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Sims Online is a living breathing software

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 24
Date: December 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First let me assure you that things like skill decay, not getting into your own house and other complaints issued on this page have been dealt with.

I have been a beta tester for over 2 months and the game has come a long way. It is the Sims with the added value of having real people instead of just artificial Intelligence. You make of the game what you want, one review stated that. That is probably the most truthful statement I have heard so far. Go for the money, the stuff you can buy, to be the most skillfull or have the most friends. Truthfully I play for the friends. Many of the Sims you will play with will become real friends!

Not A Game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: December 20, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you are looking to expand or perhaps re-live the fun you had with the original Sims, this is not the answer. Though it looks like The Sims and has the same familiar controls, it definitely doesn't PLAY like The Sims. It plays more like ICQ. Chat. Meet virtual people and have shallow conversations. Logoff.

Strong possibility that EA can turn this "project" into a "game" with more time, but for now, this is little more than Internet Chat - for $... a month.

A $75.00 chatroom with very little game elements.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 50 / 57
Date: December 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

What a con. I bought a copy for myself and as a gift for my sister as I thought it would be a neat way to keep in touch.

I can begin to convey my disappointment after playing this for the last two days.
There is very little game content and the design is no better than some of the 3D Chat places that are available for free online.

I was expecting to see downtown areas. The advertising made it sound as if there were actual jobs and business and places of exploration.
This place is either geared for the under 21 set or for uncreative types because what I saw people do was childish and just plain crass.
I am disappointed that the developers of The Sims could release such a shallow, half hearted online version.

I should have tried the playtest because if I had, I wouldn't have made such a costly mistake. I just feel fortunate I was able to return my sister's.

This is a huge disappointment. How this can be considered an actual game is beyond me.
Maxis should have just developed an multiplayer version of The Sims where people could play with their friends and family.

I'm a Sim, you're a Sim, he's a Sim, she's a Sim...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 20
Date: January 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

...Wouldn't you like to be a Sim too?

For those who have enjoyed the Sims throughout each expansion pack, Sims Online offers a great way to take advantage of all our favorite activities, find new ones, and meet fellow Simfreaks while we're at it! Some compare this to a glorified chatroom, and there is that ability, but how many chatrooms let you host a dancing party where everyone dresses in togas and silly hats, and where you can get skill points for riding a mechanical bull? And where you can make money by making pizza or bashing pinatas? When was the last time you entered a chatroom to share a four-person bubble "bong", fart, belch, weave drunkenly around the room, perform some smooth moves for the hottie in the corner, and chat in real-time during the whole thing? Yeah, exactly. And that's only a fraction of what Sims Online offers.

This game almost forces you to be social, unless you want to spend the next few months building up a solitary empire. It takes a considerable amount of time to build up high skill levels in each skill, which is both an advantage (you won't have played the game out in a weekend) and a disadvantage (it takes literally all day to max out on a skill! Plus you have to maintain each skill against decay). While you're spending time looking for the busiest place to build your creativity or your mechanical prowess, you still take care of the regular stuff: eating, sleeping, bathing, going to the bathroom. Meanwhile, the quickest way to success is through sharing a property with roommates. Having roommates enables you to pool your money with up to 7 other people, allowing you to build the latest and greatest features into your property. This, naturally, results in visitors, which means money for each roommate. The more roommates you have, the more you can build and the more you can potentially earn.

It's great to visit new places and see how each person has set up shop. Most property-owners are conscientious about providing all the necessities for "greening up", and most visitors are careful to show their appreciation through cleaning up after themselves, or leaving a tip in the tip jar. Every property is more interesting and more creative than the last, and Maxis continues to add new objects and capabilities to the game, leaving plenty of opportunity for continued interest. Currently, each account is limited to three Sims, any of which can be retired at any time, but each of which must inhabit different cities--you have your choice, but can't put two Sims in the same city. (Not for long, though--roads between cities are rumored to be on the way.) Even so, each city is full of inhabitants who are all busy building and planning, so there's plenty of opportunity to get to know your neighbor, find a roommate, or just work on making some Simoleans.

So, in short--is Sims Online the groundbreaking game that will bring all and sundry? No; if you're not fond of the daily life involved in The Sims, you won't like Sims Online, because that's what it's about. But if you love The Sims and want an opportunity to take it to the next level and learn to build, run a business, and play an *active* part not only in all the hilarious Sim actions, but also with real people in real time, then this is the game for you!

Its not worth the big expense

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 22 / 24
Date: January 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This isn't a real multiplayer online game.

After playing this game for far too many hour in order to try to progress somewhere with it, I have finally given up. I paid money to play an actual game and not just chat.

A multiplayer online game is supposed to have a balance of socialization and actual gameplay with real objectives along with chatting.

This is nothing but a shallow chatroom where you struggle to keep your Sims needs up, playing silly game objects, and teleport from place to place as there are no real downtown places to explore and you don't even have a real neighborhood to walk around in.

If you must see for yourself, by the less expensive one. Don't invest in this one unless you are absolutely ready to do it.

Attention Parents

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 25
Date: January 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Please consider very carefully before purchasing this game. Play it yourself before allowing your child to play...particularly anyone under the age of 18.

As a 'Founder' (beta-tester) for 3 months, &, after being slapped by a 9 year old because I wouldn't get into the 'love-bed' (simulated sex) with him, you couldn't get me back to this 'over-rated CHAT program for losers" with a team of wild horses!!! and...I will not allow my grandchildren to 'play'.

Should you decide to purchase this 'thing' anyway, I'd recommend a high amount of Parental Supervision. There is a lot of very 'sick' stuff going on & Maxis doesn't seem to have put in the proper controls. The only contribution this game makes is everything that we don't want our children absorb...

Please, spend a little time there yourself before agreeing to alow your child to play.

Sims Online Ultimate Review 1000+ people involved

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: January 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is no game. It is no fun at all especially because of its price 75$ for a cardboard box and for online chat after 3 months. I thought it would be alot more fun then the online virtual chat that im using for FREE, but apparently it ... I dont want to pay money to do something I can do for free.

...

Real simulated chat room

0% dumb

Poor direction...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: January 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

It is just an add on for the great game to generate some more money for the company. The add on itself has lost its charm as a game... Not worth the expence...

Helpful Truths

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 11
Date: January 18, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I know a lot of people have seriously bashed this game and I must admit I really did expect a lot more but I will tell you the truths about this game so if you decide to buy it YOU really know what you are buying. Firstly, don't get the charter eddition because it REALLY isn't worth it. Ok now lets compare some things. The game really does not have an objective. I think it REALLY desperatly needs that. All you do is socialize, make money (VERY SLOWLY), and build a home. It really is basically a avatar chat. I mean you get to have room mates, you get to build a h ome. I think the game is fun but it definetly needs some upgrades that I assume will be made eventually :-) ...

Play the lottery

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: January 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Invest your [money] bucks or however much you want to toss away in the lottery, don't bother with TSO. Do you spend your day in a job that is not challenging, repetitive, and uninteresting except when you chat over the water cooler, copier or cubicle wall? Well, that is decidedly more interesting and fun than TSO and about as exciting. There is a design bias towards forced interaction. Due to individual object limits, creativity is limited. Skill takes extremely long to gain, and must be continously maintained. Needs restrict how much time you can spend doing anything before you have to 'green up'. These factors have been tweeked however are far from fixed. You can't walk your sim to another house, across the street or around the neighborhood. Sure, that is being 'worked on' in design, but do you really want to pay to play a less than beta version game while code is being written to make it live up to what it has been hyped to be? You start the game with [money] simoleons which you'll spend a third (at least) upon buying property which you then can't fully build upon due to lack of funds. If you choose to play alone without roommates, you will be penalized an exordinate extra cost in order to enlarge your lot. You can chat for free all over the net, why pay [money] a year to chat in a 3D enviornment? I played the Beta, am a founder and this is the worst game I've ever played.

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