Pardon the bump, but I have some advice.

We currently live in a world where we share everything online. We feel as we MUST share every aspect of our lives with people who we really don't know. Even in the gaming world, we share everything about our progress. I know that 'sharing is caring' and Social Media is fun, but I think sharing a lot comes with some drawbacks. One of them being overwhelmed with content. Too much exposure. Being too simulated (pun intended).

I believe one thing that has impacted my feelings of boredom with The Sims 2 is sharing and observing on Social Media. I can't explain it, but every time I take a break from the game, along from Simblr, SimTube (YouTube), Simscord (Discord), etc... I feel a boost of creativity and want to play again. Unfortunately, I fall in the trap of needing to see what other players are doing in their game and the burnout feeling returns. When I don't play the game, I'm watching others play it. When I'm not watching others play, I'm playing the game. That is too much Sims for my brain to handle and to fix that, I drop the game like a hot potato for months on in.

For those who are old enough. Remember back in 2004, where we would just play The Sims for hours on in and then go to bed? We would play the game and wouldn't feel the need to share pictures or videos with people online. We didn't look on Ask Jeeves, Yahoo Search, or Google to find Let's Plays or Sims reactions videos. Some of us were active in the BBS forum, reading stories and downloading CC, but only for a few hours a day. Sharing gameplay was more restricted back then and it was fine because we still could have fun just playing the game.

Anyway, my advice is to get back to basics. Pull away from sharing or even looking at Sims Social Media. No YouTube, no Simblr, no reading gameplay threads, no sharing pictures of your cute Nooboos online, no Discord notifications. Just play the game and then go to bed.

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TL;DR: To prevent boredom or burnout, go old school and play the game without the internet. Ignore anything Sims related on Social Media. Stop sharing your gameplay online.

Thanks for sharing. you certainly make some good points!

I don’t know how you all feel about this, but I am of the opinion that because of today’s attention economy and rampant social media content we should seek to not just be consumers but also creators. This shifts our interactions with social media and its effects on us from doomscrolling, depression, lack of human connection to participents and creators of our own lives. We are the main character in our own lives instead of the passenger in someone else’s narrative. I have struggled with social media addiction and low self esteem due to it myself. But I notice when I start to create I feel happier. I still keep ties with my family and friends in real life but I also spend time on what matters to me which is interacting with people who share my interests like all of you. Also I enjoy reading your stories and gaming strategies. But I pace myself and consume a little per day while also creating my own hoods and living a virtual life with my sims .

Sorry for being so philosophal my mother was a philospher at birth. It runs in my blood. 🩸😂 okay then, back to my Alderdale babies

I'm more of a builder than an actual player of Sims. Most of my building has to do with re-creating the world of a particular TV show, movie, or a location I've been to IRL, maybe set back into an earlier era. I have a TON of CC, much of it having to do with capturing earlier periods of history. It's when I get bored with constructing Sims and lots that I might sit and play a household for a little while, until I think of something else to make.

I like the idea of home businesses, but I don't have OFB, so I will create "faux businesses". By placing the Simlogical auto-teleport shrub, I can control what time the customers are allowed in. It's not quite as organic-feeling as an actual OFB business might be, as the public will all show up at once, in whatever number I designate. But it makes things interesting, and as long as there's something to actually attract their attention - food is always a good bet - they'll come in and interact as Sims normally do. The Simlogical Pay Buffet is a bit dull in terms of meal choices, but it does provide some income for the household. Having a stage area where Sims can perform music is also a good option, as long as it's not actually on a stage, as the audience will have to climb up to view the action (it's considered by the game to be a separate room ). The only real problem with this setup is that the Teleport Shrub also specifies a "closing hour", which really just means no additional customers will be permitted entry after that. But... the Sims who are already there will tend to stay way past this time, ignoring their motive needs, and yes, you will have to kick many customers out who've "overdone it" and fallen asleep in their plate of gelatin. But that's kind of like real life, no? For this setup it helps to have a Sim living on the lot who's a neat freak and seems to enjoy cleaning up after others. And if one of the family is a good cook, they can prepare and serve interesting dishes for the customers to eat, in between their plates of boring buffet fare. It's a messy life, and your home family will go to bed totally exhausted every day, but... I rather enjoy watching Sims "party" into the wee hours... kind of like being in Paris. And if you have one of those alcohol-related objects that people have come up with, things can get a lot more interesting.

Using Lamare's 50 Lifetime wants changed the game and made it interesting. I don't use all 50, just the ones I think are interesting.

Also thinking like the sims, helped me a lot. I use to use the same 6 careers for my sims, even though the game has more than 6 careers. Just because I am not interested in Oceanography doesn't mean I should deny my sim a career in that field, which is what I have been doing. I am not a animal person in real life, so I never allowed my Sims to have pets. Now, with this gameplay I am a little more opened and allowed two families to have pets (actually one family already had pets). The pets have been very, very challenging for me; so I might go back to banning pets after I finish this gameplay (I don't know). But, on the other hand, the interactions are cute and the relationships between them and the owners have made the game interesting.