I've been playing The Sims and been involved in the communities, since I first saw it on a shelf back in 2000. The difference is that you have to pay for *everything* with real money on Second Life. On TSO, you could buy as many beds as you wanted and wouldn't have to pay a single cent from your actual pocket. A small monthly payment pales in comparison to the amount you have to spend on stuff in SL.

Most MMO's are a grind period. If not crafting, its leveling and so on and so on. I never played this game but I've been playing MMORPG's for years. It started with a game called The Realm Online... then EQ, EQII, DAoC, Warhammer Online, SWG, Runes of Magic, now I'm in RIFT. No, never played WoW, wanted to play STO and I was disappointed in how they've set that up. I'm waiting for Star Wars The Old Republic.

I've tried Second Life and what put me off of that game is the lag. It was insane... I couldn't move the first time I got in the game, I couldn't talk to anyone, no one would help and it frustrated me to no end. When I could finally move... it took like 2 minutes to take a step. At that point, I said that's it... the end and uninstalled the game.

Back on topic - If it's free I might give it a go, if not.. ~~shrugs~~ Oh well....

It's more that a rumor and if fact they want to provide it free to everyone. I don't normally post but thought I'd give the ones that are interested a heads up. TSOR is going to bring the Sims Online back.

Bumping in case anyone is still interested!
They're looking for a few extra programmers and just enthusiastic players to enhance the community.

Watch this promo video for more information!

or visit the website

www.tsorestoration.com
They've made much progress since the creation of this thread~~

I have to say I wouldn't mind trying out Sims Online as I never did when it first came out (because I wasn't a simmer back then). However I have played Second Life for a few years and although there are aspects of it I really like (mostly the creative stuff), SL does tend to lack any true community spirit or focus and there is a fair amount of weirdness going on there (although that in itself can be entertaining when you're drunk in the mood).

I think Sims Online could be fun if we have the open world aspect of Sims 3 and the ability to create great worlds of our own that we can freely teleport to. I'd love to share the world I've made with other simmers on an interactive level. Although I'm sure there would be a premium to pay for that privilege - I doubt TSO would be entirely free.

I was saving this for my TS4 manifesto, but there's no point in holding back for a pertinent thread.

The Sims Online was, in most regards, a failure. But we can fix it; we have the technology. However, there will need to be significant changes to how an online Sims game would function.

First things first: Having a single controllable character turned an interesting simulation into a glorified chat room. People want to tell stories and control families; that's the draw of The Sims in its entirety. TSO had an experimental town called Alphaville where you controlled an entire family, but it was never really fully realized. We need to separate ourselves from our Sims in TSO, just as we do in the actual game. Instead of interacting through a single character, we should be able to control an entire household. Furthermore, it will still be crucial to have social features, but these shouldn't be related to our Sims.

For example: A new TSO should have voice chat, but it shouldn't be linked to our Sims in any way. Voice chat would be more like a "lobby" sort of thing, where players can hear one another at all times, much like people would do in a RTS like Starcraft. Naturally, to avoid a thousand babbling voices, you would be tasked with finding people you'd want to communicate with and form a party with them. More on this later.

Secondly, it is also important to move away from TS1 graphics. They're just subpar in 2011. I would recommend using TS2 assets, since they both look nice and don't strain modern-day machines (NO MATTER WHAT HP SAYS). The lack of strain is very important, since online games undoubtedly take more resources to function. Also, there's a LOT of TS2 assets (objects, animations, etc.) that would help the game have many features right out of the box (and it's perfect for EA because EA is lazy lolol). Obviously, some things in TS2 would have the quality upped, like the UI and some of the underlying engine. It would likely be best to create a game that looks like TS2, but acts like TS3. This would include, most importantly, the open-world feature.

Speaking of open-world, I believe there should be two types of worlds. A huge overworld reminiscent of the original TSO, and "private" worlds. The idea of private worlds is something TSO really needed. Think of playing in Sunset Valley, creating your own story and shaping the world, but doing it with select friends. You could have voice chat with them and have households interact in deeper ways than current TS3 AI is capable of doing. Second Life has something like this, where everybody has access to the overworld, but some people rent out islands for themselves and friends. In fact, that's where EA could make their cash, by charging a subscription fee (of, say, 5 USD a month) to purchase, create, and own a world on their servers.

The overworld wouldn't be left in the dark, either. Just as huge cities were capable on TS2-era machines running TSO, I believe the same can be said for this "TSO 2" on modern machines. Imagine a seamless mix of Bridgeport, Sunset Valley, and Twinbrook, all connected and alive (with TS2 graphics, of course). Maybe having cars with extreme speeds finally makes a difference! You could purchase an apartment, a suburban home, or a house in the valley, just like you could in TS2. Or you could build your own monstrosity on an empty plot of land, just like the regular game.

Since expansion packs would easily break an online game, I have a fairly elegant solution to make some money in a free-to-play TSO. Allow Sims to make money through jobs as they do now (perhaps a little less easily than in TS3, because holy crap), and allow the ENTIRETY of the new TSO catalog be available to people who only make simoleons in-game. Having some objects off limits to free players is a fast way to make free players feel like they're getting the short end of the stick and will diminish their enjoyment of the game. However, allow people to pay real money to purchase simoleons for the game. I think a fair balance would be 1 USD for 10,000 simoleons. This is assuming objects cost as much as they do now. That way, the causal player who just wants makeover for their apartment can put down a few dollars, and the architect in training can put down a twenty to create The Next Big Thing immediately.

Also, EA: Watch this. Then watch it again. Take notes.

That's all I can pump out right now, but I'm sure more stuff will pop into my head soon.

EDIT: All of this text is directed toward an official EA reboot, not old TSO restoration. d:

To be honest, I loved The Sims Online because of its simplicity.
Also, the restoration team is working on two projects....






I really love TS1 graphics. I wouldn't want to play another version of The Sims (ex: Ts2,Ts3) online.

There was a sims online until it shutted town and rebranded it EA Land and shut it down the same year :P

That is what this is about, troll!