2015 Challenge Tournament Overview

[Nutella]

Examples:
Curator Aspiration - last stage - Collect 25 collectibles (0/25)
It doesn't matter how many collectibles you have collected before you reach this stage, it will always starts at zero.  You then start collecting and the count will go up.

Metro, are you saying since my sim did the work already and found 25 collectibles, I can use the cheat to complete that part of the aspiration? 

[Metropolis Man]

Examples:
Curator Aspiration - last stage - Collect 25 collectibles (0/25)
It doesn't matter how many collectibles you have collected before you reach this stage, it will always starts at zero.  You then start collecting and the count will go up.

Metro, are you saying since my sim did the work already and found 25 collectibles, I can use the cheat to complete that part of the aspiration?

It's more work to start at scratch and that's what my gut tells is the right thing to do. How do you feel about it? What about everyone else?

[Nutella]

Warning:  everyone that is doing the curator aspiration will be asking you for permission to use cheat to complete the "collect 25 collectibles" part - because by the time you reach stage 4 of that aspiration, you would have already at least collected 26 collectibles. 

There might also be more request like these:
Curator aspiration stage 2 -- Collect 3 frogs.
Let's say I have already collected 3 frogs in the 1st stage (collect 10 collectibles) -- I will be emailing you to ask permission to use cheat to complete that stage I listed above.

Children artistic prodigy stage 4 -- Draw all 5 pictures type on table
Let's say I have already painted 2 of the pictures in stage one -- I will paint the 3 other pictures and then emailing you to ask permission to use cheat to complete that stage I listed above.  The game will only show 3/5 at this point.

Master Chef aspiration stage 2 -- Cook a gourmet meal
Let's say I have already cooked a gourmet meal before I reach this stage -- I will be emailing you to ask permission to use cheat to complete that stage I listed above. 

I could go on and on with my list. 

[Metropolis Man]

Warning:  everyone that is doing the curator aspiration will be asking you for permission to use cheat to complete the "collect 25 collectibles" part - because by the time you reach stage 4 of that aspiration, you would have already at least collected 26 collectibles. 

There might also be more request like these:
Curator aspiration stage 2 -- Collect 3 frogs.
Let's say I have already collected 3 frogs in the 1st stage (collect 10 collectibles) -- I will be emailing you to ask permission to use cheat to complete that stage I listed above.

Children artistic prodigy stage 4 -- Draw all 5 pictures type on table
Let's say I have already painted 2 of the pictures in stage one -- I will paint the 3 other pictures and then emailing you to ask permission to use cheat to complete that stage I listed above.  The game will only show 3/5 at this point.

Master Chef aspiration stage 2 -- Cook a gourmet meal
Let's say I have already cooked a gourmet meal before I reach this stage -- I will be emailing you to ask permission to use cheat to complete that stage I listed above. 

I could go on and on with my list. 

Yeah, if you put it that way - it's not what these challenges are all about. MarianT - sorry, but you need to start from scratch when a milestone triggers. Using the exploit no matter what you have in inventory is just wrong. It's more work, but these are Tournament challenges - they're supposed to be work.

[MarianT]

No problem, I just wanted to check.

[ClayMask]

Could we please write this addition in the general rules, in case people don't read the comments?

[Metropolis Man]

Could we please write this addition in the general rules, in case people don't read the comments?

Sure. Good idea.

---------------

EDIT: done

Some Aspiration Milestone have you finding collectibles, etc, and these can be exploited by having items in your inventory already as the Milestone becomes active with you then removing and replacing the items to make progress on the Milestone. This falls into the category of cheating. Whims related to collectibles can also be quickly finished via the inventory exploit, so please do not do that.

[christinal3106]

So you can no longer use collectibles you have already found to complete the curator aspiration?  I am sorry, there was some back and forth, and it left me a bit confused.

[Metropolis Man]

So you can no longer use collectibles you have already found to complete the curator aspiration?  I am sorry, there was some back and forth, and it left me a bit confused.

Yeah, sorry for any confusion. The problem is there's no way to accomplish using existing collectibles without resorting to the exploit. So, you have to start from scratch and have the game calculate progress as you collect new items.

[MischaMusic]

Yeah, sorry for any confusion. The problem is there's no way to accomplish using existing collectibles without resorting to the exploit. So, you have to start from scratch and have the game calculate progress as you collect new items.

I completely agree with the ruling. The only frustrating aspect is that some of the aspirations calculate based on what you've already accumulated (for example, fabulously wealthy or mansion baron). I wish EA was a little more consistent. But, in the end, it makes sense not to use the exploit. Most of these little game tricks feel like cheating to me. In fact, even the garbage can that makes money feels a little bit like cheating to me (I'm such a rule follower!). Full disclosure - I use it anyway! 

[Ginj]

The team has been quite busy as of late discussing this whole issue (and my thanks to Tixxis and ClayMask for joining in the discussion). Here's the bottom line: there is an exploit that exists involving moving things in and out of inventory. It has a big impact not only on the Curator Aspiration, but also the Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration - both of these Aspirations have milestones containing "find x items" those kinds of things. So, what happens is let's say you have a crystal in your inventory - you left click the crystal, drag it a bit as if you were removing it and then place it back in. Bingo...the game now thinks you found another crystal.

So, this has a huge impact on the Aspirations because you can actually make progress on those various "find x items" milestones assuming you have one of the required items to begin with. This exploit also impacts Whims that fire regularly depending on a trait you may have or an Aspiration.

Here's what the team finally decided: The Tournament has always focused on honesty. You know you should not do these actions in the game. It's an exploit, and EA has it on their bug list. So, we have decided to remove the Aspiration ban from the General Rules - you are free to pursue it - just do it legit. Now everyone knows what's up, so just play nicely and steer clear of this exploit.

Thanks, everyone.

Yay! Thanks Team; I'm so glad to have my favourite aspiration back!

[ClayMask]

If we're playing a challenge where no household additions are allowed, and a male Sim that we control gets abducted by aliens and becomes pregnant, what should we do about it?

[Metropolis Man]

If we're playing a challenge where no household additions are allowed, and a male Sim that we control gets abducted by aliens and becomes pregnant, what should we do about it?

I know females get life extension when they are pregnant. If males do too, then I am tempted to say you'd have to start your file over in hopes of that not happening again. If anything increases the chance of that happening perhaps it would be best to avoid doing that until the team can discuss it.

[Nutella]

The easiest solution is to force players to start with female sim only (no male sim).  I have never seen female sim gets pregnant by abduction.

I don't have any male pregnancy in my test file yet, so I can't tell if it extends life.

[Ferretmania]

I had a male Sim get abducted and pregnant when he had 9 days left until becoming an adult. When he gave birth he still had 9 days left, so it appears that it does extends life.