Op/Ed: You can so have fun in TSO
by Alphaville Herald on 20/05/04 at 4:22 pm
by Hyper
Some people may argue that there is not enough content in TSO, they may say that that is the reason they quit there was nothing interesting or fun in game. It was all about making money reaching the top in a category and quitting. Some people may say they are griefers and like to take risk and get excitement out of figuring out ways to not be caught by MAXIS. Well, there are still other good ways to have lots of fun in game and perhaps it would be a good idea for me to share my ways of fun with others.
One thing that is necessary for fun is your friends. This one aspect is what keep people logging in! I’ve known people who the only reason they logged in or kept their account was because of one person they enjoyed being around very much. Take time out, take one or two months to make a stable sim in a city hang out meet people hang around somebody you feel that special connection with, I cannot describe how you will know somebody is the right friend for you, it just happens, you just know. Friends are great that’s the very first thing you need in game your more apt to be a successful sim with loyal friends because friends will help you reach your goals and you will help them reach their goals. Not to mention your friends become very special to you and everybody should have that kind of special friendship.
Now if you have friends the fun can start! There are multiple things you could do with a large group of friends! Organize a group photo get everybody to turn inside out or put on a funny costume or get everybody to sit together and shout a phrase at the count of three! Then take a snapshot! Make an album snap funny pictures when things occur and make sure you get all those special occasions and holiday group pictures! Here are some I have taken in the past:
Another cool thing to do is make up a bored game get your friends together or a group of people together use the colored squares, dice, cards and game pieces to come up with your own game! Be creative you can do stuff like make a bored game and say every time a player rolls the dice and lands on a green square they have to draw a card and the cards could be fun stuff like “Kiss anybody on the lot, if they accept move up 1 if they reject you move back 1” OR “Sudden death MUAHAHHA go back to the start” there are a lot of funny and entertaining stuff you can think up doing this. Trust me it is a lot of fun once you get a game going.
Three words “HIDE AND SEEK” This game ROCKS so, far it is my favorite! It requires two players or more and what happens is somebody goes and hides at any property anywhere and the other players all split up to try to find the hider. First person to find the person hiding gets to hide next. A really cool thing about this game is you wait for everybody to find the hider (who by the way has their stalker button on so nobody can find them) so while your waiting for everyone to show up at the property your are helping a fellow sim gain visitor bonus! Also make fun at the lot while you wait dress up in costumes or run around shouting a silly phrase.
Simball, I do not think I need to say much more, I have personally never played Simball but I hear it is mega fun! I believe it is played like baseball only with wacket balls. Get a referee to enforce rules and make sure everyone trust the ref, get a score keeper too build a wacket ball lot with stands, and a field invite people over and get a game going!
Cram sims into a property. Get a lot size one and then try to get ALL 8 roomies and 18 guest on the lot all at once! Now this is LOADS AND LOADS of fun there is the challenge of getting enough people to do it first of all and then when you do, do it its like a huge party sims chattering laughing and do not forget to place out cake for when you reach your goal and then also make another goal “lets see if we can get everybody to stay for 10minutes” !
Now, not everybody has a large group of friends or they are tied down to keeping their lot open so some fun things to do when your trapped at one lot are:
1) Read every sim’s bio for example somebody says “My name is Michelle and I like Pop music” then greet that sim with “Hello Michelle who likes pop music!” say they have one of those bio that say “no disc” a good way to greet them is “Hiya such and such welcome to your __ day in such and such city” not only do guest feel really welcome, this might also spark conversations and you get to learn different stuff about your guest too!
2) Set out wacket balls all of them in the front of the house and greet new guest with “Look at my balls! I have # of them!” trust me one in five guest will find this funny. Also you can set out one ball outside your lot and invite people to come and “Hit your ball”
3) Earn tips the hard way! Build a one square size box then put in a door make your sim go inside by selecting the ground inside and doing “run here”. Once inside the box delete the door and then offer to guest “Put a tip in the jar and I’ll do a dance or movement for ya!”
4) Start up funny conversations with your guest topics such as “What is your favorite joke” or “Does anybody know any strange facts” or “what’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done” topics like these are enjoyable and if somebody states their idea play the “why game” So say you ask “What text color do you like the best?” Guest replies “Orange” then go “Why” if find that little word “why” gets people thinking and it makes others feel like you appreciate their opinion or idea’s.
Now that is quite a bit go have fun think up your own fun trust me these little things can keep people entertained for hours on end sometimes! If your really dedicated and thinking up new idea’s and fun and if you got those great friends then TSO can feel like one of the best games ever.
Tony montana
May 20th, 2004
*Claps*Good ideas i say and my hats off to you.I myself have tried getting 18 people and 8 roomies on a lot 1 but i failed.There was a house in EJ though it had 8 roomies and 18 people and it was a lot 2 or 3 so it would be possible
RB
May 20th, 2004
Some useful ideas which might be amusing for a couple days. But people want to be entertained, not have to do it themselves. That’s what a game does, is entertain you. Only a small minority like to make up thier own fun all the time when it sposed to be provided for them.
- RB
Johnny Lace
May 21st, 2004
I have to agree with RB. While all those things may be quite fun to do, it’s only funny one time and it is very awkward to pull off (wacketball is SLOOOOW)
It’s a sign that you have to do all kinds of silly things just to have fun in this game. Personally, I would like to play a game of hearts with fellow sims, or play a game of chess. But either you can’t or you have to let your sim make all kind of awkward actions (the chessboard is completely userunfriendly)
Chatting is fun… but the limit of 3 IMs suck and they way chat bubbles pop up is not that well done
Building is fun… but hardly any new objects come out
Sim actions are fun… until you have done them a few times
Chatting & the community is what keeps this game together, not the gameplay. But eventually, the lack of content will wear on players.
Johnny Lace
May 21st, 2004
But still, kudos to the article for inspiring sims!
Hyper
May 21st, 2004
There are other ways to have fun and trust me doing these things over and over do not get boring and if your not burning yourself out ie. playing 12hours a day then all this stuff is not possible to do in 1 or 3 hours but the only way to have major fun is you gotta have your friends. Does not matter if you fail at a task you do have fun trying to reach it. Also taking a break from TSO and doing something TSO related ie. Movie Making so when you get back to the game play it seems a bit freasher and renewed.
trailblazer
May 21st, 2004
I agree with RB’s comments, if you have to make up your own fun in a game, then why play it? If the contents of the game is not providing fun anymore and people have to resort to trivia or other made up things to have fun then it’s a total waste of money, you can have friends in MSN messenger or Yahoo all together and do trivia for free or chat for free.
If I am paying a monthly subscription I expect new things from that fee, not just one item every 6 months or little cosmetic things that really don’t do anything to add fun to the game, using the same old objects for over a year would bore anyone after awhile, take it this way would you pay a subscription to a magazine if they ran the same articles month after month, maybe getting a new article for you to read every 6 months, no nobody would, so why would pay a subscription to a game that provides no new content and players have to resort to making up their own stuff to try and enjoy themselves?
toy
May 23rd, 2004
Hmmm
you see all the games mentioned above are played almost daily in SL there’s events listed of games and parties and classes for almost every hour a day but, in addition anyone can express themselves by creating their own content…. toy enjoys playing bingo in SL, attended a huge Regatta yesterday and had fun working on a script for her elevator gates in her home… toy does agree there are ways to have fun in TSO…. between hassle of greening of course hehehe but why settle for simply these games? Toy expects more from something she pays for each month and by God has found it 
Maria LaVeaux
May 23rd, 2004
Early on, in the TSO chat boards, (Before stratics took over) I frequently put forward the same ideas. I have a very fertile Imagination. Many had become disillusioned about TSO within a couple of weeks, and i and others provided fuel for their Imaginations.
I always said that one should use the tools given as a framework for creating your own fun. I have been in TSO over a year now, and frankly, With the Tools given, I am running out of Fresh ideas. Maxis has NOT kept up with player Demand, and what HAS been given does not lend itself to expanding creative fun, it ammounts to “More of the Same”.
Other game systems Like SL (As my Precious toy observes) Give to Players a greatly expanded pallet from which to Work. Every time i speak to her about SL, I get a new Flood of ideas for objects, Clothing, or Interactions, ALL of which are Simply Impossible with the Limited tools available in TSO. I Boosted TSO at first, believing that as time went by, the options available in the Off line game, Including the third Party Transmografier, would ALL become available to us. I was Wrong, because i Bought into an idea that Maxis/EA was either Unwilling, or Unable to Follow through on.
The ideas above are Good ones. They were good ones when they were proposed by others over a year ago. But now, It is time for something new.
Maria.