate a "virtual world".
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Ariadne
Members
467
Feb. 2003
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yes I agree it is not at all as I expected it to be. Then again it is based on the Sims and that is how the Sims is. I would have preferred it if they had rehashed it, done it in 3D so you could actually walk around the city, but I suppose that would have been too much work - think the game developers took the easy route.... "Cake or Death?" ~ Eddie Izzard
Come join my There yahoo group! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThereMeetingPlace
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Melora
Members
130
Feb. 2003
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I blame EA for what the game became because if you read
some early writings about the game that go back to early 2001, the descriptions are
extremely different.
EA had total control of the game and thats why it became what it is.
I am happy its flopping, its serves EA right for having so little regard for
its customers.
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hile
Members
26
April 2003
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Well here's my spin for what it's worth.
I've been playing TSO since October and started There in mid - March. I see good and bad aspects to each.
In TSO I like the interactions between sims better. They are much more diverse and amusing. I haven't discovered any interesting dances or interactions in There, but I agree there is a lot less delay in getting emotes to occur at the proper time.
I also think making a nice house works better in TSO. For There I haven't seen it to make a lot of sense to do. House basically consist of benches and sofas. Not a very interesting house.
Skilling in There is 1 billion times more fun the TSO. You actually do your skill here and have fun doing it as opposed to just watching him skill.
Earning money is much easier in TSO though a bit tedious. I still don't like putting too much RL money into There and I haven't seen reliable methods to earn good money in game. There's a ton of stuff I'd buy in There if I didn't have to use RL money. For now I only bought necessities and a few clothes for varieties sake.
There kills TSO in variety of looks and shapes of the avatars. Also the clothes fit the avatar and don't alter their body as it does on Sim. Yes Sims has some non human faces but costumes are all human.
Socially, I don't know maybe I'm just new but I have had a much easier time meeting people and making good friends in TSO than There. On There I'm pretty much a loner and haven't made any friends or done much talking.
I love There for the exploration aspects. Its what I've always wished I could do in Everquest but exploring in EQ usually equals death and a corpse recovery.
There is the offroad frenzied racing game I've always wanted. Actually lately that how I've primarily been playing it. hehe
So I see ups and downs for both.
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KittenKat
Members
266
Mar. 2003
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At first when I started playing There I thought "pppft! No way this can compete with TSO!"
Now, I've almost completely stopped playing TSO. Once I discovered playing with dogs and clothing and buggy development, that was it for me. Although I do miss being able to create houses, I get so much more out of There without having to gnome all day one day and skill all day the next. I put a little bit of RL money in the beginning to submit some initial designs, but now that my business is up and running I don't need to buy money. As soon as my free time runs out I will be cancelling TSO. The only things that were holding me to TSO was my friends, most of whom have now left, and the promise of new features... which I have stopped hoping for. We'll see where TSO is once my free time runs out but I doubt I'll keep playing. There keeps me much more entertained.
Socially, although TSO does offer interactions like hugging etc (which are rumored to be coming out with the next release of There) There offers much more in the way of actual interacting... emotions while chatting, actually feeling like you're in the space as opposed to looking down on it... having one big world as oppossed to little ones contained in houses!
I was an early beta tester in TSO, and when I first started There I considered myself a certifiable TSO addict. But There made me realize just how much opportunity TSO completely missed out on... and that brings up another reason There gets my vote: They LISTEN to us!! TSOs biggest problem, in my opinion, was that they didn't listen to the beta testers. We TOLD them it was boring, we TOLD them we wanted a game and not the daily grind of real life, did they listen? No. We told them things were too expensive and we didn't make enough money on their job objects. So they RAISED PRICES and LOWERED PAYOUTS!
I have gotten the impression from the There forums that There actually does listen to customer imput... the featured auctions are a great example. While its annoying that they're down now, its nice to see them responding to all the feedback about them. We told them we wanted more interactions, we're getting them in the next beta. We were unhappy with the new hoverboard controls, they're going to let us use the old ones in conjuction with the new ones soon. TSO had a vision for a game and they refused to divert from it, even if all of their customers wanted it. There has shown that they are more flexible than that. And frankly I think they care more about creating a fun environment... heck, they have people paid to set up fun events for us and to interact with us! How often did you run into a TSO employee??
lol sorry for the rant. I was an avid sims fan, owned all the expansion packs, and I am just sorely disappointed by TSO. And I love There!!!!! KittenKat >^..^<
CEO of OY!
http://fergusonv.com/there
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matt05
Members
96
Mar. 2003
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I Beta Tested TSO. I was DiscoStew in JollyPines and if anyone knows me from there message me or something. I lost some good ppl after I left and maybe hope they might have moved to There.
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xorsyst
Members
197
Mar. 2003
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i remember seeing you in JP matt. the name stood out cause i like the simpsons heh. X Ware Clothing
Innovating the There community.
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matt05
Members
96
Mar. 2003
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Awesome, who were you on TSO?
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Tansy
Members
285
April 2003
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I'm a beta tester of TSO and have been playing since October of last year. Made some wonderful friends, who funnily enough have all left. The only thing that I really miss on There is the interactions like hugging and the ability to build your own house, decorate it and furnish it with all kinds of items.
I don't miss the boring jobs, individual or group. EA has now clamped down on those who run macros and go afk. The player must reply to the 15 minute logout by pressing that button or they get warned. Enough warnings and you're banned. I guess that was one of the complaints from those who left the game.
I bought a time card for TSO so I'm locked in for the time being, but at the end of it, I'll be saying buh-bye. Tansy Rose from Alphaville and Tia Gal from Test Centre will be gone.
Haven't been on as much since I started There. Just to check in with a few friends who are in the process of leaving.
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Krazyjim
Members
20
April 2003
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I got the beta test for TSO back in early November. I played for less than two weeks and threw the disc away, I was so disgusted with the game. I'm almost sorry I spent the $5.00 for S&H, although if I hadn't, I probably would have wasted over a hundered bucks on the actual game and been stuck with it for 3 months.
I waited forever to play TSO, and I thought it would be so great. I was soooo wrong. I mean, there's almost nothing to do in TSO, except talk to people and watch the little guy (or gal) hit a pniata or lift wights. And without the whole, speed-up time thing, it took close to half an hour to get a skill up. 
At one point, I moved in with some chick, and that was entertaining, for the first day. I figured it would be fun to help manage her business... until I realized that it takes forever just to make a simple hundered bucks. The money malking games in TSO are rediculous. You successfully cook a pizza and you get $600 bucks (although I heard they took down the price after I left).
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Pandora
Members
2
April 2003
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I joined TSO in Beta, and I am still playing the game.. But it is mostly an AFK thing, and Wed- Sun, I barely sign on .. too busy with There
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hile
Members
26
April 2003
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Is this Pandora from Jolly Pines? You were one of the first people I met in Beta. I'm Gary, gnome boy. hehe
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xorsyst
Members
197
Mar. 2003
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i beta'd TSO since last september. my canceled my account april 2nd. i was 'Louis' while i was in TSO. its good to see they finally started listening to us about macro programs. so like... after the 15 min logout, it gives you a warning, or logs you out? cause when i played, i use to leave my sim studying and go to bed assuming the 15 min logout would kick me from the game. but on late nights when i left it running, i would come back some 6 hours later, and realize that i was still ingame, the people just kicked me from the house cause my needs were all red. X Ware Clothing
Innovating the There community.
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