READ THIS FIRST - Rules for Stories Updated 12/2021

[ArtdefinesSimmer]

hey, question: What is the difference between a story/a project/and a non legacy/dynasty challenge? Where would a 100 baby challenge fit in for example? What is the most popular on here, and what is the key to really successful posts with lots of readers?

[Pam]

Hi,

I read through the rules and the entire thread; however, I still have a few questions. I plan to write a prologue for the beginning of my dynasty story that features the founder's parents perishing in an unfortunate fire. Would it be acceptable to include minimal pictures or would I only be allowed to write vague details about the accident? The reason I ask is because I'm not sure it would be considered as violence or not? 

Thanks in advance for answering my question.

Welcome to our Forum.

As long as you write the fire as an accident, I think it would be ok to use a couple of pictures.  Accidental fires are part of normal gameplay, so it's not a problem.  Thanks for checking. 

hey, question: What is the difference between a story/a project/and a non legacy/dynasty challenge? Where would a 100 baby challenge fit in for example? What is the most popular on here, and what is the key to really successful posts with lots of readers?

A project is a challenge that is written by one of our members and has been approved by Administrators to be posted here on the Forum.  A Dynasty story is based on one of the four Dynasty Challenges from our Forum here.  Legacy stories are based on Pinstar's legacy challenge from the official Sims 3 Forum.  Anything else is considered a miscellaneous story and that's what your 100 baby challenge story would be.  In my opinion, the key to a successful story is to use good grammar and punctuation, and to not overload the story with unimportant details and pictures.  For example, don't post four different pictures of a proposal or of your Sim eating.  It can get tedious.  I don't think it matters if you have a creative plot when you start.  I always just tell what's happening with my Sims and then the ideas for plot points sort of come to me as I'm playing.  Of course, if you do have a specific story in mind, that's ok, too.  Don't get discouraged if you don't get a lot of comments.  Many readers just like to lurk quietly and read.  Look at the number of views to judge the success of your story. 

[ArtdefinesSimmer]

Thank you! I understand much better now

[manicmondays]

Thanks for your answer, Pam. I'll make sure that the fire is portrayed as an accident. 

[JMarsh]

Hi all, am new to the forum, have started a story and think have followed all the rules. But have a couple of questions before I post it.
1. In regards to appropriateness, think the story is okay for teens but not sure for children, its more the dialouge then pictures. Doing a story on the Caliente sisters and have them talk about their "romantic interests" that they aren't exactly in love with, is there a way the first chapter can be proof read to see if it's appropriate? If it's not then that's okay, will look elsewhere.
2. If it's okay to post the story can reserve 10 or so posts in the story thread (think that's what it's called and able to edit posts later, to put in next chapter) so several chapters of the story appear together to read?
3. I have CC from the Sims Resource, is it okay if i acknowledge it at the beginning, no link?
4. Not sure this will work, it's suppose to a text box in a post:

Spoiler: Chapter I (click to show/hide)

Chapter I text goes here.

Can I put the chapters under this style?
Can use Q's 2-4 for other stories anyway.

[Pam]

Hi all, am new to the forum, have started a story and think have followed all the rules. But have a couple of questions before I post it.
1. In regards to appropriateness, think the story is okay for teens but not sure for children, its more the dialouge then pictures. Doing a story on the Caliente sisters and have them talk about their "romantic interests" that they aren't exactly in love with, is there a way the first chapter can be proof read to see if it's appropriate? If it's not then that's okay, will look elsewhere.
2. If it's okay to post the story can reserve 10 or so posts in the story thread (think that's what it's called and able to edit posts later, to put in next chapter) so several chapters of the story appear together to read?
3. I have CC from the Sims Resource, is it okay if i acknowledge it at the beginning, no link?
4. Not sure this will work, it's suppose to a text box in a post:

Spoiler: Chapter I (click to show/hide)

Chapter I text goes here.

Can I put the chapters under this style?
Can use Q's 2-4 for other stories anyway.

Welcome to our Forum.

1.  You may send the first chapter to me through private messaging and I'll be happy to take a look at it for appropriateness.  And thank you for checking first. 

2.  We prefer not to reserve posts in case the member making the posts doesn't return to the Forum or doesn't continue with the story.  An alternative would be to put links to the chapters in the first post and just keep editing it to add new chapter links.  You can look at the first page of my Townie DecaDynasty (link in my signature below) to see what I'm talking about.

3.  Yes, acknowledgement with no link is fine.

4.  We haven't been using spoilers (except for the ones I don't catch) on this Forum, and for the sake of consistency, I would prefer to keep it that way.  This is something we'll probably discuss for our Sims 4 Forum as a new option, but for now let's just leave them out.

Let me know if you have any other questions. 

[Dragonsgirl]

Hello Pam 

I have a few questions to ask. The first one is: I have been writing a story over on thesims3.com and wanted to know if we post links to the stories over there if that is acceptable? Or transfer the story over here?

The second one is: If I was to do a Dynasty story, do I have to start on a vacant lot and build my house or can I use one of the homes I've already built and place it on the empty land?

The third question is: Would you prefer the story be complete before posting it, or can we post our story in Chapters, like Chapters 1-5 in one post and then the rest in a second post?

Dragonsgirl (lea)

[Trip]

We allow people to link to stories from blogs, so I don't see why linking to it from the official forums would be bad either.

This more pertains to dynasty rules, but you have to start on an empty lot and build your house, if you're intending to completely follow the rules. Granted, you can bend some rules, play it as an unofficial dynasty, and post your story. We want stories to stick to rules about content and formatting; dynasty rules are your call.

Most people don't complete their stories before they post them. However, we do prefer one chapter per post. It makes it a little more readable.

[Dragonsgirl]

We allow people to link to stories from blogs, so I don't see why linking to it from the official forums would be bad either.

This more pertains to dynasty rules, but you have to start on an empty lot and build your house, if you're intending to completely follow the rules. Granted, you can bend some rules, play it as an unofficial dynasty, and post your story. We want stories to stick to rules about content and formatting; dynasty rules are your call.

Most people don't complete their stories before they post them. However, we do prefer one chapter per post. It makes it a little more readable.

Thank you Trip 

The reason for me asking is because on the official I have started writing a story about a newly married couple. One of the challenges over there was to restore a house and the other was to make a honeymoon cottage and a couple. Well I took that couple made their honeymoon cottage and then moved them into a renovation home to live out their lives and raise their children. I'm writing a story as they built their honeymoon cottage and then needed to move into a larger home that needed renovations. (It's 2 of the challenges on the official). I can't give you the link to the stories and can you then give me ideas on how to post it over here? Or maybe give me ideas on what I could fix to make it better?

[Paft]

Hi.

I apologize if I'm asking questions that have been answered a hundred times, but...

For the past few months I've been working on a Sims Story set on a imaginary island based on Barnicle Bay. It follows the fortunes of two families from 1880 to 2009. In many ways, it's a collection of completed stories. They are by no means X-rated -- there's no explicit sex depicted, and the language tends to be mild -- but there are references to extra-marital sex, unwed pregnancy, racism, even prostitution. There are two gay characters in a committed relationship. There is the occasional "**."

I'm considering posting or linking here, but I don't want to step on anyone's toes or break rules. I'd like to link to one of the milder short stores in my blog, about a family that loses its mother. I'd be happy to show someone the link and the story before posting here.

thanks

Paft

[Trip]

I'm merging this with the Story Rules thread, because that's where questions about content go.

I can tell you right now that we don't allow stories with prostitution or vulgar language beyond stuff like "crap" (note how the forum's filter caught whatever you typed), but I also want to make sure that you know that we aren't total prudes either. I can rattle off tons of stories on our forums that involve extra-martial relations or unwed pregnancy, and plenty more with same-sex couples.

Racism is tricky, but I don't know if it's a banned subject either.

If you want the moderators to review a story's content for you, the best way is to PM one of us with your story. You could also try cleaning up the bad parts and post the edited version to our Forum, while retaining the uncut version for other sites. Just my suggestion.

- Trip

[Pam]

I'm merging this with the Story Rules thread, because that's where questions about content go.

I can tell you right now that we don't allow stories with prostitution or vulgar language beyond stuff like "crap" (note how the forum's filter caught whatever you typed), but I also want to make sure that you know that we aren't total prudes either. I can rattle off tons of stories on our forums that involve extra-martial relations or unwed pregnancy, and plenty more with same-sex couples.

Racism is tricky, but I don't know if it's a banned subject either.

If you want the moderators to review a story's content for you, the best way is to PM one of us with your story. You could also try cleaning up the bad parts and post the edited version to our Forum, while retaining the uncut version for other sites. Just my suggestion.

- Trip

Racism is considered a banned element in stories here.

[TheGoat]

Racism is considered a banned element in stories here.

Clarification, please. Stories that portray racist Sims in a positive light are banned, or stories that even recognize or refer to the existence of racist Sims are banned? For example, let's say someone wanted to reenact a Sims version of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" or "To Kill a Mockingbird," stories that are very much about racism, but have a positive message - would those be okay, or do we just need to stay away from the topic altogether?

goat

[Pam]

Clarification, please. Stories that portray racist Sims in a positive light are banned, or stories that even recognize or refer to the existence of racist Sims are banned? For example, let's say someone wanted to reenact a Sims version of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" or "To Kill a Mockingbird," stories that are very much about racism, but have a positive message - would those be okay, or do we just need to stay away from the topic altogether?

goat

To be on the safe side, we need to stay away from it altogether.  Those are classic stories, true, but not everyone is familiar with them or their themes and it could easily become a problem that doesn't need to be addressed on a Sims 3 forum.  Thank you for bringing this up.

[Red the Wolf]

I have been planning to post a story in the Story board for quite some time now, but I was wondering if gay/lesbian relationships are allowed to be mentioned in story boards. They are possible in-game, so I don't see why not, but seeing as this site is supposed to be kid-friendly I don't know if it's allowed, because I know some people don't believe in gay rights and things and might think it's not kid-friendly to mention it. I'm asking because the Sim I would like to do a story about is going to end up in a relationship with another female Sim.