User Reviews (11 - 21 of 236)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

What could have been great......

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 23 / 23
Date: January 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is not ready for prime time yet. It may very well never be.

I won't get into the questions like chatrooms/original Sims, etc.

What I will tell you are some facts.

1. Lately, one or more of the game servers are down. Some are down for multiple times during the day. No real explanations are given.

2. For several months now, the property name search engine has not worked. No explanation. They've tried fixing it once but were not successful. If people can't find your property, they won't visit which is the entire point of the game.

3. For months now, objects disappear from your property. Still not fixed. There are many other similar, serious bugs that have existed for months also that are not fixed.

4. New features are added while not addressing bugs that have existed for a long time pre production. Many of these bugs directly affect game play in a negative manner.

5. Their technical support is horrible for the experiences I have. They only listen to have the problem and are trying to give a solution based on that. I have been given incorrect information and only upon vigorous escalation, is the matter finally addressed.

6. Maxis is tight lipped about any issues. As paying customers now playing a game in production, we get no explanations.

7. They are way behind in the delivery of promised features and game objects that should keep the game from getting stale.

8. Instead of allowing unlimited freedom within the constructs of the game, they are imposing restrictions on properties.

9. They do not want any negative comments posted on their boards. Most of what I stated above could be construed as a violation of their NEW posting guidelines now and grounds for the suspension or cancellation of my account. They also wiped the boards to get rid of all the negative comments posted there (although they would never admit that) at the same time the NEW posting guidelines were posted.

I could go on and on.

For now, keep your money. It's really not worth it.

An incomplete game that was released too early

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 23 / 23
Date: January 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am one of those people who laughed at the negative reviews and looked forward to the game with great anticipation. I purchased it a day after it came out.

Needless to say, I am disappointed. All the years they spent developing the game yet it plays like its half finished. As fun as it is socializing with other players, theres just not enough to do and what little objectives the game does have are really somewhat shallow. And what little gameplay is boring and tiresome. I'm used to playing online games that have a *balance* of actual gameplay along with socializating. Right now I feel as if I'm playing in a giant chatroom that I have to pay monthly for. For [the money], I wanted a little more depth and fun and this game doesn't have it and when I feel like chatting, I can always find somewhere online to do it for free.

And be warned, if you call to cancel your subscription, you will baited with free play time.

Why pay for a product that is still in beta-like version?

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 29 / 32
Date: January 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

As a test player for SIMS Online for over a month from pre-launch till being a paid player (today - post-launch), I am sorry to inform you that the game is far from bug-free and that you should hold off from buying the game for at least another few months.

During the pre-launch period, there were numerous bugs "crawling" everywhere.. from being booted off the game, to not being able to get home (enter your own lot that you own), to seeing ghostly objects in your own home (objects moving around by itself)....etc. The best part was that these were not one-off problems, but recurring and some would last for days to a week. For example, I was not able to get back into my lot for 5 days. Part of the game's objective is to either buy a lot or join someone's lot as a roommate. Next you furnish your lot or home with objects such as chairs, money making machines, rugs, toilets... etc. Unfortunately, the bugs that keep recurring in SIMS Online even till this very day (post-launch) is that your expensive objects would just disappear/vanish without trace and you would not get reimbursed with the money you spent on it.

During pre-launch days, many test players simply stopped playing all together even though it was free. There were so many bugs popping up and were never fixed even though bug reports were filed and so forth.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) for the few of us "founders" who have been playing the game pre-launch, we were given the reassurance by Maxis, the company who produced SIMS that the bugs would be fixed and that we should stay on.

Alas, the scheduled launch date of December 17 arrived and Maxis went ahead and launched the product along with grand scale marketing despite having a defective product. Why? Christmas sales, of course!

Nothing has changed since December 17. The bugs continue to exist and new bugs continue to crop up. But, what's incredible is that Maxis is now charging! US$49.95 for the game and US$9.95 monthly charges to play. That comes out to US$120 annually US$50 one-off = total US$170.

You spend so much time fretting over the bugs, filing bug reports on SIMS online website because you lose objects you purchased for your lot/house, can't get into your lot (which you basically purchased your game to be able to do)...etc.. etc.... Finally, you wonder if you should be the one who's getting paid instead of the other way around.

Don't take me wrong, the game concept is good. Building a virtual community and being able to communicate live with other online users, creating your own avatar and role-play is indeed a unique concept. SIMS Online is a good gaming idea. Unfortunately, if you are looking for a good time, I suggest you wait a while before buying. Buying the game now is frankly a waste of time since the game is full of bugs still.

Before I forget to mention, the new players that have emerged in the game are predominately young people in their teens who receive the game as a Christmas gift. If you are up for chatting online with teens and people running around trying to pick you up and "kiss" you, this might be the game for you.

For parents out there, please note that there is quite a lot of adult content in SIMS Online version. You may want to keep a close eye on your kids while they play. Also, make sure you tell your kids never to give out their personal information when people ask them on SIMS online.

Feel free to leave me a message if you have any questions about the game... etc. I already purchased the game with the one-month free subscription pre-launch. It is highly unlikely that I will continue after the 1st month unless if something miraculous happens.

If you are interested in buying, leave me a message and I will let you know if there are improvements.

If not, I highly recommend you to either not buy or buy after at least 3 months!

It just doesn't make sense to pay for a product that is still in beta-mode.

Falls flat. Dont waste your time or Simoleans

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 27 / 29
Date: January 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Building, learning the game & exploring can be fun. Skilling is tedious & time consuming. Unless you have a lot of time to dedicate you wont get very far very fast. If you do have the time or the cheats to get a big property, getting good roomies is even harder. Pray you dont get one who wipes your entire house & hard work for their idea of fun.

This game is advertised as the only limits being your imagination. Sorry, untrue. Object limits, property limits, limits to number of friends you can have in your friendship web. I have a ton of simoleans I can't spend except to feed ungrateful, rude foul mouthed visitors. Pre teens selling sim sex and building houses in profane shapes (yes I filed a complaint that fell on deaf ears). Sim, House and neighborhood names are not screened and are often offensive. There is no way I'd ever buy this game for anyone who was a kid or had them. I have a roomie now who gave personal info and is now hospitalized because she was tracked down and run off the road buy a nutcase stalker. I will be cancelling my game this week. Oh, I hear that is worse than cancelling AOL by the way... looking forward to it.

Just Wait and See

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: December 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I wish to remain anonymous but let me say this. I am serious in the online Sims community, have all the Sims related expansion packs as well as Deluxe. And also have a hobby of making things as a 3rd party user. Concerning The Sims Online. Wait 6 months to a year to buy it. If the game survives (I have serious doubts) a year it will be completly different then it was when it was released and it will be a hit. The ideal of The Sims Online has so much to offer. But I am in awe that the quality and attention to detail is just not there in the finished product that was released recently. It's almost as if Maxis wasn't in complete control of it's baby and was forced to release The Sims Online and hope for the best. The simple suggestion to a person thinking to buy is that the product as it stands is just lacking. So wait 6 months to a year. And if The Sims Online is still going and a hit, then go for it. I am crossing my fingers that it will be a hit as I want to see Maxis have success with this. But saying that, I will be counting down the days until the 6 months and then I will be here reading the newer reviews and making my mind up myself.

Not helping matters any..

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 21
Date: January 26, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Most of the positive reviews for this Christmas money ... sound like scripted corporate ..., just like on the box cover. I despise the soulless money machines which own "massively multiplayer online role-playing gaming" as it exists today. They don't own squat unless we buy. What boardroom was it that pushed a beautiful thing like The Sims into multiplayer mode before it was ready? Y'all probably hovered over the programmers like vultures as feature after feature dropped from not being able to make the December deadline. Then what is left is the dead boring buggy skeleton of the original game. No thanks, I'll stick to single player.

Why I felt guilty for living my real life

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 27 / 30
Date: February 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I first Beta tested TSO, I thought it was great. I liked meeting people, and I had fun playing with the objects that were new to me (I didn't have all of the offline expansion packs, so a lot was still new to me). But after a while, money became so hard to get, objects became so expensive, and it was so insanely difficult to be creative with what little we were given, that I felt like giving up.
After one of the cities was wiped, I started up a new house and was instantly fairly popular. Since I always had people wanting to get into my lot to gain skills and money, I felt like I *had* to play...like any time I was online, I should be playing TSO so I could provide my service. I ended up playing every day for hours on end...for what? It wasn't fun any more. It was like work. I can work in real life. And I found it to be very stressful.
In the beginning of December, I took a 10 day real life trip, and I actually felt guilty for going away for so long because I had to rely on my roomies to keep the property online! It's just a game!!! A game shouldn't make me feel guilty for leading my life!!! At that point, I decided I'd had enough, and I uninstalled the game.
Many of the players were extremely rude, and there were many, many times when I saw players offer sexual services for money, be it hot kissing for X amount, or getting into the lovebed for X amount, or having private cyber sex chat for X amount. Not to mention that I was constantly having men proposition me, force themselves on my avatar, and insult me if I refused to kiss them. The game is rated T, but I would never let a teen, much less a child, play this game. It's like a child predator's playground, with lots of half supervised teens masked as "sim adults". I would *highly highly* recommend against getting this for anyone under age 18.
I guess I can only echo what everyone else has already said...the game is not what it's advertised to be. It's not fun. It can be very stressful and very time consuming. Players can plan on spending lots of time fighting off other players who force themselves on you. And forget about being listened to when you voice a concern about something. Last I heard, you still couldn't say the word "Jewish" without it showing up as "%&#@!" eventhough hundreds of people complained about it.
My final word...if it flops, Maxis is just getting what they deserve for treating their players like trash.

Unrealized Potential - Big Flop by Maxis

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 23 / 24
Date: January 10, 2003
Author: Amazon User

TSO has got to be one of the biggest flop in gaming history. I got TSO for Xmas because like most people who bought it or asked for it, I was lulled with the promise of running a casino, making products to sell to to others, etc.

What do you get with TSO?
1) A lot of time staring into the screen with little interation
2) 10.99 month to beta test the game (this game has more bugs than the movie "An Ants Life." What bugs you ask?
a)Search function doesn't fully work,
b)missing items,
c)items not loaded,
d)getting booted from the game for no reason,
e)the best one? Maxis implemented a patch three days ago, alas, the patch made things worse, people couldnt get into their account, people couldnt get into their house, people couldnt see their sims, people had to reinstall the patch multiple times...the list goes on and on and on
3) Little entertainment value (you spend so much time trying to fulfill your sim's needs, you really don't get to do anything else)
4) Dissapointment (A las, I was extremely hopeful this gentre can compete with the likes of Everquest and other D&D MMORPG.)

Save your money folks...unless you want to pay 50 bucks for the game and 10.99 a month for a poorly developed and poorly implemented game.

Takes the "sim" right out of The Sims

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 24 / 26
Date: January 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have been a HUGE Sims fan from the very start (and a SimCity fan before that), so I was eager to try out The Sims Online.

What I loved about all the previous "The Sims" games, as well as SimCity was the excitement of seeing what the simulation would do if I tried different things (e.g. if you treat your Sims Unleashed dog really badly, can you make it vicious?) and the challenge of achieving various goals which the simulation didn't make easy (e.g. trying to advance a Sim to the highest level in a career path).

With The Sims Online, there is no simulation, which leads to there being no challenges and no surprises. The other Sims you interact with are just other people playing the game. If I wanted to interact with other people, I would go have some real human interaction rather than sitting in front of my computer! When I turn on The Sims, I want to play a game, and unfortunately The Sims Online doesn't deliver any substantial gameplay whatsoever (coordinating use of the pizza station with other players does not count as gameplay...).

A big disappointment.

A terrible, terrible waste of time and money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 22 / 23
Date: January 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This has been said many times before, but it's worth repeating: this is a glorified, expensive chatroom. If you're interested in doing mindless, tedious tasks to make nominal amounts of money and having countless people come up to you and ask "A/S/L?", then this game might be for you. If not, turn the computer off and interact with people in the real world. It seems to attract the worst aspects of the chatroom culture (mean-spiritedness, juvenile remarks about race and sexual identity, over-competitiveness) while having little of the creativity that can make the internet so great. There are relatively few items (even if your character could afford them) and less skins than I would have thought; I'm sure those will be provided in future, costly expansion packs. This game is not worth what you pay for the software, much less a monthly subscription fee. The concept of the game certainly has potential. Maybe Maxis will make improvements, but that's not going to happen on my dime...

DO NOT BREAK THE SEAL AND BUY THIS GAME UNLESS THE STORE HAS A GOOD RETURN POLICY ON OPENED SOFTWARE! THE BAD REVIEWS YOU READ HERE ARE ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE! DO NOT BUY THIS RIDICULOUSLY OVERPRICED GAME!

Did I mention that I don't like this game?

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions