I bought the new expansion pack, Open for Business, but I have not actually played any sims since then. I think it was because I was so disappointed that the Win players would soon have pets, and I would not. However... Dr. Stevil delivered the good news today! The mac version will be out two weeks after the win version. That's the fastest turnaround yet! Wheeee! I love you Aspyr!
I'll try to be a better Sims2 goddess from now on.
on the way home from work, I picked up this..
freshly released.
Evildeb is not here this week. She may be at home, building her shrine to Johnny Cash, or baking pies for thanksgiving, I'm not sure. The rest of us are left here, at Grump Central. There are a lot of bad moods around here today. And maybe it's because of air stagnation. We are under an air stagnation advisory. This is due to a high pressure front that remains over the pacific northwest, trapping all the pollution and smog and other nasties in the air. It's super foggy in the morning and evening, and the air is icky. Maybe that's what is making everyone crabby, I don't know. But until it rains on Thursday evening, we remain under a cloud.
In an effort to snap out of it, I give you this happy video of one of my sims jumping on the couch. Isn't that cheery?
The New Kid was moving into the cube next door to me today, so I hauled everything of mine that was left in there, over to my own desk. "Hauled" makes it sound like there was a lot. There wasn't. I waited until the last minute because I so enjoyed the constant reminders from various people that I was getting a New Kid soon, and had to move my stuff. What? You are kidding? A New Kid? I did not know that! Sarcasm does become me, trust me.
So, when I was getting ready to leave for the day, I hear Dr. Stevil and EvilDeb talking to the New Kid about my desk. Now, even tho he is New, he is not really "new" to us. He used to work with the three of us at the vendor. Then he left, and made us cry. Now he works at my POE, but not on my product team. Anyway, I heard Evildeb say something about how they threw away all their trash and crap, when we moved to the new part of the building, but that I just brought mine along with me. Which is true. I didn't have time to go through all that crap! I thought I would do that when I unpacked. But then, I haven't finished unpacking yet. [April. we moved in April, in case you are wondering.] Now, Evildeb and Dr. Stevil are both freakishly neat. And Evildeb was explaining how she didn't really need her second set of drawers, but her things "bring joy to her life." I tried to point out that it was hypocritical to make fun of me. But that's like comparing a tiny orange to a room full of apples running amuck. Golden Delicious, tho they may be.
"Yeah, but Jodi... JODI. Come on... Jodi."
"Yeah. ok... but you should see the back of my car!" It's worse than my desk.
"Not to mention your house?"
Now, I resent that remark. She has not been in my house since last fall! She has no idea what shape it is in! Besides, I don't have time for housework, I have sims who need me to get them into private school, and teach them to cook, and to put them into situations that allow for public woo-hoo! I have to keep their houses clean, damn it!
I managed to eat entirely for free today, there was complimentary food galore at work. That's a good day, in my book.
Dr. Stevil: It's Harry Potter day.
Me: I know. I never pre-ordered it.
Dr. Stevil: and that surprises me
Me: I was doing other things... I never got around to it. I haven't been reading much the last few weeks.
Dr. Stevil: *slow bug blink to indicate disbelief and surprise*
KK: Like what?
Me: Well, the sims. And the chatting. [under breath] with boys.
KK: Ahhh... yes... boys.
Evildeb: What about the liquor?
Me: Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, you can do either one of those while enjoying the liquor.
KK: Sometimes you can enjoy them more.
Evildeb: Liquor only adds to the enjoyment.
Dr. Stevil: Ok, boys and liquor are fine. But the sims and liquor, that's dangerous.
KK and Me: *slow bug blinks to indicate disbelief and surprise*
Me: And ... there is no danger of mixing boys and liquor? What?
Dr. Stevil: Well, you could really mess up your game.
Me: But... but... if you mess up with boys and liquor, that's your life! Besides, in the sims you can always quit without saving. You can't do that with a boy.
Dr. Stevil: No, I guess not... but you've invested so many hours in the game.
KK and Me: *look at each and wonder if Steve is serious.*
Me: Well, I usually save intermittently. Besides, if I truly fuck up a sim, I can just kill him and start over. You can't do that with a boy.
Dr. Stevil: I suppose you are right.
Me: I am so going to blog this conversation.
KK: it says so right there on your shirt.
To those of you who voted that I give in to my incredibly passionate nature, and buy the Sims2 yesterday, despite my need for housecleaning, bless you. You are my people. You "get" me.
To those of you who voted that I sacrifice my own needs for pleasure to better secure my family's health and safety, ie: clean the bathroom, I've let you down. I'm sorry. Please don't be too disappointed in me. I couldn't stand it if you if you thought ill of me. But... I couldn't find a sponge. No, seriously, I really couldn't. Besides, there are two more days until she gets here. I'll get it all done by then. I'll pick up a sponge on the way home. Trust me.
The Sims2 is way different from the old Sims. It's pretty freakin' awesomely fabulous! I love creating new sims, I could spend hours just manipulating the shape of their face, the tilt of their eyes, the width of their nose... it's wicked cool. Playing the actual game takes some adjustments. Lots of things have changed. I had to do a lot of exploring. There are things that are out of my control now. One sim went to work in an ok mood, he didn't have a lot of valid skills, and all of the sudden a dialog came up - he was facing a situation, and had to make a choice. Actually, I had to make the choice. I made the right one and he got promoted. My other sim went to work in a great mood, with lots of applicable skills, I was again prompted to make a decision. I picked the wrong one and she was fired! She came with a cold, the game informed me, was totally sick, and incredibly depressed about the loss of her job. I had to send her to bed. Her energy was down, her hygiene was down, everything was down. Actually, she took a shower first, then rested in bed until she had enough energy to get up and eat. Then sat in a chair and red [for Fun, Comfort, and Energy] But the depression! She moaned and wailed and cried. Now "getting fired" shows up as one of her fears. And it's one of her "memories" as well. Both things are new to the Sims2. It's ok, we spent a couple of days getting healthy and happy and increasing a couple of skills, and then got another job in the Science field. While her partner is in the Law Enforcement field. Because that is what he wanted. It said so right in the control panel. However, his main mission in life, his emphasis.... his raison d'etre is Family. Hers is Knowledge. At this point, they are Good Friends, and I am trying to work my way, their way, up into love so we can trade the two single beds in for a double.
A while back, I was talking to Chris about the great names spammers use. I said that when I wrote my best selling novel, I might give all the characters names I got from spam. And so I started to keep a list. And it seemed that it would also work for Sims. So their names are Pansy and Dimitri Merona. Not the most exotic names on my list. But come on... Pansy? Such a smart girl and her name is Pansy.
This is the first time, in a long time, I've played without the money cheat. But I had started to rely on it too much, and it took some of the challenge out of the game. So the Meronas are saving their simoleans for a nice Telescope. Something else that has changed... you have all sorts of new options. For example, instead of just Read, Look for a Job, and Recycle options on the newspaper, you can now also Make an Airplane. Which the sim will then play with until you stop them. They will also play some kind of weird pirate game in the bathtub. Food flies everywhere when they eat. And they make cuter noises.
And I only played until 11 and that includes a long break during which I chatted online with real people. So... you know... I can stop any time. I can!
