Skylight Studio for the Performing Arts is coming up in Daily Deal in 40 minutes ish. Often time they only give a lot of crappy stuff, but I consider this venue is quite a big deal. So if anyone of you want it, hope this message gets to you in time.

The time now is 7:55 pm Pacific Time (California, USA). The venue is due to come up in about 8:50pm ... but don't trust the timer. It can appear within 15 minutes, depending how many more people will buy the current sale item.

Do not buy this venue. This is a perfect example of looks being deceiving! The windows are cute, but everything else is either sloppy and lacking quality. Obviously, I can't tell you how to spend your money, but I rather you get something else worthwhile (if you can find it at the store).

I am not really buying for the venue. I am buying for the windows and PC items. What do you think about the dance floor?

I know what you mean, EA venues are very sloppy. I am saving for the Business as Usual Bistro also, in case it goes on sale.

What in your opinion is a worthwhile items to get on EA store?

The dance animations that come with that store are pretty badly done, imo. So other than the new windows, I don't think it's really worth it.

When you look at all the threads dedicated to either the store in general or individual releases you will find that so far every PC item has had at least one drawback, ranging from completely broken, bugged, false advertising with regard to its functions, terrible execution, butt ugly, pointless or overly cheating. Therefore you will always find divided opinions on each item. The major tendency seems to be, however, that the more the PC item promises the more it disappoints you.
The Bistro is the perfect example for this. If you read about what people who bought it report then it is a major letdown unless you use a mod to fix the mess this PC leaves behind.

Out of all the PC items that are currently part of the daily deal rotation I use the Multitab most often. It is cheaty in some respect but such that it doesn't become too annoying: children make their homework with it in a fraction of the usual time, you can buy every book without leaving your house, the social game option raises fun and social very fast and it allows you to learn two skills at the same time. The only annoying thing is that it is too attractive, Sims will use it autonomously up to the point that I sometimes take it away from them.
I also use the massage table that comes with the Serenity Retreat lot quite often, although it is terribly cheaty (raises fun, social AND energy at an enormous rate), and is broken in some respect (the fertility boost for the Romantic Massage never goes away again, so you'll end up with female Sims who have a high chance of getting twins from then onwards), but it's fun to watch and the animations are nice.
So far I haven't bothered with the casino items and only bought two of the farm sets because they were cheap and I like the items that come with them, while I am not really interested in the chickens and cows.
The Greenhouse is a favourite for many, but the gardening station seems to spawn seeds like crazy and thus causes lag, and the roof pieces are not exactly what one would call top notch. I don't have it but might get it eventually for the other things the set contains.
The Grim Manor is horrible. If you think that this is a neat alternative for resurrecting ghosts then you'll be sorely disappointed when you find out that the "reincarnation" simply destroys the old Sim and replaces it with an average pudding. Same for the "genetic merger", because there is no real genetic merging. I decrypted the set and extracted the clothing and some build items from it, while the PC item is thoroughly banned from my game.

The only purchases that I haven't really regretted so far are the worlds. I have all except for Aurora Skies and Hidden Springs (and bought Roaring Heights a few days ago) and enjoy them all, even though some of the PC items they contain are pretty bad, too.

I just got Hidden Springs after saving up my points and I like it but some of the community lots where kind of a let down.

Is there a mod to force the teppanyaki grill to use an NPC cook, rather than one of your active sims? Because I'd like for my sims out on the town to be able to watch the show at the grill, rather than put on the show themselves. Same goes with the pizza oven from Monte Vista -- can you assign a chef or npc to that oven as well? Can you put either of these in a restaurant using Ani's Business as Unusual mod to create a chef and waiter interaction?

I realize if you own the bistro oven it can cook any food that any oven in your game can cook, but I'd really like an NPC or chef to be the one "performing" at the teppanyaki grill or pizza oven.

Are there lots available for download here or elsewhere that have been set up to utilize Ani's Business as Unusual mod?

Also, does anyone know of some dummy-style tutorials on how to mod the game for any sort of improved gameplay? This would include using mods like Ani's, Twallan's, or using items from ATS, as well as anything else out there. I realize there are FAQs at Twallan's site, but I often find them kind of cryptic or unclear...

So far on the mega daily deals I've snagged Grandpa's Grove and the chicken set; so now I'm waiting for the cows to come around again. I'll get the dance studio if/when it comes around for the third time. Yes, yes, I know the dance animations are terrible; that's why I didn't spend 1700/1900 sim points when it first came out; but when you're buying stuff with free sim points, you aren't as picky about the quality...

Whoever posted the link to the Daily Deal schedule -- THANK YOU! That's really helping me figure out when I can sleep so I don't miss something I want!

^ I know I posted the schedule in a different thread, dunno if anyone else did (for anyone who missed it, it's this thread on the official forums where the list of items is kept, and one person keeps a spreadsheet updated with estimated sales times).

I admit, I've got a fair few things from the store but I stalk the sales pages and the Daily Deals thread like it's my sole purpose in life and it's helped me snag a lot of stuff for exceedingly cheap (like Best of 2012 for ~1500 points when its full price is 7200). There's a lot of premium items and large sets on sale for this rotation -- only 4 out of the 89 items are not a set or a premium item which in my experience is very unusual.

writerchick, have you checked out the TS3 guide to installing Custom Content? If you have and you want specific help on utilising mods (like Twallan's, with all the options there it's definitely intimidating at first), send me over a PM.

Thank-you for the repost, Katya!

I don't use the gardening station on a community lot, seen the reproduction of seeds but didn't put the two events making lag. I didn't like that after a while, the seeds can make it hard to maneuver on the lot. Anyway, I have a perfect garden lot that uses the windows and the decor and that one is fine for my worlds. The dance studio windows are very useful, they can help make a nice modern house build and I used them for one of my houseboats so the shape turned out nice.

Thanks Matrix for your post, learned lots about some items I hardly use like the massage table. I did put it in a spa lot but the other sims tend to use it. Goodness, I would go mad if my active sims were expecting multiples. Some of the items like the massage table are not used much because there's no NPC to do the work. Same with the Japanese grill, I want the show for my sims and not have to work it for themselves.

I still love the mulitab, it's the most used PC in my game. I love the basketball hoop and game machine, just have to get a mod to stop the incessant attraction to challenge another sim to the games. I got the mod by Blue at Simsasylum and boy that made it worthwhile. I also enjoy putting the foot massage chair in my sims home, I like pretending after a hard day or pregnant sims may like to feel comfortable from the massage. The climbing wall is funny but the sim's legs go wonky sometimes and spoils watching them climb. Again had to get a mod to slow down the energy/hunger depletion because it's crazy. The lot I use to put the climbing wall in have the All In One PC that will satisfy the bladder, hygiene and hunger, the sleep pod, and a mixology bar so the sims can replenish and take care of their needs. Also the mud bath from the sauna will replenish energy to a point.

Seems like the earlier PC was more useful and after a while the store team added all types of crap to the PC until you don't really want to use it or get a mod to calm it down. I wonder if they are doing it on purpose?

*I have yet to really read anything beyond this post, so if something mentioned above this is important that I missed, I am sorry*

Overally the store is decent. But, there are a few things you should look put for, but this is with any business. However, EA tends to overdo it in this case.

Most venues are absolute crap, price wise. The chairs and whatever else, they almost always work perfectly fine. There are a few rare exceptions, but the wide majority is pretty good. Taste and style preferences are personal, but most of the stuff in the store is kind of tacky.

The Business as Usual bistro... I say fuck it and get Into the Future. The bistro has some nice features added to it (which is why I got it myself - I regret it), but what I didn't know what all the issues it plagues the game with. It will INFLATE you caches with important Sims, and those Sims rarely if ever work long enough to stop the game from breaking. There are mods, somewhere... I think. The venue is fugly. Period. The gameplay is limited beyond owning and ordering (YOU CANNOT WORK THERE!!), but the objects are cute. If all you want to do is dine, Into The Future is what you want, as it has restaurant gameplay. They call it a cafeteria, but it's a restaurant. Like, the bistro all you can do is order, and you can't choose the menu. What it does have it a proper waiter (the machine does all the cooking, so no chef) and the appropriate lot type.

If I could recommend a few things, based on overall quality of content and usability, It'd be...

-The World, Lucky Palms
-The Set, Regal Living
-The World, Roaring Heights
-The Venue, The Boardwalk (lots of gameplay here)
-The Venue, Grandpa's Grove (with the exception of the broken corn)

There are others, but those really come to mind and stand out.



Early PC was crap. Considering most everything is 5 bucks, a massage chair, wind chimes, a toilets... not worth it, at all. They've gotten better over time, and give you more content for your money - The Glassblowing/perfume station, the Savvy Seller Collection, the Toy Machine - these go above and beyond what traditional PC items are normally about. However, quality dips a bit or bugs inflate.

The Toy Machine is probably the best content item available, because it's adds to the game. An assortment of new toys, and a few more remeshes. Also, the objects included are nice. Since it's meant to be paired with the Savvy Seller collection, and items can't be resold, it's a bit of a waste.

One thing about the bistro is the notifications of chef's quitting and another is coming on to work. All the notifying bugs me because I know there will bloat behind it. I like to keep control of how many sims will created in the world. Bugs me to no end.

The tractor is nice and I think it's cute to have the kids ride, but notifying me it needs to be at the start tract at least 3 times a day gets on my nerves. The rollercoaster too. I get notifications about the rollercoaster and don't have it placed in the world. WTF is that?!

I had so many problems with the chocolate fondu thing, I had to take it out. I was having problems with sims overeating, they would be hungry, go get the food and they filled up before sitting with the food, they eat it and I constantly had the stuffed turkey moodlet. Oh hell no! Took it out. Thing is, the chocolate thingy was on a community lot, not in the sim's home.

#qualityControlAtItsFinest

I own it and let me tell you, it's not worth it.
I'd recommend a world, Sunlit Tides, Monte Vista, Lucky Palms and Aurora Skies - my favorites, I love them so much.

Actually Lewis, that's due to a bug that allows sims to purchase roller coaster cars as, well, cars, which they obviously aren't, and then I believe it is ErrorTrap will keep warning you that there is some track problem with the coaster car (no shit, it's for a roller coaster, not your garage).

I'm still on 1.63, so I haven't gotten the latest updates over a NRaas, but if you head over there, you'll find it mentioned in the revision notes of, I think, ErrorTrap. Regardless, if you search the Chatterbox there, you'll see what I mean.

Quick question about Grandpa's Grove. Is the wooden rocking horse in that set ridable or is it for decor only?

It's a small deco piece.

If I get Aurora Skies, is the Gold edition worth the extra expense?

Ah, ok. Thank-you Matrix! That's kinda crappy, tho. lol

Only if you feel there's value in a hot air balloon that only goes up and down, and only redeeming feature is a new woohoo location, and a couple of cheaty toddler toys that they outgrow in no time if you exercise normal parenting responsibility and teach them to walk and talk like you're supposed to anyway.

Thank you for that explanation and it makes sense. Is that a lax in coding?

Standard Edition wasn't even worth it. Many of the objects were cute, but the buck stops there. It's not even visually attractive half the time (feces colors everything). And the selling features were being a world built for snow (which it wasn't), Auroras (which were colored clouds) and the Hot Air Balloon (which was incredibly meh).

We could actually sue EA for faulty advertising, since there were images of the Balloon displayed much higher than the balloon could go, as well photos taken of the world covered in snow, but only in places where it didn't look like total shit.

Don't be wooed by a few pretty images, but if you must have something from it, by all mean, go for it. The Gold Venue is a nice alternative to the shitty world, but you can't have that one without the other.

Actually, the venue was unlocked from the world a couple of months ago, and the (rather cheaty) toddler items also available to purchase individually.

Tiny Prodigies Early Learning Center

Head Start Playpen

Local Motion Toddler Walker

Actually, my bad. The bug originated in the money module of Story Progression that allowed sims to buy the roller coaster car as an automobile. the fix is still a work in progress. Here's the update from the NRaas site



posts by chain_Reaction

So it looks like those notices are not yet resolved. And in this case, it wasn't all EA's faulty coding.

I think standard edition of Aurora Skies is worth it, golden version is not.