So.... you want to play EA-Land/The Sims Online? Congratulations on making a great choice!

As with any new game, many things will be confusing. But, fear not, your friendly EAL TSO Stratics Content Team have created a mountain of useful guides that will explain to you how the game works, and how to do things. This guide is intended to help you with your first 24 hours of EA-Land / The Sims Online. It can't possibly cover every situation that may arise - but will help you with the majority of the most common scenarios.

If you are familiar with the offline Sims games, many of the things within this guide will already be recognizable - but as some things are different here it's a good idea to browse through anyway just to refresh your memory, and clarify some of the things that you will come across. So, pull up a comfy chair, grab a snack and a drink... and read on!

Each of the highlighted links in this document will bring you to other pages as part of the Stratics Content Team's portfolio, which give much more information than the brief information here.

The first thing you have to do, assuming you haven't already, is to obtain the game! Although you may still find The Sims Online boxes in game stores, it actually has not been sold for some time now. "The Sims Online" as of spring 2008 has become a renamed and refurbished title called EA-Land. The game of EA-Land is available as a free download and is not sold in stores.

Downloading and Playing - For Free!

If you have not yet downloaded the game, then visit the Free Play Guide and read the information on how to obtain a free account! Free accounts have many more limitations than premium accounts. Please refer to this guide for details on the differences between free and premium accounts.

Every now and again, game updates are released, which may modify existing features or introduce new features or items to the game. Every time you log in (and after initial installation), a check is made to ensure that the version number of your game client matches the version that is stored on the game servers. If they do not match, the game will automatically connect to the update servers and download the necessary files to update your game client. This may just be several kilobytes, or several megabytes of data, depending on the patch. The game will not allow you to play it if you do not select to download and install the patches.

Once you have followed those instructions, the game has installed properly, and you have created your EA account, it's time to log in. Decide which 'mode' of EA-Land / The Sims Online you want to run (800x600 or 1024x768 full screen, or 800x600 windowed). Shortcuts will appear on your desktop, and/or in the Electronic Arts > EA-Land folder from your "Start" menu..

The three different modes are identical in gameplay, just differing slightly in appearance on your screen. Experiment to see which one suits you best.

Once you have chosen which screen mode you wish for the EA-Land display, your computer will whirr away for a few seconds, and up will appear the Login screen. Simply enter your user name and password, click "Login" and the game will check for any available patches and updates. These will download and install automatically - but you will not be able to enter the game until you have installed them.

If you are having trouble connecting to the game, an error message will appear. If you are connecting through a Proxy server, router and/or a network, you may need to click the "Options" button above and enter the relevant information there. Your network manager or ISP will be able to provide you with the relevant information if you are having trouble.

Also, if you are using a firewall, you may need to "always allow" tsoclient.exe and/or buddy.exe (the two main components of EA-Land / The Sims Online) to connect to the internet, when alert boxes appear to warn you that the programs are trying to connect to the Internet (this may also happen after a game update). Your firewall's manual will provide more information on this. If you are still stuck, read the EA-Land TSO Stratics Technical Forum for any clues that may help you. Of course, if you are not able to connect to the internet through your browser or any other part of your usual online facilities, then you will certainly have problems connecting to EAL TSO!

Each day at around 3 AM PST (6 AM EST, 11 AM GMT), both EA-Land and Test Center 3 shut down for daily maintenance. It normally lasts around 30 minutes to an hour, and is fully automatic. You can see the city status monitor at the top of the EAL TSO Stratics homepage, red lights being closed cities and green lights being open cities. More information about Daily Maintenance can be found here. If you are experiencing difficulties getting into the game outside of the maintenance times, you should check the Server Outages Forum, as any server-side technical problems will be posted there.

Once you have logged in and patched, you will be greeted with the Select An Avatar screen. This is where you can create your character. This account shown here already has two avatars created on it, but the third slot is still empty. Click on any free slot to create your new avatar.

When you first enter EA Land, you will appear at what is known as "City View". The various outlined boxes on the map are the different cities within this land. Returning players may recognize these as the original or "legacy" cities of The Sims Online. As the cities are merged into EA Land the color of the boxes will become yellow meaning they are available to play in. Cities that are in blue are not yet available to play in but will be. If you click within one of the boxes you will be taken to a map view of just that city. To return to the main map, just click on the zoom out button located in the left hand corner.

Now is a great time to read the article on Map Filters. In the bottom right corner of your screen, you will see a box which highlights up to 10 random properties in each property category. You can read up about the other categories later, but in your early days, you should look for Welcome Houses.

Welcome houses are indicated by the "shaking hands" icon shown to the left. These properties have specifically identified themselves as being "new player friendly", as the owners have chosen to be in that category. Typically, such properties will be happy to explain the basics of the game to you far more than those in other categories may. Click on the various property categories to see what houses are online - but it is recommended that you look at "Welcome" first.

To find properties, simply select a property category from the filter, and up to 10 properties in that category will appear on the map in thumbnail form. However, if no properties in that particular category are open at that time, none will show up.

You can click on the thumbnail to open an information page (known as the Property Bio. If it looks like somewhere that suits your needs, simply click on the icon twice. If you are a free subscriber in EA-Land, you will be limited to the types of properties you will be allowed to enter and will receive a notice if you are not allowed to enter (this restriction does not apply in Test Center 3). There will be a short delay as your computer obtains all the data from the house and establishes a network connection, identified through the progress bar, and eventually you will appear at the "landing point"" at the front of the property. This is where your adventure begins!

When you first land, you will appear on the sidewalk between the trash can and the telephone. Obviously, each property is different in its design, but these familiar landmarks will appear at every property you enter, and you will always enter at the same position. The large telephone (shown here on the right of the picture) is what you need to click on to leave a property, and return to the City View.

Many properties place signs and notice boards (note there are several different types of signs, but all work in the same way) near the landing point, perhaps to welcome people, explain special things about the house, or to advertise forthcoming events. Whenever you see a sign, it is always recommended to read them, as they are usually there for your benefit. Simply move the mouse over a sign, left-click it and select "Read". Your avatar will walk over to the sign and a box will pop up showing the text that the owner has put on it. If there is more text than the window size, scroll bars will appear. When you have read the sign, simply click on the X to cancel it.

On the bottom left hand corner of your screen, you will find a small control panel, known as "Gizmo". You can find out about all of Gizmo's functions in this article - but here I will simply explain the navigation functions.

The + and - buttons in the center of Gizmo are the Zoom level controllers, which allow you to zoom between the 3 camera levels of the game. These are duplicated to the left of the buttons, in the one person - three people levels. Below that, the cluster of properties, is Neighborhood view, and the mountain will take you out to City View. Simply click on the small oval thumbnail, or one of the 3 camera levels, to return to the property. Using the arrow buttons either side of the + and -, you can rotate the screen in 90 degree orientations, which may improve your view in some places depending on the design of the property.

To move around the property, simply click on the floor anywhere and select "Go here". Your avatar will walk to the place that you have told them to, then stop again awaiting further instructions (unless you are in Betaville, the free will city, where after a short delay, they will wander off and do their own thing). If you cannot see the part of the property you wish to go to, or want to look at the whole property before deciding where to go, simply zoom out.

To zoom in/out, simply click on the zoom level, or if you have a three button mouse with a scroll wheel enabled, this sometimes works in addition to the +/- zoom level functions.

To go anywhere in a property, your avatar must have a clear route between their current position and their destination. However, they do not always take the most direct or obvious routes - but that is just a quirk of the game, and nothing to be concerned about. If, for any reason, a avatar cannot get to their intended destination - perhaps because it is blocked by having no direct access, or a 'restricted access' door, they will give up, shake their head and shrug their shoulders.

A avatar cannot cross water or vault over fences to access areas. Avatars will also not walk through flowerbeds and plants, although the computer controlled gardener can. Finally, any floor tile that has an item on it - such as a garden sprinkler - is also considered 'blocked' by the game. Narrow passageways can also sometimes cause problems (this is, however, the fault of the house designer, not you). Try clicking somewhere in the house part-way to your destination, so you do your journey in steps, and if this still does not solve the problem, ask the property owner for advice.

Towards the top left of Gizmo are two icons, which together make a small picture of a house. The lower one is downstairs, and the upper one is, as you would expect, upstairs. Many properties use both floors of a property, and you may find useful stuff up there. Some houses, however, either do not use upstairs, or keep upstairs as a 'private area' for roommates and close friends only. To swap between floors, simply click on the relevant floor icon. If you wish to move from downstairs to upstairs, for example, click on the upstairs icon, then on wherever on the floor you wish to go and click "Go here" or select an item to use it. Your avatar will run through the house and do as told, as long as there is a clear route. If there is no clear route, your avatar will simply shrug their shoulders and stay where they are.

One of the most important things about EA-Land / The Sims Online - and perhaps one of the big advantages over offline versions of Sims - is communication with other players. Apart from a few specific computer controlled characters, every person that you come across in game will be controlled by a real, live human, somewhere in the world.

When a player is talking, what they say will appear in a 'speech bubble' above their head. This will stay on the screen for a few seconds before disappearing.

In most properties, you will be greeted as you enter - although due to the short network and caching delay in entering a property between you appearing at their end and you appearing at your end, you may sometimes miss your greeting. Because of this, it is always good to announce your entry - even if you just say "hello" - so that those in the property know you have landed properly.

There is, thankfully, a much easier way to follow conversation in a busy house, and that comes in the form of Chat History.

Simply hold the CTRL key on your keyboard, and press H. Up will pop the Chat History Box, where all conversation, including the names of those who have said each sentence. You can re-size the box if you prefer by clicking and dragging the corners, or click the X to remove it.

Without the chat box up, simply start typing and you will see your text appear in a blue bar at the top of the screen. Simply press 'Enter' at the end of your sentence to say it in the room.

Most people are familiar with the feeling of being a new player - after all, they were all new once - and if you explain that you are new to the game, many will be happy to offer advice.

There are a few avatars you will come across that will not talk to you, and you cannot interact with them. Don't worry, they are not being rude, they are simply controlled by the computer as service characters. They will appear in the list of who is in a property by a blue outline on their picture. The most commonly found NPC's in game will be the Gardener, Maid and Repair Man, although you will also come across NPC's that work on fast food stands and some casino objects. Full information on NPC's and their uses can be found here.

As with any online environment, there are a number of 'common abbreviations' that you may find in everyday chat. A list of the most often used can be found here. If you are a regular internet user, many of these will probably be already familiar to you.

"Simoleons" is a word you will also come across regularly in game. It was the game's currency until March of 2008, and is denoted by the § symbol (it appears when you type $ when playing the game). To buy anything, you need to spend money, and to gain it you need to work. There is a whole section later in this document devoted to skilling and money making, so don't worry about it right now - there is plenty fun to be had before that!

When you are in a property, a list of others who are in the house with you can be seen in the bottom right of the screen. Simply left click on their face to open up their avatar bio, and you can read all the information that they have chosen to make public about them. It can be quite entertaining to read people's bio - so don't forget to do the same with yours!

When you are looking at the list of people in the house with you, instead of left clicking on their face to bring up the bio, use the right mouse button instead, and the screen will shift to wherever in the house that person is. This is particularly useful in a big busy house, especially if someone asks you to join them

If you would like to send someone a private message, rather than talking in open chat - or you are in different properties - then the private (or instant) message is what you need!

Simply open the person's sim bio, and click the telephone button. A box will appear, and you can send a message - and they will reply in the box. Only you and the person you are talking to will be able to see your conversation, as opposed to open room chat.

If someone is trying to contact you by instant message, a flashing box will appear in the top right of your screen. Click on it to open it and talk to the person.

A player can only have three instant message boxes open at any one time - so be sure to close them fully when you have finished a conversation, otherwise others may not be able to reach you.

As with real life, there will be unscrupulous players who will try to take advantage of new players and their lack of experience. Thankfully, these people are few and far between; but here are some useful tips to avoid being stung:

• If something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. While someone may offer you a little money to help them around the house (perhaps watering the garden or cleaning the bathroom), if you are being offered huge amounts for seemingly mundane tasks, or spending large amounts of time in their house, it is quite likely they will not pay up.
• If someone offers you the chance to live at their property, you are helping them just as much as they are helping you. Don't hand over all your money for the 'privilege' of living there.
• There are no "double your money" or "object duplication" cheats - so giving someone everything you own to get back double is just not possible in game. It's more likely they'll just run off with it.
• Never, ever give your account name and password to anyone else so that they can make you money or skill your sim while you are not playing - most likely they will take everything you own, and possibly steal your credit card details at the same time.
• Never, ever give your password to anyone - period! EA Employees will never ask for your password; so if you encounter someone who does, that person is not an EA employee, and is likely trying to steal your account.

More advice on avoiding scams can be found here.

To put it simply, to buy things in game, you need money. To get money, you need to work. The more skills you have, the higher the pay you receive.

Skilling does take time, and can be tedious. There are some good skilling tips here.

Information on skilling can be found here, and advice on making money on the single money objects can be found here. Additionally, there are multi-player money objects which are more complex, but reward you better. Guides exist for the Maze, Code Machine, Pizza Machine, and Band, which you may like to read once you have gained some skills.

Another way of making money in the game is through the Job Tracks. Information can be found on the Nightclub, Diner, and Robot Factory pages, respectively.

But for now, don't worry too much about skills and money. As a new player, it is far more important to learn how to get around the game, experience how it works, and have FUN! The money will always be there another day for you to gain.

To leave a property, simply find the front of the property (remember the trash can and big telephone?) and click on the telephone. This will take you back to the City View where you can find another property to enter. Don't forget to say good-bye before you leave, and thank the hosts for their time!

When in a property, you will be able to interact with the items there and the players in the property. As a general rule, most of the game is centered around three things: Interacting with others, interacting with items, and room chat. I've already covered room chat previously in this article, now we'll look at stuff and people..

Many items in a property allow you to interact with them in different ways. To view the options for interaction, left-click on the object. A menu of options will appear under your mouse’s pointer.

Items that have interactions will have animations that come with them – both for the object and for your avatar. Some objects will have pop-up content windows that appear after you select the interaction. Other objects will engage your avatar in a variety of animations. Most object interactions are harmless to your avatar and you will have the ability to cancel the action whenever you like. There are some game objects that require game money to use but you will always have a chance to cancel the interaction if you decide it isn’t a good use of your simoleans.

The option of “Repair" is only available on items which have broken through wear and tear. “Repairing” an object will cost your avatar game money, and the chances of being successful at the repair depend on the level of your avatar’s Mechanical skill. There is a possibility of “electrocution” for your avatar when Repairing an object. If you wish for an object to be fixed without running the risk of your avatar dying, refrain from using the Repair object interaction and instead have your avatar call the Non-Player Character (NPC) Repairman from the lot’s house phone (not the payphone outside). Fixing an object via the NPC Repairman is only dangerous to your pocketbook, not to your avatar health. More information on avatar death can be found here.

To interact with other avatars, simply click on them and a menu will appear. Information on avatar interactions can be found here. More interactions can be unlocked as you gain skills and friends.

When someone wishes to interact with you, a happy and sad face will appear in the top left of your screen. Simply click the 'happy' face to accept it. A new born avatar with no skills or friends still has a wide variety of interactions, both self and with others, available. These can be used to emphasize your conversation, such as 'laugh' or simply as social, such as a 'high five' greeting.

No, I'm not talking about the song from Saturday Night Fever, I'm talking about your avatar's needs - also known as "Motives". As increasing your needs turns the bars green, this is commonly known in game as "Greening". Some needs you can deal with yourself by clicking on items, others, such as hunger, you may need the property host to provide you with a plateful of food if a buffet or other form of nourishment is not readily available to you.

Note: When you visit a lot in the Residence Category, your needs are disabled. This means that you do not need to "green" your needs and they will not decay during the time you are on a Residence Lot. When you leave the Residence Category lot and go to any other category lot, your needs will be exactly as they were before you entered the Residence Category lot - That is, if your avatar was near starvation before arriving at a Residence, your avatar will still be near starvation after you leave.

More information on dealing with these needs can be found here.

Each person, of course, has their own ideas of 'acceptable behavior' in game - but there are a few things that are generally accepted as best to avoid.

TYPING EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING, and is probably best avoided if at all possible.

"tlkg funy az if u r sndg txt msgs" or "AlTeRnAtInG uPpEr AnD lOwEr CaSe" can be difficult to read in a busy house - and if people can't understand what you are saying, they aren't likely to respond.

Trying to 'make out' with every avatar you find who is of the opposite gender - especially when you don't even know them - is not the best way to make yourself popular. Remember, also, that many people 'role play', and what appears to be a hot teen cheerleader may not really be! Sending negative interactions - especially for no reason - to an innocent avatar is generally not appreciated.

"Drive by spamming" is where you land, yell out an advertisement or request then leave. It is a great way to quickly find yourself on the end of someone's property ban list.

Begging for money or items is also not likely to get you far in game. Most players have invested many hours and a lot of effort in achieving all that they have, and are not likely to just give it all to you. Besides, when you have earned something yourself, there's a much greater sense of achievement in having it.

Repeatedly asking to be someone's roommate - again and again - isn't a good idea either. It's fine to ask, but if they say no, accept it and move on, don't badger them for answers and why.

As a final generalization, if you wouldn't do or say something in front of your grandparents in real life.... it's probably not something you should be doing in game!

More information on manners and etiquette can be found here.

One thing that many people, especially those who have come from offline Sims, feel an overwhelming desire to purchase a property. Of course, in offline Sims you have to have a home to survive - but in EA-Land it's perfectly possible to get by through being homeless and simply use other people's properties to keep your avatar alive (remember the section on avatar needs?).

One of the biggest reasons 'against' buying land and building straight away is lack of money. Paid subscribers start the game with §500, while free players have no starting funds. Land costs vary depending on location and demand, but a typical plot of land will start at around §3,000 - much more than your starting funds. Building on a vacant lot will add to the costs.

Another major reason is experience. Anyone can get around the cost issue by purchasing game currency from any in-game ATM; however, unless you are planning to build a private residence, you are going to need experience and connections to run a successful public house.

The most common route to gaining this experience is to become someone's roommate - where you live in their house. Many property owners take new players onboard as roommates, and do so without charging any rent. However, many will ask that you be regularly available to keep the house open for guests and provide for guests' needs. This is a perfectly reasonable arrangement that benefits both owner and roommate alike: The owner gets visitor hours from having the house open even if he or she can't be online, and the roommate gains experience in running a successful house and makes connections with other players.

Be aware that many houses - especially popular skill or money houses - may have very specific requirements of roommates, such as working shifts to keep the house open for specific times each day. While many new players enjoy the challenge, this pressure can be overwhelming for some new players, driving them to distraction and, ultimately, leading to "roomie burnout". Before accepting someone's roommate offer, make sure that you are both fully aware of what is expected and offered. You are generally more likely to be accepted as someone's roommate if you have become their friend first, perhaps by spending time at their property or socializing with them in other ways.

After being a roommate for a while, you will eventually be in a position financially to consider branching out to build your own property. But before simply moving out, make sure you let the owner of the property know as courtesy, as they may wish to begin looking for a replacement, and will of course may need to replace any items that you have contributed towards the house. When you are ready to make your own mark in EA-land, the following guides on Building a House and the various links on that page will be of help to you.

During your time in game, you will no doubt find really nice people who you'd like to be able to find again the next time you have a question, or just to socialize. That is no problem - the simple act of Bookmarking them (detailed at the end of that document) will enable you to find them again. On your bookmark list, online friends show up in yellow. By opening their avatar bio, you can actually see where they are in game (if they have turned off 'privacy') through the property bio that can be read. However, the act of 'stalking' can become annoying to people, so it's advised to use it sparingly and perhaps chat with the person through instant message before teleporting over.

The Top 100 Listing is the game's way of keeping track of who has the most visitors in each of the property categories. However, just because a place is popular doesn't automatically mean that it will give you the best experience. Rather than always looking at the ranking of a property, look at the description too... it will give you an idea of whether the atmosphere and its facilities suit your needs, rather than just having a catchy name.

It can also be fun to visit properties near the bottom of the list which are quiet, especially as a new player, as you will often find the owner isn't so busy, and more likely to be happy to give advice.

Picking random red flashing dots from city view to visit can also be good fun - you never know what you might find!

By now, you should have a fairly good idea of the basic operations of the game. What you do with your EA-Land life is, ultimately, up to you. There are many possibilities to 'find your place' within the game overall, and it's just a matter of time to find it. One big advantage - and potential problem - of EA-Land / The Sims Online is that there is no set goal, such as killing the monster at the end of level 20 and game over. At the end of the day, your success in your chosen aim is only affected by the amount of effort and time you are willing to put into reaching it.

If you haven't already, you should sign up to the Stratics Forums (enter "City Hall" on the right hand side here and create a new account), and have a read of some of the 'hot topics' of the time. You may also like to head to the city forum of whatever city you have created in, introduce yourself, and ask around for some good places to go.

There are also many other useful documents for the more advanced user that I haven't referred to here. These can all be accessed from the menu bar on the left hand side of the screen. Don't forget to keep checking, as new guides and updates are being added all the time.

Text by ajdown@jp, pictures from various articles by the Stratics Content Team. Group picture by Jessica McPherson.