I agree. Maybe someone will create a hack to beat the ads, or maybe there will be (haha) a way to turn them off. I'm not happy about ads being in the game. It wouldn't stop me from buying it (when I get a new PC) but I'm not happy. They also look so out of place.

Plus it's just one more way to potentially screw things up. What if the server that is supposed to be delivering a certain bit of ad content is overloaded? What if some ingenious person figures out a way to piggyback a virus or trojan in this content? What if your anti-virus or firewall sees it as intrusive? It just doesn't seem like a good idea to have a third party advertiser able to insert content into a game on my computer via internet.

Wouldn't it be funny if they made it so that you 'll be tempted to allow the ads in the game? Like they would give you some free downloads for clicking on the ads or something.

Instead of playing we'll all be clicking on ads to gain points in order to get a lucrative widescreen TV for our Sims! Woo!

I'm one of those who despise anything but simlish on things in my game..the only way i would accept this was if they forced the ads into simlish..they can ad spam me all they like as long as it fits in the game and i can't understand it :D
(of course I'm being silly as no company would pay to advertise in a made-up language no one speaks or reads)

You don't really need to understand them. The way they are designed, visually, you can recognize a commercial for a certain brand or product even if it's in a foreign language. It's called brand recognition.

I have heard no direct proof that you will have to be always online to run the game, a online activation is annoying enough, but if it needs to collect important data as you play online as well as on your CD-ROM and your HD, then even hacks are gonna be unlikely.

It'll probably be like TS2 is now. If you want to log in (or log in automatically) every time you play, you can ... but you won't have to do this. The Sims 3 is NOT an "online game".

I must be one of the Few who is okay with the adds. IT doesen't bother me I never eve nhad any problems with securom.

By the way the adds being in simlish is very likely even if the thing sasy FGFYT FGYTH but if it has the world famous coca-cola -symbol or the chick-fil-a cows you will recognize it even if it isn't in english just like chains in other countries.

I think the adds could be fun little gags in the game you see a coke billbrad as your sims walks by thats it no problem and this game is goig nto be 49.99 not too bad a few dollors cheaper than the original sims 2 right?

Yeah. I mean ... don't we some form of subliminal messaging in other game franchises? Easter Eggs or something?

Has anyone actaully thought of un-plugging their modem/what ever you use for net while you play?
This is a long post, so I didn't read through pages 2/3. But it can't be that hard.
Tbh I'd forget most of the time though, so it does bother me that this advertising thing could happen.

Personally I've never had issues with securRom. I've looked in the folder where it's meant to be located and I don't even have it. But it does worry me that I *could* get it. Even though I don't know it's full effects.

One time online activation? So EA assumes EVERYONE has net? That sucks! I completely disagree with that. It should be like the Sims2 we have now, with the choice to register online or not. That's not on.

I am looking forward to Sims3. Unfortunatly this Topic has put me off it a little.

You could try unplugging your cable/modem, but its likely the game won't run, but maybe you could try unplugging after the game has loaded.

Otherwise its like simply like you playing the game, and complete stranger is watching you over your shoulder. It might even take screenshots regularly, and upload them without your knowledge.

From the defination of whats spyware and what isn't, it technically is, as it would need to use a form of keylogging to deliver the right advertising to you, this could out of hand if their are mulitiple users that play the game on the same computer.

Oh joy.

Well if the adverts are delivered to your game relative to how you play - then my billboard will be advertising, morning after pills, headache tablets and interior decorating companies. :evilnod:

All this speculation is enough to drive someone to drink. Seriously ... let's wait and see what happens. You're just going to talk yourself out of something that might be just fine. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill until it's in front of you.

Or, you could make yourself and your views known now, and possibly make it so that the molehill or the mountain isn't there at all when you get there. Sitting down and shutting up is pretty useless when you object to something.

That's only if EA/Maxis is willing to listen to our worries when it comes to their greed. If TS3 is anything like Spore, there will be an option to connect to the internet (or not). So if you choose not to do it - problem solved, right?

i just hope that the advertisers don't take any information from playing it, cause i don't want to be bombarded with adverts all the time while im trying to stroll down a street with my sim. Also if it has to be connected all the time will it affect game play? my internet isn't that strong, with all the pcs in my house, no one goes off line to that back of 3 in the morning, im not waiting til then to try play it :eviltongu

Does anybody remember the old story of the frog that is put into a pot of cold water, and then the flame under the stove is put on low; the water gradually gets hotter and hotter, but the frog, lulled by a false sense of security, doesn't have the sense to jump out of the pot until it's way too late, and by that time the frog has been boiled?

Some of the players who have voiced their opinions about people making a mountain out of a molehill, and discounting the idea of in-game ads being intrusive...calling them "realistic", etc...remind me of that frog.

I realize that there are ingame ads in PC games such as racing ads; but those type of ads, being on a racecourse are typical of the sponsorship that racing engenders; in fact, practically every sporting event has billboards and ads in their stadiums.

And, I also realize that billboard and poster advertising are a natural part of life; and I would have no problem with that in The Sims 3 (even if it was just a familiar product logo) *as long as the ads are written in Simlish, *not* in English or any other known language*!!!

This is the part that really irritates me the most. EA's Sims Team has gone to great length to create a Sim society with its own language and culture; now they want to slap us in the face by marketing directly to us, and not to our Sims only?

So, it starts with ingame ads in the form of billboards and posters; then proceeds to our Sims buying real-world name-brand products in their stores, and then again, *having their aspirations targeted to a particular product*...where does it stop?

The next thing you know, your Sim can't get that much coveted promotion *unless he or she buys a Mercedes-Benz*...or has to meet some other equally ridiculous condition that involves using some other ingame ad sponsored product in order to be able to "level up" so to speak. The article on AdAge suggested that marketers would be able to "solicit feedback from the players" (presumably while the game was in progress?)as to what the player thought was needed in the game, and then the marketer could provide it for them. So, even more direct interactions between the player and the advertiser results from this feedback solicitation.

And insofar as the ability to be online or offline, I'll leave you with this thought: I once made the mistake of downloading Pets from the EA Store. It played fine, as long as I was online, but once I took it offline, it ceased to play anymore after about a week, because it wanted me to reconnect to the internet or it wouldn't let me access my game which is resident in my computer, and which I *should* be able to access at the drop of a hat. How's that for irritating? To top it all off, EA Customer Service told me it was done that way for "security reasons".

While Ben Bell may have said that you don't have to be online to play the game, he negleted to say how long you could get away with playing offline before the computer refused to let you play at all without being connected to the internet first.

At any rate, I would much rather wait to buy the game until all the facts have been sorted out. Better to live without it a few months than to find out what I didn't want to know only *after* I've already bought and paid for the game.

True, but the fact that EA will be using ads in TS3 appears to conflict with this. After all, those ads need to come from somewhere. Hopefully, EA gets their act together and makes it possible to turn off ads in-game, and thus an internet connection won't be an issue.

Ads or no Ads I'll still be getting it on release day 37 days from now

momthing - I'm simply stating that we can speculate until the cows come home, but until we get some CONCRETE evidence from someone at EA/Maxis or whoever's in charge now, all we're doing is giving ourselves ulcers and gray hairs. If the "molehill" truly is a "mountain", then so be it ... and we can picket and flame and whatever at that point. But until then ... *shrug* I'm not going to worry until I hear more proof from those guys in charge.

I am very familiar with the frog story. But I've also gone through my life worrying for nothing, and it's gotten me absolutely nothing, except maybe some sleepless nights. I have a motto for myself - if you have no control over it, there's no sense in worrying about it. It works for me. I'm not saying others have to follow such a thing, but ... that's my opinion on it.

And as I mentioned in another thread - someone has to be the guinea pig. I guess I'm saying I don't mind being the guinea pig. :D

That makes two of us

Are you kidding? I have no internet connection on my computer. Does that mean I shouldn't bother with The Sims 3? (I got Windows XP and a Geforce 9400 graphics card, don't know what my memory card is).
All well, I was never going to stop playing 2 anyway.

Hm, this has put a damper on my thoughts. But I'm slightly glad. I had no previous knowledge of this, and I read this entire thread to try and understand the purpose of this. (And now my head hurts.) At this point it may be speculation on the validity of what EA is doing, but I'm glad to be made aware of it now, rather than when I'm out sixty bucks and unable to play without a constant headache in some form or another.

At any rate, what crap, EA, what crap! Can we not just enjoy our Sims without having this worry in the back of our minds and adverts shoved into our faces?

Maybe if enough people make a stink they will release a version sans-ads. But I guess this was bound to happen, as long as the advertisers are lining EA's pockets.

So.... in light of this, like most of you guys, I don't know if I'm going to be first in line on February 20th. I'll see what happens, if this really is as bad as all that, then I shall consider buying it. The game itself looks really good, and I was pretty excited about it, but to me, it's just not worth it when I still have The Sims 2 to keep me warm.