How was your first encounter with The Sims franchise?

[Leto85]

My dad used to work for Apple, so whenever we went to visit him a work, I always saw Sims 2 expansions and stuff packs at the Apple Store. Never the actual Sims 2 game. If they did have it, I probably would have bought that instead. For my twelfth birthday, I got fifty dollars from my grandparents, and after much consideration and though, decided to use it to buy the Sims 3. I love the game, and have never regretted my choice.

12th Birthday? But I thought you where playing it much longer. I remember you anouncing your birthday on the forum and I thought it isn't that long ago.

[TheChronicR]

So, I encountered the Sims in 2004. The first game of the franchise for me was The Sims 2: University. Then came the mania: Nightlife, Seasons, Pets... etc. and the Stuff Packs, of course. That was lots of money spent! But I enjoyed it. At the time I started playing, I was just 7, Now I'm 14. After Sims 2, I played Sims 1 for 3 months, but quit it after some time. I rushed to the store the first day Sims 3 was released and bought it without thinking a second. Of course, my PC couldn't handle it. I had to wait 2 months till August 2009, when I got my laptop, so the game worked. I was very excited with everything it offered. When WA was released, I couldn't find it in my country, so another month spent with no result. In September last year, I finally got WA, HELS, AMB & FLS, when they were released in my country 4 in 1. Now I'm waiting for LN. But no hope for it... Still, simmies rock! 

[Saltypaws]

I got my first computer just before sims1 came out. It was an Aptiva and it only had 750 megs of hard drive space on it.  When my sister told me about this new game she got, I wanted it really bad and went ahead and got it.  It downloaded, but I could not play it because there was not enough room and it was really slow and pathetic.  My mom had gotten the game also and I spent alot of time playing on hers or watching her play, that was torture.  I finally got a big enough computer and have been hooked ever since.  I am like so many others, I had every EP and SP that they ever made for all three games.  I also played simcity, Zeus, Pharoah and almost all city building games they made.  I still have most of the games and I will probably continue to play these games until my fingers don't want to work any more.  I guess after almost 11 years, you could say I was hooked, lol.

[Leto85]

So, I encountered the Sims in 2004. The first game of the franchise for me was The Sims 2: University. Then came the mania: Nightlife, Seasons, Pets... etc. and the Stuff Packs, of course.   That was lots of money spent! But I enjoyed it. At the time I started playing, I was just 7, Now I'm 14. After Sims 2, I played Sims 1 for 3 months, but quit it after some time. I rushed to the store the first day Sims 3 was released and bought it without thinking a second. Of course, my PC couldn't handle it. I had to wait 2 months till August 2009, whne I got my laptop, so the game worked. I was very excited with everything it offered. When WA was released, I couldn't find it in my country, so another month spent with no result. In September last year, I finally got WA, HELS, AMB & FLS, when they were released in my country 4 in 1. Now I'm waiting for LN. But no hope for it...   Still, SIMMIES ROCK!!  

Can't you order it on the internet? I don't know in which country you live, but ordering things over the net could be the answer. Ebay or something? We in Holland can use bol.com for that. I did it by ordering the Sims 3 Special Edition.

[Figwit]

What a great topic.

I started in late 2007.  My adult daughter had been playing Sims 2 for quite a while and had tried to get me interested.  I kept pooh-poohing the idea.  Why should I want to play with families and babies when I had done that in real life?  Eventually though, she talked me into it and installed it on my computer.  I was hooked.  I was also hopeless at understanding it and I cringe now when I think of the panicked emails I would send her or the phone calls late at night because I couldn't work something out.  Once I moved a sim into a recently vacated house and all the furniture was gone.  I had no idea how to buy more.  I also once tried to expand a house and took off the roof. I played without a roof for days because I didn't know how to put a new one on.  Thankfully my daughter was very patient and eventually I learnt.  She finally talked me into installing the expansion packs - at first I was too scared to even do that because I thought it would make the game even harder. Anyway, I was hooked.  I bought my own copies of the game and all the expansion packs plus the stand-alone games.  Somewhere along the way I upgraded my computer, then replaced it all in the cause of enhancing my Sim playing experience.

When Sims 3 came along I glanced at the huge pile of Sims 2 disks and thought of the investment, shrugged my shoulders, and took the plunge.  I love Sims 3 and I am sure I will be lining up for Sims 4 when it comes along.

[Asleep]

12th Birthday? But I thought you where playing it much longer. I remember you anouncing your birthday on the forum and I thought it isn't that long ago.

Oop. Sorry, I mean eleventh.

[kidakiwi04]

Whoa talk about a walk through memory lane. My very first encounter with Sims was in 2004 when I was a freshman in college. My boyfriend at the time had all the Sims expansions and stuff packs. I I created a Sim version of us that I would play whenever I got sick of studying. When we broke up beginning of 2005 didn't think about Sims again until I ran across Sims 2 at Wal-Mart in 2007. On a whim I bought it and I have never looked back.

[Jonna]

I don't really remember my first encounter, but I'm pretty sure it awesome!  I remember anticipating the game coming out, just waiting and waiting for months!  My dad got it for me.  I played it a lot, along with all the expansions when they came out.  I'm pretty sure that I played the Sims instead of doing my homework.  That was no big loss, though, because I'd just finish my homework at lunch (much to the chagrin of my classmates, lol!  I loved having math in the afternoon).  But I've never really been the type to play nonstop, I generally play for a month after each expansion.  This forum is the only reason that I've been playing the Sims 3 as much as I have.

[bored1]

My very first encounter with the Sims franchise was way back in Dos days with one of the SimCity games sometime around 97-98. I would have been 15 or so. Those games in particular didn't impress me, but when I heard about the Sims, I thought "cool- I can run the lives of those people living in SimCity".

I think the copy we found was downloaded online and not exactly legal at the time (2002 I think) and I fell in love with the little people, especially playing the goth house. The only problem was the game was on my brother's computer and he kept his room locked while he was out. So, of course, I picked the lock and got in serious trouble for that.

I went off to college and kinda forgot about the Sims for a little bit, then later found the complete Sims collection set in Best Buy for pretty cheap (probably around 2005- I know Sims 2 was out by then). I played pretty religiously and still do. I have owned every EP from Sims 2 and even some of the SP's. Looks like history may repeat itself, lol.

I would love to get Medieval, but I doubt I can afford it now. gonna keep my eyes open for the next EP release info and start saving up.

[Pam]

I'm hoping some "Super Moderator" is going to create a new Sub-Forum just for Sims Medieval 

We will have a board dedicated to Sims Medieval, like we have a board for World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, etc.

[Hosfac]

I, too, got my introduction to the Sims franchise by way of SimCity 2000.  I was a huge fan of an old game called "Populous" (where you play the deity of a village and direct them to do the things they need to survive, fight wars with their neighbors and smite their enemies with godly powers) and I saw it as a modern version of that.

Unfortunately, it wasn't.  SimCity wasn't a game I could play for extended periods of time.  I'd play for a few hours, forget about it for a few weeks/months, then play some more.  I just couldn't get into it.  Then, I got a strategy guide for it for free from a friend of mine who worked at a bookstore.  I figured maybe this will help me get interested in it (I really liked the concept, I just didn't like the game, because I had no idea how to do things).

On the back cover was an advertisement for Maxis' new game:  The Sims.  It wasn't even out yet.  At first, I wasn't sure I was interested, but I kept seeing this ad for it (and a few others, too), so I figured I'd give it a shot.  So when it came out, I bought it.  I was instantly hooked.

I sort of lost interest in the first Sims shortly after Makin' Magic came out, but my interest was renewed the moment Sims 2 was announced.  I started playing Sims 1 again until it was released.  But I lost interest again, shortly before Apartment Life came out (I never got that expansion).

When Sims 3 was announced, I went ballistic once again.  The day it was released, I went out and bought the collector's edition.  I like this version more than I did the other two versions combined.  In Sims 1 and 2, it was like you played inside a bubble.  Nothing really went on outside the lot you were on.  But in Sims 3, I love how the entire town is pretty much alive.  

I don't see myself losing interest any time soon.

[Leto85]

Nice topic. 

Of course it is! I created it.

Oop. Sorry, I mean eleventh.

Glad to know, than we have that mystery finally solved.

[Twinmum]

I've played simulation games for longer than I care to recall. If it had sim or theme in the title I probably had a copy in the bookshelf (actually, I just looked and most of them are still there now lol) But that wasn't my first introduction to Sims.
I was looking for a program to design houses in 3D, not even sure why now, it's not like we were planning extensions or anything. So I went into EB, but back then it was still Electronic Boutique and sold all different sorts of programs and not just games. I told the fellow what I was after but he didn't have quite what I was looking for, but he suggested this new game that you could build houses in.
It was so new, they still had it on the instore computer. I had a play with it, but wasn't convinced straight away. I was pretty sure it wouldn't do what I wanted as far as designing was concerned. So I came home and did a bit of online research into the game. A few weeks later, I lashed out and bought it.. and so started my Sims life.
I quickly became obsessed with user created content and by the time Sims 2 came out, as well as having every expansion pack, I had a collection of about 3CD's of custom content!
I've always loved the building side of the game and this love increased when Sims 2 came out with better building techniques available. Again I bought every expansion pack and stuff pack, and I started again collecting CC. This time however, I was more discerning with what I downloaded and mainly just got items to build with, eg. windows, doors etc.
I didn't get Sims 3 straight away like I did with Sims 2. I tell myself it was because I wouldn't continue to buy into the money making machine that was the Sims franchise... but in reality, it was because my computer at the time was just not capable of running it. I think about 2 months after the release we bought a new computer and the next day, I bought Sims 3 lol And of course I have all the expansions and stuff packs so far and will continue to buy them as they are released.

Norma

[Filly]

My first experience came with SimCity Classic, but I can't remember what year. I remember building up grand cities with my little brother and then we would set loose like ever disaster and watch the apocolypse unfold. Entertained us for hours.

I never played the first Sims series and started with Sims 2 in 2004. I was 22?  It was on an okay computer but I always hated changing lots because it look forever to load. I even got my hubby and his best friend, both 27 at the time playing it, as well as my brother. They didnt last past the base game but i was hooked and was one of those fanatic fans who eagerly awaited every expansion and stuff pack.

Does anyone else remember the commercial for the Sims 2 that showed real life people with little pocket Sims?  I remember two scenes, one with a girl holding them two in her hand with one of them giving the other a daisy, and the other a little criminal Sim stealing couch change and the real life person setting the cop Sim on him. I think thats when I first found the Sims 2.

[Teresa]

The last week of August in 2005 I was on a "required" vacation (I was stressed out and my boss insisted I take a week of vacation).  On Wednesday of that week (yes I remember it that specifically) I was home alone and bored out of my mind.  I knew my sister had been playing this game called Sims so I called her up and asked if she still had all the disks.  She told me I could have what she had, she had uninstalled it and was playing the new release, Sims 2.  So I ran over and got her disks and spent the afternoon installing it.  I fell in love with it and proceeded to buy the remaining expansions she did not have.  I played constantly, in fact sometimes staying up all night to play and then drowsily working through the day.

Sims 2 Nightlife released two weeks later and, having now been initiated to the franchise, I started getting an itch to try it out.  So, back to the store I went, purchasing the base game along with University and Nightlife.  Sims 1 was promptly uninstalled and I never looked back.  I played Sims 2 so much over the holidays that my daughter's boyfriend asked me if I ever got up from the computer so I took a a break of about six months before getting sucked back into the game over the summer.  I bought every expansion on the date of release, the local GameStop knew me by name.  I played through the legacy and then every challenge I could find.  I joined a Sims 2 story forum where I am still active today.  The one thing I didn't like about Sims 2 was the static neighborhood.  Then EA heard my cries and announced the release of Sims 3. 

I was really excited about the release of Sims 3, the answer to my prayers.  No longer would my spare and unwanted sims be relegated to the sim bin to languish forever.  Now they would be fed to the time stream to live, breed, and die as they chose.  Once again, I uninstalled the previous game and made the switch.  I have since purchased every expansion and every stuff pack on the day of release.  Having played through the legacy in Sims 2 I began looking for new challenges and found this forum.  Actually, I found the guide first and that led to this forum.