The Sims Wiki:Newsletter/March 2012

Changes in the Wiki Spring cleaning came a little earlier this year! By DanPin and MTDM, editors Although February is the shortest month in the year (with a total of 29 days, since this is a leap year), it was a month where a lot happened in here. And this issue will be really short - because we've been really busy. Firstly, we had the premiere of the new newsletter, which we hope you read. Then, a visual redesign came along. It featured several changes to the main page, headers and the sidebar. The staleness of Featured Content continues and the infamous Wikia Chat feature activated in this Wiki last year was disabled after the Community agreed so. Requests for Administratorship (RfAs) are now open long-term, and one of these reporters is the Wiki's newest administrator. Lunar Lakes was also released in February and a review can be found in this edition. This month also marks the release of The Sims 3: Showtime, along with its dreaded social features. The Newsletter team hopes you have a terrific time reading this issue! Poll By DanPin, editor Horoscopes By MTDM, editor A colleague or employer may be critical of your work around the time of the full moon, but don't let it get you down. They don't think you're a failure, they think you can do better - and you can. According to the planets you can get away with just about anything over the next seven days. Now that you know that you should do something outrageous, something that has no right to succeed - but most likely will. Because the changes taking place in your world are or such an intimate nature you may try to deny they are actually happening. But they are and you need to wake up to that fact. Then you need to do something about them. A loved one will do something that seems utterly illogical. The thing to remember is that from their point of view it is perfectly reasonable, so don't waste time trying to make them change their ways - they won't. Let others do the boring jobs and take the risks this week. The planets urge you to take things easy and take time off if you need if. You font need to impress the powers that be - they know of your brilliance already. Venus, planet of emotional and material values, moves into one of the best areas of your chart, making you more optimistic and outgoing than usual. Life is what you make of it, so make it a masterpiece. Don't judge other people too harshly over the next few days. In fact, don't judge them at all. You cannot know what their real motives are. Remember, it takes all sorts to make a world - yes, even Librans! No matter how hard you try to explain yourself it's unlikely you will get your message across to partners and colleagues - it's like there's an invisible verbal barrier between you. Try body language in place of words. Stop worrying about what other people are doing and focus only on what makes you happy. Most likely this coming week that means a creative project you have been working on. Go the distance. Get it finished. Love is in the air this week as Venus, planet of romance, moves into the most dynamic area of your chart. That special someone you have not seen much of lately? Put then at the center of your universe now. You don't need to make each and every decision yourself. There are plenty of people you can turn to for assistance, and you will need their help over the next few days. Let loved ones guide you in the matters of the heart. Venus, planet of love and harmony, moves into the most outgoing area of your chart, and you in turn will be fill of the joys of spring. No matter how good life is now it will be a thousand times better soon. Wiki Short News By WoganHemlock, writer of the Wogan's Rants column Amendments were made to the Inactive Administrator Policy. RoseGui was nominated for bureaucrat - vote here. DanPin was made an administrator. Chat was deactivated. Adminship requests were opened - if you think you qualify, go here and nominate yourself. The Sims Short News By ThomasWikia, guest writer A patch, known as Patch 31, has been released on February 29th. The "My Page" for all accounts in the 'The Sims 3 official website was updated to a new look on February 27th. It has new social features and a new achievement system. Another live chat was announced for Showtime to show the new social features and it was broadcasted on February 23rd at 10:00am Pacific Standard Time. Electronic Arts announced Lunar Lakes on February 11th. A live chat was also announced on the same date and it was broadcasted on February 14th at 10:00am Pacific Standard Time. It was released on February 16th in The Sims 3 Store. Hidden Springs was released outside The Sims 3 Store, now available in game shops worldwide. The Sims FreePlay was released for Android devices (smartphones and tablets) on February 15th. Review: Lunar Lakes By DanPin, editor Lunar Lakes was released last month and it features the Sims in a never-seen-before scenario where they are trapped in a different planet, with new kinds of vegetation, new Sims and new rabbit holes. Just like Andronikos' last month's review of Barnacle Bay, I will talk about each parameter and rate it in a scale of one to five. Pre-made Sims Since Lunar Lakes' storyline is set a few generations after the crew of The Perigee (the spaceship) crashed on that planet, we do not find any new Sims who are alive. However, most pre-made Sims have the same last names as several families from games from The Sims 3 era, and a descendant of the Specter family. This is a refreshing thing, opposed to completely new families we would find in previous neighborhoods, like Hidden Springs, Bridgeport or Appaloosa Plains. Rating Layout The roads in Lunar Lakes are good. There is the central colony, where most of the population resides and the rabbit holes, a small residential area a little away from the center and the mountain area, which takes a little while to get there. On the other hand, there isn't a big availability of empty lots aren't that much, so if you want to place bars, lounges, discos, consignment stores and other lots like those, you'll have to tear houses down. Rating Houses We can finally find unique houses in a The Sims 3 era world. Since Lunar Lakes is in another planet, laws of physics may not apply there (as stated in a producer's walkthrough video) and they are very futuristic. However, the starter homes are a bit cramped. Rating Cost and Advertising When it was announced, Simmers started talking about Lunar Lakes like crazy, and EA used that fact to lure Facebook users to "like" their pages, and they would reveal new information after a milestone. Also, if you don't want to spend a lot of money, I've got some bad news. At the time of writing, Lunar Lakes costs 2,450 SimPoints (over 20USD) - which is A LOT. Rating Other content included If you are in a regular world, like Sunset Valley, Riverview or Twinbrook, the futuristic clothes would appear odd in those ugly randomly-generated townies created by the game. However, don't be saddened by this. The new furniture is acceptable and the Tree of Prosperity is amazing. Rating Verdict If you like science fiction, then this world is perfect for you. However, this world isn't a must-have - but it's pretty good in my opinion. Overall Rating Wogan's Rants: EA and their new types of games By WoganHemlock, columnist So, EA has announced a new SimCity game a few days ago. I have good memories of SimCity, I played it for god knows how long and ruled my city and become rich like you would not believe. Basically, screw the environment and opinions, get money. It was a good game, because it was such a simple premise. Ruling a city, and not having multiplayer and a bunch of 12 year olds headshotting you all day erry day. So, I'm kind of sad when I hear about all the advancements and other stuff EA has been making lately with multiplayer and 3D graphics. For me, it was just a simple game which was the most fun for me. And now SimCity is a multiplayer. I'm not sure how this will even work out. A simulation game with multiplayer? It sounds a bit... meh. I'm sure that everyone will be all over it, and be all like "Shut up and take my money!!1!" just 'cause of these memories and things. If you have actually been bothered listening to this nonsense rant about SimCity 5 (wouldn't it be 6, Societies was 5 - that game sucked btw), you'll have probably worked out that the charm of the games lied in their sheer simplicity, as well as their complexity. Sim games were so successful because they were new, and a simple yet effective concept. All this multiplayer stuff taints the whole simple premise of the games. Tl;dr? It's only 3 paragraphs, just read it. Long story short, EA is trying to make the games things they are not. If you actually read all of this repetitive rambling you probably don't even care about you deserve a cookie and are much more patient than myself. Next Edition... In April, we will cover some of Showtime's new features, some tips and many more! Until then... KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON SIMMING