I know it's a bit too early to discuss generations in detail, but the boarding schools, they really made me think of will I or will I not send my kids there.

I know I will send a couple of kids/teens there just so I can see what's it like but unless there are huge, and I really mean huge advantage on having a kid in a boarding school than a normal school, then I really don't see my kids being sent there.

Kids and teens, will be getting so much new interactions and stuff to do, so why skip the fun by having them shipped away? But most importantly, the kid-teen years is when you get to know your Sim, or at least get a bit of hints on who they are and what they will do when they grow up, so if I send them away. I won't get to know them until they are YA, and when I finally do figure out who they are, they'll be middle aged, and then it's time to reproduce and then die.

So, with what little info we know have about the boarding schools, do you see yourself shipping your kids away? or do you think you'll keep them in the hood?

I didn't play TS2 college expansion so I am not sure how it worked or it is any similar to this. Would this boarding school be somewhat like World Adventure when sims get shifted to a new map, or at least, new household (so they don't just go home whenever they feel like).

I don't think there will be a very huge advantage, however, instead of having kids disappearing to the rabbit holes daily, you get to have fun with school activities and drama, which can be very appealing to certain people, especially the younger teenage market for TS3.

I am not too sure about story progression, but likely the kids get to go home once in a while to visit family, or have family visit the kids. That is how I see this happening. But essentially, the kids will disappear from their parents for a while and parents will miss out the get-to-know part. This is how it is in real life too.

Personally, I am not playing as "myself" in TS3. Well, I have a "myself" sim, put in a nice bachelor apartment. So yes I am there, but mostly I play other households such as the filthy rich pop idols household, the dirty poor striving teen girl taking care of his child brother (needs mod/cheat to require playing without Adult in household), a happy well rounded family with parents and 3 children, etc... So I know I will end up shipping some of the kids there as I feel right, or as I think the particular household feels right. So some of my sims will love it, and others will detest it.

I agree. I don't see myself taking advantage of the boarding schools much for normal families. However, sometimes I tend to focus more on the couple than on the family as a whole, so in that respect, it might be nice to have the option of having kids without fully committing to them. It would also add a touch of realism to wealthy families, and be a handy solution for those with too many offspring.

All in all, I think it depends on the playing style, but I do agree that it seems like an ironic addition to an expansion pack centered on living each life stage to its fullest.

i will use the boarding schools and here's why. i play each family different. i dont tend to play more than one family in one town. so with that being said, one family i play without any cheats.. they start out poor and work their way up. another family i may family fund cheat them into thousdands of sim dollars and they can have every luxury. and yet still another family i give them the drama of divorce and having kids from outside of marriage etc etc etc. so i could definitly see myself playing a storyline where the child sim is acting out, it continue into teenage years and the parents are fed up and send the child away to boarding school.

also i like to play LARGE families. i have the mod that allow me to increase the number of sim in household. eventually i get tired of having to micromanage 10-12 sims. so it'll be great to send some kids off and keep some at home.

the reality is, different strokes for different folks. everyone is not gonna like all the features. heck people are already screaming foul over the imaginary friend/doll (which i happen to think is GREAT!/ADORABLE). people will play the game their way. thats really all that matters

on a side note.. i hope EA does a true vacations EP with swimable oceans, and maybe snorkleing or diving, or jet skiis. something. i want sunbathing back and learning new dances.

speaking of which, no one mentioned any of the dances or after school activities like scouts other than in passing. bummer, guess gotta wait until june

p.s. sorry for the tangents.. yes i think this scattered IRL

I'm getting rid of all my kids as soon as possible.

(One of my traits would be "Dislikes Children") :P

I do agree with you (OP) to a point but at the same time I am really curious and excited about this feature being implemented 'for real' in the game. I wonder how they will go about it though as I don't want to just send off my teen sim and never hear from them again until they return home to graduate with a few extra skill points and a diploma in their inventory.

I'm guessing that we will probably get oppurtunities/ chance cards of some kind relating from the teen when they are in boarding school that might effect their time there and make it a little more worthwhile. Also I'm guessing that they'll have a few new 'friends' that they've met there showing up in their relationship panel. However it's all just guesswork for now so I'm very eagerly anticipating the release date to see how it turns out!

I'll probably send a few kids off in the beginning just to see what it'll be like, but if I don't like it, then I won't use it all that much. I like shuffling off the kids I don't want and have them become model citizens without my help, but at the same time, why bother having them if I don't play them? It seems just a little weird to me to add all of these new interactions for kids and teens and then shuffle them off to a school where I can't play with them.

I think I would send off children that aren't my heirs/favourite non-heir. That way I get to try out the boarding schools without losing precious time with my favourite children

If they're rabbitholes, I'll avoid them. If they're not, I'll try them out.

So that the people who don't care about kids and family life will still buy it probably.

Like the OP and LifesLover, I posted the exact same thing in the general Generations thread. It doesn't make much sense to me, but I can see it working if you want your kids groomed to be a soccer star or a military mogul or something. I'm not going to completely ignore the feature - I'll certainly test it out to see how it goes. But I want to explore these new family dynamics/interactions we'll be getting, specifically to make these age groups infinitely more interesting. I think I would've rather had boarding schools in the base game where kids could be a boring age group xP

I am interested to see how it'll pan out, so I'll definitely give the boarding schools a try. For those rich/snobby families, it'll be perfect. Or a step-parent comes into the household and a teen boy starts acting out haha. But yeah, it's a cool addition. Just a bit ill-timed with what we're getting from kids/teens in Generations.

The advantage to the boarding school is not having to micro manage the kids - yet they get their homework done AND learn some skills. Great in a big house, or a theme-family where boarding house would be great.
The downside is that it costs money - and as far as we can tell, the kid leaves for school, and we don't see them again until their birthday.

So it's not something I'm going to do for all of my families, but I'll definitely use it a lot. I think the selling point will be whether on average, my sim kid earns more skill points than I'd be making him learn while at home. In a busy household, I don't get around to it half the time - but telling them to go read a skill book or play with the easel gets them out of my hair while they learn, so I do that a lot too.

They might be useful for anyone who has a 20-kid pile-up at the entrance to their town's schools they want to smooth out.

They're definitely not a one-size-fits-all feature, but I can think of different types of family scenarios where one of the boarding schools would fit. Maybe an unruly child or one from a long line of military Sims can be sent to the military school, or an artsy or dumb Sim will want to go to the "hippie" school. Genius kids could wind up getting a head start at the most elite school. Etc.

I'd use 'em because there are very few affordable 3-bedroom houses in the premade towns and I adore the toddler phase over anything. Ship 'em off, please! :D

I'd have to agree that it's an odd choice for this EP in particular... since from everything I've read, apparently it DOES in fact mean your sims disappear for the whole age stage. Not even a rabbit hole, in other words.

As for whether I'd use it... as the others have said, depends on what, precisely, the rewards are. I guess there's an extra interaction with other sims who have been to the same school (secret handshake type thing?), with probably a good relationship boost. This is only gonna be at all useful if NPCs (and sims you aren't controlling, in general) can get sent to these schools too, so you'll have a group of "classmates".

One of the translated articles I read mentioned something that sounded like it could be hidden traits that come with the schools... I'm thinking something like the military saluting behavior for military school, for instance. But I'd have to agree that for me to get really interested, they'd need to do some serious skilling while there too

I will use it occasionally, but only when playing HUGE families or if I'm playing a HP-themed game and want to pretend my Sim's kids are at "Hogwarts" :p

I thought the idea was that they would come back on weekends?

If they will be gone for the entire age stage, then there's no way I would use them. Particularly because I tend to play with aging off (I manually age them up).

Actually, I wouldn't use them unless there's a way to have them come back every single day (either through an option or a mod), but that's just me. I believe in private school, but not boarding school.

I'm just glad it's an option though, for players who might want to use them.

Can you just put another School in to fix this?

(Proud owner of 25 Sim teens)

Thinking about the boarding schools and wonder how that will change Twallan's CareerMod, it allows teens attend specialized schools, thus going to different job RH for skilling that will help in their adult life. Something like interning through a trade school. That had stopped the pile up in front of the schools a bit for me. How will Twallan incorporate the boarding school into that mod? Can he make it work different, like 4 days of boarding school and 3 days home? I guess I have to wait and see when Generations come out and Twallan's mods are updated.

Hmm... Custom boarding schools... like Juvenile Detention centers, monestaries, nunneries, Textile factories, Aunt Bertha's million acre ocra farm... Lot's of new ways to terrorize... um... bond... with the little dears.

Reminds me of a Simpsons episode when they shipped the kids off to summer camp. As soon as the bus was out of sight the parents started dancing and drinking champagne

I'm curious to see how this would work. My main Sim family ATM is a wealthy clan, I could see them going for the idea, if only to separate their children from the 'little people.' I don't see myself using the option often tho. I'm guessing they are gone for the whole age stage.

I loved University, but its hard to imagine the kids living in a setting like University. In University the teens had their own "Town" and their own homes with bills and everything. The Dorms were different and I hardly ever played them. I had a Party house that all my Sims dropped into. Bently Broke (Dustins son) went to college with Jess Davis Broke (Bobby (baby) Broke's) Great Great Great Grandson. Jessica Broke (Bobby's Daughter) and Tank Grunt also had Bobby III, Trey and Jeff in that group. Story progression will not let that sort of thing happen in Sims 3. University is more like the young adult stage in Base game, and you can make the same sort of Dorm building for them to socialize in. I made one and its working well.

I tend to have a tough time playing families that are larger. Right now, I have a couple with two off-spring and another on the way. The female's LTW is having five children. I think once their eldest hits teenager-dom, I'd likely send him to a boarding school IF it helps with HIS LTW of being a doctor. Yes, I already chose it. Being he's a book-worm, genius. I think this may also have a bit to do with the family living in a roomy three bedroom. But not THAT roomy! Five off-spring will have a tight squeeze! As I'm currently playing them, I won't have the benefit of bunkbeds for 41 more days. Of course, I could start a new game and just keep this family on "hold" until Generations is released.

I have wondered for a time, what happens if the kids parents die when they are at boarding school (teen)?