Play Style: Cheats or no Cheats?

[DeNile]

Jeana, Squidward isn't boring. He's just a horrifying clarinet player haha.

I've decided to come out and tell everyone something so shocking, so mind-blowing I hope I don't shock the socks off of you all. Only one other person knows this fact.

I started a new game 2 nights ago. Without using cheats. Breathe through your mouth, you'll be ok right guys?  Ok, now. I have had a sim without needs static for the past 2 days. He started as a YA and he's now an elder. Yeah shockingly he's very much alive! And even more awesome, he's maxed gardening, gotten to level 10 in the gardening career, plus supermaxed gardening. He's also fulfilled his LTW of wanting a perfect garden.

You still conscious?? Phew ok, thought I lost you for a minute there! So in closing, I can never again say I can't play without needs static, and can never say I've never done it successfully. If the one person that knows this wants to say something, they can because honestly, without their support and encouragement I would have never kept going when he was doing bad. And for all the others that gave me advice and encouragement and believed I could do it, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Ah... Buh... Wah.... *faints*

In all seriousness though, congrats Esther! That's an amazing change for you. Not that there's anything wrong with playing with cheats, but it's cool to see that you have tried it both ways now.

[ratchie]

Congratulations Esther that is such a big achievement for you.

Rachel

[Esther1981]

DeNile, you didn't hit your head did you??   

Thank you DeNile and Rachel! It is a huge achievement, and it's even more fun without right now. I only have one guy, so it's easier but soon I'm going to get him married, and deal with both of them awhile before I have the first baby. One sim at a time! 

[Hosfac]

Jeana, Squidward isn't boring. He's just a horrifying clarinet player haha.

I've decided to come out and tell everyone something so shocking, so mind-blowing I hope I don't shock the socks off of you all. Only one other person knows this fact.

I started a new game 2 nights ago. Without using cheats. Breathe through your mouth, you'll be ok right guys?  Ok, now. I have had a sim without needs static for the past 2 days. He started as a YA and he's now an elder. Yeah shockingly he's very much alive! And even more awesome, he's maxed gardening, gotten to level 10 in the gardening career, plus supermaxed gardening. He's also fulfilled his LTW of wanting a perfect garden.

You still conscious?? Phew ok, thought I lost you for a minute there! So in closing, I can never again say I can't play without needs static, and can never say I've never done it successfully. If the one person that knows this wants to say something, they can because honestly, without their support and encouragement I would have never kept going when he was doing bad. And for all the others that gave me advice and encouragement and believed I could do it, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The real question is:  did you enjoy it?  Because in the end, that's all that really matters.

I tease you a bit in fun, but it's not because you use cheats...it's more because you loudly and proudly declare "I'm a big cheater!" lol.  If you look at the statement out of context, it's actually kinda funny.  In any other game, especially if you were playing against other people, cheating is not something people would brag about.  But if you ignore the fact that, in the Sims, there isn't anything really wrong with it...it paints a rather humorous image in your mind. 

My sense of humor is a bit bizarre.

[DeNile]

DeNile, you didn't hit your head did you??   

Thank you DeNile and Rachel! It is a huge achievement, and it's even more fun without right now. I only have one guy, so it's easier but soon I'm going to get him married, and deal with both of them awhile before I have the first baby. One sim at a time! 

Yes, but that was before I read your message. I'm glad you are enjoying yourself Esther, because, in the end, that's what truly matters.

[loveSims]

Congrats Esther that is awesome! They will have more free will without needs static.

[jeanamariex3]

Jeana, Squidward isn't boring. He's just a horrifying clarinet player haha.

True, but Squidward also has the grumpy trait, and no sense of humor.

Now I'm all alone. In the cheating department. I never used the "Make Needs Static" cheat, but I use traits to drag their needs up and down, for either my own amusement, or just to keep the game smoother. I still use my boolprop's for TS2 as well. Cheating is like my morning cup of coffee.

[smartburn]

In casual games, I tend not to use cheats unless someone is stuck or the chosen traits don't show up, or if I'm doing something specific where something like motherlode would come in handy.  The exception is what I call the teleportation rule, which is that if the household has the teleportation pad, everyone can teleport any time they (or I) want to any place they (or I) want, without having to take forever to walk to the device.

Then again, if I have 3 sims within 9hrs of starving to death because they're really bummed out about mom or grandpa's death, they'd rather sleep than eat because they're about to pass out, and maybe one of them is a child who can't use the moodlet manager, it's the magical mailbox to the rescue.  I'll also admit I've forced sims to move in if romantic socials weren't going fast enough for my liking (it's okay, totally ethical, I'm looking out for everyone's best interest here...heh). So yeah, for me it depends.

[Hosfac]

Now I'm all alone. In the cheating department.

Nah, there are plenty of players who still use cheats...and Esther never said that she'd never use them again.  She only said she has played a single cheat-free game successfully.  That's no indication that she's done with them for good. 

And even I will occasionally drag needs up a little if a low need pops up at an extremely inconvenient moment.

[thesimslover828]

True, but Squidward also has the grumpy trait, and no sense of humor.

Now I'm all alone. In the cheating department. I never used the "Make Needs Static" cheat, but I use traits to drag their needs up and down, for either my own amusement, or just to keep the game smoother. I still use my boolprop's for TS2 as well. Cheating is like my morning cup of coffee.

Oh believe me you are not alone, I use cheats and love cheats.

[Tuesday]

This thread has been a very interesting read - it's given a lot of insight into different play styles.

Personally, I use cheats mostly to fix bugs.  The mailbox bug is a good example - if I can't get new omni seeds in the mail, I'll use buydebug to place new omni-plant starts if I have a Sim who's earned the ability to plant them.  Resetsim also generally only gets used to fix glitch situations.  I've learned how to avoid some of the bugs, but others I resort to the "cheat" workarounds.

I don't really consider the object placement cheats to actually be cheats, so I do use MOO and snapping off and free rotate pretty regularly in buy mode.  I'm only just starting to do any serious building, but place frieze falls into that category for me, too.

That said.... I do use things like the Motive Mobile and moodlet manager pretty freely (once I've earned the LTR).  And special powers of non-custom objects are fair game.  I HATE the infant life stage, so I shamelessly drop those weird little grubs into a swing and walk away.

I will also occasionally use money cheats or freerealestate to set up a new game if there's a scenario I'd like to play that needs it for setup, but once the game has started it's very unusual indeed for me to go there.

[Ricalynn]

Tuesday - there is actually a workaround that doesn't require Buydebug to get omni cheats.  I think you can find it under the Skills forum.   You basically send your Sim to order omni seeds, cancel the action before they get to the mailbox.  They perform the action like they are at the mailbox and you get seeds the next day.

Esther - As I told you while you were playing all weekend - I knew that you could play without cheats and I had faith that it wouldn't be too difficult.  Now you know you can play without them doesn't mean you have to though!  I'm glad you enjoyed playing and I was all too happy to offer advice and support.

I don't know a single person that hasn't thought about using a cheat for one thing or another depending on the game.  Sometimes to fix bugs or sometimes just to get something for a story to work for them.

I don't use cheats a lot but that's because a lot of my gameplay is for challenge files these days.   That doesn't mean I don't feel the urge to drag a needs bar or two when it's inconvenient on an unofficial file. 

[jeanamariex3]

I tried challenges but gave up halfway. This is Sims. It's a casual game, which means there's really no rules or real quests/objections. Sims shouldn't have rules, or objections. They're not Mario or his Brother Luigi. They're Sims. Challenges and working/earning things makes the game too realistic, and I don't like that. Of course this is life simulation, but I should not have to let my Sims go through overdraft charges, paying credit card debt, etc. (thank you Shift+Right Click=Delete Object ), that I've had to deal with in my young 22 years of life. They should have the money trees I'm never getting in the real world. No Sim should have to put up with unfairness in life that real people have to deal with. This is exactly why I cheat.

[thesimslover828]

I tried challenges but gave up halfway. This is Sims. It's a casual game, which means there's really no rules or real quests/objections. Sims shouldn't have rules, or objections. They're not Mario or his Brother Luigi. They're Sims. Challenges and working/earning things makes the game too realistic, and I don't like that. Of course this is life simulation, but I should not have to let my Sims go through overdraft charges, paying credit card debt, etc. (thank you Shift+Right Click=Delete Object ), that I've had to deal with in my young 22 years of life. They should have the money trees I'm never getting in the real world. No Sim should have to put up with unfairness in life that real people have to deal with. This is exactly why I cheat.

I know even the ''fairness'' of Death can be cheated, because you can bring them to life.

[grimsoul]

I have noticed I don't have to use the cheats as much. EA just keeps making it easier. With stuff like the motive mobile to raise your bars, The trees from Lunar Lakes with the fruit to raise skill levels. Put out a bunch of those and pig out on fruit. , The Genie to clean your house in one click.
Don't need cheats with items like that. 
It's not really cheating if it's in the game, right.