So what's the deal with it. Does it actually work. I've read too many things now over the last couple of hours and I'm seriously worried that I'm throwing my money out for something overhyped that I can't enjoy and I only bought out of blind loyalty to a so far brilliant franchise.

I'm European so my pre-ordered copy hasn't been shipped yet and right now, I still can cancel it with ease. Once they ship it, there's a whole 'nother process involved in rejecting the came.


My question is:
Does the Story Progression toggle button thingy work or not? What happens when it's turned off, what happens when it's turned on. Is it really just global? What about Free Will? I wish I can get a clear answer as this is essentially my personal deal breaker or maker. I refuse to buy a Sims-game where I only have complete control of one family and lose it once I switch households.

From what I've gathered from comments all around the net so far, it is impossible to stop Sims in your neighbourhood to do stuff which goes beyond visiting the toilet. And there's also that issue with changing households and essentially losing your progress (Wants, etc.).
But every information I've found so far is either apocalyptic (especially the stuff on MATY... those people are really cynical...) or unclear.


I'm worried, and right now I still have time to cancel the order and wait for someone to make aging, free will and story progression lot-specific and actually work, or something, I dunno (which is the problem...).



Thank you for any clear information from an actual legal game licensee.

When I disable it, absolutely nothing happens differently. NPCs I deleted or killed off still respawn and move in, my own families still vanish etc. as far as I can tell the button has no effect what so ever.

I dunno if we will ever see a hack that makes any of the AI toggles lot-specific. That's not the way the game was designed, so it may not be hackable.

But the story progression toggle doing nothing is clearly a bug, not working as intended, so I expect that will be fixed, officially or unofficially, or more likely both.

As for sims losing their wishes and opportunities, that is really not that big a deal IMO. They come back. Your sims are NOT losing progress when it happens. Everything where progress actually counts -- skills and skill challenges, promotions, reward points -- is retained.

Does this only referr to story progression or also to free will?

Maybe turning off free will changes these things if turning off story progression won't.

I really hope there is a way to change this, because I really wanna play that game.

Story progression = broken.
Free will = only affects your active household. Rest of the town still has free will.

The biggest thing to watch out for is sims moving away, which seems to effectively delete them from the town. They do it randomly, and the game then moves in even uglier townies to take their place.

As near as I understand, free will is lot-specific, or rather, doesn't impact anything beyond the lot.

I agree with Srikandi that lot-specific story progression may not be hackable, and that's fine, I would be perfectly happy if the neighbourhood-wide story progression simply worked, but I can't see any difference in their behavior.

Wishes and opportunities I don't really care about either. But personal customized items, millions of simoleons in loot that vanishes etc. definately does irritate me.

Crossing my fingers for a patch soon so I can start really playing, and not just sandbox...




Except for precrafted NPCs who will move back in no matter how hard you try to delete, age or kill them off... this is another horrible aspect that surely must be patched?

Ok, thank you. It's cancelled, with massive disappointment...

Especially guardianpegasus's several other comments which I just stumbled upon (after starting the thread of course) made it clear and the decision was easy.

What I value most in any series, whether it's novels, TV or games, is it staying true to the origins. If you intend to evolve it, evolve it enough to be able to name it differently and leave the original as it is.

And how the developers could disgruntle so many fans is a mystery to my sane mind. I guess it's because their disappointment is not loud and clear enough, seeing all those "I GOT IT I GOT IT I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT AND BOUGHT IT" threads all over the place...

Seeing Rod Humble's background in MMORPGs, I guess the setup of the team was full of wrong choices.


This all may be entirely negative. But negativity seems like a breath of fresh air in this overly zealous happyness that surrounds this game.
What's more, reviews are making me angry, as they do at almost any other game.




PS: I really wish there was a demo...

Oh Shady, the game is definately NOT a total loss, nor is it the Sims as many of us know and love it... at least not until a lot of it gets straightened out. If or when these circumstances which are breaking the game change, you can be SURE I'll be among the first to post about it, and how much I now LOVE The Sims 3.

My list of demands is as follows:
-Neighbourhood crafting tool (including the ability to create one with NO NPCs)
-Fixing of story progression and NPCs in general including premades and move-in interactions
-Greater control over neighbourhood even WITH story progression (having your favourite families deleted blows, even with story progression)
-No more dissappearing inventory and personal items

This is a fairly short list, and should have been in the core game already. I would personally like to have some of my neighbourhoods WITH progression and others without, but the whole deletion and vanishing thing is a dealbreaker either way. Until these things are fixed I can't see myself playing this game...

And yeah, trying not to offend anyone with my opinion, but it's hard when people are so passionate (to the point of being blindly zealous).

Still, I'm willing to wait it out and see how things unfold. Maybe it's really just bugged, or maybe it's just no longer a game franchise I can like in the future.

I was very excited about getting the game and already gave up my plans to conquer all of Britannia (in a game, of course) to pursue a few days of anxious boredom while hoping the game will arrive early on Friday, and not late on Monday.

But now, I'm going to kill William Wallace...

I'm off to conquer the rest of Azeroth myself and to level up my shaman in Outland... can't be bothered with The Sims 3 - Groundbug Day until there's a patch

The way you play the game may change, but it's still fun and an enjoyable way to kill a few hours. Granted, you might want the old style of gameplay at times, but just don't uninstall Sims 2. I haven't and most likely won't. Sims 3 is great, it's enjoyable, but it just can't completely replace Sims 2 for me.

hmm much negativity going around. i already thought of things like this, its the first release and i got excited too but i thought first releases have most of the bugs and glitches later or future ones will be more great, take time to enjoy things first before moving into another. for me i have decided to complete and buy off all expansion and stuff packs for sims 2 maybe then when i got tired of sims 2 a better sims 3 will be available.

You see this is why I think it is wrong for someone to just keep posting the same negativity time after time after time.

They have now actually spoiled the game for someone to the point where they have now cancelled it. Behaviour like that really upsets me.

Shadylady i am sorry that you feel that way especially now as Guardian is going back on himself saying oh it is a good game though... it is not a total loss.

It is just different and unfortunately some simmer and gamers are more able to adapt to new things. The guy in question plays WoW which is a game I like, but that game happens to be famous for being filled with reactionaries and whiner babies. I have been quiet while classes I played have been nerfed, unnerfed renerfed change beyond recognition. But the one thing I did is realise if changes like this did not happen I would be stuck in a game that did not change that ceased to challenge me.

The same can be said with the Sims. if the game did not evolve it would become stale and old. This change will ahve good and bad elements the point is to explore the game and view the new content and engage in doing something new. Life is what we make it and you will find the same is true of gaming.

Please guys do not let other peoples negativity to infect you. If you want to be excited you damn well be that way.

I still find it hard to believe that in the few hours that Guardian CAN have been playing the new version he was able to play several different families in different neighbourhoods to the extent he is claiming. Just an observation.

People are allowed to have different opinions from yours. They're allowed to be disappointed. They're allowed to share information. Everyone else, in turn, is allowed to take that information and then make up their own mind. I think you're insulting people by suggesting otherwise. Instead of trying to control what other people post, why don't you just post reasonable counterpoints instead?

Gwynne if you read my post.

You notice I say it upsets me that people behave in this way appearing to be delibertaly, as that does appear to be the case with Guardian, trying to spoil things for others and in this case succeeding.

People can have differing opinions. Which is why I am expressing mine and I do actually show 2 counterpoints in the post.

The most damning one being how can guardian, who by his own admission got the game less than 24 hours ago, actually be able to comment on how story progression works after several starting points? Having had several NPC marriages and several generations. Quite simply he can not have had, so how then can he speak with such authority on what is happening? Or how the game is?

Gwynne if you think people can have differing views then it is nonsensical for you to then try to censure someone else from expressing their's. Is it not? Slightly hypocritical really.

The moment I heard "simultaneous aging" for the first time regarding Sims 3, I was very very sceptical. I waited it out, hoping there would be an option to turn that off somehow. Then I started hearing about the seamless neighbourhood and Sims progressing without your permission in various ways. Again, very sceptical... I decided to wait it out again, followed nearly none of the previews as no pre-release information really revolved around that issue that worried me. Everytime I thought about Sims 3, I could only think about that feature we're talking about now. All the other things I didn't care about.

I heard about moodlets, I thought awesome.
I heard about walking around the neighbourhood, I thought awesome.
I heard about the several CAS features, I thought awesome.
I heard about the trait system, I thought awesome.
I heard about the new wants and fears and lifetime wants and opportunities and dreams and what-not, I thought awesome.

I was and still am on board with everything (!) except the story progression and the new issue of free will and the various smaller issues that come with that. And that also only to a certain degree. I couldn't care less about what Sims do, except of course those I created myself, as I have plans for them, as I want them to marry that other Sim I created and I want them to live their lifes exactly how I figured it all out. I am that kind of player and I can't imagine playing The Sims any other way. I will not let that liberty be taken from me. Period.


I always knew that, if I can't play that way, I can't enjoy the game. Simple.

Now I know that that is not possible, at least for now. And again, I'm willing to wait it out, see how it unfolds. No one is to blame. My disappointment and the decision to not buy it for now is completely on my part.

I do not believe it takes that long to find out if the toggle for Story Progression works or not. Wouldn't you just need to start a family, put them in a lot and then switch over to another family? Then you can see whether they are moved out of the city, have spawn or end up dying.

Also, this isn't the only forum reporting on this matter. I'm not just referring to MATY, either. There are many other forums that are reporting problems. Though most of the complaints I see concern how slow the speed is in the game. People are getting bored having to watch their sims sleep.

I think your best arguments for the game will be to prove the naysayers wrong. If you can't, then perhaps you should start heeding their words. Otherwise all you are giving is people your own opinion and I'm not sure how much weight that carries if you haven't tested things out yourself.

Seeing all this negative talk about the game, I really might just wait to get a new computer for this. I've been simless for more than a week (almost two) so I'm sure I could wait a couple more...

I am playing with "short life time", my sims have only 25 days to enjoy their life. I am currently teaching walk to the 4th generation. The story progression feature is not working properly. You will not noticed it until you move out your first born. After a few days, the young adult will have an unexpected baby even with "story progression OFF".

I think the problem is that there seems to be a dispute over what the freewill and story progression toggle do.

Free will allows a sim to look after their needs, but I wonder if it now also allows a sim to look at short term goals as well. This could account for why certain events are happening that people assume should be under the story progression toggle.

I need to find out a clear definition of what both do.

Get a game to the same point and make several version so of it, using different setting. I then need to have play them changing one of the settings between each one and then repeating the same actions with each of the sims I am controlling for the same length of time, well as accurately as I can. Then after doing them seing what kinf of other things are happening etc to see if there are any difference. Then thinking about what the differences are and seeling if it is appropriate for the control.

I'm making some extra families to test Story Progression out right now..

Nvenya- is that Risa? <3

Yes! I love Lovely Complex.

Sidheed, I had heard that Free Will only affects the current family you are playing.

It hasn't worked with me. I'm pretty riled up about this. I do not want random sims spawning babies. I do not want them moving out without my say so.

Since the leaked version also had the same problem, I would have assumed the developers would have picked up on it and corrected it before the game went gold.

I guess not.

Me too! I got my friend addicted to it X3

Heh that's glad to know, it would really, REALLY suck if it turned off the free will for the entire neighborhood. I can just picture it now, my sims go to sleep and by the time they wake up everyone has died and the entire town becomes full of ghosts.

Actually, that would be pretty cool. XD;

Sims 3 was never ment to be sims 2 plus if you want complete control play sims 2, which I also love but now only realy decorate as .....
I do not get enough time to labourously play each familey for the same time to ensure granny is not younger than great grandson
I want ! the families to go off and do their own thing this is what I expected and why I ordered sims 3 .
This has always been advertised and should not be a shock. Some people have not even taken the time to find out that it is on a DVD and not a CD.
Please investigate before buying a game then critising it for doing what was ment to do instead of what you thought it would do.
From all the posts I have seen it will live upto my realistic expectation of a new Base game with different Game play.
I remember a lot of similar comments when sims 2 came out do you still play sims1?