Empty Houses due to kleptomaniac?

[Kreathyr]

After reading the 'Live in the lap of luxury' guide on the main site I've come up with the following question:

If you steal some items, lets say the TV or a bed, from an npc home, will they replace the items or will they
just 'deal with it'?

[Pam]

I think mostly they just deal with it.  I had a klepto who stole things from the gym and those items were missing for a long time.  I think eventually they replaced the stero, but nobody could to aerobic workouts because there was no stereo!  Lol.  Also, if your klepto returns the stolen items (through the mail), they should show back up.  One of my other kleptos stole a bench from the family cemetary.  The bench was gone for awhile, but eventually showed back up shortly after he returned it.

I hope this helps!

[Kreathyr]

I was afraid of that.

So on the long term it would do damage to the neighborhood if I just keep stealing their stuff.
Well, that excludes a kleptomaniac from my legacy challenge...

[Carl]

Yeah I'm afraid it can make things pretty empty. My klepto sim's art gallery is almost empty, and i don't expect it to be replaced automatically. I have had households replace things, but haven't seen it happen on community lots. I'll add info on this to the guide so no one tries it on a legacy.

[JohnnyDiscard]

As I said in another post, the Wainrights never had a toilet after I stole it.  I returned it via the mail for some happiness, but they never seemed to reinstall it.  Not even weeks later.

As far as public lots go, I think my museum slowly re-spawns paintings, but I never tried to empty it completely.  Now I'm curious.

[PJSim]

So on the long term it would do damage to the neighborhood if I just keep stealing their stuff.

I worry about this too. Kleptomaniacs are fun to play but it's not really a good way to make a living.
The first time I played one I gave him a job as a criminal and sent him to the gym at night to get some skills. He looked around and saw all this nice stuff and nobody around so he swiped the big TV and both treadmills, nice cash.
Then the next day when he went back there were two other sims on the remaining machines and the stereo was busted and he didn't know how to fix it. The gym was kind of useless after that.

So the lesson is, don't steal from public places, you're only hurting yourself!
If you absolutely positively have to steal something, steal from the rich.

In the beginning of the game it's a really good cash boost though, just steal all the fancy cars. They sell for a lot and it's not hurting the game, the rich farts can just take a cab like everyone else.

Later in the game it's mostly for the entertainment for me, I still think it's funny when my sim visits a house at night, if I don't keep him busy all the time he might swipe something as soon as he's alone in the room, usually the drapes.

[Pam]

It seems to me that the solution for the empty houses and public locations is to use Edit Town to put those things back in place.  Shouldn't be a problem, really.

[Carl]

Yeah it's just annoying that it makes Klepto even harder to be a successful "self employment" choice once so much time has passed. My car thief eventually ran out of cars to steal. It's almost like I have to cheat. Would I give them sloppy jalopies? heck no.

[Kreathyr]

O well, if replacing the items isn't considered cheating it might still be nice to play a klepto.
I rather don't though.

[Pam]

Think of it like this...  if something is stolen from a public location in real life, it gets replaced, right?  You're not only controlling your Sim, you also control the entire town.  You can modify or change it on a whim.  That can include replacing stolen items. 

[PJSim]

Yeah it's just annoying that it makes Klepto even harder to be a successful "self employment" choice once so much time has passed. My car thief eventually ran out of cars to steal. It's almost like I have to cheat. Would I give them sloppy jalopies? heck no.

Right, how come sims don't have insurance?
In real life a thief can steal the same thing from the same house week after week because people keep replacing their stuff.

I guess you could do like Pam suggests and replace things in Edit Town but I don't want to play the game like that, it's no fun. I want the game to be smarter! *pouts*

[Pam]

Actually, they do have some insurance.  When a fire destroys a stove, insurance pays a fraction of its value to replace it.  Just like real life.  Lol!

[Kreathyr]

Ok, on public lots it's not so bad I guess.
The insurance you talk about, is that when you get the message replace for $ **,**?

[PJSim]

Actually, they do have some insurance.  When a fire destroys a stove, insurance pays a fraction of its value to replace it.  Just like real life.  Lol!

It just occurred to me there's another thing like real life. At least in Denmark it's like this; if something gets broken (or stolen) by a person you invited into your home insurance doesn't cover.
And klepto sims need to be invited in.

[samoht04]

The only thing my Klepto has stolen is the Landgraabs cars!