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I dislike Time Limits in The Sims FreePlay

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  • WinMacSims3WinMacSims3 Posts: 1,610 Member
    What also makes the Timed Events/Hobbies worse is that you have no control over if they'll start so it's not possible to postpone it and therefore prevent the timer from starting until you're ready. That means if you're not ready or if you haven't gotten the requirements for the Event, it could be problematic as the timer will start counting down.

    Quests can be postponed by not doing the goal that completes the quest although the next quest will immediately begin after finishing the previous quest. At least for the Discovery Quests, it's up to you if you want to start them. Postponing Quests and Discovery Quests is possible since the time limit only starts when the player starts the quest but this doesn't work for the timed Events/Hobbies.

    The timed Event/Hobby also overrides the Hobby's prize which can make it impossible to earn the Hobby's first prize or LPs. For the latter, this isn't a problem since Cooking is probably the quickest way to get LPs if you won't mind constantly ordering Sims to cook but can be a hassle for the former if you're trying to get its prize especially if the Hobby takes a long time to get a Collectible (i.e., Woodworking).

    The Time Limit issue was addressed with VIP's Time Extension Tokens but I don't think VIP is worth spending money on especially as TS3 has a lot of DLC and TS4 tends to roll out new DLC every month or two.
    Origin ID: GothicSimmer, YouTube: GothicSimmer
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    What also makes the Timed Events/Hobbies worse is that you have no control over if they'll start so it's not possible to postpone it and therefore prevent the timer from starting until you're ready. That means if you're not ready or if you haven't gotten the requirements for the Event, it could be problematic as the timer will start counting down.

    Quests can be postponed by not doing the goal that completes the quest although the next quest will immediately begin after finishing the previous quest. At least for the Discovery Quests, it's up to you if you want to start them. Postponing Quests and Discovery Quests is possible since the time limit only starts when the player starts the quest but this doesn't work for the timed Events/Hobbies.

    The timed Event/Hobby also overrides the Hobby's prize which can make it impossible to earn the Hobby's first prize or LPs. For the latter, this isn't a problem since Cooking is probably the quickest way to get LPs if you won't mind constantly ordering Sims to cook but can be a hassle for the former if you're trying to get its prize especially if the Hobby takes a long time to get a Collectible (i.e., Woodworking).

    The Time Limit issue was addressed with VIP's Time Extension Tokens but I don't think VIP is worth spending money on especially as TS3 has a lot of DLC and TS4 tends to roll out new DLC every month or two.
    The Sleepwear event just started and has a limit of 13 days. It will override the catwalk modeling event and you can only use 2 sims for that hobby (1 in your own town and 1 in a neighbor's town). Catwalk modeling is a rather slow hobby which takes 3 hrs and 15 min. I have 10 out of the 12 items currently. But they will be wasted if I start the event.

    Still I like those events because they are challenging and motivate me to play more. It isn't very important to get all the items though and the events seem to return after some time so we will get an opportunity to get missed items later anyway.

    I don't care too much about the missed LPs which the timed events cost me because I have about 600 unused LPs and this number increases slowly all the time even though I use a lot of LPs to prevent my many sims from unwanted aging. From time to time I can therefore still afford to use LPs to speed important tasks a little up.
  • AstroAstro Posts: 6,651 Member
    What also makes the Timed Events/Hobbies worse is that you have no control over if they'll start so it's not possible to postpone it and therefore prevent the timer from starting until you're ready. That means if you're not ready or if you haven't gotten the requirements for the Event, it could be problematic as the timer will start counting down.

    Quests can be postponed by not doing the goal that completes the quest although the next quest will immediately begin after finishing the previous quest. At least for the Discovery Quests, it's up to you if you want to start them. Postponing Quests and Discovery Quests is possible since the time limit only starts when the player starts the quest but this doesn't work for the timed Events/Hobbies.

    The timed Event/Hobby also overrides the Hobby's prize which can make it impossible to earn the Hobby's first prize or LPs. For the latter, this isn't a problem since Cooking is probably the quickest way to get LPs if you won't mind constantly ordering Sims to cook but can be a hassle for the former if you're trying to get its prize especially if the Hobby takes a long time to get a Collectible (i.e., Woodworking).

    The Time Limit issue was addressed with VIP's Time Extension Tokens but I don't think VIP is worth spending money on especially as TS3 has a lot of DLC and TS4 tends to roll out new DLC every month or two.

    I'm feeling it. I'm only lvl 11 and the sleepwear event started yesterday. Don't know if I'll make it or not as I don't have the mall built yet. :(
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    @Astro The sleepwear event is a (modified) repetition from April 2015 as you can see on http://sfptips.perturbee.net/2015/04/sleepwear-event.html If you don't have a mall yourself then maybe you can find it in one of your neighbor's town?
  • marcel21marcel21 Posts: 12,341 Member
    Astro wrote: »
    What also makes the Timed Events/Hobbies worse is that you have no control over if they'll start so it's not possible to postpone it and therefore prevent the timer from starting until you're ready. That means if you're not ready or if you haven't gotten the requirements for the Event, it could be problematic as the timer will start counting down.

    Quests can be ptponed by not doing the goal that completes the quest although the next quest will immediately begin after finishing the previous quest. At least for the Discovery Quests, it's up to you if you want to start them. Postponing Quests and Discovery Quests is possible since the time limit only starts when the player starts the quest but this doesn't work for the timed Events/Hobbies.

    The timed Event/Hobby also overrides the Hobby's prize which can make it impossible to earn the Hobby's first prize or LPs. For the latter, this isn't a problem since Cooking is probably the quickest way to get LPs if you won't mind constantly ordering Sims to cook but can be a hassle for the former if you're trying to get its prize especially if the Hobby takes a long time to get a Collectible (i.e., Woodworking).

    The Time Limit issue was addressed with VIP's Time Extension Tokens but I don't think VIP is worth spending money on especially as TS3 has a lot of DLC and TS4 tends to roll out new DLC every month or two.

    I'm feeling it. I'm only lvl 11 and the sleepwear event started yesterday. Don't know if I'll make it or not as I don't have the mall built yet. :(

    Yes I used to use my friends towns to Collect things before I built my own!
    Origin ID MichaelUKingdon


  • AstroAstro Posts: 6,651 Member
    edited March 2016
    Oh, I didn't know I could use my neighbors town to complete quests. Thanks. :)
  • AudreyFldAudreyFld Posts: 6,695 Member
    I have spent a grand total of 2.98. I spent .99 once to buy the pool cleaner and then the swimsuits went on sale for 1.99 so I bought that. Otherwise I have done everything without cheats. The only thing I don't have finished is the volcanos which I have simply decided will take forever and I have no need to pay for LPs to complete it. I like to challenge myself to complete the quests and will strategically use my LPs to move things along. It is totally a side game for me as well. I spend my free time playing TS3 and sometimes TS4. This is just a game I use to kill time. :) If you get the restaurant quest done and have the cooking hobby, you will be able to amass a fair number of LPs fairly quickly.
  • WinMacSims3WinMacSims3 Posts: 1,610 Member
    EA/Firemonkeys is taking this up to eleven with the events. If you disliked the time limits in FreePlay, it's going to get more worse with the auto-starting events. Almost every time an event ends, another one is going to start and like the main quests, you can't postpone them. Even saying "No" will still have the timer count down.

    At least with the discovery quests, you can postpone them but the game tends to ask you to start the Discovery Quest when you enter the Town Map. Imagine minding your own business in the Town Map receiving a prompt about the discovery quest.

    The game doesn't tend to ask you to purchase a currency pack anymore but the prompts will still appear if you don't have enough money which can be a trap to first time players and children/teens.
    Origin ID: GothicSimmer, YouTube: GothicSimmer
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    @WinMacSims3 If you are afraid of being trapped to buy something then you can just disable inn-app purchases in the general settings on your iOS device. But even if you don't do this you will always have to confirm your purchases. So you can't really be trapped.

    The only problem is that you should always disable store purchases on devices used used by children or make sure that their devices don't remember your credit cards. Otherwise they could make purchases naively believing that they don't pay with real money.
  • WinMacSims3WinMacSims3 Posts: 1,610 Member
    edited March 2016
    I forgot to mention that FreePlay doesn't seem to give you a break regarding events because a new one tends to start after the previous one ends. The game does tell you about the future events but you are not told if or when the event starts, the fact they start without warning can be a problem for Simmers not ready for or unaware about the event. It especially can be worse if FreePlay decides to start the event while you are in a middle of a Quest, Discovery Quest, or a timed Hobby.

    It's also really annoying you can't postpone them, I think they should make the events optional like the discovery quests are but no, they had to make it required for every player to start the event. In addition, the events make it annoying if they limit the number the number of Sims (e.g., 4) or they take a long time to earn the collectible, It's often both.

    I makes me wonder why EA/Firemonkeys doesn't seem to do anything about the time limits despite being a very controversial feature in FreePlay hence the title of the thread. In fact, time limits in FreePlay take the number one spot of The Sims' disliked features.

    Time limits plus FreePlay's real time will screw over every Simmer especially for those who go to school or work or those who don't usually play FreePlay frequently. Also the fact that The Sims FreePlay requires an Internet connection doesn't help, woes to any Simmer that's away from their home. See my original post at page 1 for why time limits are a problem for every Simmer.

    Origin ID: GothicSimmer, YouTube: GothicSimmer
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    I forgot to mention that FreePlay doesn't seem to give you a break regarding events because a new one tends to start after the previous one ends. The game does tell you about the future events but you are not told if or when the event starts, the fact they start without warning can be a problem for Simmers not ready for or unaware about the event. It especially can be worse if FreePlay decides to start the event while you are in a middle of a Quest, Discovery Quest, or a timed Hobby.

    It's also really annoying you can't postpone them, I think they should make the events optional like the discovery quests are but no, they had to make it required for every player to start the event. In addition, the events make it annoying if they limit the number the number of Sims (e.g., 4) or they take a long time to earn the collectible, It's often both.

    I makes me wonder why EA/Firemonkeys doesn't seem to do anything about the time limits despite being a very controversial feature in FreePlay hence the title of the thread. In fact, time limits in FreePlay take the number one spot of The Sims' disliked features.

    Time limits plus FreePlay's real time will screw over every Simmer especially for those who go to school or work or those who don't usually play FreePlay frequently. Also the fact that The Sims FreePlay requires an Internet connection doesn't help, woes to any Simmer that's away from their home. See my original post at page 1 for why time limits are a problem for every Simmer.
    I don't really agree for the following reasons:
    1. The game told me yesterday that the chocolatier special event would start "tomorrow" - and it did.
    2. If you postponed a special event then it would overlap with the next special event and it would be too much to play two such events at the same time anyway.
    3. I wouldn't mind playing the game sometimes using my mobile data subscription instead of wifi. I only pay 4 dollars each month for this as long as I don't use more than 1 GB mobile data. (I would pay another 4 dollars for a month where I used more than 1 GB but less than 2 GB mobile data. But this has never occurred.)
    4. If we didn't have time limits or could play offline then the game wouldn't be free and would probably cost at least 10 dollars and we wouldn't get all those updates unless we paid extra for them too. But the game would soon become boring without the updates.
  • WinMacSims3WinMacSims3 Posts: 1,610 Member
    I forgot to mention that FreePlay doesn't seem to give you a break regarding events because a new one tends to start after the previous one ends. The game does tell you about the future events but you are not told if or when the event starts, the fact they start without warning can be a problem for Simmers not ready for or unaware about the event. It especially can be worse if FreePlay decides to start the event while you are in a middle of a Quest, Discovery Quest, or a timed Hobby
    Erpe wrote: »
    I forgot to mention that FreePlay doesn't seem to give you a break regarding events because a new one tends to start after the previous one ends. The game does tell you about the future events but you are not told if or when the event starts, the fact they start without warning can be a problem for Simmers not ready for or unaware about the event. It especially can be worse if FreePlay decides to start the event while you are in a middle of a Quest, Discovery Quest, or a timed Hobby.

    It's also really annoying you can't postpone them, I think they should make the events optional like the discovery quests are but no, they had to make it required for every player to start the event. In addition, the events make it annoying if they limit the number the number of Sims (e.g., 4) or they take a long time to earn the collectible, It's often both.

    I makes me wonder why EA/Firemonkeys doesn't seem to do anything about the time limits despite being a very controversial feature in FreePlay hence the title of the thread. In fact, time limits in FreePlay take the number one spot of The Sims' disliked features.

    Time limits plus FreePlay's real time will screw over every Simmer especially for those who go to school or work or those who don't usually play FreePlay frequently. Also the fact that The Sims FreePlay requires an Internet connection doesn't help, woes to any Simmer that's away from their home. See my original post at page 1 for why time limits are a problem for every Simmer.
    I don't really agree for the following reasons:
    1. The game told me yesterday that the chocolatier special event would start "tomorrow" - and it did.
    2. If you postponed a special event then it would overlap with the next special event and it would be too much to play two such events at the same time anyway.
    3. I wouldn't mind playing the game sometimes using my mobile data subscription instead of wifi. I only pay 4 dollars each month for this as long as I don't use more than 1 GB mobile data. (I would pay another 4 dollars for a month where I used more than 1 GB but less than 2 GB mobile data. But this has never occurred.)
    4. If we didn't have time limits or could play offline then the game wouldn't be free and would probably cost at least 10 dollars and we wouldn't get all those updates unless we paid extra for them too. But the game would soon become boring without the updates.
    1. I guess I probably missed it then, I didn't know what day the event started. I apologize @Erpe since I'm more interested in The Sims 4 news than FreePlay's.
    2. I guess that makes sense why you can't postpone them so they don't overlap. It might be a problem if you're on a quest, discovery quest, or a timed hobby but other than that, the events aren't bad.
    3. I could see the reason why Time Limits or online requirement is there. The only reason I dislike the time limits is because there are missable items and once the time is up, you can't get them which is a problem for completionists or gamers who want to collect everything. The Sims 4 on the other hand has some items that can be missed which are the growfruit, eggs, and the 2 pots because they're gone when the Challenge is over. Otherwise, nothing in TS4 is missable. Fortunately, making a Room containing the Growfruit, eggs, and pots is possible assuming you've collected them although the two pots won't be able to be purchased in other saves/households unless the pots were also unlocked on that save/household.
    Origin ID: GothicSimmer, YouTube: GothicSimmer
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    I would like to collect everything too. But I won't pay for it and actually it isn't important at all. The missed items in Freeplay you often wouldn't even use and the quests seem to return after some months. So you will get another chance. Otherwise you may get the missed items later for free like I did with some missed items when I suddenly got them in December as a free Christmas present :)
  • rosey1579rosey1579 Posts: 6,252 Member
    Ha. Timed quests. More like "Time to Pay" quests am I right?
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    rosey1579 wrote: »
    Ha. Timed quests. More like "Time to Pay" quests am I right?
    No because we can usually do the quests within the time limits without paying :)
  • WaffleAwesomenessWaffleAwesomeness Posts: 433 Member
    My sims died from hunger when going to the toilet, so.. Yeah. I would have played it if it wasn't for the time limits and the needs going down way too fast.
    tumblr_nyqc2fDxP61rfd7lko1_400.gif
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    Sims can't die from hunger in this game. They can only die from old age and they don't age unless they are active. (They won't age anyway until you have made the life dreams and legacies quest.)

    If you don't play for a long time the only things that happen is that all their needs will become extremely low and that they probably will pee on the floor before they reach the toilet.

    If you are away long enough even that usually won't happen. Instead you will get a message about your sims having missed you a lot and their needs will probably be restored to max instead. I know that because it happened when I started my third game up on my old iPod touch a few months ago. Now I then started it up again and the game did a lot of updating. Then when the game finally started up it even gave me §25,000 and 2 LPs because my sims had missed me for such a long time ;)

    But it was a good try to fool us! :)
  • WinMacSims3WinMacSims3 Posts: 1,610 Member
    I don't know if anyone has heard with this complaint before but I've heard of some complaints on Facebook that it's impossible to get all the items within the time limit without using LPs which usually would translate to real money. Yes you can farm LPs with Cooking but not every Simmer knows that. The time limits are even worse for Simmers who go to work or school and those who travel thanks to the game requiring Internet meaning if you only have a Wi-Fi-only device, there's no way to play The Sims FreePlay.

    The Sims FreePlay is probably not the game for you if you have an OCD to collect everything due to the nature of items being missable. The Sims 3 is more worse because there are items (plus some games) that are gone forever such as the pre-order (Limited Edition) items, special items such as the Dr. Pepper items, and some of the games notably Showtime's Collector's Edition and Katy Perry's Sweet Treats. Also thanks to a bug in the Mac and PC release of TS3 due to Into the Future, most of the Skill Opportunities are unobtainable due to a coding error with the Advanced Skill Opportunities.
    Origin ID: GothicSimmer, YouTube: GothicSimmer
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    @WinMacSims3 If you also had an OCD about buying everything they offered in the Sims 3 store then I think you should be a millionaire to afford playing that game ;)

    Actually I believe that ghost hunting is the fasted way to farm LPs even though their are 18 different ghosts to collect. The reason are that it only takes 3 or 3.5 minutes to catch a ghost (depending of the quality of the haunted object) and that a full collection of catched ghosts gives you 5 LPs while most other completed collections only gives 3 LPs. So if you have enough time to play on certain days then you can get quite many LPs from your ghost hunters.
  • athewhofan2athewhofan2 Posts: 79 New Member
    The volcano not got there yet I have lvls 10 to 12 on all the things mystery island and I been playing since they first put in raindeers on a xmas event and I missed out completing 2 half sims so missed out on the wall paper that I seen on screen shots.I am just At lvl 54. But I was lucky to buy a house on the architect homes when I saw one of the house had it I bought it set me back 20 something sp but it was worth it.
  • Sims2608Sims2608 Posts: 1 New Member
    Hi!! I was wondering if any of you have a fire pole? I need one to complete the neighbour quests and non of my neighbours have one, if someone could help me out I would really appreciate it! Thanks
  • Wysocki94Wysocki94 Posts: 4 New Member
    I like the PC games and the mobile game for different reasons. Obviously the PC games are far more complex and 'limitless' than any phone/tablet/etc... could handle, but I like mobile games for just that reason; because they're simple. I like mobile games that you just check every so often and that give you a moderate sense of accomplishment without too much effort. However, Sims Freeplay has become like a madhouse with all the different timed quests that no one could ever complete without spending tons of cash (on a game that isn't much more than farming). I haven't played it since they introduced auto-aging, but I haven't deleted it either since I feel a bit cheated out of the real cash I already spent on sims who I have no way of saving without spending even more money on (as too much time has passed for me to be able to earn any orbs before they die, it is WAY too hard to earn platinum orbs...)
    Really I just feel betrayed by the company that I've loved and been so loyal towards since The Sims 1. I just wish I could get my money back or something if they refuse to change the game so that their old players can enjoy it again. I mean I know big companies like this can be really cruel and heartless but geez, forcing us to watch our beloved sims die (that we spent a year or even longer with) or pay up cash constantly for something we already spent money on... Does it get more corrupt? It just fills me with sadness, I feel like the sims franchise has so much more potential than this...
    I just wish someone who cares about a little bit more than money would take over, someone who sees players that have been with them this whole time as more than just $$$ signs...
    I know not all free-to-play games are scams, but this one sure is.
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    Wysocki94 wrote: »
    I like the PC games and the mobile game for different reasons. Obviously the PC games are far more complex and 'limitless' than any phone/tablet/etc... could handle, but I like mobile games for just that reason; because they're simple. I like mobile games that you just check every so often and that give you a moderate sense of accomplishment without too much effort. However, Sims Freeplay has become like a madhouse with all the different timed quests that no one could ever complete without spending tons of cash (on a game that isn't much more than farming). I haven't played it since they introduced auto-aging, but I haven't deleted it either since I feel a bit cheated out of the real cash I already spent on sims who I have no way of saving without spending even more money on (as too much time has passed for me to be able to earn any orbs before they die, it is WAY too hard to earn platinum orbs...)
    Really I just feel betrayed by the company that I've loved and been so loyal towards since The Sims 1. I just wish I could get my money back or something if they refuse to change the game so that their old players can enjoy it again. I mean I know big companies like this can be really cruel and heartless but geez, forcing us to watch our beloved sims die (that we spent a year or even longer with) or pay up cash constantly for something we already spent money on... Does it get more corrupt? It just fills me with sadness, I feel like the sims franchise has so much more potential than this...
    I just wish someone who cares about a little bit more than money would take over, someone who sees players that have been with them this whole time as more than just $$$ signs...
    I know not all free-to-play games are scams, but this one sure is.
    I don't quite agree because you can get free-to-play games for Windows 10 too - and an iPad game like XCOM: Enemy Within certainly isn't small at all (it isn't a free game either). For demanding android games for phones you should look at http://www.tekz24.com/best-5-hd-graphic-intensive-games-for-android-smartphones/

    I don't see how you can feel betrayed by a free game? If you don't like it and want an easier and more childish game that concentrates more on just making new sims, dressing them and building houses for them then you should just play the Sims 4 instead.

    The Sims Freeplay is a free game which shares a lot with other similar free games:
    1. You don't need to pay for it at all. The reason is that it is an online game with ingame advertising and is meant to be played with your friends.
    2. This means that it runs in real time so your friends can visit your town whether you are online or not.
    3. You can as in all such games choose to buy things for real money if you want to. But like all similar games such purchases aren't vital for your gameplay. The reason is that the game company wants you to go on playing whether you buy anything or not because you can still then watch the ingame advertising and invite your friends to play too.
    4. The game would run much too fast and soon be over if tasks were finished immediately while you play. So you should just quit the game and play something else when there isn't more to do in the game. The game will then notify you when there are new things for you to do in the game.
  • jackjack_kjackjack_k Posts: 8,601 Member
    @Jarsie9 wrote: »
    I don't play Sims Free Play because I don't like the real time aspect of it. That's the same reason I won't play Virtual Families 1 or 2. I just don't have that kind of time.

    I guess the only way I could do it is to just play it without worrying about doing the quests and just do it.

    If you get The Sims 3 Ambitions on tablet, it's the same as Freeplay. Of course, it's not as extensive as Freeplay but it's based on the exact same engine and runs in real time.
  • ErpeErpe Posts: 5,872 Member
    jackjack_k wrote: »
    @Jarsie9 wrote: »
    I don't play Sims Free Play because I don't like the real time aspect of it. That's the same reason I won't play Virtual Families 1 or 2. I just don't have that kind of time.

    I guess the only way I could do it is to just play it without worrying about doing the quests and just do it.

    If you get The Sims 3 Ambitions on tablet, it's the same as Freeplay. Of course, it's not as extensive as Freeplay but it's based on the exact same engine and runs in real time.
    Wrong :)

    Ambitions runs on a completely different game engine and was made by another game studio. It isn't free and it isn't worth the money because it has so limited gameplay.

    The Sims Freeplay is free to play because it is an online game. Even so it is a bigger and much more interesting game than the mobile version of TS3 Ambitions which I can't recommend. (The PC version of TS3 Ambitions is much better.)
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