How to fix Skilling....a brainstorming thread....

[Zinzi]

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The game is based on the offline version of The Sims. If you played The Sims you know part of their success in things is to skill. I don't think skilling is a problem, I really don't mind skilling. There are many ways of improving it to make it better, which I have given my imput as to what can be done.

The sad thing is people have got into a bad habit of going afk while skilling. If one would actually stay and chat, like I am sure it was intended, it wouldn't seem so bad.

During beta, swimming in a pool gave body skill, like in the offline version. The money objects gave both skill and money, like in the offline version. I understand the reasoning for taking the skilling out of the money objects. The swimming I think they should have kept the body skill.

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The reason people are afk while skilling is that it takes so damn long - who has time to sit and chat for 5 hours? Who even wants to chat for 5 hours? The time it takes to raise a skill to a level where one can use it for something. If the skilling was faster and there were no decay or very slow - people would probably like to sit and chat aswell - but not for as long as it takes as it is now. I have a life outside of TSO aswell - and I don't want to be forced to sit and watch a sim read a book for hours, so even though being an 'afk'er' seems to be the most hated thing there is (I am fairly new to the game

) - yes I am that at times - I might still be here too, chatting on yim, or reading stuff on line, and then check on my sim from time to time, because, frankly - it's not all of the conversation I want to be involved in either (and a lot of it is 'insider' talk between 'old sims' who know each other, or the little sexual talks going on that I have no wish to parttake in) and I don't want to have to be forced to be social with people I don't want to be social with. So yes; it may be a 'social game' but it is also a creative game - and that's is part of why I am playing; because I love to build and create houses and so on. Chatting in game can be fine too, whenever you find someone with something interesting to say, and I have experienced really interesting group conversations while skilling aswell, but other than that I would just hate it, if I had to be social to be able to skill; I would like a choice atleast.

So either speed it up, get rid of decay (no need for locks) or both.

 

[Guest]

Anybody who is a 'powergamer' and plays the game for more than 5 hours a day could chat more than they do. Especially those who chat here on the boards, participating in various debates for that length of time while their sims skill. I realize many TSO players are not powergamers, but there are alot who are, also. People who are retired from their job, disabled, SAHMs who's kids are at school all day long, kids who are at home for vacation during the times public schools are out, college kids taking a year off between graduating high school and starting college......etc. etc. etc. If just the ones who *could* chat WOULD, things would be greatly improved, but that's not something that's gonna be able to be accomplished on a group basis any more than the resetting expectations thread is.....it's gonna have to be up to the individual players to take the initiative to seek people out in game to talk to, either by striking a convo in room chat, or reading sim bios and finding someone that you think you might have something in common with and trying to start a 1 on 1 chat if that's more your thing. Anything to make skilling less of an anti-social activity, ya know?