The Sims 2: Open for Business

The Sims 2: Open for Business, or OFB, is the third expansion pack for The Sims 2, released on March 2, 2006 in the US. It was released on March 3, 2006 in Europe. The Mac version was released on September 4, 2006. It allows Sims to run a home or community lot based business.

Running a business is the main theme of this expansion pack. Open for Business gives the player the ability to run a business, either on a playable Sim's home lot or a separate community lot that they own.

Open for Business also adds a new type of sub-neighborhood called the Shopping District, and includes a shopping district called Bluewater Village.

Open for Business introduces a new life state to the game: the Servo. Sims can build Servos on the robot creation bench. They can either be sold in a business or activated, where the Servo becomes a member of the Sim's family.

Description
''Now your Sims can create their own businesses. They can design their own clothing boutique, beauty salon, florist, high-end electronics shop, bustling restaurant chain, or virtually any other type of business. Hire your staff as the business grows and put talented Sims to work making toys, running the register, crafting floral bouquets, giving sales pitches, or manufacturing robots. But watch out for slacker employees and be prepared to fire them on the spot. From clever tinkerer to master craftsman, develop your Sim's talents to best suit your business needs. Will they build a thriving business empire or become eccentric entrepreneurs designing the next big thing?''

Overview
The main change to the core game introduced by Open for Business is a new neighborhood type — the Shopping District, the default one being named Bluewater Village. A number of Sims live there, such as a toymaking family, a woman who owns a home-based flower shop, a family that owns a furniture shop, a family bakery, and a rich tycoon who owns a nightclub and an electronics shop.

Community lots are more flexible now. Removing many of the gameplay restrictions that were present on them in the original game makes a large improvement. Players can now save the game while their Sims are visiting community lots, reloading their household will take the player to the community lot where the Sims are located. Buy mode and build mode are now accessible on owned community lots, so that the players can customize their business.

Like the other expansions, new wants and fears and interactions are added. They include a new lifetime want and several new interactions for children. Some changes to items from the base game are also present. For example, doors are now lockable. They can be set to allow only one Sim, the whole family, or just employees to enter.

There are new objects in this expansion. Furniture styles and the build-mode selection have been expanded. The biggest difference, however, is the addition of business-oriented items such as cash-registers, shelves, elevators, and crafting centers that Sims can use to create things to sell.

Features

 * Create Thriving Businesses:
 * Open up shops selling just about anything from clothing, electronics, and toys to flowers, baked goods, robots and more. Customize any business to your choosing by tailoring the store theme, layout and prices. Hire employees with high sales skills and employ independent managers to run things while your Sim is away. Watch as your business grows from a mom and pop shop into a booming empire.


 * Be The Boss:
 * Train employees, promote the best, and fire the rest. Cater to different customers including browsers and loyal shoppers. Dress your Sims in outrageous mascot outfits that resemble Knights, Ninjas, Gorillas, and more. Promote your best employees, but beware of slacker workers and be prepared to lay them off without hesitation!


 * Learn The Tricks Of The Trade:
 * Customer is king. Develop your Sims' sales skills and determine if your employees should use a hard sell or drop the price to close the deal. Win the Best-of-the-Best Award to establish your Sim's business rep. Will your Sim's business make more money selling low quality products at basement rates or luxurious goods at scale-tipping prices?


 * Turn Talents Into Cash:
 * Arrange flowers, make toys, and create robots to catch thieves at home or clean up the shop. Develop master-skilled Sims to make the most prized and expensive goods. Settle for an entry-level crafter and churn out pet bricks or faulty toy robots. Just bring home the bacon any way you can!


 * More Than 125 New Items:
 * Stock up on essentials for your Sims' business, including display cases, a beauty salon chair, a toy workbench, a floral station, cash registers, and more. Complete your shop atmosphere with awnings and elevators for easy store navigation, or matching uniforms for all employees. With all the new items, there will never be another dull day building a business!

Running businesses
The game's concept is running a business, hence the name "Open for Business." This is a brand new direction for The Sims 2 due to the fact it now includes elements of business simulation. Open for Business allows the player to control various aspects of running a business including picking which products to sell, crafting goods, hiring and firing employees, and restocking shelves. The game also rewards the player for meeting several predetermined goals. Also, a "Mystery Shopper" may visit the business and critique it.

If a Sim has a business on a community lot, and the player sends Sims from another household to visit it, the owner, manager (if any), and employees will appear. Employees with assigned tasks will do them. If there are fewer employees than tasks, then the owner and/or manager will eventually assign tasks autonomously.

Sims must earn talent badges to increase sales and productivity on workbenches (such as the Robot Crafting Station), and gain customer loyalty to have their business reach a higher rank and gain business perks.

Players can choose a mascot, customize a menu, and sell almost any object available in the game.

Around the house
Open for Business adds new functionality to a Sim's productivity around the house. Sims are able to craft new items, including toys, flower arranging and robots. Additional items include those aimed specifically at enhancing the business setting like an old-style cash register, beauty salon chairs and child-oriented toys. Also added is the servo, a household robot, which can perform basic tasks and function like a Sim in regards to social interactions. Some new items, called "Bots" in general, aim to increase productivity on a lower scale than servo's operation, usually performing one task, such as cleaning the floor, watering plants, bringing food or stunning burglars. Servos also appeared in the original game's expansion pack The Sims: Livin' Large as it's known in North America and Australia and The Sims: Livin' It Up as it is known in Europe.

Servos
A robot that Sims can build if they have a gold robotics badge. Servos can be activated as either a female or male, then become playable Sims for the player to control. A servo will copy the traits, aspiration and the turn-on/offs of the Sim that activates it, and usually has maximized skills. Servos have only four needs; power, fun, social, and environment. Power can be restored by recharging during the day (solar based recharging), or sleeping in a bed if the sun isn't out. A program servos perform is to do chores automatically, and will clean, cook, or repair for the normal Sims around the house. Being robotic, servos do not age, so will not die from age. If a servo's needs are neglected from too much, it will end up destroying itself.

Architecture
Open for Business adds more functionality to build mode. New elevators both open a new possibility for public interactions and create a risk for fatality by plummeting. Domed, conical and octagonal roofs in different sizes are now available. Players may also add awnings.

Talent Badges
Open for Business adds a new "talent badge" system. A Sim must repeatedly perform an action to raise that badge's level. The talent badges include:
 * Sales: The ability to convince a customer to buy an item. A successful sale will raise the sales bar, which, when full, will cause the customer to buy the item. The sales can be accepted or rejected depending on customer loyalty, mood, and the badge level of the salesman or saleswoman. The different actions include the basic sale, the cheap offer, the "hard sale", and the dazzle. The higher level sales have better pay offs, but more serious consequences. A salesperson can also select a customer that looks confused, and use the "Sales... May I Help You?" command. This badge is raised by using a sale interaction.
 * Register: The register badge affects how quickly an employee can ring up a customer. With this badge the process will take less time, and reduce the chance that customer loyalty will be lost by long wait times.
 * Restocking: The restocking badge affects how quickly an employee can restock an item after it has been purchased. This is raised by restocking items.
 * Cosmetology: The cosmetology badge increases the chance that an employee in a barber shop will successfully perform a makeover. Bad makeovers reduce customer loyalty.
 * Flower Arranging: This badge allows a Sim to make a bouquet of flowers. The flowers can then be sold, placed on sale, given as gifts, or used to improve the room score. A higher level badge increases the types of flowers that can be arranged.
 * Robotics: This badge allows a Sim to make robot toys and devices. The robots can then be sold, placed on sale, given as gifts, or used for fun and services. A higher level badge increases the types of robots that can be built.
 * Toy Making: This badge allows a Sim to create toys. The toys can then be sold, placed on sale, given as gifts, or used for fun by children. A higher level badge increases the types of toys that can be built.

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