The screen shift, and Overwork Penalty

[Guest]

You know that screen shift that happens every so often? It was put in to try to keep bot programs from working. It didn't work, and currently serves only to annoy people who are actually trying to play the game. What's the chance of this "feature" being removed? Thanks.

Also, Overwork Penalty should be adjusted so that regular players (however "good" they may be) should never run into this. It was supposed to keep bots from making too much money, and that is all it should do.

 

[NightFlyer]

I agree and seeing as the devs have no problem with bots it seems only right.

Not that either tactic actually worked to rid the game of bots why are they even still here?

 

[Guest]

I'm all for rididng the game of this annoying "feature".

 

[Monkeybear]

What is the screen shift?

 

[Guest]

This is true soon as those preventions were added the bot makers only fixed their bots to adapt to these preventions making them useless. It is VERY annoying to get overwork penalties in pizza though. I mean we can only go as fast as the game mechanics allow and they fixed the old maze bug didn't they? So these preventions are only preventing the normal players not the bot users.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

OMG u mean that's a bug? I thought I was accidentally giggling my mouse?

I noticed something else while doing pizza and thought maybe it was just my computer.

But has anyone noticed that sometimes one or two of the pizza table participants' ingredients won't load? Everyone has to click off the table and back on it to get all the ingredients to load?

 

[NightFlyer]

Screen shift was added years ago to try to combat bots...your screen will shift periodically in an attempt to throw off the bot program from clicking in the correct place... obviously it didn't work.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

<blockquote><hr>

OMG u mean that's a bug? I thought I was accidentally giggling my mouse?

I noticed something else while doing pizza and thought maybe it was just my computer.


[/ QUOTE ]

Me too ROFL! I was away from the game for a couple years, so didn't know they added this purposefully. I thought I was knockin' my mouse accidentally too! lol...

 

[Guest]

Hmm I havent seen that Dutch but I havent pizza'd for awhile, is this a new thing?

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

It's been since post-merge TC3.

I decided to try a few pizza rounds on my old tc money lot and that's when I noticed it. It's been about a year since I pizza'd too so didn't know if this was new or what.

 

[Guest]

Ok lets try it tomorrow or something so I can see if it happens to me too.

 

[Guest]

I believe it was Lee that said he was fine with bots. Here at the blog Luc states this

<blockquote><hr>

Another application of this is to throw a wrench in the day of the bots. If you have specific ideas, please list them on the wiki under ‘the war against bots’.

[/ QUOTE ]

So the devs are not okay with the botting. Only Lee is fine with fembots.

 

[imported_corpatortis]

How does the screen shift affect your gameplay besides making you scroll a bit?

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

HAHA!!!

Well, if I happened to have all of the same gender, I might have been included in that statement. (Breaths a sigh of relief!)

I'm ready to try it out again. I'll have to get my cheeseketiers together and give it another go.

 

[Keep It Real]

<blockquote><hr>

How does the screen shift affect your gameplay besides making you scroll a bit?



[/ QUOTE ]

When using build mode it can be very costly.

 

[Guest]

not if you don't let go of the mouse button.

 

[Keep It Real]

I said it CAN be. But thanks for replying for Corp.

 

[imported_SimTripps]

<blockquote><hr>

HAHA!!!

Well, if I happened to have all of the same gender, I might have been included in that statement. (Breaths a sigh of relief!)

I'm ready to try it out again. I'll have to get my cheeseketiers together and give it another go.

[/ QUOTE ]

One bug I've notice while pizza-ing in TC3 is with the 'making pizza' action. Normally, the sim at the Body station is the one making the pizza, although it's happened where Cooking 1 and Charisma also make the pizza lol... Or sometimes the Body station doesn't make the pizza at all, nobody does, which is good because it saves alot of time thus lets you make more $ lol...

 

[nobuttkisser]

nice try I say remove screen shift and in ists place place the following

If more than two sims are being played from the same ISP... cause the game to crash and stay out until only TWO people are playing ...

second, move the "dead time" from 15 minutes down to 3 minutes with an addition 1 minute warning..... three times in the same day (real world not sims time) the game halts and you can't play again for 24 hours.. (gets ride of afkers) need amymore suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Except people that pay for more than one account have the right to play more than one account (as many as they pay for, actually). If not, why pay for them? And I doubt EA is going to want to lose subscription money from multiple accounts.

 

[Keep It Real]

Now that was funny, thanks for the laugh!

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

<blockquote><hr>

(gets ride of afkers) need amymore suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of kissing, we could then kiss TSO's population goodbye if that were implemented.

 

[Guest]

I won't say I agree with you here. I think these are a little harsh. I'm not going to mock you like some in this thread have. Maybe you are on the right track, just went a little over the line.

 

[Keep It Real]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

(gets ride of afkers) need amymore suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of kissing, we could then kiss TSO's population goodbye if that were implemented.

[/ QUOTE ]

SO true.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

nice try I say remove screen shift and in ists place place the following

If more than two sims are being played from the same ISP... cause the game to crash and stay out until only TWO people are playing ...

second, move the "dead time" from 15 minutes down to 3 minutes with an addition 1 minute warning..... three times in the same day (real world not sims time) the game halts and you can't play again for 24 hours.. (gets ride of afkers) need amymore suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what you are trying to imply with this post, please give me a clue.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

The end of TSO as we know it, and no, that's not me being cruel. We should thank those who have multiple accounts, because those individuals are helping keep TSO afloat financially. If you read this page, Luc states bluntly that TSO isn't raking in a good amount of cash at this point. If you're going to sabotage those players and put warped mind-bending rules on them, we'll be left without a game. On to the second point, look around - the game consists of mostly AFK sims. If the timeout feature follows a more strict regime, do you really think people will be around? I say no, but hey, that's just me.

 

[Guest]

Where did I say anything like that? Where in my post does it say anything about putting in harsher rules. Seriously, you people need to learn how to read.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

Seriously? Being able to form a train of thought is by far more crucial than being able to learn how to read.

You asked Nobuttkisser what his post was about, so I replied to you regarding his post. Not a large concept here, but there's a first for everything I s'pose.

 

[Guest]

Well it was a reply to my original post, and makes no sense to me whatsoever. He's saying take out screen shift and put in all these tough rules, and making it sound like that's what my suggestion suggests they do.

 

[imported_Phoenix_Rising]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

nice try I say remove screen shift and in ists place place the following

If more than two sims are being played from the same ISP... cause the game to crash and stay out until only TWO people are playing ...

second, move the "dead time" from 15 minutes down to 3 minutes with an addition 1 minute warning..... three times in the same day (real world not sims time) the game halts and you can't play again for 24 hours.. (gets ride of afkers) need amymore suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what you are trying to imply with this post, please give me a clue.

[/ QUOTE ]

Above is how my post was intended; No, I wasn't replying to your original post. All settled. Sweet dreams.

 

[caroleatdesigns]

Just my 2 cents worth here. I thought it was my eyes getting weird after hours of playing. Screen Shift, please go away. I am really tired of retiling my floors!

Re: the number of players from 1 ISP. I have my own server. On it are 4 PCs and 2 MACs. We are a family, on a LAN. Bunch O' Geeks. What if we all had 2+ accounts? Think we'd be looking for somebunny out there.

TYVM,

Carole Anne and Co.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

There's a problem with the ISP thing because aren't some players on certain service providers listed under the same ISP?

However, if someone is paying for their 4 accounts and want to camp out doing pizza by themselves, it's their business. My #5 paid account should have the same priveledges as my #1 paid account. Those of us have chosen to keep our accounts intact instead of deleting them shouldn't be penalized for it. In fact, I think that we should be rewarded for it.

It's the botters with 3rd party software that needs addressing.

 

[caroleatdesigns]

You got it, Dutch! That is the very reason I said goodbye to Comcast services. I used to teach online. I could not email students on AOL. AOL said sorry, your ISP isn't "permanent" so you must be a spammer. Sheesh!!

I also hate AOL for that reason. How rude to make that assumption.

How do you manage 5 accounts at one time? I'm still struggling with 2. I want another monitor, MOMI. Please, pretty please with sugar on it and a cherry on top.

Best Regards,

Janice Gyms

 

[caroleatdesigns]

Yup, and would it be too difficult to:

If
3pty sw
Then
logout
Else
continue;

Wish they'd let us use xhtml,

Carole Anne &amp; Co.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

LMAO How do you know it's just 5?

It's just like riding a bicycle...once you learn the 'art' you never forget it. I can run a large amount of them at the same time without the aid of extra software. I do not over ride the time out. And they each will respond if a particular sim or so tries to interact with them. And unlike some players, it a very rare occassion to see any of mine 'time out' because none of them go without attention for but a few moments at a time. However, I rarely run all my accounts at one time, generally keeping it to 2. A main and a buddy who is more of a errand runner then anything else.

All that said, it would lead to bad feeling to players like me who are just enjoying the game to be punished because of people using 3rd party software to gain financial or other rewards without having to actually attend to their sims.

If a player needs a sim babysitter, then maybe they need to log of and get their work done.

So, there needs to be a way for EA to cease the use of 3rd party software in order to keep sims active in the game. That's really where the solution is. Detecting when someone is using extra software and stopping the practice. Detection and removal of players using it!!

Then the rest of us can get on with playing the game and not worry about bots.

*my old computer I could run up to 4 windows of sims....I can log on every one of my sims with my new computer. It's tiling the windows that is difficult.

 

[Bindy]

I agree. The screen shift is annoying especially when your building, and with money tight it stinks to waste it because the screen shifted and you accidently put down too much flooring. As far as the overwork penalty, well given how much money we make now that seriously needs to be taken away.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

OMG Bindy!! I think we've all done that one at some time. It truly is obnoxious!

 

[Creed84]

Well I have found when building, best to use the fullscreen mode than the windowed. I have not noticed the screen shift when I go into build on fullscreen mode. I think the shift only affects those that go into TSO using the shortcut that has been modified to run multiple sims on your computer.

 

[Bindy]

<blockquote><hr>

Well I have found when building, best to use the fullscreen mode than the windowed. I have not noticed the screen shift when I go into build on fullscreen mode. I think the shift only affects those that go into TSO using the shortcut that has been modified to run multiple sims on your computer.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it also happens in full screen mode. I almost always use full screen when building also use the tso icon and not the client at the time. When building I dont like to split my attention running more than one sim, I get too involved with the building and end up forgetting the non building sim. lol

You must be one that is luckier and it doesnt effect you as often, that's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Creed84]

<blockquote><hr>

nice try I say remove screen shift and in ists place place the following

If more than two sims are being played from the same ISP... cause the game to crash and stay out until only TWO people are playing ...

second, move the "dead time" from 15 minutes down to 3 minutes with an addition 1 minute warning..... three times in the same day (real world not sims time) the game halts and you can't play again for 24 hours.. (gets ride of afkers) need amymore suggestions?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well lol does not sound like suggestions more like rants. People pay for the game to entertain themselves, not to entertain you. I have noticed a lot of people that play the game have a life, like taking care of children and family, cleaning up the home, ect. all which they do while logged onto the game, some ven play from work. Hence why most of the time you have any people on playing. If you went on this witch hunt against afkers, you would see a lot less people on. In the past some people have left because they could not find time for TSO anymore. So, that being said, in fact, it would be wiser to extend the time allowed on "dead time" and the warning, not shorten them. In fact in most games they have "zones" that you will not time out if you are in them. Those zones/areas are places where you can buy and sell items. A place to put your trader character so that wares are available for people to buy. Does not hurt the games at all. It enhances activity in those games and provides much needed services by other players in the games any time the game is not offline due to maintenance and updates/patching. I am sure the others on here that play such games will tell you how much this feature improves game play. TSO,IMO, should have this feature for store lots and maybe services lots. Lol some games even allow your characters to stay in trade mode even if you exit the game.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

Very interesting...

I liked the suggestion of someone to have an NPC to keep store lots open. However, NPC should kick out visitors who are idle for over a certain period of time (AFK Hiders) and they should 'disengage' when ever the roomies or owner enter the property.

Why let the stores have all the fun of being open without an owner/roomie present? Might be interesting to go a step further, be able to hire NPC's to keep your skill/money lots open in the same fashion. NPC's could keep the buffet's full and do odd tasks around the house.

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

With visitor hour bonuses gone in the game, I believe owners of any property should be given the opportunity to leave their house open when they are gone. However, I do feel they should have to pay a fee for leaving their lots unattended. Owners could select an amount of time from in-game clock and set it to keep house open. This would be like paying a parking meter. When your paid time runs out then the house would shut down.

I do not believe in NPCs of any kind. Don't like the maids, gardners or repairmen we currently have nor do I want to see one restocking and preparing buffets. If guests need to be taken care of then a real host should be present in the home.

However, I have no problem with empty houses being online for hours at a time with nobody home. Would be fun to explore and tour the city of all the open houses even if nobody is home.

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

Could be similar to that ticket thing they have on Sims2?

I do agree also with your point concerning leaving the lot open without an attendant. Your house could be explored but to green up and get services, players would need to visit homes where active owners/roomies are.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Lol some games even allow your characters to stay in trade mode even if you exit the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, and by letting players leave their merchandise in trade mode, it opens up all time slots for equal opportunity buying/selling. It is something I would like to see happen in TSO. A way for everyone to sell off their excess inventory and to find new stuff at bargain prices.
Especially since:
*Stores do not make much profit on low end items...and generally do not carry them.
*The catalog is gone.
*With custom content it is getting harder and harder to find typical low-rent items.
*Not everyone making custom content wants to carry a whole store lot worth or run a store at all.

But that is a discussion for another thread...

 

[imported_DutchAmerica]

Wonder what ever happened to that 'auction house' that we all chitchatted about a while back?

Placing sims in 'automatic' trade mode could be very handy with that.

Might be time to bring that subject back around?

 

[Bindy]

<blockquote><hr>

Wonder what ever happened to that 'auction house' that we all chitchatted about a while back?

Placing sims in 'automatic' trade mode could be very handy with that.

Might be time to bring that subject back around?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think an in game auction house might bring some excitement to the game.