Quit after 2 days

[Livewire91]

Wow... I Am One Of The Biggest Sims Fans, And Was Really Excited On Playing Sims Online.
Such A Let Down

I Expected So Much More. 75% Of The Community Online Are Building Up Skills But Are AFK.
Anyways I Cancelled My Subscription. Bye Everyone, Enjoy The Game

 

[Inge Jones]

Gosh - I wonder if you're the guy who had to be banned from one of the lots I was skilling on during my last session?

If so, I hope you find another game to enjoy soon, and I mean that

 

[Livewire91]

<blockquote><hr>

Gosh - I wonder if you're the guy who had to be banned from one of the lots I was skilling on during my last session?

If so, I hope you find another game to enjoy soon, and I mean that

[/ QUOTE ]
Wasn't Me

 

[Guest]

I'm sorry you ran into this issue

I too can't really stand the AFK things (especially in stores) but right now with everyone getting in as MUCH skilling in as possible getting ready for the merge i can understand it. In order to make ANY sort of money in EA you need max skills and often in rl you just cant sit there for 10 hours ( or your kids may go hungry, boss may fire you, hubby may leave you ( kidding )

so to be AFK here and there right now to me is acceptable

I don't think you would of found this dramatic amount after the merge ........ hope you will try to come back after the merge

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

Only 2 days?

You played 2 days and came here to slam our players? Ya didn't wanna hang out with the 25% that wasn't afk?

One thing TSO does require is a bit of patience. People with little or no patience probably will not enjoy TSO at all so it's probably good you moved along.

2 days?

 

[legscroft]

I fail to see how any players were slammed by the poster stating people were skilling afk.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

<blockquote><hr>

I fail to see how any players were slammed by the poster stating people were skilling afk.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can read just fine.

Since this is not a 'positive' thread to begin with, I think that we can determine that the statement she made concerning the 'afk' skillers wasn't meant to be a compliment.

However, 2 days?

There are many reasons why players may seem AFK....They may just be tired and wanna be brain dead awhile, They may be distracted by something like the TV. (I wonder if she was playing Sunday night? That was SuperBowl night. I would suspect quite a few AFK'rs on that night.) They may have been checking out the FaceBook pages. Then again a visitor may be making a jerk of themselves and everyone is just staying out of it too....

There are many reasons a house may seem AFK.

As I said, 2 days is a pretty quick 'run through' of houses. And once again, someone with that little bit of patience probably would not enjoy TSO anyway.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

I'll be the first to admit that I've noticed skill houses to be more AFK than ever before since the launch of EAL, even within the first day or two. I do understand the reasoning behind this (as stated, players want to cram in all the skills they can with the merge happening, trying to craft, make money, etc) - though nonetheless, to a player who has not experienced the benefits of skilling, I understand where he/she is coming from.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

<blockquote><hr>


nonetheless, to a player who has not experienced the benefits of skilling, I understand where he/she is coming from.

[/ QUOTE ]

You mean they haven't experienced the thrill of sitting for hours staring at their little pixelated person turning pages for hours?

If they had.....maybe then they'd understand why some houses seem afk?

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>


nonetheless, to a player who has not experienced the benefits of skilling, I understand where he/she is coming from.

[/ QUOTE ]

You mean they haven't experienced the thrill of sitting for hours staring at their little pixelated person turning pages for hours?

If they had.....maybe then they'd understand why some houses seem afk?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, any individual with a decent IQ should be able to determine the fact that skilling is ridiculously boring. It always has been; the difference now, compared to the 2002-2003 era, was the fact that people were extremely social back then. You actually sat at your computer for hours on end just chatting, and all was hunky dory. I'm not saying that type of atmosphere after years have passed should still exist, however when life gives you lemons...well, you get it.

Nobody's fooling anyone here. We need more ways to make skilling exciting. This game has so much potential if driven in the right direction. Essentially, it's like SL, but with structure. There are ways to make money provided directly from the company, there is a playing structure, AND you can create your own content (hopefully more, soon). The problem IS, though, the "structure" as-is is lackluster. Unless we come up with ways to resolve this, I don't think much will happen.

This was a "negative" thread, but taking the basic elements from it, as a newcomer, I can most definitely see why they were bored. They should tried other elements of the game if they haven't already. Though from my personal experience, they seem to be just as quiet nowadays.

 

[legscroft]

<blockquote><hr>



I can read just fine.



[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats. I still fail to see how the poster was slamming players. It does seem to me that you are slamming the poster for expressing their opinion. I don't blame anyone for leaving after a few days if they don't like what they see. They are entitled to express their disappointment. It should serve as a wakeup call that we really shouldn't be promoting this game to new players at this point. I've been back since summer &amp; I seriously ask myself all the time why in the world I'm paying to play this game.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

See? This is the thing - let's face it, skilling is BORING! I partake in some goofy fun and great conversations while I'm skilling, but then once the excitement dies down, I'll go back to being afk and get back to real life. Mind you, all the afk-ing adds to the boring-ness lol... This issue was brought up before, and I believe there's a poll on this re: suggestions for making skilling less boring lol... The acquiring of skills should be way faster than it is. I have a couple of sims that I'm skilling up on charm &amp; body - it's been I think around 2 weeks, skilling several hours a day, and they've just reached 20. I know TSO isn't for everyone, but no wonder people get bored and quit lol!

 

[Inge Jones]

I think it would be good if some skill items skilled combinations so you chose something that skilled your two wanted skills. Like beds do energy and comfort. It would add to the strategic asepct of play

Oh and some money items give skills or motives etc so more tactics have to be used.

 

[Guest]

I come from an environment that suggests I have possible solutions handy when I pose a problem or concern. I have no solutions, but I do feel that it is necessary for those in charge (ie. developers, etc.) to be aware of the game play from a user's standpoint.

Skilling is boring and individual money making is boring as well. Group money objects (I can speak for people who do not get "into" pizza) are mundane. I like to be intrigued with something. TSO, over the past 5 years, has normally been something that I can do whether I'm busy or not. I'd be interested in seeing EALand become something that requires brain power and attention as well as freedom from "big-brother".

Point is, if there isn't a reason to keep people at the keyboard interacting for their characters, then AFK is going to be the way of life. Think about human nature and there is nothing to complain about aside from the structure of the game play. Don't complain about the AFK-people... figure out possible solutions for the game play that will encourage people to be working "with" the game.

Side note: Stores... especially with people making custom content... should be able to have items out for sale in many places over the entire span of EALand... renting space in places that are always online. In the virtual world, there aren't any good reasons to require an IP address for holding a space open for business.

 

[Guest]

Inge Jones,

You bring up an interesting point that makes me question what I know of TSO/EALand... "It would add to the strategic aspect of play"

Maybe I need someone to explain the strategic aspect of play in this game. What I see are such things as "pee, eat, sleep, skill for an hour" and "pee, eat, sleep, click money every 4 minutes for an hour".

If items give more than they do now with the same "click and wait" structure... then that does not require more tactics to be used... it would mean less tactics are needed. If the word "tactics" can even be used with TSO/EALand.

 

[legscroft]

Skilling is definitely boring. When you first start playing the game, you learn skilling is the thing you need to do in order to successfully accomplish most other things. Who could blame anyone for wanting to leave after experiencing a couple days of skilling? I think the poster had high hopes because of enjoying offline sims &amp; was disappointed, came here and said so. Personally, I think this info is valuable and not something that we should scoff at or attack. Doesn't seem to me the answer should be to expect players to be more patient...rather the game needs to be more exciting before trying to entice players.

 

[Guest]

Most people are working on skilling right now because even with max skill points, payouts are still incredibly low. Then there is the issue that once you get over 10 points in a particular skill, it takes forever just to get to the next point. I spent almost 4 hours trying to get from 12 to 14 between greening cycles and all that other good stuff. As much as I love TSO, I can't sit in front of my computer for 4 hours and do nothing. You can only attempt to chat with other skillers so much if they don't feel like talking, and it seems like most of the conversations are about how nothing is paying out, and how long it takes to skill, or when/if the bullet train and/or merges are happening. You can only talk about that for so long before you're ready to ignore the screen for a while.

I agree that it is an incredibly boring environment in EA Land right now, but I'm hoping that whatever system Luc was talking about having in place to deal with the bots this week as he anticipated in the blog on tso-e works so that we can all stop skilling so much and focus on other aspects of the game when payouts finally start going up again. I think we just have to be willing to be patient and see what develops. Some people aren't and that's ok, too.

There are ways we can make skilling more interesting- house owners/roomies can have trivia contests or other events to get people involved, the devs can create new interactions for skills over 10 points- or create new group skilling activities... I'd love to see a bunch of sims have a flex-off to earn body skill points or bench press a sim instead of cage dance. The possibilities are endless!

There are a lot of creative brains roaming around this place- I'd love to hear other peoples ideas, too!

 

[imported_fajjaa]

...rather the game needs to be more exciting before trying to entice players.


I think the dev team thought everyone would drop what they had been doing for 5 years and instantly make CC the (exciting) part of the game. But those that thought CC was so (exciting) went to Second Life a few years ago. Working with what they had to start with, the dev. team could have built on what the game originally had to offer. We tried to give them those ideas in the early days of the blog.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

OMG culbert you've just given a fantastic idea! Maybe somebody else has thought of this - if so, my apologies! Why don't they have contests where, if you participate, your skills increase 50 fold! For example, like you said culbert, a 'flex off' for body points. Maybe they should introduce new objects for skill lots, like a 'flex' stage where sims jump up onto, which will change them into suitable thong, grease up their abs, etc. lol..., and allow for unique actions. And as they're competing, they continue to gain skill, but at a faster rate... Same with all the other skills - there could be a public speaking contest object for Charisma, an 'Iron Chef cook off' stage for Cooking, a special piano object stage for a piano competition for Creativity, and so forth... Brilliant!

Reason for Edit: Fixed typo!

 

[Livewire91]

<blockquote><hr>

Only 2 days?

You played 2 days and came here to slam our players?


[/ QUOTE ]
Erm... No? Stating the fact there's a lot of AFK in TSO.. And they have their reasons obviously... Which I respect.
Please do not make me out to be starting an argument, because i'm not. You've clearly taken my post the wrong way, in which case I suggest you just say nothing, rather than getting upset about it.
Thanks to those who did make me feel welcome, There are quite a few on this forum

All the best

 

[Roger Wilco]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Only 2 days?

You played 2 days and came here to slam our players?


[/ QUOTE ]
Erm... No? Stating the fact there's a lot of AFK in TSO.. And they have their reasons obviously... Which I respect.
Please do not make me out to be starting an argument, because i'm not. You've clearly taken my post the wrong way, in which case I suggest you just say nothing, rather than getting upset about it.
Thanks to those who did make me feel welcome, There are quite a few on this forum

All the best

[/ QUOTE ]
Don't worry, nobody but a cheerleader would take your stating a well known five year FACT as a slam. Some people here just feel it is part of their job to regard anyone mentioning anything factual that happens to be negative about TSO to be an attacker upon it. They then feel they have to defend TSO by attacking the poster with backhanded snide comments like the "two days" remark seeing as they can't counter established facts. Skilling is indeed idiotically boring (intentionally so btw) and it takes far less than two days for anyone to realize that. Anybody who says different is welcome to start a poll.

 

[NightFlyer]

If the OP would have said they left after 2 days due to the lack of being able to make money or buy land I could completely understand thier position.

I can see the current state of EA Land would turn off any new players immediately.

Why bother being bored for days skilling just to find out you make pennies on money objects and the cost of land is astronomical?

This can't look like fun.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>



I can read just fine.



[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats. I still fail to see how the poster was slamming players. It does seem to me that you are slamming the poster for expressing their opinion. I don't blame anyone for leaving after a few days if they don't like what they see. They are entitled to express their disappointment. It should serve as a wakeup call that we really shouldn't be promoting this game to new players at this point. I've been back since summer &amp; I seriously ask myself all the time why in the world I'm paying to play this game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said, I think a lot of us are asking that same question right now.
And as for the 2 days stuff, I wouldn't blame anyone that was savvy to this game that had come in for an hour or 2 and decided it wasn't worth it.
I think we are all waiting around yet again to see if things get better, much like we were a couple of years ago.

 

[princessofsh]

*sigh* I also hate the lack of skill points. Honestly I do.....I guess I have this OCD thing about maxing one skill at a time.

 

[imported_Shirl1211]

I'm really sorry you didn't stick around to get to enjoy some of the good times we have had in this game. I did my share of complaining *and probably a few others share too* but just like the Dev's said, they are working on a better TSO and that I can confirm to be true. It's true that everyone is into skilling because they are really going to need them skills to make any kind of money. Once things settle down a bit and the game progresses a little more, there are going to be games like skill till you drop and jam , paint ect. for some really nice prizes. These are the kinds of things I have always loved and there are no AFK'ers. Most host's make that a rule. We have a blast. I can honestly say that everything is getting better and better but it takes more then 2 days to find that out.

 

[imported_Shirl1211]

I didn't feel that this thread was meant for bashing players. My interpretation was that the game didn't meet the expectations of the player. I feel that the player was more disappointed since this is an on line game and alot of the lots are full to capacity. I think its a bit of an exaggeration that ALL the players are AFK because i've never been to a house and not been able to hold conversations with other sims. Maybe this player just needed a little pep talk like I did when I was the bug magnet. BTW, all my issues have been solved and I am having fun getting settled in.

 

[Guest]

<font color="purple">Roger, I agree with you &amp; think the poll is a great idea (but I don't disagree, lol)
My poll would go some thing like this:

Tell us how you really feel about skilling:
A) I'd rather dig my eyeballs out of my skull with a fork
B) I like propping things on my keyboard. I find it intellectually challenging to see how many odd objects can actually fit on the Enter key without falling off
C) My socks are purple
D) I enjoy room chat that consists of "Food pls", "AFK", "Can somebody sing to me?", "Welcome xxxxxx", and "Foods Up!"
</font>

 

[GRINCH II]

i agree, if i started playing the game and everyone was afk and not talking after 2 days i would quit too, hell, i would quit quicker than that. luckily i got lucky enough to deal with people who kept me in the game and had people who i already knew in the game. if i was in this person's shoe, i would be gone. good luck to their future and hopefully they find a game more to their liking

 

[Guest]

I reckon you should have given it a wee bit more of a chance before quitting, it takes a bit to find the few gems among the stones. Good luck to you.

 

[Guest]

Man, I know that feeling. TSO is what can say? Gone downhill since 2004 and beyond. People say that the way to succeed in TSO is to skill which is pretty true. And with countless hours of hard work, you will get that expensive object you've been looking for.

Considering how everyone is expressing there ways on how to improve here's mine:
If kids are our future, then newbies are to the Sims Online. If we ever want the see social era again (even for a skill house- *sigh*), we need to teach them something besides skilling all day. Like the same thing we taught them at the beginning. Not just that skilling. And yes, skilling again in it self really needs to be re-thought. So far there just left to wonder on there own only to be left unanswered half the time.

Plus, I miss meeting new people on TSO.

 

[Inge Jones]

<blockquote><hr>

So far there just left to wonder on there own only to be left unanswered half the time.

[/ QUOTE ]

This might end up being the biggest problem. It's become apparent to me that the team are so small they can *either* develop, and just about also manage to communicate with the users that are interested in the development details -*or* they can put down their tools and answer the questions of the newbies.

In the 4 days I was using Sims Online I have asked all sorts of queries related to use, which have either gone unanswered or have received several *different* not all accurate answers from helpful fellow users. This has left me feeling disempowered - which tends to put one off the activity that causes this feeling.

Actually I think it's a great game idea - structured to provide impetus, and tuned to force players to actually play. However by far the biggest turnoff for me is that I was not allowed to join when it first started, due to them not allowing UK residents to play, and now I have learned that it would take about 4 years to make up for the lost time and for my sim to be as valuable as the "founder members". That's almost as long as it takes to get responsibilities and respect in a real life job! And people keep referring to founder members and maximised skill locks and rares and stuff so I can't even put it out of my mind for a day.

Would it be a good idea to have cities that only had sims who were started within a certain time span so the sims in them are more equal and stand a chance to make it on merit and their own efforts? A bit like you get sports teams for, say, under-13s and under-15s so they don't have to compete with the people who have been doing it for years.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

<blockquote><hr>


One thing TSO does require is a bit of patience. People with little or no patience probably will not enjoy TSO at all so it's probably good you moved along.


[/ QUOTE ]

Don't you love knitpickers?I think the main sentence of my post was totally overlooked.

TSO isn't for everyone. It's not the fast paced game as others are. Skilling is a passive activity on TS0. You click it and that's it. Not much else to do but chat and sometimes we just don't feel like it. And then again the amount of time some folks spend playing TSO...they have to AFK to get their dinner or help their kids or walk their dogs...do laundry (Now that's a favorite past time in TSO.) It would be interesting to do a poll of what distracts players during the game....

So as I said before It takes a bit of patience to play TSO. If a player doesn't have it, then it's probably not the game for them.

Then again...maybe the devs need to speed up skilling and do away with locks/decay so that we as players can get along and do more fun things in the game. Most other games, once you skill something...you have it. Rarely do you have to go back and reskill it and that's where TSO sucks. Having to reskill over and over and over.....Locks and decay really need to LEAVE permanently.

 

[Guest]

Quoting Inge: "I think it would be good if some skill items skilled combinations so you chose something that skilled your two wanted skills. Like beds do energy and comfort. It would add to the strategic asepct of play

Oh and some money items give skills or motives etc so more tactics have to be used."

Back at the start of Beta, when you worked on a money object *jam, etc* you earned money as well as skill. I liked that much better than it is now.

It would be nice to see it that way once again.

 

[Guest]

Tagging to last:

We had a poll on skilling and several long threads which lead to an Improved Skilling Suggestions design on the Wiki.

Since the write-up, the Team has held two or three increased skill speed events.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I reckon you should have given it a wee bit more of a chance before quitting, it takes a bit to find the few gems among the stones. Good luck to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the best thing that has been said in this whole thread.

And it got completely overlooked.

 

[B Jordan]

This game has driven me back to FFXI. Where I'm sure to always be busy with things to do, and actually have to pay attention in order to play....

 

[vapd3317]

wow.....ummmm...can I have your simoleans?...I mean,...since ya wont be needing em anymore. AWWWW C'mon....you know someone was gonna ask

 

[Laverne]

Sorry you are not happy with the game. AFK playing is simply an unavoidable aspect of the game. Some people even enjoy being able to multi-task while their sims skill. Yeah, it's supposed to be an interactive game but it's possible to be on line for hours catching up on skilling and I wouldn't expect anyone to sit at their computers for hours watching their sims skill.

I love to host either as roomie or owner. It's my chosen 'career path' in the game. I've done it ever since I started playing. I completely enjoy it and was particularly fond of hosting in Betaville. It's busy work for me when I sit down at the computer and log in to TSO. I thrive on 'busy work' in the game. That's how I choose to play. My AFK times are very short (human greening). I feel a sense of accomplishment if I can run a good, well kept lot, populated by players who's needs are cared for and they can get good skilling in. It's always sad to see someone say "well my skill is maxed here so I'll see you all later!"

After 20 years in the army as a supply and S4 NCO, I was accustomed to looking after the needs of large groups of people and believe it or not, hosting a busy skill or money house and having well skilled and happy 'guests' gave me a great deal of satisfaction. I didn't wipe the troops butts in the army nor was I their 'mommy' and I don't do it at my TSO house..so yes I can handle rude sims quite well, thank you.

If I can't be on the game, running my lot properly, I simply don't log in. But like I said, I'm a host not a guest. So, I guess you can rank me among the few people who are actually at the computer when the game is on. Having said that, I understand perfectly why others go AFK. I'm happy I can provide their sims a safe place to skill while they do so. For those not AFK, they know I'm 'here' for a chit chat, a laugh or a question or maybe some fun trivia when the mood strikes me. But try as I might, I can't make skilling any less boring than it is and don't demand my guests to be "present and accounted for".

I invested a lot of time, money &amp; effort in this game because I love it. I'm not happy with some of things going on but because of my investments I'm willing to wait to see what happens.

If I was brand new and spent a few days in EAland I might feel differently. It's easier to quit while you're a 'noob' rather than quitting after a long time of playing with a lot invested into the game.

Good luck to you!


Belle Starr: AV, BF, BV, CC, TC3 and EAland

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

But try as I might, I can't make skilling any less boring than it is and don't demand my guests to be "present and accounted for".

[/ QUOTE ]

On the contrary Belle, you help make skilling less boring simply because you are always there for a laugh and a good discussion, as are your roomies.

Yours is one of my favourite places to skill in EA-Land. I have one of those sims that said "well thats me all maxed", I was so pleased that the only skill left to max on my main sim that recently moved from BF is mech so that I can continue to come back !

Polly

 

[imported_MARCIN2006]

<blockquote><hr>

Wow... I Am One Of The Biggest Sims Fans, And Was Really Excited On Playing Sims Online.
Such A Let Down

I Expected So Much More. 75% Of The Community Online Are Building Up Skills But Are AFK.
Anyways I Cancelled My Subscription. Bye Everyone, Enjoy The Game

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah well this is what happens when the creative players go, the rest just go AFK, Jam &amp; Skill...

 

[Laverne]

Polly, You've made my day. That's the best "tip" any host could get, Thanks