Rules Changes and Blog Changes

Hey All! No, the blog isn't dead, I totally lost all inspiration for awhile, especially with the madness that ensues between Halloween and the end of Christmas Break. Not so bad if you're a kid/teen, but it's pretty crazy if you're a parent of three! Of course, now that I haven't touched the Leaf family for awhile it may take awhile to get back into the swing of things but I'll try.

One of the most interesting things that happened while I was off in parental-holiday-induced-madness land is that Pinstar updated some of the rules and added some Playtesting rules for BV. The one that got me the most is the changes to pets rules. Blast! I didn't need those extra three furballs afterall! Here's a direct quote of Pinstar's post on the topic:

"Bon Voyage updates for the Apocalypse challenge.

In order to go on vacation, you need to have the military, science and music restrictions lifted.
(Military to clear the zombies from the roads to the airport, science to get the airport up and running again and music to calm the weather down enough to permit flight.)

If the Slacker restriction is in place, any Sim with a job must quit that job before going on vacation. (The businesses make vacations against company policy until labor regulations are restored)

In order to go on a tropical vacation, you need to have the adventure restriction unlocked
(To recover the charts and flight plans to the remote islands)
In order to go on a mountain vacation, you need the Athletic restriction lifted
(So Sims have the fortitude to function in the thinner mountain air)
In order to have a far away land vacation, you need the politics restriction lifted
(To remove the red tape preventing Sims from leaving the country)

If you wish to purchase and use a vacation house, the business restriction must be lifted
(To restore the real estate network and properly record the family as the owners)
You also need the business restriction unlocked if you wish to hire a nanny to house-sit any infants, toddlers or pets.

Why go on vacation?

While Sims are on vacation, all of the outstanding restrictions are temporarily suspended. The core rules still must be followed. You may pick any vacation perks upon your Sims? return to the region. This can give you, the player, a much needed vacation from having to obey all the outstanding restrictions, and the perks can help your Sims climb the career ladder faster when they come home."

" Other changes, adjustments and clarifications.

Education:

While the Education restriction is in place, any child sim that grows into a teenager must roll for their new aspiration as per the Legacy Challenge rules.
You may not change your sim's aspirations in any way.

Once you lift the Education restriction, you may once again choose your sims's aspirations and change them as you please, provided you can use the Re-Nu-Yu sphere.

Gamer:
You may now use the phone Tuesday afternoons, from noon to midnight while the restriction is still in place. (Previously it was Tuesday mornings, midnight to 12 noon)

Culinary:
You may grill fish, even with the culinary restriction in place.
You may NOT store fresh food in the fridge until the restriction is lifted.
You may NOT use the juicer until the restriction is lifted.
You may NOT put cooked food away as leftovers until the restriction is lifted.

Medical:
You may not fish on the home lot while the medial restriction is in place; the water is too foul to catch anything alive.
Natural Science:
You may not plant fruit bearing trees or garden vegetables while the restriction is in place
You may not buy or place the composting bin while the restriction is in place

Science:
You may not use the ?spray? command on plants, trees and roaches while the restriction is in place; the spray needs to be reinvented.
You may not call the exterminator while this restriction is in effect. (You also have to lift the business restriction)

Slacker:
You may not call the garden club while the restriction is in place. Nobody has the free time enough to form a garden club while businesses demand long hours.

Journalism:
When a Sim comes home from college, they may take jobs that were listed under their major, even if those jobs are not the first one listed in the paper or computer. This applies to the founder as well.

Life of Crime:
Despite my attempts to keep this restriction simple, it still requires way too much bookkeeping. As a result I am changing it to the following;

?Every Sunday at midnight you must pay the mob protection. The amount you must pay starts at $150 and increases by $150 per week. So $150 must be paid the first week, $300 the second week, $450 the third and so on.

Once per Sunday, when paying protection, you may sell and re-buy a single fridge. The mob does bring the family some food in exchange for their

If you have a Sim in the life of crime career field, the family must continue to pay protection every Sunday, but the dollar amount does not increase for the next week. (For example, if the family pays $900 on Sunday and later that week, a Sim gets a job in the life of crime field, the family would only have to pay $900 next Sunday, rather than $1,050 they would normally pay, had nobody in the family been in life of crime. )

For Sims at college (other than the founder) they must pay a flat $600 per semester, right after they receive their grade and tuition grant. This amount paid is independent of how much the family has to pay each week and does not change how much the family has to pay once the Sim returns from college. The $600 is per Sim. Keep that in mind if you have more than one Sim going to college at the same time.

Once a Sim reaches the top of the life of crime career, the family no longer has to pay protection.

You still use the Family_funds cheat to ?pay? the protection money.

The only part of the crime restriction that remains the same is that you may sell/re-buy your fridge once per week to refill it with food, so your family doesn't starve.

Pets restrictions:
The life of crime restriction no longer `suppresses? pet restrictions.
When the family has a pet reach the top of its career track, that restriction is unlocked permanently"

To see the complete conversation just follow the bouncing link....

As you can see, some these changes majorly affect the way I've been playing. For instance, Criminal is now not as huge a pain as it once was, and will be bumped down the priority list.

I'm also going to be adding a new side panel on the blog where I can keep track of all of the rules that I've accidentally broken. Not because it really matters, but because I thought it would be kind of fun! That means it's even more important for you all to let me know when I break one of the kazillion rules! I'm going to start working on the next chapter of the Leaf story tonight, so stay tuned, you may actually get a long delayed update sooner than you think!