News

Hi Simmers!

Thanks again for joining us on January 8 for The Sims Live Broadcast where we officially announced The Sims 3 University Life! For those of you who missed it, you may watch the archived recording here . We're thrilled to see all your eager comments and excitement on the forums and we know you have lots of questions for this upcoming EP. Last week, I tackled SimGuruArgus to get him to answer as many of your questions posted in our thread as possible. He thought you all had some really great questions and he's posted the responses below.

I hope you enjoy this Q&A!

Q: Can the college Sims get married & pregnant in college life?
A: No marriage and no pregnancy. It’s kept pretty casual while Sims are at university.

Q: How will joining a sorority or fraternity work? Will Sims have to go through a rush period? Also can we customize how long each semester is.
A: Joining a sorority or fraternity is as easy as selecting it when you first move into the university world. There is no rush period since we wanted these to feel more inclusive than exclusive. There are some pretty great dares you can explore as well. Each time you attend university, you can customize the duration of your term to one or two weeks.

Q: Whilst in the University world, can we visit home? That and can Pets, Paparazzi and Aliens visit this sub-world like Sunset Valley or not like with WA destinations?
A: Since the terms aren't too long, there is no way to visit back home. If you get really homesick, you can drop out, but doing so will sacrifice anything you have spent in paying for that term. Pets will not show up in university, however those pesky Paparazzi and abducting Aliens may pay you a visit while you’re attending.

Q: Will there be an option to add college buildings to your home world so your working Sims can take night classes or so Sims can attend college classes while still living at home?
A: You can definitely add college buildings to your home world through edit town and they will function similarly to Base Game rabbit holes with a few new interactions, but no college classes. While Sims can prepare for university outside of school by building skills and taking the aptitude test, actual credits will not be committed until you finish a term at university.

Q: If you meet a Sim at college, can you bring them back to you home world with you when college is over?
A: You can't immediately bring them back with your Sim when they go home from university since they have to unpack, but you can call them and have them visit your home world once your Sim has returned.

Q: What if your Sim graduates before their friends do? Will there be an option to stay in touch and invite them for a visit like you can do with foreign friends in WA and then invite them to move in that way?  
A: If your Sim is a whiz in academics and ends up graduating before their friends, they can always keep in touch by calling their university friends. There is in fact an option to stay in touch with friends post-university and it works much like foreign friends in The Sims 3 World Adventures .

Q: Can you send your Sim's friends and neighbors to college even when you are not playing as them?
A: The only Sims you are able to send off to university are Sims that are part of your active household.

Q: What is the shortest amount of time a Sim can stay at the university? Can you customize how long Sims can attend college?
A: The shortest amount of time a Sim can stay at university is one Sim week and the longest amount of time is two Sim weeks. You are able to customize your stay by selecting one or two terms (one term = one Sim week, two terms = two Sims weeks).

Q: Can Sims get multiple degrees? Like, go and graduate, come home and then go again?
A: Sims can most definitely earn multiple degrees. All of you completionists out there can go nuts!

Q: If I send a married Sim can she invite her spouse to visit her and also can he invite her to visit?
A: No, your Sim's spouse will not be able to visit your Sim while they are at university, but you can always spend a little time in-between terms catching up with loved ones or you may speak to them on your smart phone while away at university.

Q: Are there Secret Societies in the University EP?
A: There are no secret societies in university, but you can apprentice under the almighty mascot.

Q: Can you get kicked out if you misbehave or don't keep up your grades?
A: Your Sim can get kicked out of class for cheating, but your Sim will never be suspended or expelled from university.

Q: I'm wondering if Sims will get additional wish slots when they graduate like they did in The Sims 2 University? Will there be new lifetime wishes or rewards?
A: We do have new lifetime wishes and rewards in The Sims 3 University Life, but we did things a little bit differently than in The Sims 2 University. Instead of getting an additional wish slot for graduating, Sims are granted an additional trait slot as well as other benefits.

Q: Are there spring breaks?
A: Technically, there can be a spring break, but this all depends if you have The Sims 3 Seasons installed and when your term ends.

Q: Will body piercings be reintroduced?
A: Body piercings do not appear in The Sims 3 University Life.

Q: Will Sims have jobs/part time jobs while attending class?
A: While Sims are at university, we definitely make room for them to focus on their Academics. If they had a job in their home world, it will be put on hold while they attend university. There are multiple ways to earn money while at university. The job board is a good place for Sims to start looking for ways to earn extra cash but it is by no means the only way to make money. You’ll have options!

Q: Are there any scholarships teens can apply for?
A: Sims that take the Aptitude Test will have their scores based on their previous accomplishments. This means that certain types of skills, traits, or high school grades that they had as a teen will come into play when calculating their overall score. This allows them to earn financial aid or even gain credits towards their degrees. Also, it is important to note that progress in certain careers also benefit Sims when they attend university.

Q: Are there new recipes? Will there be new recipes for the microwave?
A: There are new ready-to-eat recipes that can be found on the microwave and refrigerator as well as some tasty treats that you can purchase from the new barista bar.

Q: Will there be different kinds of university campuses?
A: There is only one university campus. This campus, however, can be modified using edit town either from your home world or when you arrive in the university world. It really is the cream of the crop though and the one university that all Sims aspire to attend.

Q: What are the new social interactions with the 3 social groups?
A: I don't want to spoil too much here, but we have quite a few new socials that unlock as you progress through the social groups. This ranges from things like taking a self-portrait with your smart phone to showing off a new gizmo.

Q: Can we switch gameplay from university to town?
A: Attending university works like a travel world. Once enrolled, it is best to stay until the end of the term, but you are able to drop out and head back home during the middle of the term. Doing so will cause your Sim to lose any progress and money spent towards earning their degree that term. Once you finish the term or drop out, you will be returned to your home world.

Q: Can Sims get academic probation if they don’t do well in class?
A: No, the only real punishment for not doing well at university is when you are cheating. Other than that, university is very forgiving on performance. Nobody wants to be kicked out, especially if they’re spending their hard earned Simoleons on it. Another important note is that if you get a D or an F, you will either get reduced credits or no credits for that term.

We hope this Q&A can tide you over until The Sims 3 University Life launches on March 5! Thanks for reading!

-SimGuruHydra

Well, part 2 of our SimCity hands-on preview is online! Curious?

Start reading!

I closed the form an hour ago and spent some time removing duplicates from the spreadsheet. After that I used random.org to select 15 numbers. I looked up those numbers in the spreadsheet and here are the winners:

• Noel Reinhold
• Jeyhan
• Nick Suter
• Laurent
• Timothy Guenthner
• Emily Alice
• Nasos
• Rachel
• leclanfra
• Ivan Genc
• Gino Abbas
• Rui Cardoso
• Oscar Samuelsson
• Alex Saul
• Kyle

Congratulations to all of you! I have mailed all 15 winners with their unique code for the SimCity beta.

I would like to thank EA Benelux for letting SNW host this giveaway!

Welcome to the temporary SimsNetwork (SNW) and SimCityNetwork (SCN) website!

Here is a Q&A or FAQ, whatever you want to call it, that will hopefully answer some questions.

Where is the real website? What happened?
It's gone! The website as we know it, is gone. The server crashed. The file system corrupted everything. All the websites and mailboxes (among other things) are corrupted and unreadable.

What about backups?
We have one person who usually makes a daily backup. However this person experienced issues of his own right when the server was failing, therefore the recent backups are gone. We do have a few backups from August 2012 and those should be safe and well. Nonetheless it's from August 2012, which is why we lost everything that happened between August and now.

And what happens now?
After a weekend of inspecting the damage and lots of tears, I decided to continue with SNW. I have to admit losing my "baby" like that is hard and I had to think about whether or not I wanted to start over. However I know in my heart I would miss it too much. I would miss the games, the community, the people, everything really. So I am going to start over. My boyfriend (Cheetah from The Sims Zone) will help me rebuild and restructure the website. I can do it myself, but it will take longer if I do everything alone. It's a complex system and I'm really a perfectionist when it comes to my sites, so I only trust Cheetah to help me with this. A lot of friends have offered their help, and I really appreciate that!

Cheetah is the one who is going to download whatever is left of the files. After everything is downloaded and kept safe on a backup disc, he will install everything on the server again. Fresh and clean. Once this is done, most of the sites can be moved back, including a few of my own (since I haven't updated most of them lately, and therefore the August 2012 backups will be fine for those sites).

When will SNW be back?
Like I said before: we have to start over. I roughly work 10-12 hours a day on my websites, so I'm hoping to be back within 2-4 weeks. But in the meantime, this temporary site will have to do. We will post important news here, as well as previews/reviews and giveaways.

To stay up to date, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks for sticking with us!