When the beta test ended and the game went live, beta testers for The Sims Online were given thank you gifts for having helped make sure the game was ready. The Founder’s Icon is account-based. It shows a picture of a founder whenever that account creates a new Sim. There was a blackout period between January 2003 and April 2003 when Founders did not actually get their icon, so you never know, Sims created during that time may be a Founder in disguise…

Simmies were one-time rewards given to Sims created on or before December 17, 2002. They cannot be traded but can be purchased from a store lot. Simmies carry sentimental value to many Founders and were the first rare objects introduced into the game. In the beginning, some people lost their Simmies due to game bugs. While they were waiting to get them back, songs were written and even videos were made. Eventually, the lost Simmies were returned. Simmies can cost §3 Million or more if you can find someone who wants to part with it.

Anniversary Statues:

For our one-year anniversary, Maxis gave us pet statues as a reward for hanging in the game for one year. The statues are based on account age – NOT Sim age – and awarded at or around the one-year mark. Delivery of statues is automated but may take several days to catch up, so please wait a few days before submitting a bug report if you have not received yours. If you cancel your account and reactivate it, statues are delivered one year after the reactivation date, not one year after you first opened the account.

We got quite a few patches during the first year of TSO, but one of the most notable additions were those lovable pets. The statues are delivered as either cat or dog in Gold, Silver and Bronze. They also have 3 actions available: View, Applaud and Worship.

Birthday cakes:

When TSO hit the one-year mark for the release, all players in the game received a one-time gift of a birthday cake to celebrate with. This cake has candles that can be lit and when the candles are blown out, a party hat is placed on the head of the Sim blowing out the candles. The hat comes in 4 different colors and styles, including a tiara. Birthday cakes can be placed in inventory for storage and brought out for special occasions.

Mystic Trees:

The two year anniversary gift is the Mystic Tree. Delivery of the Mystic Trees is automated but may take several days to catch up, so please wait a few days before submitting a bug report if you have not received yours. If you cancel your account and reactivate it, Mystic Trees are delivered two year after the reactivation date, not two years after you first opened the account. There are may features to this gift. Click here for more on the Mystic Tree!

Camp Fire:

On TSO's third birthday, the Camp Fire was released as a third year anniversary Gift. This is subsequently given to each player when their account reaches three years of paid time.

The Camp Fire is an interactive group object that can be enjoyed on any property category.

More information on the Camp Fire can be found here.

Gnomes:

In August 2003, the gnome stories began to trickle into the news. As the scandal continued, we learned of a movement to recruit friends in the hopes of liberating enslaved gnomes. A contest was held to find the stories, websites, screenshots and events that best illustrated the enormity of the issue. Gnomes were rewarded to recruiters who brought new people into TSO and contest winners (winning stories, websites and screenshots can be found here, here and here. Links require login to the TSO Player website.)

Cannons:

Cannons were introduced in 2004 as part of a new Recruit-A-Sim drive. Current players who referred a new subscription found a mysterious green box in their inventories. When a Sim removed the box from inventory and clicked on it, the instructions read "Just Add Water!" Once the box was watered, a cannon would sprout in its place. When a gnome, flamingo or Sim is hit with an exploding cannonball, the results can give quite a chuckle. Click here for more on the Cannon!

Skill locks:

Newly created characters start off with 10 skill point locks. This means that a total of 10 skill points can be locked at one time. Every 3 weeks (21 days) you gain an additional skill lock (one point). Depending on the time of day your Sim was created, you may have to wait until after the next maintenance period before receiving your new skill lock. The table below illustrates skill lock gain:

Object limit gain:

When you first start out with a new character, you have a personal object limit of 100 items. This means that only 100 Buy Mode items may be placed on your lot by you. Others may still be able to put out objects (depending on the property limit – an issue for another document). Inventory can hold 30 objects and this does not change unless you move out of your house – then it will hold everything that was previously on your property, but you may not add anything past that. The older your Sim gets, the greater your object limit. You gain one object toward your limit every week. The table below illustrates the object limit gain pattern:

There is debate about whether or not the object limit gain will slow or stop with age. However, the oldest Sims are over 600 days (with an object limit of around 185) and have seen no slowing or ceasing of the object limit gain. Only time will tell if there is a maximum object limit one can achieve.

Rare pet breeds:

With the addition of pets, Maxis also introduced 8 rare breeds: Cheetahs and Afghans (semi-rare), Tigers and St. Bernards (rare), and Robot Cats, Turkish Blue Cats, Robot Dogs, and Pink Poodles (ultra-rare). These pets cost the same as all other pets when purchased from the catalog, but because finding one is random and, of course, rare, most players sell them anywhere from §105,000 up to §6 million, depending on the breed. The prices on rare pets are set by the players, NOT by Maxis.

Some people spend many hours buying pets, opening cases and selling them back in the hopes of finding a rare pet. Sometimes this is for their own ownership, other times they want to sell or auction them. Either way, these people can spend a very long time and huge amount of money in the search for rare pets. The ratio of regular pets/rare pets has never been disclosed by Maxis and speculation varies from person to person. Needless to say, rare pets are, indeed, hard to find.

Many people have been scammed while buying rare pets in the past. MAKE SURE that you check the breed name on the carrier before purchasing or trading. When in doubt, use an intermediary to facilitate an honest trade, especially between cities. An intermediary is an uninvolved third person who receives the money from you and the rare object from the seller and then transfers the object to you and the money to the seller.

Remember that neglecting any pet will cause them to be taken away, so praise your pets, keep them fed and entertained and always put them away before you leave your lot. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for them, Maxis will not reimburse any player for lost items.

Rare properties:

Some properties in TSO are harder to acquire than others. The cost of a property (unowned) varies based on the type of lot it is. Beach lots are more expensive than grass lots and oceanfront properties are more expensive than beach lots that don’t touch the water. These lots are hard or easy to find depending on the shoreline in each city. However, certain types of properties are harder to find than others. These include peninsula lots (3 sides touching the water) and island lots (all four sides touching water). If you are lucky enough to find one of these lots unoccupied, you can purchase it from MOMI for the listed land price. However, these properties are often purchased for later sale by other Sims. Not everyone wants to sell their island, though and if you purchase an island or peninsula lot, be prepared for many requests to purchase your lot.

If you are interested in selling, you can potentially make quite a few Simoleans, especially if you open it up to auction and let the interested parties drive up the price.

Holiday objects – disabled/removed:

Over the course of TSO there have been several objects given to us for temporary use. These objects were holiday-specific, and disabled after a certain period of time. Some people decided to try to hang onto the disabled items in inventory for a while, instead of allowing them to decompose or selling them back. This sometimes caused Sims to get stuck on lots that had the disabled items displayed or in inventory. (Maxis removed some of these objects from the game entirely.)

**Tip** If an object is listed as being temporary for a holiday, DO NOT spend hundreds or thousands of Simoleans to purchase these as "rares". They may cause problems in the future, and you just wasted your money buying a worthless item.

Past holiday objects include:

New Year’s hat (2003/2004/2005)

Jack O’ Lantern (Halloween 2003)

Turkey (Thanksgiving 2003/winter holidays 2003)

Snow people (winter holidays 2003)

Holiday trees (winter holidays 2003 and 2004)

Snowstorm (winter holidays 2003 and 2004, and also July 2005. Click image for larger view)

Various splash screens for holidays (throughout 2003-2004, click images for larger views)

Monkey faces for all Sims and pets (April Fool's Day 2004-2005)

Other holiday additions:

On Valentine’s Day 2003, the love tub was introduced to TSO as a permanent item. On the Fourth of July weekend 2003, all Sims were given a Rocket Launcher and BBQ in inventory to facilitate celebrations. New BBQs were introduced at this time. For Labor Day 2003 a no-greening weekend was introduced. By using only fun interactions and object, no Sims had to green. The only times greening was necessary was after skilling or working. The no-greening weekend was enjoyed by Sims all over Simland again for Valentine's Day and Fourth of July 2004, and many holidays after.