The Sims Wiki:Newsletter/12 October 2011

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Message Wall Announcement Users less than satisfied

It's safe to say that the majority of users are not pleased with Wikia's newest feature, the "Message Wall". The feature is basically a blog-comment like feature which is allegedly supposed to replace user talk pages soon. The hating this feature has received is extreme - and the hate isn't just limited to The Sims Wiki's community. Petitions, arguments, and even threats to leave have sprung up everywhere since the announcement.

'Too many cooks spoil the broth.' Says Nikel23, an administrator. 'Wikia keeps adding unnecessary improvement which... turns to be such a nauseous nuisance!'

Wikia remain seemingly unfazed by the vast amount of criticism, although claims to be taking as much feedback into account as possible. The possibility of the feature being made optional for wikis has been hinted, but chances are slim and not to be relied on.

The message wall can be tested here by all users. Feedback can be given on Community Central.

The TSW Community: A Brief Story
By DanPin, regular contributor When it was founded back in 2005, The Sims Wiki had a small community, but when the wiki started growing, the community also got bigger. In this article, we will cover several aspects of the community. We will start with the IRC and the Chat and we will cover the Forums and the Community Portal.

The Sims Wiki IRC Channel (#wikia-sims in the Freenode network) is the main place where users hang out and talk about several topics, ranging from TV shows, pop culture, music, games and, of course, Wiki-related business. The Chat is also a resource to get instant replies, but it isn’t as used as the IRC.

The Forums are places where we can ask and answer questions, play some forum games and discuss Fanon and the Wiki. The Community Portal is the hub of the community: We have the Community Talk, where users debate about the Wiki (features, articles and disruptive users, among others).

We hope you now know more about the community and we will see you around! {|class="roundborder" style="border: 1px solid green; background: #B5DCE8; border-left: 5px solid blue; border-right: 5px solid blue;" width="50%" align="right"

Horoscope
HOROSCOPE Scorpio: October 23 - November 22

FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!

Oh, no! Looks like things might not be going so well for you this month in the kitchen!

FIRED, FIRED, FIRED!

Oh, no! Looks like things won't be going the best they can at work, either!

BURNING, BURNING, BURNING!

Uh oh, looks like drinking that odd sauce from your pantry wasn't such a good idea! May your mouth heal ASAP - and may you never drink anything red with chilies in it ever again!

WATER, WATER, WATER!

But, luckily, your month will be ending on an excellent note! Things can't get much better than what they will be, until...

DROUGHT, DROUGHT, DROUGHT!

Fanon Review Feature
Please see here for instructions as to how to submit a Fanon for review, or to become a reviewer.
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3D Modeling
By Andronikos Leventis, writer of The Mod & More Column Mods are definitely amazing, but they just alter game performance. For something more cosmetic, there are meshes. And by that I mean clothing and hair for your Sims. Clearly, the best meshes have been made for The Sims 2. But that doesn't mean you have to ditch The Sims 3! Methods for creating meshes are technically identical in both games. You need: This article will analyze 3D modeling programs.
 * SimPE or Sim3PE
 * A 3D Modeling Program
 * A graphic editor
 * UV Mapper (Classic will do, avoid Pro)

Which one to use?
You definitely have may choices. A lot of choices. But I will do a generic list of available programs against each other. Firstly, you got Blender, which one of the best choices. It is completely free and not very complicated to use. There are many tutorials written for it in the modding community. However, although as mentioned before it is easy to use, it is still difficult to master. Secondly, you can also get Milkshape 3D, which is shareware and costs between $25-$30. Despite its price, it's highly recommended. It is as simple as possible and it has limitless possibilities. It's excellent interface is widely applauded in the modding community. Most tutorials have been written for it. On the other hand, production seems to have stopped in 2009, and it is obviously no longer used. And finally, you have some programs that are no choice at all. Avoid Google SketchUp] at all costs. Also, some other commercial programs are better to be avoided (no links provided).

Notice
If you haven't noticed, the software mentioned above is for Microsoft Windows. If you run on Mac OS, I would recommend you to pay a visit to the Mac App Store. Unfortunately, however the only thing you will find is Cheetah3D, which comes at the ridiculous price of $99. This doesn't mean the software isn't good, In fact, it is more than excellent. The price, however, isn't.

Monthly Highlights

 * The 'Message Wall' was announced.
 * WoganHemlock got promoted to a bureaucrat.
 * The Sims Wiki's 2nd spotlight went live.
 * A redesign of the monobook skin was started.
 * The new navigation bar was activated.

From The Editor
T  his newsletter doesn't write itself! Anyone who is willing to contribute ideas or articles should do so; you will be given credit for your contributions, and they stand a good chance of being included on the next Newsletter.

Along with a new column writer, we would like to include one or two more members of the community to write for us, making us a 4-5 member journalism team. This team will communicate via e-mail and IRC to bring the community the best possible newsletter each month. The Sims Wiki Newsletter would also like to remind you of how fun it actually is to write for The Newsletter. We plan on growing and adding a whole ton of new things, from new game reviews by regular users, to in-depth articles concerning Wikia's changes and how they effect users. For now, growth is extremely limited, and we ask for as many possible users to apply to join.

If there's something you think we missed, tell us about it and we'll do our best to include it.

- Happy Simming and editing!
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