Dumb question, but I don't know what this is. I've seen people toss around the word legacy on about TS3 and I don't really know what a legacy is... could somebody explain this to me?

Check here, this website explains about legacies and also has a list of variations.

The Legacy Challenge linked to by hannahmh87 is only one variation on legacies.

A legacy is when you play the same family continuously through multiple generations within the same game, rather than jumping around from family to family. Start a household any way you like, or begin by playing one of the pre-mades. Stick with that family and it's descendents and you are playing a legacy. There are no other rules except for the ones you decide to use, if any.

That page also includes a link to the official Sims 3 rules from Pinstar.

Technically, there are no "official rules" for a legacy in either Sims game.

You can play just to keep the family name alive generation after generation or you can play to achieve objectives and goals.

Legacy challenges can vary a great deal when created by people around the community.

It was always my understanding that Pinstar originated the original legacy concept with rules and everything, and so his rules are the "official," even if the concept of playing a single family is not his and has numerous variations and the like.

Pinstar is not the boss of me.

Legacies have been played on TS2 long before Pinstar ever wrote the rules. He may have been the first to pen the "official rules" and maybe was the first to call it a Legacy (but I doubt it), but he didn't invent the Legacy. Before TS2 even came out, people were very excited about the lifespan aspect and were planning to play this way the day they installed the game. I think he got many things from being one of these players and reading what other people were posting about this playing style.

Anyway, even if he were the sole person responsible for the Legacy, Pinstar doesn't care what you do on your own personal computer. Legacies are just an alternative playing style. You use the rules as a guideline and tweak them to as you want to keep the game fun. If you want to obey all of the rules, good for you. Pinstar will not send you a trophy. If you want to break all the rules and still call it a Legacy, good for you. Pinstar isn't going to repo your machine and disqualify you from the challenge.

In comparison to Pinstar's approach, there are a billion other types of legacies. The Random Legacy for instance: http://randomlegacychallenge.blogspot.com/

It's a game and Pinstar can claim no ownership over any content of the game. So there is no "official" rules. It's your game, play it absolutely however you want. The only point of having a legacy challenge (as opposed to perfectly valid non-challenge legacy playstyles) is to make the game harder and therefore more enjoyable for your particular opinion and enjoyment.

For instance, I don't play "normal" legacy challenges anymore, because I found the requirement of constantly counting points to be distracting. I want to spend my time playing, not tracking every dollar my sims make. That's what originally drew me to the RLC instead, because I could set a goal for the entire generation and just keep it in mind. I hated feeling like I needed to learn spreadsheet programs just to play my game, but liked the multi-generation legacy style.

Amen, brother!

I could publish my favorite recipe for spaghetti sauce but that doesn't mean its the "official" recipe for cooks around the world!

Just because this person put a set of rules to "paper" doesn't mean they are the originator of the concept. Legacies have been part of the game since Sims 2 and naturally became part of Sims 3 and will probably be a part of every Sims franchise to come.

Again, a legacy challenge can be whatever you want it to be...or not be. It is entirely up to the player as to how they choose to play it.



Or the community.

You are correct. (i.e. (if I'm using i.e. right) I'm wrong.)

Haha. I have always wondered what it is.
Tried reading on some blogs and such but it was so much info and rules I just thought wtf is all this.

So simple and I already do it.

EmotedLlama, "i.e." means, basically, "that is." So what you said is "You are correct; that is, I'm wrong." It's to clarify the previous statement, in contrast with e.g., which would mean "for example." (I need to do a lot of shopping; e.g. for fruit, pants, and cups.)

i.e., yes, you used it correctly.

XD, I went and checked right after I posted that. Thanks for the information, anyway.

(That's not meant to sound ungrateful, by the way.)