Balancing Act

stargrace July 2, 2009 2 Comments

We’re certainly not all perfect (some of us not even remotely close) so when I created my sim I decided to give her the kleptomaniac trait. Along with that trait I chose generosity, and a few others like green thumb and lucky.

Now, my sim likes her free time, a lot. I decided she would quit her full time job, and take a part time job at the book store. This freed a lot of time to work in her garden where I sell fruits and vegetables on the side. Of course growing things can also be pricey at first, so I took a trip to the neighbors house and harvested all of their vegetables for them. It wasn’t as though they were going to use them! Onion and garlic and potato that was far better then anything I had currently growing (tomatoes and apples). My neighbors would never miss them!

That’s how it started. Something small and expendable like veggies and fruit.

Over time, I noticed a few more little ‘things’ went missing when my sim was around. I would send her off to work and she would come home with a ‘free’ stack of magazines. She tried to explain that it was just a perk of the job, but they were clearly marked ‘stolen’. She didn’t even read them but dropped them on the table and went about her business.

Feeling a little lonely I sent her over to the neighbors home again, to talk a little. She was feeling hungry so she helped herself to the microwave food laying around (and was scolded over that) then proceeded to walk from room to room pilfering items when no one was looking. It almost became a game to see how much she could get away with.

That night she came home with a new shower (I’m sure the Roomies won’t miss that!) a box of tissue, and a picture one of the Roomies had hanging on their wall. She had no issues setting up the ‘new’ items in her home (and selling the old shower, it only sprayed cold water anyhow) though she did get a few lifetime requests to return the items, I decided she’d rather not – see, she’s not all bad.

Because she has the generosity trait she has the option to donate to charity (often) and she does. $100 increments here and there, on a fairly steady basis. She also has the ability to brighten people’s days and I try to take advantage of that – so despite the fact that she’s stealing from her neighbours at least she is trying to balance the bad traits out (she can’t help but steal after all – it’s like you spot a shiny in EQ2 just LAYING there even though your group may be in the middle of some big fight, can you pass that up? No, of course not!) and trying to make a difference in the small way that she can.

This time around I turned off the aging feature in the options, because I didn’t want my sim to die – a little odd I know but I’d like to be able to play for a good length of time and see what I can work her up to. I’ve left the story line on, and that at least gives me a little direction.

Amusing story, yesterday she was out in her yard working her garden (a typical chore, they requier a lot of work especially when you have a large number of plants) and she was out there a little too long because her smell became quite unsavory. A neighbour happened to come walking along who she had never met before and he laughed and pointed at her due to the scent. At least she was getting a good day of hard work in! Meanie!

The little quirks and twists and turns that happen in game amuse me, the bits that I have no control over while still having control if that makes any sense. You can try to anticipate how someone is going to react or what is going to go wrong, but you won’t always be 100% correct. That’s what keeps the game fun and interesting to me.

Things Break

stargrace June 26, 2009 2 Comments

After spending two days in bed due to a particularly nasty gallstone attack I’m feeling far better, and able to sit at the desk again which makes me exceptionally happy. I have completely changed my diet (no meats, no dairy, no sugar, no coffee, clear liquids only, etc) for the next month in an attempt at preventing these attacks completely until I can have my ultrasound and doctors can determine whether or not I need my gallbladder removed. Since the attacks are directly related to what you eat and how much cholesterol is in it this is about all I can do. For anyone out there who has dealt with gallstone attacks before you have my deepest sympathy, this is some of the scariest stuff I have ever had to deal with.

I spent the majority of yesterday (when not sleeping) playing Sims 3 and although at times it chugs a little slow on the laptop it runs fairly well. I learned a few new things.

First of all, my sim-self has a fairly small starter house. Deciding to throw a party with as many people invited as she can possibly add is a bad idea. A very bad idea. The majority of people showed up to the party and then spent a few hours all crammed into my kitchen while my sim-self stood there holding a plate of pancakes, unable to move. People told me I threw a pretty cruddy party and I had to agree, I couldn’t mingle and by the end my sim-self bladder was about to explode. Oh, and thank you whoever it was that broke my sink, because that was just what I needed!

My sim-self also quit her job, after taking on numerous ones in an attempt to find her calling. She tried to be a criminal mastermind for a little while and found the hours too annoying. Plus my first day there the boss asked me to stay late and work for some mafia leaders. I took up gardening which is a pretty neat feature in the game that I enjoy a lot, and promptly quit my job. Why not just create my own farm and sell that at the local grocery store! My meager seeds were not enough though and I headed over to the neighbours house to harvest their plants too. Then I used their garlic, onion, potato, and bell pepper seeds to cultivate my own plants, giving me even more selection. They won’t even notice that they’re gone.

Speaking of which, my sim-self is a kleptomaniac, so if things are missing, well. I can’t help it!

While selling veggies at the local grocery store is fairly good money (I was making 200 a day or so) earning money was still pretty slow. While my sim-self is not THAT hung up on material things, the extra coin is pretty nice, so she took a part time job at the book store a few hours a night. This still gives her lots of time to work on what she wants to do, including a grill-a-thon that the town held in the community park – I was SO CLOSE to winning! Off by one serving of hotdogs and if it wasn’t for the fact that my sim-self had to use the washroom so badly she ignored all other commands, I would have won.

I have noticed one drastic change for me in playing Sims 3 vs. the other sims games. In all of the other games I was a builder. I enjoyed creating and designing the houses far more then I ever enjoyed actually playing a character in game. This time around it’s the opposite, I have spent little to no time building aside from adding a garden and little upgrades here and there – almost all of my time has been spent following my little sim-self along and watching her life. It’s interesting to me, and something that I would not have guessed would change.

The achievement system within the game also appeals to my gamer self, and I find myself aiming for lifetime rewards and goals, something that I previously wouldn’t have cared about.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a few hours, and I’m looking forward to seeing what trouble I can get into today!