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OFB is the best one out of all seven!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

after reading all the reviews online, i bought... every expansion pack for the Sims 2 (over the course of several months)I have to say, this is the best one in the whole series! its kinda challenging, but once you start to get rank your business grows and its sooooo much fun and worth the effor. If you dont feel like going to your business one day, just don't go. I would suggest locking your front door (except when you invite friends over and then making a second floor or seperate building for a home business because you will be very aggravated with the loading times if you have a off site community lot. Also, if you two members of the family, your shop can stary open 24/7 if you have then take shifts becuase the downside is that your sims needs decay very quickly (especially hunger, energy, and hygiene) so they will have to leave an offsite business lot after a couple hours. The best addition, is the talent badges, which are more fun to gain than job skill points.

New Additions include-
*makeover chairs -open a salon!
*talent badges (stock shelfsefficiantly or craft objects like Servo)
*also new roofs, awnings and elevators (woo-hoo able of course)

Its jusst so rich and deep and sooo much fun and because you can seel virtually anything, you never get tired of it!
the only downside is that your sims life, unless you run a family business, will be taken over by running a store. but thats the price to pay for the best expansion pack of the sims 2 series!

(lets face it, seasons didnt really add anything except snow. I know thats oversimplifying it, but come on, its not that great.)

Is fun the right word?... Yes!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Okay I'm a little late commenting on OFB but I've had this pack for like 2 years and only recently am I starting to take advantage of its features. I was like many people who thought the work aspect of sims life detracted from the gameplay. I mean, how is running a business actually fun? Well, I now realize it just takes the game to a new level. I have all the EPs including FreeTime and I rank OFB second only behind the revolutionary Seasons EP. To take full advantage of OFB you should have all the other EPs, especially Seasons, Nightlife and FreeTime. You can run a home business or purchase a community lot. For example, I have just started a business called The Downtown Dance Studio where the owner trains and teaches visitors music and dance on ballet bars, instructing them, and dancing with them to build skill. For a 35 simoleon fee per hour of course. And she can sell that price to just about any sim because she has a gold talent badge in sales (trust me, that makes sales a whole lot easier). Just pure fun. There are so many possibilities with this EP its incredible. You can sell just about anything, hire employees, and take a vested interest in the business or just take a backseat. You can charge by the hour for entertainment and membership lots, or just sell, sell, sell. With Nightlife you can run a restaurant. Build customer loyalty and the value of your business grows. And that's not easy either. My dance studio has a ranking of 3, making it worth about 15000. You get perks for each ranking achieved, up to ten. So it make the game challenging. Of course if you're not into a challenge this pack is not for you, but if you want to expand and revolutionize your gameplay then OFB is the EP for you!

Awesome Game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

After having been a Sims1 gamer for many years, and after getting a new PC that can handle the power/memory that Sims2 uses, I finally invested in most of the Sims2 games/expansion & stuff packs. First, you must have the Sims2 game installed on your PC. You can get the Sims2 game by buying either the Sims2 original title, the Sims2 Holiday title (includes additional holiday items), the Sims2 Deluxe title (includes the additional Nightlife expansion pack), or the Sims2 Limited Edition (which includes Deluxe and Bon Voyage packs). I bought the Limited Edition. Back to Open For Business...it's a must have for the game. It opens up a world of opportunity to your Sims. I wouldn't play the game without it. The expansion packs are more valuable than the stuff packs. The stuff packs are fun add-ons to the games, so I wouldn't dismiss them too quickly. But, if you're new to the game, I first buy the expansion packs and then the stuff packs. Again, Open for Business is a must have!

P.S. As with any game, expansion pack, or stuff pack, after registering your game at the Sims2.com website, be sure to check for game patches. Patches will improve performance and fix any bugs in the game. ;)

Impossible!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: October 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is such a let down! It's nearly impossible to play. For one thing, you can accidently ruin the lives of other Sims by hiring them to work for you. How do teenagers go to work and to school? How do adults keep their 'real' jobs? They don't, and the adults show up as unemployed if they're staff and don't get paychecks or get called to work when you play their lot. Also, if you have this game without other expansions, it overrides the basic Sims2 wants for your sims, and you end up with business-focused sims (from child to adult, and regardless of their aspiration)which is really annoying. All the expansions have this annoying tendancy though, so if you have them all it balances out. I bought this the day it came out and have been kicking myself ever since.

More challenges

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 04, 2007
Author: Amazon User

At first I wasn't that interested in running a business, but it became addictive and challenging, which I found enjoyable.

This expansion primarily lets you create a business either at home or on a community lot (which you buy). Running a business can be quite challenging; it's like a game within the game. You have to manage employees, track inventory, set prices, satisfy customers, and still try to make a profit. There are crafted items that are new to the expansion (robots, flowers, toys) that you can sell, but you can also sell anything from the Buy Mode catalog. You can also buy a salon chair to give customers makeovers. So your business can be a bakery, toy store, car dealership, salon, or you can sell all bathtubs.

If you don't want to own a business, there are still things this expansion set lets you do. For one, you can lock all your doors to restrict access to your house and property. (No more strangers wandering in to play your piano at 2 a.m.) The crafted robots include SentryBots, which zap troublemakers who appear on your lot, and Servos, who become playable, ageless robots. With flowers you can make snapdragon bouquets, which elevate all your Sims' needs (except energy), so they'll never have to eat, socialize, or shower again.

Eh, Fun but Needs Work

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I do like this game, for the most part. I love the new items, but I have found that the businesses that your Sims can buy and take care of are too much work and not very user friendly. I have always thought of the Sims as being as challenging as you would like, or as easy as you would like. I thought that getting my Sims rolling with their own businesses would be fun and exciting, but instead, I find it just more annoying and difficult than anything else. Although I have tried the whole "personal business" several times, I find that I use the items for the Sims and not for a business.

Great if you play it - I just build houses!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The dollhouse-lover in me has grown into a Sim-freak over the years. This was great in concept (I do occasionally play the game). As ever, I bought this one for the build-mode additions and furnishings. Really good stuff!

OPEN FOR BUSINESS WITH THE SIMS 2

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: July 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS A LOT OF FUN. I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED SEEING MY SIMS WITH THIER OWN BUSINESS. I LIKE TO SEE THIM MAKE ROBOTS AND SELL THEM. THEY CAN PURCHASE PROPERTY AND START A BUSINESS. THEY CAN SELL CARS, APPLIANCES, JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THAT IS IN THE GAME. MY FAVORITES ARE THE ROBOTS THEY CAN MAKE. ONCE YOUR SIM GETS A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN MAKING ROBOTS, THEY CAN BUILD THE ULTIMATE ROBOT. THIS ROBOT WALKS AROUND AND WORKS AROUND THE HOUSE. THEY CAN BE FEMALE OR MALE AND YOU CAN GIVE THEM NAMES. THIS IS A REALLY COOL EXPANSION PACK. YOUR SIMS CAN HIRE AND FIRE EMPLOYEES, MONITOR THIER PERFORMANCE, EARN POINTS FOR SUCCESSFUL SELLING. IT IS A LOT OF FUN.

Not that impressed.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am a die-hard Sims fanatic, and yet I wasn't altogether satisfied with this expansion. I felt that it was too consuming and often repetitive, and also was not as straightforward to understand as other expansions. When I reinstalled the Sims on my new PC, I didn't bother installing this expansion again.

Great for the first twelve hours...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: May 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Overall, I've been extremely impressed with the quality of these new Sims 2 games. I love The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack and my recently purchased The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack. I mean, those are great. But, with this one, I think they went too far.

First of all, I couldn't wait to start my own business...the online reviews gave promises of haircutting salons, flower stores...everything. I opened up my game and was ready to play. When I got going, however, I had a lot of trouble making these stores they had talked about. I couldn't figure out how to give someone a makeover, though I tried many times.

The main problem with this game is that it is JUST TOO HARD to maintain a store. You have to hire employees who don't come in when they're tired. I choose to run businesses from home in little shacks next to the house so my people could go to bed when they got tired. I ended up getting hooked on the cheat: boolprop testingcheatsenabled true/false, which allows you to make all of your Sims happy or gives you forty friends, and basically every cheat you could ever think of. (NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN HOOKED ON THE BOOLPROP CHEAT, DO NOT DO IT. IT TAKES AWAY FROM THE POINT OF THE GAME. I'M TRYING TO STOP USING IT, BUT IT'S REALLY HARD BECAUSE IT MAKES THE GAME SO EASY.) Anyway, it's just too hard to run a business.

I decided to stop making businesses and now I'm just using the regular occupations. It's a lot more fun and manageable. Plus, the newer games, like The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack and The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack add great new career tracks, like law, education, music, etc. They're great.

I've found that this game was a total waste of money. As you get addicted to the Sims, you just keep throwing down the dollars for whatever new game comes out. That's what I did for Sims (1). This time around, though, I'm considering which ones I really want. I didn't get The Sims 2 University Expansion Pack or The Sims 2: Nightlife Expansion Pack...they seemed like a waste. Sims The Sims 2 Pets Expansion Pack is a fun addition and The Sims 2 Seasons Expansion Pack is one of the best ever. So, get one of those. Skip this one...it's not worth your 29.99 bucks or whatever unreasonable cost they gave it.

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