Hey guys, thank you so much for all of the comments and helpful suggestions. It makes me feel really good to know so many of you enjoyed and were inspired by the Shanleys. I’ve been pondering what to do with them for the past few days, and I’ve finally come to a decision. Your feedback helped a LOT. For awhile I seriously considered starting a new Legacy with Zuzu Shanley, but I think what I’m going to do is just say goodbye to the Shanleys for good. I’ll definitely miss them, and they’ll always be one of my favorite families, but I’m ready to move on. To be honest, I hadn’t played them on a regular basis since 10th gen. I kept trying to revive them and renew my interest in them, but I wasn’t having much success, so maybe this was for the best.
I did look for deleted files — I had emptied my recycle bin after deleting the original neighborhood, unfortunately, so there was nothing there. Sigh. And I remembered I must have some packaged lots sitting around (duh!), but the latest one is from July 2005, around the time Ginger was born, so even if I installed that, it would be another “alternate universe” thing. I can’t imagine sending them to college AGAIN! And then not having Florida and Kamea be born. They turned out to be such cool kids. Plus it was the old house, so I would have had to rebuild their new house all over again, and that took a loooong time (the old house had a bad layout for Legacy play). I should have packaged that lot far more often, but I just didn’t play them very much. :-(
That fact really hit home when I glanced through the Shanley updates on my blog today and realized that it took me eight months to age Ginger and Ruby from babies to newly-graduated adults. Eight months! At that rate, it would have taken me the next four years to get to 20th gen. Yikes. For comparison, I got through the first 10 generations of Shanleys in just four months. The Ravelos aren’t faring much better — in five months of playing them, I’ve only gotten to 3rd gen. It’s hard to keep people interested in a Sims story when updates are so sparse, and readers tend to forget who’s who.
So what I’d like to do is streamline a bit. Since my gargantuan mistake got rid of the Sims involved in my “Intruders” storyline with Maude, that story will be going away. I hadn’t figured out how to make it work just yet anyway, so perhaps that’s for the best, too. I’m sorry I teased you guys with it before I had all the kinks worked out. I was just too excited and wanted to share it. Another lesson learned. Also, Maude’s Tales in general are still on hold, but I’m not putting Maude to pasture just yet — you’ll definitely hear from her in the future. She can’t keep quiet for very long.
The Cromwell House story was just something I did for fun to get out of my Sims Slump, and while I enjoyed writing about it, the gameplay beyond the first few days just didn’t hold my interest. So they will be joining the Chinchilla family in my “stories-that-never-got-beyond-one-post” graveyard. I deleted both of the Chinchilla and the Cromwell House categories, but both of those posts can be found in the “General” category.
So what does that leave? Well, I’m still enjoying the Ravelos, so as long as you guys are, too, I’ll keep playing them and writing their story. It’d be great to reach 10th gen with them.
And then there’s Annabel Island, with the Braytons/De Groffs. I know those stories aren’t as popular as the Legacy ones, but I love writing them, and as long as Sussi and Judie keep making such amazing Victorian clothing and accessories, I’ll never get tired of playing that era. So I’m going to keep updating with them and try to find a way to update more often, so it’s not so hard to keep track of what’s going on.
So that’s it for now — Ravelos and Annabel Island (if my game stops crashing long enough for me to play them, that is). Oh — and I have plans for an interlude of sorts once OFB gets patched, so keep on the lookout for that.
Thanks again to all of you for being awesome. It was great fun sharing the Shanley Legacy with you.
Hi Jen,
Although it was probably not an easy decision to make, I can understand it. And to be hones, maybe I’m part of a minority, but I prefer your Annabel/Brayton stories over the Legacy stories. It’s like reading a wonderful novel. So I am really glad you will continue their stories, they are an inspiration to me.
Karin
I can understand your decision. The Shanleys were a great family and will always hold a special place in your heart, but if you’re having a hard time getting into their story again then it’s probably best to let them go. I love your Annabel Island stories and the Ravelos so I’m glad you’re continuing them. :)
I’ll miss the shanleys, but honestly the Brayton stories have been my favorite. (except of course Juan of the Dead, the Kilmans, and the Dobbins.) But the whole Cecily thing is like a soap opera without all the dumb. Thanks for always updating. :)
So, Shanleys gone forever I guess – sad thing, I loved loved loved them, but none the less time to look ahead! And yes, I am very glad that you’ll keep playing the Ravelos, they do make up for it in some way! And wow, just now when you wrote it – you only took 4 months to have 10 generations of Shanleys? Wow, that’s unimaginable, especially for me who has never got past gen 6 with the Morrigans (who’s blogprovider now definitey gave up now… dead link, sorry). But we’ll see, after my abitur I suppose I will continue playing them, what so ever ;)
Have a good time, Eva
Sorry, Jen. I followed those stories from the beginning and have often gone back to read and reread the little details that always made me smile. But you DID perservere right to the Tenth Generation and further, so that’s really something to be proud of, even if you don’t have those Sims any longer.
You’ve done wa-a-ay better than me. I’m pretty awful at keeping track of the Sims and I truly get bored within two weeks of playing one measley family. It’s sad, really, but I started writing them down and keeping notes and now I’m pursuing a story line, so thinks are looking up.
Well done on making that hard decision, it’s one that you felt was necessary and that’s what matters.
Rollon the Braytons and – more importantly for me – the Ravelos!
Keep it cool, man!
AE
As long as you keep writing I’ll refrain from taking over the world! That’s the deal right there. :D Jenba stories are the only thing holding back my urge for TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION.
Hey, could you share what the basic idea behind Cromwell was, now? It seemed sort of ‘I’m surrounded by idiots!’-esque, am I right?
Although i’ll miss the Shanleys I think you made the right desision.
I love the Ravelo’s and Annabelle Island storied equally, i dont really think ones better than the other.
Looking forward to more updates :)
i know it must have been a hard decision to make and i know that i’ll miss the Shanleys aswell, but i think you made the right decision.
It is so sad to finally see the Shanleys gone for good. But they had a long run. They were my favourite Legacy to read about, and gave me so much inspiration! I’ve tried loads of times to have my own legacy, but Ive always liked the Shanleys better than my own legacies, and they weren’t even my sims!
Im pondering whether to try one last time and create a new legacy family, and blog about them. But Ive had so many failed attempts in the past that Im not sure I want to try again.
The Shanleys were great, but I really love your Annabel Island stories too, and the Ravelos, so Im sure whatever new stories you do, I’ll love them too =)
It is sad to see the Shanley’s gone for good now. But so long as your blog remains, at least we can go back and re-read about them (which I’m currently doing). But I’ll keep coming back to here about the Ravelos.
Wow, i didnt know that the Braytons/DeGroffs were not liked as much as the Shanleys. Maybe thats because Im stingy and I love my Annabel Island peoples. I think I began to read your blog more regularly when that story came out, and I remember when my computer went insane and I couldnt read them I became sorta depressed. Haha, not crazy depressed..more like that in love with someone you havent seen forever depressed. But anyway, I dont think anyone has lost interest in your stories..they are JUST OO LAZY to comment…but I must confess that I have done it a few times myself… But anyway. Thank YOU for being awesome, and please continue on with hte Braytons. You like playing them and I love reading about them. As a matter of fact…can the next update be a Brayton update…please -puppy eyes- . Haha not really, I cant wait for the next update though.
I myself kind of miss the Ravelos over the Shanleys… 3: I barely remember the Shanleys.
So sorry to hear you had all those problems Jen! That really bites! As for the Shanleys, I agree that they should be put to rest. We all had a great time with them, and it would have been really cool to see the 20th generation, but like you said, you lost your interest a long time ago. And when you lose your interest, we lose ours! Hehehe. But I love the Brayton/Annabel Island story. I think it gives a little something different to read, and shows some real creativity! (And we all know how much I like that Victorian era!) But all in all, just keep posting updates, and you can be sure we’ll all be here to read and enjoy them!
I’m actually quite pleased that you laid the Shanleys to rest…it’s better that way. You couldn’t have had a “memorial” for them when nobody liked them anymore, much better on a high note. And I can’t wait for the OFB updates and the Ravelo posts!
Hey, Jen? I found a new challenge for OFB on the Sims 2 bboards. It looks complicated but with good fun potential! :D
http://tinyurl.com/hjtpu
Hey Jen. I’m so sorry about losing Mt. Geneva. I know how that feels, as you must remember. . . :-( I know your decision will work out great, though. I can’t wait to see what you come up with now. It’s a new chapter! Also, Kay, that challenge looks so neat! I will definitely have to try that out. It sounds so fun! Will you be trying it, too?
I think that was the best decision as far as the Shanley’s are concerned.
I also have tried playing my completed to g10 legacy family the Moonlights but I don’t get very far with gen 10 and beyond so even though I still have them tucked away I honestly don’t think I’ll ever play or post about them either.
I’m sure it was a hard decision but I’m also sure you’re quite happy with it ..good for you :)
Jessica – Ayuh, I am! :D I’ve created a little trailer park for my Poor level Sims and am making the first four families right now. I used the 2×2 lots that come with Nightlife, and made a bunch of houses in the Downtown district. They’re just 4×12 squares, with one bedroom and one bath, all white linoleum (OFB) and white paint (base game) with 3xthe cheapest white doors and 3xthe smallest window. About as basic as you can get and still be able to call it a ‘house’ and not a shack. I’m pretending they are former storage units. Each lot goes for a little over 4k, which leaves 6k for furniture. It should be fun! :D
For extra giggles I’m going to have one Sim be a disgraced Landgraab. I’ll prolly have him or her start a bar/cafe/night club/similar. The others include: Flors de de Saint-Eloi, a french female florist; Vitangelo Varese, an italian cosmetologist and Alice Woodward, an english toy- and/or robot maker.
Thanks, guys. I’ve been trying to play the Ravelos lately, but about 20 minutes into the game, everything freezes up, my monitor goes dead and I can’t get my desktop back, so I end up having to manually shut down my machine, reboot everything and start over. It’s happening in Annabel Island, too. I’m following a few threads on MTS2 to see if I can figure out the problem, but no luck yet. I don’t think it’s a graphics card problem since the game runs OK on my other Windows account. So…until I solve the problem, I’m going to try the Boomtown Challenge that Kay pointed out (thanks, Kay!). It sounds awesome — I’ve been toying with the idea of starting my own class-based neighborhood anyway and basically trying to build a little town, so this will be a great way to try that. And I can play it in my other account, so hopefully no crashing. But I will keep trying to fix the problem — I’m dying to get those Ravelo girls out of college. When my screen went black tonight I just buried my face in my arms and whimpered. This game is killing me!
Kay, you also asked about Cromwell House — yeah, it was kind of like the I’m Surrounded by Idiots challenge, and also a bit like what I used to do with Uncle Liam’s house. Everyone was autonomous, for the most part, but I could fulfill one of their wants per day. I had it on a cycle where at 6:00 every morning, I’d lock in a want for each Sim, and try to fulfill that want at some point during that day. If I couldn’t fulfill it, it remained locked until I could. I also had them start with a crummy house because I wanted to watch it transform as they earned more money. It was fun for awhile, but then I just lost interest in it. :-P (And LOL at the Total World Domination — I guess I’d better keep writing stories then, eh?) Oh, and I love your Boomtown people so far!! Awesome names. Having a disgraced Landgraab is a WAY COOL idea.
Jen – Huzzah for also doing that challenge, and huzzah for the Cromwell House idea! :D I think I’ll give that a try on the side of the Boomtown thing. And aww shucks. *struts around* XD
I ended up naming my Landgraab Lysander. He’s the only one on the block that’s actually spent money on new paint and floors so far, his house nee club is a vibrant turquoise! I gave him kind of chunky but decently handsome features with a strong nose, chin and cheekbones, the third skintone, blonde hair and dark blue eyes since that’s what the (deformed looking!) Landgraab in Bluewater Village has. His favorite color is blue. :D
Flors de Saint-Eloi has the third skintone, brown hair and brown eyes. She’s mostly got the first face but with a bit more chin and slightly more defined lips. She, of course, goes for anything with a floral motif. Her house is so far the purtiest of them all, I think.
Vitangelo Varese has the palest skin, black hair in a pony tail, chinfuzz and permanent 5’oclock shadow and purty green eyes. His favorite color is, of course, green but black is at a strong second. He looks in my eyes a little like a longhaired Johnny Depp.
Finally, Alice came out amusingly. She’s got 0 in Neat but is extremely active and fairly playful, so she’s like this overgrown kid. She just doesn’t care. XD I gave her the shaggy hairdo that hangs down in the face, that OFB new outfit that’s like a blend of grunge and beachwear and a rather cute face with blush to mimic healthy red cheeks and a little bit of lipgloss. She’s palest skin, blonde and light blue eyes. She’s going to start out making toys because I couldn’t afford the 2k that the robot station is at.
Heya Jen. I started a new blog today by the way. Its my last attempt at a successful blog :) So Id be happy if some people checked it out. Thanks :)