The Sims 3 - Showtime EP06

[Trentorio]

I wish I could preorder, but I purchased all my Sims 3 stuff via Steam and I usually have to wait a day. No CAW for me, either. I am excited for this expansion (on the fence about the networking but not dismissing it entirely just yet) and seeing what the people of this forum who will be playing it, do with it.

[Hosfac]

I think some of you heard "social networking" and automatically thought Farmville.  Nothing I saw in that video gave me that impression, really.  You're game's not actually connected with someone else's, so there's nothing to beg for and no way to give it even if someone did.  From what I can tell, you only really share what you want to share, with the exception of maybe the achievements (which seem to be automatic).  And trust me:  you won't be spamming anyone's wall with achievements.  The reason they're typically called "achievements" is because they require a bit of work. 

I'm actually kind of excited about this feature.  I just hope everyone doesn't turn it off lol. 

[kattiq]

You guys are making me extremely jealous! I still can't purchase it for some reason.

And if I ever DO get it, I hope maybe if I do participate in some "social" stuff it will only be with you guys. I hate bombarding people that don't play with silly game requests. Mainly because I hate being bombarded with them, and eventually block the games on Facebook.

[Hosfac]

I hate bombarding people that don't play with silly game requests. Mainly because I hate being bombarded with them, and eventually block the games on Facebook.

Are you all seeing something I'm not?  I just re-watched the video, and I still don't understand how people are getting the impression that "game requests" are in the works at all.  The only thing I can figure is that you're hearing "social networking" get thrown into the conversation, and you're making the leap to games like Farmville.  I don't really think that's a fair assumption at all.

Social Networking is a way for people to find other people with similar interests and communicate with them.  We pretty much do that here, don't we?  We come here, share things we're doing in the game, create stories to entertain our friends, and help each other.  This forum is pretty much all about social networking in regards to The Sims, and when each one of us came here and started posting, we knew that we had at least one thing in common with everyone else.  We didn't have to worry that someone would think we were nerds (or at least thinking that we were bigger nerds than they are lol) for enjoying this game as much as we do.  And after coming here, we've all managed to make some great friends...well, at least I know I have.

What I see that this does for us is that it adds the ability for us to share the small things we do with those good friends...the things which aren't necessarily worth making a new thread about.  You bring a new nooboo into the world, post it to your wall on the Sims 3 site, and all your friends get to share in the joy of that.  You manage to do something in the game that you've never done before, post it to your wall and your friends share in that victory, regardless of how small it really is.  I see it doing exactly what social networking is meant to do:  it helps bring friends closer together.

Does that sound so bad, really?

[MoonsAreBlue]

I'm right there with you, Hosfac. When I first heard about the social features, I immediately thought "Facebook game notifications noooo!!" But now that I know more, SimPort actually sounds pretty enjoyable. I don't think I'm going to turn it off. The only requests you're going to get are if your friends from the official site want to send a sim over or if they're offering to host. If you have so many friends that you feel you're going to be spammed with SimPort requests, then maybe you should narrow them down. I've recently added a few people from this site and this site only, because I know you all and I would be glad to host your sim as long as I'm not crazy busy (like two sim days from moving a DecaDynasty heir, phew).

But as far as updating on the official site, I think I'll be changing all my stuff so only I can see it or something like that. If I really want to share something awesome, I would come here and tell the tons of awesome people instead of the 28 of you I've managed to find on the official site, lol.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I'm thrilled with this video! Totally agree with Hosfac about it not coming across as the annoying every day Facebook game that pelts notifications at your profile. It looks like fun, actually!

[MarianT]

I just watched some of the walkthrough. I'm still not keen on the in-game chat, but I'll wait and see. And I'm looking forward to finding out about the achievements. We will be getting the new My Page a few days before Showtime comes out, which is good.

[CreativeCrayola]

I Love this Trailer, being a massive Katy Perry fan  I'm going to try and Pre-order this weekend, if I'm not able to get the One Direction tickets I'm after 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMJfovTfimk

[Hosfac]

The only requests you're going to get are if your friends from the official site want to send a sim over or if they're offering to host.

Ok, I had to do a bit more investigation into this to see where everyone was getting this "requests" thing from, and I understand what you're talking about now lol.  The big concern seems to be being inundated with requests to have someone's Sims in your game.

Honestly, I don't see this really being that overwhelming.  Perhaps to start with, as some people will undoubtedly be anxious to experiment with this new feature, but overall I think some sense of normalcy will eventually be achieved and people will be less likely to spam these requests to anyone and everyone as time marches on.  In all likelihood, you'll be able to control these requests from the start, anyways.

Really, I don't see that as a big a deal as the social networking aspect that was outlined in the video.

I'm still not keen on the in-game chat, but I'll wait and see.

You can, of course, turn this off. 

[Ausette]

You make excellent points as always, Hosfac. I think I'll probably choose to play the game unconnected because that's how I've always liked it, but it's always nice to see new options in the game whether I use them or not  . I think my main worry was that I'd have to use Simport extensively to unlock all the new items, as well as concern about being inundated with updates from other Simmers' games and potential lag issues with bringing an Internet factor into my game. Again, it's optional, so if I have any isses with the feature I'll be able to just turn it off.

In other news, I've been browsing the official forum for information on the EP and I found this (more pictures here)!







Okay, the game itself is looking fantastic. I'm normally not one to bring up The Sims 2 in comparison to The Sims 3, but I'm so happy to see a little bit of that Sims 2 colour and goofiness making its way into this EP. 

[Esther1981]

I agree Hosfac. I first thought of Facebook and I for one get overwhelmed by everything I post on my wall, and my thoughts with The Sims, is it's my game, I play it for fun and don't want to be posting everything I do. I still feel iffy on the in game chat like Marian, cause no offense but when I'm busy with my sims, I don't want to be talking to others! I want to focus on my game. Thankfully it came be turned off. The people over on the official forums that I'm friends with are from here, so it may be different, but I doubt it, although it would be cool maybe to talk to people I know from here. Although I'll let you all know now, if I don't respond, don't get upset, I'm just busy! 

Awesome pics Ausette!! I never had 1 or 2 so I don't know, everything we have gotten and will get are brand new for me! Now if there is a Sims 4, than I would probably know it's not a new thing lol.

[Hosfac]

I'm normally not one to bring up The Sims 2 in comparison to The Sims 3, but I'm so happy to see a little bit of that Sims 2 colour and goofiness making its way into this EP. 

Yeah that was a cool touch that I think was sadly left out for the most part in Sims 3.  It was one of the greatest improvements of Sims 1, outside the graphics obviously.

I still feel iffy on the in game chat like Marian, cause no offense but when I'm busy with my sims, I don't want to be talking to others!

I have more messengers than I really know what to do with.  I have Facebook, I have YIM, plus I use the half a dozen in-game chat channels in Rift...all on a daily basis.  Between working on the projects for the Sims 3 guide and my collaboration with Carl on the Rift website, I'm not exaggerating when I say that I spend at least 75% of my waking hours in some form of chat or another.  That's not anything close to a complaint:  I'm having the time of my life, and I am truly in some of the best company.  I just found myself asking:  "Do I really need another messenger?"

Need?  No.  But I think it's very existence might very well open up some interesting avenues that we haven't even considered yet.  Time will reveal all mysteries if they do, in fact, exist.  Until then, I'll probably just leave mine off. 

[samoht04]

It might actually be a blessing in disguise, this chat feature. If say someone was online and you needed to know something really quickly, you could try asking if they knew.

Although that blessing might be a curse. Especially because you might just want to play and not chat, finding it rude to just ignore or say you don't want to talk that person. So who knows, maybe it will be like Facebook where you can control whether you show as Online or Offline.

[Kasumitkhs]

When I get Showtime, I'm going to be on the safe side and turn off all the social features. I'm cringing inside because I know that SimPort and in-game will be buggy. Suddenly adding multiplayer functionality to a traditionally single-player game is a disaster waiting to happen in my humble opinion.

Everything else however, I find to be pretty cool. I can't wait to throw lettuce at Katy Perry.

[RunAmokSims]

When I get Showtime, I'm going to be on the safe side and turn off all the social features. I'm cringing inside cause I know that SimPort and in-game will be buggy. Suddenly adding multiplayer functionality to a traditionally single-player game is a disaster waiting to happen IMHO.

Everything else however, I find to be pretty cool. I can't wait to throw lettuce at Katy Perry.

I've never had any of the extra features like in game shopping turned on. In fact I don't think I've ever logged into my launcher before playing. The in game ads and shopping just seemed like a real life door-to-door salesman knocking on my door or a telemarketer calling me. I tell them that if I want to buy something I go shopping for it.