Has The Sims 3 gotten too easy?

[ratchie]

It seems to me that I have to make an effort to make the game harder. Making money is beyond simple even without cheats and I find that I don't enjoy playing as much as I used to.

I miss the days when affording to build a house felt like a huge achievement. True story I actually rang my husband at work when my legacy founder finally got indoor plumbing.

Perhaps I am just crazy and easier Sims is better, what do you all think?

Rachel

[LivvieLove]

In which way do you feel is easier? I don't know what has changed since last patch/EP that could have made something easier...
I feel the Sims can be challenging when you play it no cheats from the start.
Families are still pretty challenging.
I feel that with all the LTR things have gotten a lot easier on the needs-front. There's a LTR for every need it feels like... and a whole lot of moodlets you don't need to worry about.

[jennovazombie]

I've always used the debug cheats to delete any "free money" objects my sims found if I didn't want them, that way you don't get the money from it at all. It can be hard, but it does take some effort to do.

[Caterina]

I think it is too easy to make money and afford the best items and I still don't know all the tricks for making money and getting LTR points quickly.  I am amazed by all of the things I learn from reading the challenge strategies.

I really enjoyed playing the Apocalypse Challenge but even in that one it feels like cheating if you unlock the Alien Technology early and have access to the motive mobile.  And forget about the Multitab.  I couldn't believe how fast it was to skill up my sims.  The challenge then became to max all the skills.

The Build A City Challenge was a lot of fun too.  It was a little frustrating though because you need to go in and out of edit town mode often and my computer is a little slow and crashed several times.

[ratchie]

In which way do you feel is easier? I don't know what has changed since last patch/EP that could have made something easier...
I feel the Sims can be challenging when you play it no cheats from the start.
Families are still pretty challenging.
I feel that with all the LTR things have gotten a lot easier on the needs-front. There's a LTR for every need it feels like... and a whole lot of moodlets you don't need to worry about.

I don't mean things have gotten easier since the last patch or Ep I mean generally since the game first came out it has gotten easier. There doesn't seem to be any challenge in playing anymore.

Rachel

[Wiry]

It has gotten easier, but that's the way I feel it should be. Remember, the Sims is just a simulation game, a virtual doll-house. When was the last time your dolls pulled a 9-5?

The only challenge in the Sims should be what you want it to be, and how you make it, right?

[Trip]

Of course it's gotten easier, but I also deliberately abuse my precious elixirs and every strategy in the book to make my sims obscenely and perpetually happy and wealthy, and with every shortcut added, it's just another thing to play with. And if it's not a challenge, I cheat whenever I can on top of all my shortcuts. So maybe I'm not the best authority on this.

I didn't do Rica's Asylum, but it seemed to be the perfect example of what to do to make the game challenging again: ignore every shortcut.

[ratchie]

I do try and avoid all the short cuts but it just seems strange that I have to make an effort to make things harder. I have nothing against people using all the tricks the Sims is about having fun and playing the game your way. I also know that I can make things harder for myself I made the mistake of playing on the medium setting for awhile and now normal aging seems to last forever. After playing the life state dynasty where you can cake up as soon as you finish your tasks waiting for a Sims actual birthday is torture.
I just wondered if anyone else felt the same way as me but it looks like I am in the crazy room by myself actually getting frustrated because the game is too easy.

Rachel

[Wai]

I would prefer it to be much, much harder.  With some goals and challenges which you really have to strive to achieve.

[Lysita]

Maybe try your hand at another immortal dynasty, using some of the newer careers, and perhaps twins/triplets or separate multiple siblings in the first generation. I am doing a trial run of one and triplets sure kept my founder and his wife tired and unable to earn money. Heck, their house didn't get flooring or wall coverings until after the triplets were born, that's how tight the money was for me.

[simfulicious]

I agree with ratchie.  I think all the premium content helps make things too easy.

[Seabody]

I do try and avoid all the short cuts but it just seems strange that I have to make an effort to make things harder. I have nothing against people using all the tricks the Sims is about having fun and playing the game your way. I also know that I can make things harder for myself I made the mistake of playing on the medium setting for awhile and now normal aging seems to last forever. After playing the life state dynasty where you can cake up as soon as you finish your tasks waiting for a Sims actual birthday is torture.
I just wondered if anyone else felt the same way as me but it looks like I am in the crazy room by myself actually getting frustrated because the game is too easy.

Rachel

You're not in the crazy room by yourself. The game is sometimes too easy. I know there are Mods out there that make the game harder (lower pay, higher item costs, etc), and I feel frustrated sometimes that it's too easy to make money. However, as others have said, it is the game nowadays. We have so many options to make money, it can feel like we're doing nothing at all.

In my opinion, someone should update the Legacy Rules to cover the new EP's. We are used to playing Dynasties where the rules are (fairly) loose - for example, marrying a rich Sim is a no-no in a Legacy, but OK in Dynasties, a harder challenge would reinvent discovery.

Of course, there is the Apocalypse Challenge, which is a ton harder.

[Schipperke]

I just wondered if anyone else felt the same way as me but it looks like I am in the crazy room by myself actually getting frustrated because the game is too easy.

Rachel

No, you're definitely not the only one who feels that way!  I like the game to be at least somewhat challenging.  Using all the newer premium items, elixirs, etc, makes it all too easy for me.  And yet I want to use the new content, because that's one of the ways the game stays interesting.  I think what I'd like is more new content that is challenging, like new skill items, rather than just one more way to make it all easier.

[Niana]

I'm with you, ratchie! Due to computer problems, I've been playing with just the base game, nothing else... And the insane part of me wound up starting an immortal dynasty!! I'm still on the fence about posting cause I'm not the best writer, and feel like I'd bore everyone, but even a couple days in, I find myself creating a mental list of all the start-up shortcuts I miss. At the same time, it's actually so much fun and such a sense of accomplishment finally managing to pull something off!

I'm expectantly waiting for Sims 4 to come out next year, so we can go back to the cycle of exploration and discovery that we've had with this game. In that sense, I almost feel like EA chose the perfect time to make this transition -- when even some of the most dedicated simmers (like on here ) start to get bored.

[Randox]

I find that most of the challenge would come from time constraints (my main sims are immortal, I'm just having fun). On the money front, there are definitely things that could cost more, I think that building in particular is kind of cheap. I don't think it was ever intended to be a particularly hard game though, hence the community challenges (which all seem to use time to make them difficult). I'm not sure what will happen once I do everything. For me, I am still sort of exploring the game, and I see this being a problem for me down the road.