WOW - Am beyond words right now.. Thank you dose not cover it.
You've revolutionised my game again.

After reading through twice, let me say how impressed I am with the usefulness of this creation. Just to be certain, am I correct in thinking that these items will be used autonomously by visitors to a community lot or home?

Thank you for the encouragement, Diovanlestat and sandya.
Yes these items will be used autonomously by selectable Sims and visitors, either at home or on a community or business lot. Sims are attracted to listen or to speak by their need for fun. If you want to ensure that they are not distracted by other fun objects, simply eliminate these distractions - but the components in this set are configured to be quite attractive to Sims.

In the case of speech makers, they must have a minimum of three skill points in the subject they will be teaching. At home, visitors must also have a minimum of three Charisma points to teach autonomously, but that requirement is waived for witches and for Sims on community or business lots. The Charisma requirement is enforced at home to prevent visitors from boring the locals.

It is rare that there will not be a Sim at a community or business lot who does not meet the minimum skill requirements. What I really enjoy is that there are times when a Sim is already speaking at the Reading Desk or Lectern when my own Sim arrives at the lot. It is also fun to see a Sim volunteering to teach at a business lot, knowing that the money they make will go directly to the business owner rather than the Sim doing the work - just like real life!

Thanks for the additional information. I really can't wait to try this at the Community Outreach Kiosk run by Charlie Nova and the Community Meeting Center with no owner as yet. These are perfect venues for speakers. Tester-Cox Agency with its adjacent Art Gallery will have one as well if I can figure out how to fit it in.

Wonderful, wonderful! I would place these in my Uni hoods so students and townies can benefit from free lectures by faculty, grad students, visiting scholars and locals! This would also be great in club lots, hobby lots, interest themed community lots, bookstores, libraries, cafes, so many possibilities! LOVE IT.

I am happy that you have picked up some inspiration from this project, sandya. If you are placing the Reading Desk on a stage you will need an Extension Speaker to relay the message to the audience below.

Thank you for the encouragement, Cat. Yes, I do think this project would work well in a university environment. Not only can the books build up the skills required but also the appropriate enthusiasms and interests that would typically go with a particular academic path. I tended to associate each combination of skill, interest and enthusiasm with specific EA careers.

Wow, now I can make a real Classroom like community lot! Sweetness!! :3 Thank you so much for such a creative item [:

You're welcome, Frizzy Zombie.

This is brilliant! Can't believe how wonderfully clever all of the creators are for this game - it just keeps getting better (and I didn't think that was possible ) Thank you so much for all your hard work and for sharing with us all. A truly amazing creation.

Thank you Simgirlsam.

BUGFIX Jan. 30th, 2016: Fixed Reading Desk Tapestry Slot, Guidebook & Science Journal, & Adjusted Quantity per Shelf

1) The Frontal Tapestry slot in the Reading Desk was originally positioned slightly too high so that the tapestry projected through the desk surface. This release slightly lowers the slot.

2) In some circumstances the Guidebook or the Science Journal could override the presence of the Opportunity Ticket in the catalogue. If you downloaded the update earlier on Jan. 30th please do so again.

3) For the purpose of running a bookshop, all the the texts in this set can now be placed at the highest possible density on OFB shelving.

Thank You

You're welcome.

The Sims 2 Opportunity Pack Reading Desk & Accessories

UPGRADE March 20, 2016: Introducing "Invite" and "Auto-Invite" of Teachers, with Other Enhancements

1) On community lots, a qualified Sim will be invited automatically to teach at these skill building books and sculptures if a visiting Sim has not already done so after 15 game minutes.

2) On residential lots, a qualified teacher may be invited by menu option, either one time or continually.

3) The books now satisfy the social as well the fun motive.

4) A jump bug that occurred after about one game hour of teaching has now been resolved.

5) If an Extension Speaker is used to relay the talk from a raised stage to the audience, Sims will no longer autonomously mob the lecturer at the skilled building book instead of sitting in the auditorium. The updated version of the speaker should be used with this update.

6) The catalogue prices of the set have been increased slightly so that they are separated from the Opportunity Pack Lectern & Accessories price group.

UPGRADE April 4, 2016: Introducing Teacher "Dismiss" and Other Improvements

The latest upgrade of the Extension Speaker should be used with this update.

1) The set is now compatible with all game configurations, including those involving Apartment Life.

2) The "Dismiss" menu option will relieve the current Sim of their teaching duties.

4) The functional texts now satisfy the "Read To" and "Be Read To" wants.

5) "Auto-Invite" is now defaults to being enabled for University dorms.

6) An intermittent bug in stipend payment has been fixed.

Thank you for this! I won't lie... after reading this (and the others) about five times each, I'm still a little confused (LOL), but I am determined and want my elders to pass on their knowledge. This is a very cool project that I am happy to have access to, so thank you for keeping it updated and for all the hard work putting it together!

You're welcome, Goldenbtrfly. If you are having trouble understanding all the verbiage, it is likely that my obsession with details is getting in the way of understanding. I suspect that my strategy to prevent having more than one object active on a particular tile is unnecessarily obtuse (the coding I used to implement this has now become almost incomprehensible to me! )

You may or may not find that Lady Ravendancer's Magical Arcana is a little easier to digest. In any case, I hope that once you try these objects in the game their function will become clear.

UPGRADE April 10, 2016: Introducing Immediate Mode for Utility Menu Options

1) Due to the usage of a new algorithm, the "Auto-Invite", "Invite", "Replace" and "Dismiss" menu options are now accessible immediately, rather then being placed in a Sim's action queue.

2) To make delayed functions more obvious, these same menu options are now disabled until pending actions such as recruiting a new teacher are completed.

3) Interest increase rates are boosted to be equivalent to the FreeTime Enthusiasm increase rates.

4) The Magic Skill increase rate for the Mystic Icon is raised to be equivalent to the EA Apartment Life Grimoire.

Finally. My Universities' lecture halls can finally have ... well ... lecturers. I'm not quite sure I can invite professors yet, but at least I'll have student lecturers. At least the rooms will no longer be decorative.

Only ... I'm getting really confused. So many lecterns, opportunity packs and opportunities! I'm getting confused as to what does what. I already have the lectern (works great in my churches, by the way), and am not sure how the reading desk all fits into this. I do hope I figure this out. At least I'll have fun trying!

The Opportunity projects are rooted in the idea of giving degree credited lectures in an Open University style system that does require enrollment but may or may not be located in a University neighbourhood - and can even take place at home. Young Adults, Adults and Elders may enroll and earn full degrees by actually attending lectures that the Sims take part in on the screen. I call these the Opportunity Pack Core Files, and they have yet to be released. I have all the basic functions working properly, including progressing through the semesters and graduating with a degree. The project is very complex and I still needed to fill in some of the support or nice-to-have functions such as allowing for real time grade school attendance also.

All the Opportunity Pack objects that I have released are derivative of the Core Files. I intentionally did not program actual professors to teach these or the Ravendancer subjects so as not to be unnecessarily confusing, but it should be possible to invite professors over and let them teach courses that they are qualified for. Of course they would not be teaching towards degree credits.

This Reading Desk as well as the Ravendancer Didactic Desk and Reading Stand are all functionally identical - they are simply there to support a book, microphone or other object that can be used to deliver a skill building speech or lecture. The Lectern does differ in that it has extra shelves to support decorative books, but that doesn't affect the essential function of being a place to put a speech making object.

Thank you for your support and encouragement, gazania, and please don't hesitate if you have any further questions.

UPGRADE May 12, 2016: Speaking from a Table, Desk, or on the Floor

1) With this enhancement, if an open book or sculpture is placed on a table or desk with a chair in front of it, the speaker will sit on the chair to lead the session. If there are empty chairs at the table, listeners will gather to sit in them. This option can provide the look of a traditional classroom or a seminar environment if desired.

2) If an open book or sculpture is placed on a small object such as another book or paper that is itself on the ground, the speaker and listeners will sit on the ground beside it.

3) After observing Sims sitting on the far side of large lots to listen to speeches, I have now introduced some limits. Listeners will sit within 10 tiles of an open book or functional sculpture when indoors and within 8 tiles outdoors.

4) The speech icons expressed by teachers are now a little more varied.

5) As much as practical, the Interest and Magic Skill development for teaching have been made equivalent to those for listening.

UPGRADE May 18, 2016: "Ordinary" Sims More Likely to Speak

1) With this improvement, playable Sims and Townies are more likely to be invited to speak than NPCs. Certain NPCs such as the Apartment Life NPC witches, the Nightlife Grand Vampires and the Seasons Ideal PlantSim, are completely omitted from the invitation list. These exotic Sims are instead reserved for the Ravendancer set.

2) Teachers who have been Dismissed or Replaced are no longer allowed to autonomously return to the book or sculpture and resume teaching.

3) Instead of referring to all session leaders as "Teachers", other nomenclature such as "Forecaster", "Orator" or "Speaker" is used where more appropriate.

UPGRADE May 25, 2016: Coffee Table Support

1) With this update, if an open book or sculpture is placed on a coffee table, the speaker will sit on a chair or sofa to speak, rather than stand. If no seat is available, the speaker will sit on the floor.

1) A surplus speaker will no longer spontaneously appear if the first one is not quick enough to begin speaking.

2) Non-invited NPC speakers who autonomously begin speaking will not be deleted when they finish.