The Perfectly Happy Challenge

[Metropolis Man]

Okay, I received the following PM from Schipperke this morning.....

Good morning Metro,

....As for my big discovery, I'm sure most people know this but it came as a surprise to me the first time.  I knew that when you play a different household, the opportunities and wishes from the previous household are scrapped.  What I didn't know was that the wishes are in effect reset.  (clear as mud?) what I mean, I had a painter who was doing paintings in the 2500 - 4000 range.  When I returned to that household, suddenly he was wanting to do paintings worth $100 etc - the lower level wishes he had finished with long since.

How this worked with my Perfectly Happy sim:  she was making money playing for tips.  As you know, there are various wishes related to making various money from tips:  to make $100, 500, etc.  Once they've done these wishes, they don't re-appear, in my experience.  By leaving my Happy household for a few minutes and playing another household briefly, the wishes were reset so that every time she played for tips she was earning happiness points for making $100, 500, etc.  And by that point she was earning $300 and up in tips, so she could easily rake in several thousand happiness points in a single session of playing.  Easy peasy.

But I only did that right near the end.  The rest of the points came from keeping my sim in a good mood and working on skills, etc.

At first when I read this I thought she just meant saving and exiting one game, starting another game from the Main Menu, and then returning to the first game. No, I did some checking and that doesn't reset wishes, etc. This involves going into the Edit Town screen and changing Active Households to reset wishes. It's clearly an intentional exploit, so the bottom line is this cannot be allowed. Schipperke, despite the one try limit for this challenge, I am making an exception here because I realize you simply stumbled on this information by accident. You didn't break any rules, so you've got a completely clear conscious. But, you admitted in a 2nd PM that you felt it was underhanded. And it is. Your last week you switched houses to fire more wishes for your challenge character.

I really appreciate you bringing this exploit to my attention and it will now be a part of all rulesets — I will make the edit to this ruleset. Schipperke, you are allowed to delete your first file, make a new character and try again with no penalty. We'll just treat this as if it's your first attempt.

If anyone else is knowledgeable about this exploit of switching active households to fire more wishes and is using this strategy in this event, then you must begin again following the new rule.

Thanks, everyone.

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EDIT: The following rule has been added to the first post:

• You are not allowed to enter the Edit Town screen to switch Active Households during the tournament.

[Schipperke]

I am new to this forum and obviously had some things to learn.  For example, I had assumed that "personal messages" were private.  I didn't expect to find excerpts from one of my messages posted on the forum without my permission.  Now I know.

I also didn't realize that Challenge rules may be changed partway into the Challenge.  There seems to be an implication that I was trying to beat the system or something, which was not at all my intention; if it was I would have hardly owned up to it.  As a new person, I tend to assume that other people must know the things I've learned about the game and if something is not expressly prohibited, I assume it's ok.  Now I know better.

So, it's been an interesting experience.  Better to learn these things now rather than later.  Am I going to do the Challenge again under the revised rules?  The expression "get a life" does come to mind.  Now I am going to delete my user profile (if that's the correct term) to ensure I won't commit any more faux pas.  So long, and good luck to those still doing the Challenge.

[Metropolis Man]

I am new to this forum and obviously had some things to learn.  For example, I had assumed that "personal messages" were private.  I didn't expect to find excerpts from one of my messages posted on the forum without my permission.  Now I know.

Well, typically I agree. I guess I could have just summarized everything you wrote to me, but it was obviously easier to quote you. I felt everyone needed to know, Schipperke. I mean, c'mon — it's not like you're confiding in me with extremely personal information. I'm the host and it's my call for what's best and fair for everyone.

I also didn't realize that Challenge rules may be changed partway into the Challenge. There seems to be an implication that I was trying to beat the system or something, which was not at all my intention....

No, no, no. A thousand time no. You have a clear conscious. I said that. You have nothing to be ashamed about. You discovered an obvious exploit and I applaud you for bringing it to my attention.

Am I going to do the Challenge again under the revised rules?  The expression "get a life" does come to mind.

You're really frustrated. I can see that. I would be too if I had just invested a few days of hard work and were told I needed to redo it. Look, take some time off, and revisit the challenge in a week or two. You have until March which is ample time. You're a very solid player and I want to see your effort count. I hope you'll take it up again.

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EDIT: Schipperke, I'm including some information that may help you see my reasoning. Below is the scoring table from the Centurian Solo Challenge. The reason this is important is because the Lifetime Happiness points score is calculated identically to the Perfectly Happy Challenge and they're both over the same period of time. Note that the highest score is 387,431 points. Your score of 436k is almost 50k points higher. To me, that's pretty significant and again, it's all about fairness. If everyone employed the changing households exploit, then it obviously wouldn't be an exploit at all. But, it's apparent to me that either a) no one knows about it, or b) those that do know about it are clearly choosing not to use it in tournaments given the similarity in scores.

Players Who Have Finished the Challenge —

Player                      Net Worth      +        Lifetime Happiness Pts       =      Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holmes                    6,279,262                 337,970                                   6,617,232
Metropolis Man          5,194,508                 305,050                                   5,499,558
Dale                        2,423,895                 338,311                                   2,762,206
Carl                         2,105,205                 343,753                                   2,448,958
Mooner                    1,951,846                 379,771                                   2,331,617
PJSim                       1,808,734                 359,879                                   2,168,613
Yeshanu                   1,698,971                 387,431                                   2,086,402
Honeymooners             598,671                 281,549                                      880,220
Pam                           261,266                 213,197                                      474,463

[Pam]

As a new person, I tend to assume that other people must know the things I've learned about the game and if something is not expressly prohibited, I assume it's ok.  Now I know better.

Schipperke,

I understand your frustration, but please try to understand that this entire site is a work in progress.  We're all learning together here.  As we learn, we make changes that are for the good of the site and the community.  The challenge is only in it's 5th day and if things come up that significantly impact the outcome, Metro really has no choice but to modify the rules to compensate.  As for using your private message to him, he was only using it to specifically explain the issue and meant no disrespect.

I hope you'll reconsider your decision to leave the forum.

[Metropolis Man]

The challenge is only in it's 5th day and if things come up that significantly impact the outcome, Metro really has no choice but to modify the rules to compensate.

And I absolutely hate changing anything once the green flag goes down. It makes me look like a rookie. But, Schipperke, as Pam said, I need to think about the bigger picture. Let's just put this whole thing behind us and get back to fun competition. I want you in. I really mean that. You're obviously a very good player and I would be disappointed if you didn't make another effort. Hey, I'm not above begging if that's what it takes. 

[Ormonster]

Hi there.. I found this place last week and decided to give this challenge a try. While I have cooked and fished and gardened, I have never tried to get everything. After a couple late nights I finished it.

31 fish, 29 plants and 35 recipes which I believe is 380,000. My total LTH was 228,616 for a grand total of 608,616

After going through the site here, getting all the rare plants from China, France and Egypt was easy. One of my mistakes was I left France before buying the recipe books. Toward the end I managed to learn the recipes but by then I was out of frog legs, so only 35 perfect recipes. I also could have managed my LTH better but I learned towards the end and the last few weeks were gang busters.

I can't wait to try another challenge.. that was fun.

Matt

[Pam]

Congratulations, Ormonster!  Welcome to our Forum.  We're very happy you found us!

[Pam]

I'm a little late getting started, but here I am!  I've got my spreadsheets ready to help me keep track of everything.  Now I'm going to create my Sim.  Wish me luck! 

[wildredchild]

Good luck Pam!  Welcome to the forums Matt!

[Metropolis Man]

Welcome to the forums, Ormonster and nice job finishing this tourney. I'll update the leaderboard.

Good luck with your effort, Pam. The key to your success is 335909 happiness points and below.

[jmz95]

Welcome to the forums, Ormonster and nice job finishing this tourney. I'll update the leaderboard.

Good luck with your effort, Pam. The key to your success is 335909 happiness points and below.

Lol, I like how that score is exactly one point below yours, assuming Pam gets all the perfects, and I'm assuming that as much as I've read about her, she definitely will.

[Metropolis Man]

Lol, I like how that score is exactly one point below yours, assuming Pam gets all the perfects, and I'm assuming that as much as I've read about her, she definitely will.

I'm banking on the fact that Pam's going to get sidetracked in the foreign countries by trying to start families with the locals. It's just too tempting for her. She'll be too wrapped up in Try For Baby and completely forget about fishing and finding those grapes. A lot of people don't know this but Pam is so into making large families that she actually strums a miniature harp when the main menu comes up.

[Pam]

Lol!  Hehe.  It's those toddlers!  They are just so cute!! 

I'm going to be strong and resist having babies.  I'm up to week 5 and it's going well.  Metro's hard to beat, though, so we'll see. 

[jmz95]

Lol!  Hehe.  It's those toddlers!  They are just so cute!! 

I'm going to be strong and resist having babies.  I'm up to week 5 and it's going well.  Metro's hard to beat, though, so we'll see. 

Heck, I'd be willing to bet that Metro wins this. Congrats on getting to week 5 and no problems so far (or at least not enough to make it be not going well). I'd love to do this challenge but I feel that I'm not quite experienced enough to start. At least it doesn't end till March!

[Metropolis Man]

I'd love to do this challenge but I feel that I'm not quite experienced enough to start. At least it doesn't end till March!

Run a test character for a few weeks and get your sea legs. Then, officially throw your hat in the ring, create your real file and go for it. That's what I would do if I was unsure about strategy. The gardening and fishing portion of this tourney I could do in my sleep at this point, but I was still unclear on the most efficient way to get all of the WA grapes. So, before my real character started I used another character to map out my plan.

[Pam]

I'd love to do this challenge but I feel that I'm not quite experienced enough to start. At least it doesn't end till March!

Don't let that stop you.  You don't have to expect to win the challenge.  It's fun regardless of what your score ends up being.  You can also check the Guide for tips on gardening, fishing, and cooking to help you form a strategy.  I hope you give it a try!

[ik]

this sounds like fun. i may try to join if i find the time .

one question for clarification: i guess you have to start with a new (or at least relatively unchanged) town for this? i am asking because for non-challenge games, i like to add a few houses and community lots to the game that already have pretty much every plant available in perfect quality, and that would make the plant-growing part of this challenge as well as the cooking (because of perfect ingredients available) much easier than starting with a default-town with only normal-quality harvest available.

[Pam]

Hello ik and welcome to the Forum.

Yes, you need to play in the base town.  What you describe falls under modifications or cheats, which is not allowed.

[Metropolis Man]

ik, welcome to the forums. The first couple of rules should have answered your questions. Please read all of the rules carefully before deciding if you want to be added to the leaderboard.

[ik]

thank you pam and metropolis man for the nice welcome and quick answers!

The first couple of rules should have answered your questions. Please read all of the rules carefully

i did read the rules, but it was not clear to me if "create a new sim" actually means "create a new sim in an unplayed and unmodified default town" or if i could add my own lots to the town i start in or possibly even start this sim in a town where another of my sims that i no longer play has lived before. you just say in the rules that nobody may edit town while the challenge is played, but nothing about the town's history. that is why i asked. thanks to pam for clarifying this.

i will post again once i know if i will have a chance at participating (i do not have much playing time, so i will have to wait and see how much time i actually can and want to invest in this ).

[Metropolis Man]

i did read the rules, but it was not clear to me if "create a new sim" actually means "create a new sim in an unplayed and unmodified default town" or if i could add my own lots to the town i start in or possibly even start this sim in a town where another of my sims that i no longer play has lived before.

I see what you're saying. I'll clarify the rule.

[jmz95]

I'd love to do this challenge but I feel that I'm not quite experienced enough to start. At least it doesn't end till March!

Don't let that stop you.  You don't have to expect to win the challenge.  It's fun regardless of what your score ends up being.  You can also check the Guide for tips on gardening, fishing, and cooking to help you form a strategy.  I hope you give it a try!

Sorry, I might have been a bit unclear in my statement. I feel that I'm not experienced enough with France, Egypt, and China. I'm perfectly fine with the three skills needed, but I probably need to do a bit of research around the site, learn how to truly maximize mood and time, and how to quickly get all the perfects, leaving plenty of open time for me to just have a constant maximum mood.

[Pam]

Sorry, I might have been a bit unclear in my statement. I feel that I'm not experienced enough with France, Egypt, and China. I'm perfectly fine with the three skills needed, but I probably need to do a bit of research around the site, learn how to truly maximize mood and time, and how to quickly get all the perfects, leaving plenty of open time for me to just have a constant maximum mood.

True, it does take some strategy.  My Sim finished her trip to China with complete success!  But I had to plan and execute the trip very carefully.

[Metropolis Man]

i did read the rules, but it was not clear to me if "create a new sim" actually means "create a new sim in an unplayed and unmodified default town" or if i could add my own lots to the town i start in or possibly even start this sim in a town where another of my sims that i no longer play has lived before.

I see what you're saying. I'll clarify the rule.

I just clarified the rules a bit. I arranged a few differently and tightened things up. It should be more clear.

You know, I got to thinking about the whole thing with Schipperke and her switching Active households at the Edit Town screen. There's always been the rule about the fact that you can only play one Sim. That's never changed. So, if you'd change Active households wouldnt you be playing a different Sim than your tourney character? It's something I've never done, so am I missing something? In other words, I want as few rules as possible. Is the can't switch active households even needed with the play only one Sim rule?

[wildredchild]

i did read the rules, but it was not clear to me if "create a new sim" actually means "create a new sim in an unplayed and unmodified default town" or if i could add my own lots to the town i start in or possibly even start this sim in a town where another of my sims that i no longer play has lived before.

I see what you're saying. I'll clarify the rule.

I just clarified the rules a bit. I arranged a few differently and tightened things up. It should be more clear.

You know, I got to thinking about the whole thing with Schipperke and her switching Active households at the Edit Town screen. There's always been the rule about the fact that you can only play one Sim. That's never changed. So, if you'd change Active households wouldnt you be playing a different Sim than your tourney character? It's something I've never done, so am I missing something? In other words, I want as few rules as possible. Is the can't switch active households even needed with the play only one Sim rule?

I agree with you Metro about nothing being different but everyone interprets things differently.  It has always been my belief that unless rules are very specific, someone will find a loophole to help their game out because it never said not to.  Part of the reason I always ask questions about rules before beginning any of the challenges to make sure that I am reading what is there, and not what I think it may or may not say.