Does anybody else find it kind of.. boring?

[elpemmy]

I got the game yesterday, and spent all day playing it. Maybe it's the way I'm playing it or whatever, but I feel like after owning one horse, building up it's skills, winning competitions, it gets kind of repetitive. There's no draw to them for me after playing them once. And cats and dogs are just kind of pointless.
Does anyone have any tips to make the game a little more interesting?

[heaven]

Actually, I was just thinking this is my favorite EP, which is a total shock. Granted, I haven't played ALL day yet but I was still immensely enjoying it. My sim had the LTW to adopt 6 strays so I spent a good time looking for them. Only found a cockatoo. Just when it was getting good (she found a wild horse that was so pretty) my game decided to go into an endless processing mode in CAS. Of course I hadn't saved so I get to start all over again today. :lol:

I was not a fan of the TS2 Pets and actually felt like it was one of the more useless EPs. I got this one because of the horses but, so far, things just seem a little more realistic and fun. I've never been a player though, not for long periods anyway, so who knows when I will get bored and go back to building. :)

[VerDeTerre]

Ummm...I always have a bit of a problem when people ask how to make a game more interesting because, it's a game, it's not supposed to be work. Maybe it just doesn't appeal to you? But, if you're wondering what else there is to do in pets....? Have you tried to tame any wild horses? There's some new lifetime ambitions/dreams involving rescuing animals. You can collect little exotic pets, you can even find them in nature. Your pets can find objects and make friends. You could have a horse that finds your human sim a mate, for example. You could breed animals. Maybe you could find the unicorn? Is it possible to breed a unicorn? I wonder if a human and a dog, cat, and/or horse could spend a few days at a time away from home? Those are some thoughts off the top of my head.

[elpemmy]

I enjoyed it at first, and I wanted try the taming wild horses thing but apparently there aren't any in Riverview xD The content that is there is very good - I enjoyed it the first playthrough but then decided that my teen with the equestrian trait would be better off as a musician than a jockey after getting bored. It's possible my expectations were a little too high (I hated TS2 Pets but went oooh horses, this should be good for this one xD)
I haven't tried breeding animals. Do kittens/puppies arrive in a litter or one at a time, like horses?

[Zokugai]

You could always try for a Unicorn.

[birdyfly]

I think the problem is how easy it is to get the riding skill high for both the horse and Sim. Maybe someone will make a mod to slow down the horse riding skill and make harder competitions to add some challenge.
I would recommend trying at least the dog and cat out as well just once to see what it's like. If you have sort of an idea for a mod related to the Sims 3 Pets, you can also suggest it at these sites depending on what type of mod it is:

NRASS: Design Discussion (http://www.the-isz.com/nraas/index.php?/forum/11-design-discussion/)
Gnauty Lil' Gnomes: Sims 3 Requests (http://gnautylilgnomes.com/forum/index.php?board=298.0)
Crazytown: Mod Requests (http://www.the-isz.com/theisz/index.php?/forum/227-sims-3-mod-requests/)
iPlaySims: Mod Requests and Info (http://iplaysims.com/forum/index.php?/forum/181-rainbowbrites-mod-requests-info/)

You can also check the Sims 3 Challenges to see if anyone has created something Pets related/Horse related.
MTS: Sims 3 Challenges (http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=564)

I think the biggest issue is not that it is boring, but that we don't really know what all we can do with Pets since we no longer have the manual (as LGR nicely put it in his review (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02eN2a85Q9U&feature=channel_video_title)). Luckily, Carl's Sims 3 Guide (http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/) is working on the Pets expansion right now so we can see all the features in Pets. :bunny:

[GnatGoSplat]

So far for me it has been better than Generations and Ambitions, but I had set goals right from the beginning. I created new sims for Appaloosa (because mine always look way more awesome than EA's), and as soon as I saw there is a life want for unicorn, I had to get one - and am still trying. I also decided simply adopting or buying a horse is too easy, so I have a sim working towards adopting a wild horse. I haven't even bothered with cats and dogs yet because I've been so busy trying to get a unicorn or wild horse so I can see what a horse is like for the first time!

It's easy to run out of things to do if you always take the easy way, so you have to make your own challenges. :)

[heaven]

Also, I noticed that there was a Fifty Foals Challenge (http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/450566.page#6705390) over on the EA Forums. I haven't read through all the rules but you could see if it is something that may interest you.

[Scarity]

:lol: Of course its repetitive...you're doing the same things over and over again. Its always going to be repettve when you only do a small part of the game over and over. :P

[Srikandi]

Cats and dogs are not at all pointless from a powergamer perspective. Both of them can make your sim a lot of money using their hunting skills, and also help with other challenges in the game (like getting rare gems for the Simbot or Imaginary Friend opportuinites). A horse is also a gardener's friend (high-quality fertilizer). And pets in general make it much more viable to play a single sim, since they provide an easy way to get fun and social (and also less boring, since you can do stuff with the pets while the sim is at work or asleep).

Horses make great transportation too, especially for collector sims who go off-road a lot. I'm looking forward to bringing a horse to China (possible with Twallan's traveler mod, I believe)... should make getting around that map a lot faster (and more fun).

From a more casual, story-telling or role-playing type perspective, of course, whether you find them compelling depends on whether you like the aesthetics. Personally I think TS3 cats in particular are just incredible: all the little things they do, from lying on the newspaper to exploring under furniture and sitting on laps, are just so true to life :) Of course there are those who are REALLY committed to the idea of realistic animals who are disappointed because there isn't enough realism... but really, a lot of computer games have had animals in them but none of them have pushed the envelope nearly as far as this EP, as far as I know, both in terms of appearance and AI, so I think EA has to be commended for technical innovation.

I would agree with the critique that the riding skill levels too easily... seems to be out of sync with other skills in the game.

[Attercap]

And cats and dogs are just kind of pointless.

Cute is never pointless!

Also, cats and dogs with hunting skills can be great money-makers. I created a backwater coot with more dogs than sense who didn't need to get a job because he just has his dogs digging up gems all day.

[Shhh]

Twallen has created a mod already O_o Wow, that was fast.

elpemmy, Maybe you need a long break from the Sims. It sounds like you were already getting bored of the game, so you aren't respecting the new options that came with Pets. Or maybe you aren't a Sims person. Try a few other games.

[Katastrophe1112]

First time I've loved this game since it came out. Though I'm an equestrian who no longer rides, all my favourite mounts gone now. . . . this could have much ado with my affection for this one. Twallan, as ever, has made the game playabble.

Perhaps this one just isn't for you. :-)

[emino]

The thing is, some people gets obsessed on an expansion feature they forget to life their sim's daily life. I consider the pets as an addition, but my sim's life does not revolves around them. They still go out on dates, drnking with friends in a bar, fishing and working out in a gym. And when they are home then the pets helped taking away the empty 'feel' of the house.

[VerDeTerre]

The thing is, some people gets obsessed on an expansion feature they forget to life their sim's daily life. I consider the pets as an addition, but my sim's life does not revolves around them. They still go out on dates, drnking with friends in a bar, fishing and working out in a gym. And when they are home then the pets helped taking away the empty 'feel' of the house. Woops! I've completely forgotten to give my Sim a life!

[Srikandi]

Twallen has created a mod already O_o Wow, that was fast.

Traveler mod was out before Pets was released... lets you travel to any world like a vacation world.

He did update it (and all the rest of his mods) very fast though ;) Release day or the day after in almost every case. And new updates have been coming out daily ever since. So yes. He is fast ;)

[Jasumi]

It's easy to run out of things to do if you always take the easy way, so you have to make your own challenges. :)
Agree 100%. When you put yourself in the game, it's so much funner :llama:



I didn't like TS2 Pets at all. It was my least favorite expansion pack next to University (which I practically never payed, so that doesn't say much lol).

But I must say, TS3 Pets has been stellar so far! The best EA world thus far, with a lot of charm and character, and the new gameplay has me hooked! I also love the concept of wild animals, something we couldn't have in the Sims 2 because it wasn't an open world. Not to mention how ridiculously in-depth pet creation is...

Pets is definitely a recommendation of mine, EA really surprised me... :|

[Honshu Wolf]

Woops! I've completely forgotten to give my Sim a life!
All of my sims never had a life at all. Most of the time, they were either extraordinarily hard-working people (who never left their home except for work), tree-hugging artsy-fartsy naturalists or anti-social writers. With the addition of pets, the naturalists now have an excuse to shun people even more than before. lol. Also, all of my sim children have been perfectly reared from their earliest formative years the virtue of staying at home studying and skilling, instead of visiting some random pudding-faced npc.
For me, the best cure for the "Stirred Crazy" moodlet is a trip to the library for some good ol' turbo-skilling with the library-specific moodlet in addition to the Chinese incense, the skill gain drink and the quick skill gain lifetime perk! Let's get industrious, shall we? I'm never short of man-power, really, if you want to have more people without the time and cost of rearing them to young-adulthood then use the time machine! That thing spouts out orphans like no tomorrow!
~~~
I don't even know what the Charisma skill is.... Probably to make better sandwiches?


EDIT: On an extra note, does anyone find it weird that vampire children and teens gain skill like crazy little prodigies? Is that like a glitch or something? For all I know, one vampire child/teen can't just gain 10 mixology skills in ONE HOUR under the tuition of an adult sim...

[secretsim]

I'm pretty much already sick of pets. I loooooved them in Sims 2. Maybe I've just changed. But now I'm not adding pets to any more households.

[Ladyhawke976]

I've actually played through many cat, dog and horse/foal life spans. They do take work if you want to raise and train them right - or are a bit of a control freak - but I did notice that after having one child it became a little more taxing and time consuming.

I love this EP, I think it's one of the best, however, I have decided instead of ignoring her family in favor of the cat - something I would never do IRL *cough* - I'm going to stick with raising her kids. I pet the strays when they come by, get hissed and barked at and then shoo them home. It's sort of like being a grandparent, you get to have all the fun, but then when it's over you get to send them back. If I feel like riding a horse I ask a neighbor if it's okay if I ride theirs or go find a wild one to befriend.

By doing things this way I don't clutter my house with pet goods or worry about their realationship with the rest of the family. I don't have to worry about path finding, training or them running around while their needs plummet. I let their parents worry about that.

All in all, the greatest XP so far. I love the graphics and I am able to socialize with all different pets without having to own them myself. The deer outside my house still won't talk to me, and a racoon insists upon eating my garbage, but it's all good. I'm having a blast.

Besides it's keeping me interested until Skyrim comes out. Then I take a sabbatical from life.

Oh, and one other thing I noticed. Maybe it's me, but do a lot of the people in Appaloosa Plains look more attractive? The people in Sunset Valley all looked like they got hit with the same ugly stick. Regardless if it's my imagination though, I love Apppaloosa. The layout, the farmlands, the people, the trees, lakes and pets. It's an awesome place to live.

[GnatGoSplat]

Oh, and one other thing I noticed. Maybe it's me, but do a lot of the people in Appaloosa Plains look more attractive? The people in Sunset Valley all looked like they got hit with the same ugly stick. Regardless if it's my imagination though, I love Apppaloosa. The layout, the farmlands, the people, the trees, lakes and pets. It's an awesome place to live.

I actually thought the opposite. I thought they looked more similar to the Sunset Valley and Riverview sims than Twinbrook or Bridgeport sims. I was thinking they had the same person who made Sunset Valley sims make the ones for Appaloosa. I usually only notice attractiveness in females, and I didn't think there were any particularly attractive ones in Appaloosa. Maybe the best is Gracie Loveland, something about her makes me think of Jordan from Big Brother (USA).

Since I'm keeping the game interesting for longer by doing things the hard way, last night, I finally got my cowboy's riding skill up high enough to win over the Wild Horse he was BFFs with. I love the Kick interaction the horses can do, it's pretty hilarious. I wish they didn't have to know a sim before they can kick them. It would be funny if I could stack kicks and have her going around kicking people randomly in the park. I tried to have my cowboy's daughter win over that unicorn, but the unicorn wasn't having it. She's already friends with every type of animal, I guess she needs to be BFFs with them or something.

[Rockerduck]

I got the game yesterday, and spent all day playing it. Maybe it's the way I'm playing it or whatever, but I feel like after owning one horse, building up it's skills, winning competitions, it gets kind of repetitive. There's no draw to them for me after playing them once. And cats and dogs are just kind of pointless.
Does anyone have any tips to make the game a little more interesting?

Weeeeeeeeeell.

I'm with you, actually. It's boring. But what's worse it's incredibly buggy and crashy.
Thus is the nature of Sims games, though, and I honestly don't see how the Pets expansion is more boring than the others. It's all a matter of mods, honestly. EA gives us a framework and an outline to work with but the game becomes truly entertaining through mods that push it past its limits. Take horses, for example. You could create a perfect medieval neighborhood with horses if you use a "no cars" mod. I'm certain there will be several mods that allow us to hunt deer, etc which will make this even more exciting.
So, yes, the game may be rather boring by itself but you can go wild provided you have the imagination and modding skills....

[Zokugai]

Oh, and one other thing I noticed. Maybe it's me, but do a lot of the people in Appaloosa Plains look more attractive? The people in Sunset Valley all looked like they got hit with the same ugly stick. Regardless if it's my imagination though, I love Apppaloosa. The layout, the farmlands, the people, the trees, lakes and pets. It's an awesome place to live.

There's good and bad. The wife in the...Marshalls? The family that wants a baby but can't get pregnant. She's all kinds of ugly when she ages up. The Honey Darnell chick is pretty cute I guess. At least her face isn't all puddingface round and perfect if I recall correctly. And the cowboy in the country cowpokes career looks like a caricature of Clint Eastwood. And then in contrast several of the folks from the Parrott family are just bizarre looking.

There's more of a range in AP I think. Everyone in Riverview is sort of "meh that's okay I guess" whereas AP is either "oh that's niiice" or "OH GOD WHAT IS THAT ON YOUR FACE--oh that's your nose, nevermind..."

[Ranissa]

And then in contrast several of the folks from the Parrott family are just bizarre looking.


They look like that because the "secret" is they're bird people. No, really, read their bios. :D

To the OP: I think everyone has to find what makes a game fun for them. The Sims even more so because it's just a huge sandbox. I know that for me, going from Sims 1 and 2 to 3 was a HUGE change in how I play. I used to make a family, play it a bit, then hop to the next, until I was so bored I was building and decorating houses. The Sims never came alive for me for long. Sims 3? I LOVE my families. Of course, Twallan's mods are part of the reason I love Sims 3 so much.

I wish you luck finding the fun again!

[Zokugai]

OP: How can you possibly get bored when you can tame a unicorn and then go on a murderous rampage setting sims on fire? And then get paid in carrots to do so by the Grim Reaper? Come on now, innovative ways to horribly ruin sim lives is a Sims tradition!

http://i.imgur.com/fXNHm.jpg

[mj3150]

Besides it's keeping me interested until Skyrim comes out. Then I take a sabbatical from life.



couple more weeks!!!! :up: :up: :up: :up:

[Ladyhawke976]

couple more weeks!!!! :up: :up: :up: :up:

I know! I'm excited! :lol:

[elpemmy]

Ah, a fellow skyrim/simmer :D So excited
Ah, I've been playing it more than I used to, with a few pets features but few (I have the stray away gnome thingies) but I'm actually really enjoying Appaloosa Plains - I found in Sunset Valley after 1 gen it got a bit dry, I'm currently on my third generation. Running out of suitors for my current heir though xD
But yeah. LadyHawke976, that is exactly my problem. Pets take up entirely too much time and my sims have to be either completely devoted to them (only really works with horses and that gets repetitive after a while) or I start neglecting them - my cat got taken away because of low social when my sim was at work, doing his job. -.-