The Sims Online
| The Sims Online | |
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The Sims Online game cover
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| Developer(s) | Maxis |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Composer(s) | Jerry Martin |
| Series | The Sims |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | MMO |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer Online |
The Sims Online (also known as EA-Land) was the first massively multiplayer online variation on Maxis's highly popular computer game The Sims, the second being the Online Weekend mode for The Sims Bustin' Out, and third being The Sims Social. It was published by Electronic Arts and released in December 2002 for Microsoft Windows. The game was sold in retail stores in North America and Japan and could also be downloaded worldwide through the EA.com online store, though the game was English-only and had no official translations. The game charged a subscription fee of US $9.99 per month. In March 2007, EA announced that the product would be re-branded as EA-Land and major enhancements would be made. About a year later, EA announced that the game would shut down all activity on August 1, 2008.
Four cities had special rules: Dragon's Cove was known as the "hardcore city", as there were a number of harder game objectives to consider when playing here. For example, a Sim would lose energy when traveling long distances, and the virtual costs for items were doubled. Betaville was a city created for the purpose of testing new features. A few examples of these features were the ability to create a family of up to four adult Sims, with adjustable free will levels; bills and a repo man; and fires and firemen. Another was Test Center, where the player could never move out of the city. Test Center Sims also started with three times the start-up money.
Obtaining factual skills points was an important aspect of gameplay. They were necessary for receiving more money from paying objects and earning promotions in the offered career tracks. They were occasionally needed for special interactions with other players, such as serenading. A skill could be increased at rapidly, a faster rate when multiple Sims in the lot worked on the same skill simultaneously.
The game had six core skills: Mechanical, Cooking, Charisma, Body, Creativity, and Logic. Skill level ranged in number from 0 to 20.99.
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