Valeria: Welcome to the The Sims Online Release House of Commons Chat!

Valeria: This chat will be in a moderated format. Our question takers tonight are: [QT]Kiir, [QT]Draconius, and [QT]Kevlar. They are easily recognizable by the [QT] in front of their names.

Valeria: To ask a question of the Maxis Staff, type /msg or /query and the name of one of our [QT] or simply double click on one of the [QT] bring up a messaging window. The [QT] will then present the questions to the Maxis development/community/programming team here with us this evening.

Valeria: I will be your moderator today. I will post your question into the House of Commons chat channel and the team will answer those that they can.

Valeria: Please remember that the question you submit may have been asked previously or may not be able to be answered in a public forum. Please do not message or query myself or anyone from Maxis as these questions will be ignored.

Valeria: While we are waiting for questions, let's give our guests a chance to briefly introduce themselves.

MaxisShannon: Hiya guys, my name is Shannon Copur(aka SimPolarBear). I am a content and tuning producer on The Sims Online.
MaxisTigger: Hiya! Diane "Tigger" Migliaccio, Online Community Rep :)
MaxisGordon: I'm Gordon Walton, Exec Producer of The Sims Online (former UO Tyrant)
MaxisCindy: Hi! I'm Cindy Cox, engineering lead, work on gameplay stuff - objects and features.

Rosiemae: Will we have babies and'or pets eventually?
MaxisCindy: Those are things that we've talked about before, but they are not on our near term list.

MattH-TSO: question: once the property catogories' limitations come in to play, what will happen to the objects already on the lot that dont suit that catogory? will they go back into our inventory?
MaxisCindy: "Special" objects - the ones that you can only use on select categories, will stay on your lot so everything looks the same. But if your property category changes to something where that object is not "allowed" - you won't be able to use it during that time. "No interactions."

Frank_Weindel-Interhogan: When are object transactions coming into the game? This is a really needed feature to keep things running smoothly(allowing us to sell and buy objects from others) before custom content is added.
MaxisShannon: I agree this is a needed feature and we are currently working on secure trading and asynchronous sales.

Vulcan: When do you exactly plan to put death in the game? Ihave seen what is on the design boards and I am continuously putting my feedback there
MaxisCindy: Death is something we are looking to get in pretty soon, though I don't know the precise schedule at the moment, it is amongst high-priority features. It would add some interesting dynamics to the game, for ongoing play, and economics too. It has a global effect too, effects everyone, so is something we think we would like to introduce sooner rather than later.

Merloth: When new single players sims addons comes out will you add their content to TSO?
MaxisGordon: Probably not, except as custom content.
MaxisGordon: The size of the downloads would just be too big. :(

the_great_bob: will there be expansion packs in the future, or if they are planning tso 2
MaxisGordon: If this is *the* Great Bob
MaxisGordon: then I can be mean to you! :)
MaxisTigger: giggles
MaxisGordon: I'm sure we will eventually have an expansion pack.
MaxisShannon: But you're mean to everyone!! ;)
MaxisGordon: All other online games have done so, as it is the most efficient way to deliver mass content.
MaxisGordon: But we will not require you to buy an expansion, so we hope it is good enough to make you want to buy it.
MaxisGordon: Can't talk about future TSO releases though!

Frank_Weindel-Interhogan: When custom content comes, how long do you expect custom object art to load on a 56k connection?
MaxisGordon: Well it will take a while. My rule of thumb is 7 minutes a megabyte and Sims content is not small.
MaxisGordon: The beauty of custom content is it will load in background, and show you a "proxy" of the content until the real look is downloaded.

moo_UOSS: With the implementation of elevators, there are bound to be malls cropping up everywhere. Are there any future plans for escalators?
MaxisCindy: Nice idea! I haven't seen mock-up of that one (yet), but it is something that could work. We will be bringing new objects into the game definitely, so an escalator and other such things are possible in our scope. Most recently, we've been looking more at gambling objects, card games, some more multi-player stuff to help fill out that end of play.

CrysaK: The Founders Item, as lovely as it is. Would make a wonderful trophy. How about letting Sims click on it to view the owners details?
MaxisShannon: We thought about that. But we removed most of the "view" interactions in TSO, because the game play is a bit different in TSO and it didn't make sense for us to have that interaction.

Vulcan: I am a roommate somewhere and my experience is not good, I just want to leave that place w/o joining any other place.. Ie I wanna be free.. how to do that
MaxisTigger: Hiya Vulcan, Sometimes this happens and when it does you have three options. 1. Ask the owner to remove you as a roommate or 2. Purchase your own lot or 3. move in with someone else.

Billy_Bob: Hey gots a question here.....Do you guys have an estimate of when the new clothing racks are comming?
MaxisShannon: These objects will be coming out in the next several months. We will be working on them side by side with the custom content feature.

MooseWare|TSO: Will you consider letting Sims choose the songs that they play on the Piano? They should be able to choose more as their skill goes up. Would be great for the lobby of my hotel to have someone on a grand piano welcoming guests.
MaxisCindy: I like that idea - more opportunity for personalization. Goes along with sign objects with their customized text strings. The implementation wouldn't be that involved to give you some choice of songs too, so I'll keep that in mind. (No plans scheduled for it at the moment.)

Broud: What sort of hardware runs the cities? How many cities do you plan on bringing up in the future?
MaxisGordon: We don't talk about our hardware, sorry. Cities are approximately 20 dual CPU machines though. We will bring up as many cities as we need to meet demand, and have over 30 ready to go.

Geno: Are there any plans to have a Maxis-added town center of sorts? Like a central gathering points for sims to interact outside of their homes and businesses..
MaxisShannon: I like that idea. :) It isn't currently in the plans, but will keep it in mind.

Draven|Legend: I'm wondering about buying this for my kids, but first i want to make sure of something.. Is it possible for the sim characters to have intercourse because I don't want my children to be doing bad things like cybering on the internet
MaxisGordon: Not really
MaxisGordon: We are a teen rated game, and while we have adult situations and humor, it's not quite *that* adult.

Thalia: Will additional job objects be brought into the game? Currently Logic clearly has the advantage of skill items and job object items over all other skills. Is there plans to help out the other skills with new learning items?
MaxisCindy: Yes! In progress, even now. Alos, other objects that support money making opporunties between players such as gambling objects. The difference there of course is that all Simoleans go player-player instead of game-player. Skills are going to helkp other dynamics in the game (e.g. reviving a dead sim!)

BigErnMac: If you guys ever put pets in TSO, how many different kinds of pets would they be?
MaxisGordon: On the pets, when we do them we will have pretty much everything that is in Unleashed. I would not look for it for a while though, it's a big job.

BigErnMac: Will players ever be able to customize there characters in the beginning, like make them as tall or short or as fat and skinney as they want them?
MaxisCindy: Height is something we can't be flexible with because of the way the animation and accessories systems work. Their is no way to generalize what height would clip through which object on which animation, for example. We'd have to code for each individual case. BUT, the clothing racks and dressers are going to give you a chance to change your Sim's appearance dynamically, for a new look overall. Costume trunks are already in game to let
MaxisCindy: change your look temporarily while role-playing on a lot

MattH-TSO: right now there are neglected skills such as cooking, what are your plans to create a "balance of power" among skills
MaxisKyle: We are constantly improving and adjusting the game.
MaxisKyle: Part of that process is observing player behavior and playing the game quite a bit ourselves.
MaxisKyle: We also collect aggregate information on play patterns.
MaxisKyle: So, when a particular activity, object or skill becomes far more used than another, we see that in the metrics data.
MaxisKyle: And soon after, Shannon and Chris work out an adjustment to bring things back into balance.
MaxisKyle: We will continue making these adjustments throughout the life of the game. It's a living organism, and that's part of the fun!

Draconius: What is that mailbox there for, exactly?
MaxisCindy: Well, right now, exactly nothing :-). But it will be used in the future, for letters delivery, mail, bills, the "usual" stuff. It has a place in upcoming features so we kept it on the lot to accommodate that.

edward: Would it be possible to ever have houses bigger than 2 floors? Like maybe a lot upgrade?
MaxisGordon: No, thanks for asking though!
MaxisGordon: We are only set up for 2 stories.

Kevlar: Will all sims created on a founder's account have the "Founder's Symbol" in their Sim Page?
MaxisKyle: Yes. Next question?
MaxisKyle: Just kidding
MaxisKyle: All sims created by a Founder's account will have the icon on their Sim page
MaxisKyle: regardless of when that sim is created
MaxisKyle: when that feature is ready
MaxisKyle: We are currently testing it to be sure it works before we roll it out to the cities
MaxisKyle: but that is the intent of the feature.

inoe: Can you explain some of the benifits of job objects?
MaxisCindy: The obvious benefit is making Simoleans, and I think that's what most people want with them. It's also a chance for some structured gameplay with other Sims, so there are those side benefits to make it more appealing.

MooseWare|TSO: When do you plan on letting us have employees? I have a hotel, and its hard to have maids enter the hotel rooms that have doors that are locked by a passcode when they aren't roomates.
MaxisCindy: Well, not sure about the plans for employees "feature." But, you can do something now like send your "employee" the code for a door in an IM, then only selected people know how to get in and out - doesn't have to be just roommates.

ZackStorm: After the release, let's say 6 months from here, would we be able to use the Play Test REG#'s as let's say a "Test Trial?
MaxisKyle: All Play Test registration codes are now "14-day Trial" codes.
MaxisKyle: You can use them to install and play for 14 days.
MaxisKyle: We expect this will remain true from here on out.

BigErnMac: Will we have other instruments like drums or other instruments so someone can start a band?
MaxisShannon: We are almost done with a job object that resembles a band. Four Sims get into the objects that has a place for a singer, drummer, guitarist, etc. AND you will make money while playing it!!
MaxisShannon: Cool, huh!! :)

SassyBree: When should we be seeing the property rating system? Right now the property categories don't help much with business unless you have tons of visitors. And also will you wait till there are all of the objects (like shop or casino) before the object limitations go into effect?
MaxisCindy: Property Categories "Part B" is coming up Very Soon. That part of the design includes varying motive decay and skill gain rates per property type, also in PartB are special/restricted objects by category (e.g. job objects). Part C of the design is coming up early next year. Part C includes ratings systems for properties and peripheral features like secure trading (for "services" type properties).

Frank_Weindel-Interhogan: How about sound proof rooms?
MaxisTigger: Frank, you can set your house to admit only and choose who you want to enter your home. This option is on the 3rd tab (Sim Permission options) admit list.

CrysaK: Would love to have playable classic games like Space Invaders and Donkey Kong Jr. in TSO. Or perhaps similar arcade games?
MaxisGordon: Not going to happen. We would have to license those games and pay royalties. I think we like our $9.99, don't really want it going higher. :)

MooseWare|TSO: Is Maxis aware that the current lot system causes the lots with more people to become more popular and the lots with no people to become less popular, being very unfair to the small lots? What is going to be done about this?
MaxisKyle: Well, we expect to have hundreds of thousands of users
MaxisKyle: the cities will be much busier now than they've ever been during testing
MaxisKyle: and you can't fit all those people into the top 10 lots now can you?
MaxisKyle: I've even gotten visitors to my one-man lot with no advertising
MaxisKyle: so hang in there -- we have built it and here they come! :)

Valeria: Thank you everyone for taking the time to attend tonight's HOC and a special thank you to everyone from Maxis for taking the time out of their very busy schedule to be here. As always we are grateful :)

Valeria: The logs will be posted at http://sims.stratics.com. Feel free to join #sims-online for further discussion :)

MaxisTigger: thanks guys