Sims Online has been in service since 2002, but unlike other multiplayer online games, updates have not really helped improve the game’s success.
For starters, the biggest flaw is that there are hardly any people playing online. Sometimes there are less than ten people logged on in an entire region. This leaves one with very little options, because most of the tasks require multiple players in order to advance. For instance, one’s Sim must have some social interaction with other live Sims.
The time one must spend doing repetitive tasks also gets tedious. The “skills” require hours and hours of looking at a Sim doing the same thing. The dullness of this feature is even worse than the mindless monster hacking required for moving up a level on Lineage or World of Warcraft.
The building features have improved compared to the initial service, but are not as intricate as the original Sims game. You would think that, after four years, the game publisher would include more features from the original game, especially since it’s not as if much new technology has to be developed in the interim.
Because of the repetitiveness and lack of actual players online, it is no surprise that the bulk of people playing online these days are those who had fun with the (offline computer) Sims in the past. Also, many users are homemakers in relatively rural regions of the United States, who keep the game running while doing other household chores. Electronics Arts should develop a new game for American housewives because clearly this one is turning them into zombies.
Filed under: culture , Sims Online EA multiplayer online games
