User blog:LostInRiverview/The Sims Wiki News - 31st July 2014

Hello and welcome back to The Sims Wiki News!

The Sims News
As we reported in last week's news and in this post, EA is giving away free downloads of The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection on Origin. You don't have to own The Sims 2 base game or anything to be eligible to get this game, and you don't have to download or install it immediately; simply open your Origin account and redeem the code: I-LOVE-THE-SIMS. But hurry up, because today - July 31st, is the last day that this game is being offered for free, and who knows if they'll ever offer it again. Even if you don't want to install the game right now, I would strongly recommend getting the game into your Origin library, so you can download it in the future.
 * Last chance to get The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection for free

EA is rewarding players who own copies of The Sims 3 and its expansions, who go out and buy a copy of The Sims 4. When TS4 launches, players with an Origin account will be able to obtain in-game rewards through the build mode in The Sims 4, based on how many The Sims 3 expansion packs they own. Expansions purchased through Origin will already be included in the game, but games that don't appear in a player's Origin library can be manually added with the game's 20-digit serial number. The in-game rewards are said to "affect your Sims' emotions and personalities in a unique way." For more information about this feature, go here.
 * The Sims 4 rewards program

EA has put out another trailer for The Sims 4, this time focusing on in-game emotions. Take a look!
 * New trailer

The Sims Wiki News
A few ongoing discussions have been resolved. Here's what was decided:
 * Discussion resolutions
 * The wiki adopted a Site Feature Policy (click here to read the policy)
 * The wiki has given up on getting VisualEditor disabled for unregistered users (we tried)
 * The admin portal talk page will be locked

As always, there are a number of very important topics that need your input. Among them are:
 * Ongoing discussions
 * a discussion of the wiki's theme
 * a thread planning changes to the wiki ahead of the TS4 release
 * proposed changes to the weekly news system on the wiki
 * a discussion of what to call worlds/neighborhoods in TS3
 * a discussion of whether articles about TS4 Sims should be created before release
 * a discussion about whether to keep or retire administrative projects
 * deciding how to handle TS4's "alternate timeline" on Sim and family articles

One of the wiki's administrators and bureaucrats, Lost Labyrinth, has announced his retirement from the wiki. Lost Labyrinth (a.k.a. Lab) has served the wiki well as a community member, Community Director, administrator, and bureaucrat for four years. He has had a tremendous impact on this wiki, and he will be sorely missed
 * Farewell

Lab's retirement, along with the upcoming release of The Sims 4, has highlighted the need for new administrators on The Sims Wiki. Therefore I would encourage anyone who is eligible to apply (i.e. someone who has rollback rights) to seriously consider putting your name in for (as K6ka calls it) "the mop and bucket" of administratorship. Or, if you know if someone else on the wiki who would be a good fit, do not hesitate to nominate them for a position. There are no restrictions on who can nominate another user, so don't hesitate to select someone who you feel is qualified. Administratorship applications and nominations should be added to this page. If you would like to become an admin someday and are not yet a rollbacker, you can apply for rollback rights here.
 * Apply for user rights

Poll
The producers of The Sims 4 have been showing off their new worlds and the new features of the game, but they've also been revealing some of the familiar faces and names that will be re-appearing in TS4. In the process, they've decided to set the events of The Sims 4 into an "alternate universe" from the timeline in the first three games. What do you think about this? What are your thoughts on TS4 events occurring in an alternate timeline? I think it's better this way - it preserves the timeline from the first games I wish they would've included it in the main timeline instead I don't care one way or the other I wish they wouldn't have included any returning Sims at all

As always, thanks for reading! --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 06:19, July 31, 2014 (UTC)