PMBD

So, guess what? In the latest patch, .sims3packs installed from anywhere, apparently, other than EA, no longer function. This nonfunctioningness is apparently retroactive, so things that were working before, no longer do. Coincidentally, the main user of the .Sims3pack format over the .package format favored by, you know, everyone ELSE, is TSR. Sucks to be them.
(http://beta.moreawesomethanyou.com/crapola/haha.jpg)

Relax Pirate King! I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding... like the EULA change they never got... I'm sure if they wait a few years again it'll be fixed!
Or they just will it into being fixed... like the EULA! It works!

How do you know it's deliberate? Is it in the patch notes? Or did they stomp it so thoroughly that it can't be a fuck up?

I'm assuming this is soon to be shiny in nature?

P.S. hahahahahahahahahahaha

 :D That is just priceless! They'll have to repackage all their TS3 downloads now.  Yeah, like that is going to happen.  They'll just remove comments complaining about things not working instead. 

Christmas came early.  All over TSR's face.

*points and laughs at TSR*


It very well may not be.


EA may very well have fucked TSR without even thinking about it. I wonder if they enjoyed it.

We don't. In fact, it probably isn't. Does that make TSR any less fucked or this any less funny?

LOL! Sucks to be TSR right now.

Was .package content affected by the latest patch?

Should we wake Johan?

Not from what I've gathered, seems like only the Sims3Pack format has been hit.

"Wake up, dude, you're being fucked." :D
Nah, let him find out for himself.

If it's lasting, it's funnier. But, still funny enough for me!

This is brilliant.  ;D

Karma, man.  Karma.

I thought we weren't gonna get any Christmas presents this year! This is a beaut, one for the records!

No, do not wake up Johan. He's going to hear about it soon enough. I have a funny feeling that TSR is going to have a very bleak Christmas.

Although I don't really think it will be permanent. EA would lose so much by letting this one slip by. They'll be fixing it presently.

Meanwhile, pass the rum and the eggnog!

Awww, poor TSR.
*slaps evil twin

Hurrah!! Sucks to be them!! Too bad they're in bed with EA, because once Thomas et al wake up, EA will shut down the entire campus until the package snafu is fixed. ::)

And, as an added note, how many patches does this MAKE for Sims 3 now? I don't have TS3 anymore, but the last one I knew was #3 (that was the one that totally borked my game for good) and it was a good long while ago. They've really screwed that game up.

This makes about 5 patches (and counting) so far, from what I've seen.

Each one is screwing the game up even worse than it was before. Poor Sims 3 players are such suckers and masochists to put up with this shit all the time.

"Oh, it's not the patch, it's your CC. Uninstall your game, remove your mods/CC, re-download the patches and reinstall your game."

How many times does it take for an average simmer to finally get sick and tired of this shit?
2 or 3 dozen times?
Is it really worth all this crap just to play a sub-par game?

By this time, I'd be throwing away the game and calling it good riddance.

On the BBS they are even getting tired of the Patches. A lot of people have stopped asking what a patch will fix, but rather they talk about what its going to break. EA also pissed off a lot of people on the BBS because of the in game shopping this patch added, no one can find anyone that actually wanted it, most people either don't care or area against it.

I am so glad that I never did get Sims3. It sounds more like work and less like a computer game.

*carefully arranges a nice table with popcorn, rum, eggnog, chocolate, Darqstar's awesome fudge, and some cookies. Pulls up several comfy sofas for folks to sit on while we wait for the screaming from T$R*

*Sneaks into Jonah's room and puts one of Jonah's hands into a bowl of warm water,then staples his bedsheets to the bed*

And in today's weather, the area of Sweden can expect frequent showers of cluster F bombs, punctuated with mushroom clouds and a possibility of hail.  :D

*hopes this is in a nuclear fall out shelter* I'll bring the speshul goggles so we can watch the mushroom cloud. :D

TSR responds: (http://www.thesimsresource.com/news/view-post/post/14931)


The fail. It hurts.

Also suspects a ceasefire of TSR's shameless fangirling of EA will begin starting today. Wants to see the fires being started by the 12's in the help section at the official site, and in the TSR forums. Roast Sims 3 Packs anyone.

HAHAHA! I'll be over there laughing till my sides split :D Once again TSR is shown up as being sucktastic.

*grabs a bowl of popcorn and gets comfy*

They're going to have so many patches that they could make a friggin quilt... And being that this is from EA Games, it's gonna be a goddamn crazy quilt, to boot.

I'll pass on the roast Sims3 packs, the ones from TSR could very well be hazardous to one's health. Since most of the time merely looking at TSR CC requires a healthy dose of eye bleach, consuming said CC will most likely induce projectile vomiting.

*sigh* I guess this means Johan will be far too busy to visit us any more this holiday season. Oh what I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall when they contact EA about this problem. I put it on my Christmas list, but Santa can only do so much. :(

I wonder, will EA actually release a patch to address TSR's issue? Or will another patch be released, the issue addressed, but not acknowledged, and made to look as if it is fixing yet another problem?

- TSR Admin: Hello FA's and SA's. As soon as we are through reading MATY and lifting a solution from there, you are required to update all your Sims 3 stuff.
* FA/SA: I'll be on vacation next week.
- TSR Admin: You're fired!

-TSR Admin: Hello EA friend. We're hoping that you'll be lifting a solution from MATY before the holidays.
- Random EA slave: Hello Admin! It's christmas and everyone is on holiday untill next year.
- TSR Admin: Ho...liday???  You're fired!
- Random EA slave: Excuse me?
- TSR Admin: Sorry, it's become kind of a habit. When are you releasing the fix?! Please tell me you have it quick!
- Random EA slave: *starts typing* Oh, I just read about the source of the mess-up ... we're very sorry but a bugged Atwa sim managed to sneak into the Swedish game versions without us knowing. Again. A fix may be a little more complicated than we thought. We'll get back to you around May. Ish.
- TSR Admin: THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!
- Random EA slave: I know, rite? Merry christmas! *hangs up*
- TSR Admin: Should have let Johan handle this one.

OMG No No No, that is priceless.  :D

You gotta wonder if Will Wright is headesking severly over EA..Going.........I sold you my baby, and you made it a retarded adult.......Prolly why we dont see much of him lately.....he's been getting sloshed.........

Being of a suspicious and paranoid mind, I just wonder how "accidental" this was. EA trashing the number one way most Simmers get their downloads, in favor of the EA store stuff?

What if it isn't accidental? What if it is permanent? What if EA never releases a patch to fix it?

Oh, my mind spins at the very thought. TSR would be out of business in a month, or less.

Not that I would care about TSR's problems. It'd be just like EA to do this because they're less stupid than TSR, although that's a very far reach.

Oh, the fail. It's just so earth shattering.

I was under the impression that the Store Stuff was borked as well.

I predicted that EA was going to make 3rd party CC more and more difficult with Sims 3.  And was told 1. That I was just being a silly old Pessimist and Sims3 was gr8 and EA was speshul, and 2. that our wonderful modders would be able to solve any problem short of killer laser beams from outer space striking down the designer.  I then pointed out that at some point it will get to be too much hassle to be worth the returns and was totally ignored by all concerned.

I do not hesitate to renew my prophecy here on PSMBD.

I was an early taker on this attitude too.  Before I saw the file innards I was on the "between us we'll get it sorted" side.  Once I had gotten a good look, I joined your side.   To compound the problem, because of the extra obstacles, many of the people who might have been active in the community analysing file formats and making tools have found it unenjoyable, leaving fewer of the technical wizzes and hackers at our disposal.   A double-whammy.

Well, if EA really do kill the whole CC creating community they are dumber than Dan Quayle and Miss Teen USA 2007 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEP7uti0PDw (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEP7uti0PDw)) together. New stuff - sofas, beds, tables, clothing, hair, make-up, trees, cars, whatever - is what keeps the game going, and EA's own creators don't have a chance in hell of keeping up with the demand for CC. Without the possibility of adding new stuff to the downloads folder the interest for Sims 3 is going to seriously dwindle very quickly.

Guess we'll all just have to go back to Sims 2, won't we.  :P

I agree. The game would be pretty lame without CC. Though I guess now that most people have already forked out the cash for the game they might not care anymore.

That said, I'm leaning more toward it being an accident, their updates/patches to date have been incredibly shoddy so it wouldn't surprise me.

Someone in the comments on the news post at TSR about this suggested converting files to .package files, Thomas had this to say


The person came back saying it worked for them, so as far as they are concerned it is a solution, to this Thomas said


If this is something EA will fix, I wonder how long it will take to get a fix, doubt it will be before the new year.

*shakes his head and facepalms* Thomass, do you really like the look of your own prostrate?  No really, I want to know.

Sounds to me like Thomass is trying to keep the sheeples stupid over there.  Converting the files to a .package not a viable solution, so sit down and pick your nose until EA figures it out...right...that makes perfect sense.

I think Thomas's main agenda is to ensure people don't move away from Workshop in favor of s3oc.   All that matters to him is the image of TSR.   Sadly I think he may be leading Murano in that direction too.

TSR is just trying to slowly take over the community with their tool. It's sad really.

As for Thomas refusing to convert their downloads, poo on them then. That just means that subscriptions will go down, because let's be honest, are you really going to pay for a website when you don't even know if you can use their content? And they aren't offering ANY solutions whatsoever? Thomas just shot himself in the wallet if you ask me.

Plus I really think he's trying to keep people that venture just TSR, in TSR alone. If he was to suggest using different package formats, they would have to leave TSR to get those programs, which potentially opens the doors to have their rear ends exposed. Personally, I don't see EA fixing this. Last patch it was .package files, and now it's the sims3packs? I am jumping on the bandwagon that EA does not want people to modify their game at all. Which is confusing to say the least, because if those dumbasses don't realize that being able to mod the sims (1, 2, and 3) is what will and has kept those games alive for so long.

At this rate I might as well go play kudos. It's cheaper, and works like it should even after patches.

Oh Thomas did, wait for EA to fix it because EA caused this.

I'm wondering, has it been found out if you buy things with the in game store, do they work? If so, one could come up with the conclusion that EA wants you to only get CC from their store, and only in game (which means they will want you to play the game while connected to the internet).

Some people at TSR are reporting that store stuff is borked, too.

This doesn't seem to be an EA master plan--that would require foresight and intelligence.  I think they're just exercising their usual incompetence.

Did I call it or what?  Thomass has said that EA must fix it instead. lol

I did try the in game button to get the free coffeemaker and I was successful. Now I think because I tried that ebil button, EA have included this NAV.bin file in my download folder. Others are reporting there is a e-mail with other numbers .bin file.

All in all, I am beginning to come to the same conclusion as above.  Even though TSR and other CC creators S3Ps are working as they should, I wonder if it is working cause I am using the procedure of moving the DCCache folder to the Mods/Packages folder, then refreshing it everytime I make changes?

If EA had any brain in their collective head, they would re-release the previous patch, so that we could all move onto that instead, while they fix up their borked patch.  Its what every other decent, respecting software company in their situation does in the given situation.  But EA has does not have a brain, and nor are they decent of self respecting, so it is highly unlikely that they will

They are probably all on their xmas break and don't care.

What scares me about EA and their business practices is - the board aren't gamers, the CEO isn't.  In fact, many of them come from the food industry.  Makes you really wonder about the food we buy, don't it?

In other news, still cackling at the side effect? of this patch.

Ugh, the game isn't even that good anyway. I'd rather stick to Valve games.

It seems to me EA fucked themselves. I updated and everything *except* Store Items show up. All other .sims3pack CC show up just as they were pre-update.

Oh man, I am so sticking to Sims 2. This is a farce.  ::)

Looks like TSR has found a way to get around the issue of their own files not working:


Bold added by me.

So it looks like TSR is making their own way to package files. Though, isn't the download basket only for subscribers?

And Google Chrome really didn't want me to be on TSR  :D :

Oh this makes me smile.  A lot. 

I'm surprised that TSR didn't say "If you want to continue using TSR content, don't update your game."  I fully expected that from them.

I'm surprised myself.  I'd never thought that TSR would come up with their own workaround outside of what you said Captainalenica.

It seems that the site was using a well known poisoned Ad at the time Rum Nate.

HAHAHAHAHAH!

Merry fucking christmas TSR.

I was trying to downloads something fromTSR the other day. I hardly ever do. Any of their stuff i get here lol. But something caught my eye and i said what the hell. I downloaded it and nothing. I have got thing in sims3pack form from other sites and they worked. Its only TSR that F***ed up. Oddly i remember reading once that by TSR using the sims3pack it would be more game friendly and be safer for those downloading from there. ROFL man were they ever wrong. HAHA sucks to be TSR

For once, EA:s fuck-it-ups bring something good. I hope next time they "accidentally" send a bomb to the TSR Headquarters or whatever. Myself, I usually wait to see if others have problems before I patch my game, ever since EA killed my game by turning all lots into huge blue rectangles and thus practically killing my favourite family, and then not even bothering to answer my support mail. Fuck 'em, I say.  ::)

I'm really hoping EA does something to, I wouldn't say fix it, because it's not really broken to them, but...gosh, idk what to call it lol. Here: I hope they care enough about their fans to help us out and fix it in our eyes.  ::)

I never post here, just read, but thought I could help since I know of a site with archived patches. Here you go.

http://www.patches-scrolls.de/sims3.php

When World Adventures point blank refused to install, despite all the poking and prodding I did, I just gave up and trashed the whole thing. You're right. It's nowhere near a good enough game to put up with that crap.

I still Hold out hope for Sims 3. I back up my files and i remove my hacks only then I patch and pray my game wont blow up. It really does suck. BTW I still cant download from TSR. sooo there are still F**Ked up

Why the fuck would you even want to download from that load of scum-buckets is beyond me. [insert barf smiley]here[/insert barf smiley]

My guess would be to torture their sims.  Any other reason wouldn't make sense to me.

I'm so glad I come here when I need to find out what the heck is going on.  I've had problems with Sims3 ever since the second or third patch, when suddenly the sound kept skipping as I played.  I've spent endless time Googling to see if anyone figured out a fix, but other than disabling extra sound devices (which I don't have), no one had a clue, and six months later it still hasn't been fixed.  And now after the most recent patch my game won't even load at all.  Thanks so much to the link to the old patches.  The only one I want is the one that fixed the fast forward speed problem.  At this point I don't even care if it won't let me install World Adventures without all the updates.  I'm done with these damned patches!!  I'll just play the first game.  Grr.

Here you go, dear (http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee162/silverssimstuff/emoticons/vomit.gif)