Sprinklers

[Pam]

Playing in the sprinkler doesn't really bother me.  It's really funny and cute, but if I have something else I want them to do, I just cancel the action.  No biggie.  I remember the first time I saw one of my Sims playing in the sprinkler.  It was Hank Goddard and he had just been promoted to Leader of the Free World.  When he got home from work, he went straight to the sprinkler and started slapping his butt.  I just laughed and laughed! 

[TGBlank]

Wild's right, Grandpa — the culprit is Loves the Outdoors.

My hates the outdoors sim that woke up in the middle of the night to play with the sprinkler disagrees. It's really a bother for me for 2 reasons:
1) It makes using "high free will" and gardening together for casual non-mass-microing play a pain.
2) It makes having formal parties at home + gardeny sim ridiculous. Why would filthy rich and elegantly dressed sims ignore the room with soft music, expensive food and high quality nectar and head straight for the unlit garden with the sprinkler is beyond me.

So basically, it's either change to no free will and ruin casual gameplay or i use a mod that removes the autonomous sprinkler play.

[Edited for language.  Please take care not to use any type of profanity. -Pam]

[Grandpa Muleskinner]

Hmm! It was not my intent to propagate a rant about sprinklers. Just querying for reasonable solutions. 

[Swede1992]

Hmm! It was not my intent to propagate a rant about sprinklers. Just querying for reasonable solutions. 

Of course grandpa, but maybe the solution could be to set the free will to low or none? After I set mine to low, my guy haven't done this again.

[Grandpa Muleskinner]

Of course grandpa, but maybe the solution could be to set the free will to low or none? After I set mine to low, my guy haven't done this again.

I'll have to give your suggestion a...'think-about-it'. 

[Pam]

Of course grandpa, but maybe the solution could be to set the free will to low or none? After I set mine to low, my guy haven't done this again.

I keep my free will set to high.  Their autonomous behavior is half the fun of the game!

[Swede1992]

Of course grandpa, but maybe the solution could be to set the free will to low or none? After I set mine to low, my guy haven't done this again.

I keep my free will set to high.  Their autonomous behavior is half the fun of the game!

Not if you're just controlling one guy and that guy 'chose' to eat a bad apple instead of the lobster thermidor he just cooked. Come back after that and say the world's fair!

[Pam]

Of course grandpa, but maybe the solution could be to set the free will to low or none? After I set mine to low, my guy haven't done this again.

I keep my free will set to high.  Their autonomous behavior is half the fun of the game!

Not if you're just controlling one guy and that guy 'chose' to eat a bad apple instead of the lobster thermidor he just cooked. Come back after that and say the world's fair!

Never said it was fair.  Just said it's fun!

[Grandpa Muleskinner]

Of course grandpa, but maybe the solution could be to set the free will to low or none? After I set mine to low, my guy haven't done this again.

I'll have to give your suggestion a...'think-about-it'. 

Well, I've thought about it and chose to cash in some LTR changing out the 'Loves The Outdoors', rather than lower the 'free will' thingy. I very much enjoy seeing my sims choose what is choice to them at the time. I also appreciate the effort of balance the good folks at EA put into the game.

To my way of thinking the sprinkler obsession, just because of 'Loves The Outdoors', is either an unbalanced quirk or a deliberate "hey lets have some fun with ts3 players" by game developers. After all it is cataloged in an odd place.

My gardening sims seem unaffected by the loss of 'Loves The Outdoors'. They'll go about the gardening chores, all day if necessary. They don't have to spend from dawn to dusk doing nothing but watering plants with a water can, since auto sprinklers are now in place.

Not one instance of 'playing in the sprinkler' has occurred since the change. My sims remain happy and balanced.

Again, thanks to all who weighed in on this one. Your thoughts and provocations were appreciated.

[Metropolis Man]

My gardening sims seem unaffected by the loss of 'Loves The Outdoors'. They'll go about the gardening chores, all day if necessary.

Oh, yeah. As long as you wouldn't give a gardening Sim a Hates the Outdoors, then the absence of Loves the Outdoors has little impact on them. All it does is boost their mood when outdoors. That's it. The trait is nice in the beginning of a gardening career because a full mood meter translates to faster skilling, but by the time a Sim's skill is maxed you'll probably be in the position to replace that moodlet with other things — spa treatments, nicely decorated objects, nice stereos, etc.

[Grandpa Muleskinner]

Oh, yeah. As long as you wouldn't give a gardening Sim a Hates the Outdoors, then the absence of Loves the Outdoors has little impact on them. All it does is boost their mood when outdoors. That's it. The trait is nice in the beginning of a gardening career because a full mood meter translates to faster skilling, but by the time a Sim's skill is maxed you'll probably be in the position to replace that moodlet with other things — spa treatments, nicely decorated objects, nice stereos, etc.

Exactly... Thanks Metro!