They've survived or seen it all -- the Great Wipe, account-termination-happy Maxis employees, boredom, friendships, paranoia, exhaustion, poverty, wealth, scams -- and over a year of play in The Sims Online. They've witnessed weddings and funerals... the arrival of pets and the departure of the Maze. They remember a time when you couldn't change the clothes you were wearing, and when female Sims were forced to wear lime green pajamas when they slept. These Sims remember -- back in the day -- when a Sim couldn't die, but merely collapse from sheer exhaustion after swimming for hours in a pool. They've held in their possession pumpkins, New Years' disco balls, Simmies, animal statues, and maybe even a gnome or two...
Now, beginning on December 31, 2003, thousands of Sims will be turning the big 4-0-0. It's quite an achievement, really. And, to commemorate this, we've got interviews with seven Sims... who, by the time you read this, will probably have already passed that special milestone....
*Rosemarie Castalano
*Missie Muehlhans
*wendela
*Nick Danger
*Samantha Jones PR
*Bajango
*CrystalBlu Gangsta
 Rosemarie Castalano is the owner of Exceeding Needs, a Welcome property in Alphaville, and she's "had the same house since day one." Her time in TSO has been spent making friends, managing her home, and occasionally starting fires in the designated fire room at her property.  What's the funniest thing she's seen in the game? "The laptop hands," she says. "We do them here for fun... if two Sims try to use the same laptop at the same time, it splits and gets stuck on one of their hands and then I run around and use it to swim, eat, pet the dog, etc. It is pretty hilarious." Fires, laptop hands... times are never dull at Rosemarie's place. But if she had her way, she'd like to see Maxis add Sim babies and litters for the cats and dogs. Now that would be interesting! |  |
  Kwik Cash Stop |
 Missie Muehlhans hails from Interhogan -- and she loves her city! And why shouldn't she? She's the owner of Kwik Cash Stop, one of the city's highest-rated Money lots. She credits "hard work" as the key reason her lot is so successful, but her time in Interhogan hasn't been all work and no play... she also enjoys checking out other lots, too. And, of course, she likes to have fun. :) Missie does have a few ideas for how TSO could be better, though: "bigger payouts on the job objects," for one. Also -- more balloon links and bigger property object limits. (Good suggestions, IMO!) When asked what the funniest or strangest thing she has seen in the game was, she replied, "Not sure I could pick one... seen many funny and strange things. I really like it when the Sims go crazy in and out of doors, trying to break a code door. It is sooo funny." |
 Alphaville native wendela has been one busy Sim. "I've been a property owner since the beta days," she told me. "Was a top 10 skill house back then, called The Hutch. Survived the great wipe of '02. Made lots of friends, some who no longer play. I'm very good at teaching fairies how to fly, and I was the Christmas fairy this past Christmas Eve at my current hangout, Ye Olde BootNBoard. I'm there almost every night."  A recent group meditation at Ye Old BootNBoard To sum it up: "To me the game is about socializing and meeting people from all over the world." |  |
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 Nick Danger, of Alphaville, runs Old Same Place, wears a tux, and promotes firesigntheatre.com in his profile. But who is Nick Danger, really? He may look like a man of mystery, but he seemed more than happy to give me the details on his life thus far. "I got into a property too soon, from my point of view," he admits. "Then I went around skilling so I could make $, made some friends (most of whom are now gone.) So I am making new friends now. I realize now that chasing $ is one measure of success, but how can you tell? Now I am trying to have fun and spread the word about the Firesign Theatre Comedy Group. I changed my Sim's name to Nick Danger, one of the characters they created." What would Nick like to change about TSO? He wishes the jobs weren't quite so silly and that motives in one's own house did not drop as quickly as they do. The weirdest thing Nick has seen in the game is "the void at the Idnar Memorial Gallery [in Alphaville] -- owner Paul Neruda. You have to see it to believe it. Your Sim disappears and you can't interact any more. You can still talk, though. It isn't dangerous, you just go to another property and you are fine. The funniest is where they have put objects near a bed... your sim sleeps outside of the bed in their regular clothes."  |
 Alphaville's Samantha Jones PR has seen a lot of weird things in TSO, most notably a "bear in a tutu."
|   The Bear Necessities |
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 Bajango, an Alphavillian who runs The New-Sims Ranch is a fun and friendly Sim who takes care of newbies and shows them the ropes. He has spent his time in Alphaville "learning" and "earning," "then teaching and training." He knows his home has been the starting point for many now-successful Sims. We're all newbies once, and he helps give those very Sims a good start in their Sim life. "Lately," he says, "I have turned to protecting the newer players from some of the scammers who have pushed people out of TSO."  The funniest thing he's seen in the game was something that happened at his property: when three of his roommates "ganged up" on him. If you're curious about what that was all about, check out the hilarious photos on his website (http://members.shaw.ca/bajango/). Bajango has many suggestions for TSO improvement. For one, "I would like to see a reward action for Sim age, but not just one... a ticket that lets you pick one action from a list of 5 at, say, 200 days... then another at 400 that lets you pick from the first 5 and a new 5... then the same pattern for 600, 800, 1000. That would create some very cool and personal Sims." In addition, he would also like "the Enemy feature to be blockable in a way... tagging is, in my mind, nothing more than childish bully play." |
 CrystalBlu Gangsta, of Interhogan, is another Sim who has led a full and busy life. She has had several different lots at different times, and often worked to keep those lots in the Top 5. But eventually she "basically got tired of the stress involved in trying to stay at the top and... retired from that aspect of the game." Her motto? "Play for yourself, play to have fun. If you aren't having fun, then why play?" she says. CrystalBlu would like to see some new interractions in TSO, including a "mashed potato" dance. And she, like wendela, would welcome a "spank" action. In addition, she'd like to see new furniture designs, as well as a method of blocking enemy tags. "Taggers make this game very unfriendly and cause some Sims undue stress over a red link." One of CrystalBlu's most memorable moments in the game was the so-called "Naked Tub Day." She explains: "Basically when you quit the tub action before finishing your bath, your Sim got out of the tub and the blur disappeared... and we were standing there naked and looking like Barbie and Ken dolls. Many streakers that day lol. MOMI got wind of it and shut all the servers down." Another funny moment in the game occured one day when a bug allowed Sims to hold the game pieces while doing other activities, such as riding the bull. "Great fun!" |  |
So there you have 'em -- just seven of the thousands of 400-day-old Sims in TSO. You've read snatches of their memorable moments, wishes, and their lives.:)
12/30/03
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