The Sims Chronicles

Get ready for another fabulous Sims 2 blog spotlight! This time, I would like to introduce you to a fabulous blog named Simply Sims, and its creator Katie, who lives in Lutz, Florida. Simply Sims is a newer blog in The Sims 2 community. Katie started it in February of this year; but don't let its new-ness fool you! Simply Sims is well on its way to greatness. Katie decided to start her own blog after coming across another blog in the community. "Creating a blog would finally give me a way to share my stories with other people, and the Sim's unique option to take pictures created an opportunity to illustrate my stories in a realistic fashion," Katie told me. Katie had originally posted her stories on The Sims Resource, so when she started Simply Sims, she had a "hectic" time trying to transfer everything over, adding pictures, and just figuring out how to put it all together. The final result: Simply Sims! You would never believe that this is Katie's first blog. And Katie has a word of encouragement for those who may be thinking of starting their own very first blog: "...it is truly a fun and rewarding experience, and because of blogspot.com's easy setup system anyone can do it." If you are thinking of starting your own blog and would like to try Blogspot click here.

I asked Katie what Simply Sims is all about, and I loved her answer. "Simply Sims is simply about, well, Sims!" Katie posts stories about her sims, and has even expanded her blog to contain some interactive polls for her readers to participate in. Simply Sims features a narrative story about a sim named Julia Thatcher and her life. "[Julia] ran away from a rich family and must start a new life on her own," Katie says of her story. This life of her own includes marriage, children, romance, and every aspect life (and the Sims) has to offer, including attempted murder! The story will also continue on long after Julia Thatcher's death with the legacy she leaves behind. But this is no ordinary Legacy Challenge. The way Katie delivers the story makes you feel like you are reading a novel. And she makes sure the story is as interactive as possible by letting her readers vote on the outcome of major decisions, such as who will become the heir to the Thatcher Legacy. Simply Sims is very entertaining and rewarding, with something new around every corner!

Katie gets her inspiration for her stories from a couple of different sources. Number one is from her Sims themselves. "You know, those sims really do get themselves into some messes, and those situations prove to make the very best of stories!" Katie says. She also gets inspiration from other blogs and sim stories out there. And what does the future hold for Simply Sims? "I am hoping that Simply Sims will become much more than stories and polls," Katie says. "I think it would be great if it could be expanded to include quizzes, tips, a fan-based help line, maybe even movies!" And as for her stories: "I am hoping to add different families into the mix of stories on the blog to spice things up a bit." With all of these great ideas, Simply Sims is bound to be a hit!

If you haven't checked out Simply Sims, you really need to do so. There is so much to enjoy, and the creativity of Katie's work is truly inspirational. Ya know, there is one common theme I have found from all of these spotlights. And that is the gratitude that these creators have for their fans and readers. It is the comments and feedback that keep bloggers like Katie inspired to continue posting their stories. I want to leave you with a word from Katie, addressed to all of her loyal fans, and future loyal fans: "I may have a small fan base, but every one of them are dedicated readers and they are truly the reason why I keep posting. I always get so excited when I see that a new comment is left, and to know that other people can enjoy my writing is truly heartening. A big thanks and hug to them all!" Now, go visit Simply Sims and leave a comment to show your appreciation for Katie's hard work! 

All Hail Mt. Olympia is a rather new blog in the Sims 2 community. It's creator, Rose, decided to start her very own blog after being inspired by another blog in the community. She decided to tell the story of her sims' Legacy Challenge, and All Hail Mt. Olympia was born in January of 2006. "All Hail Mt. Olympia is just something fun that I did on vacation," Rose, a resident of Minnesota, told me. She says that the early days of Mt. Olympia were slightly boring; she was just waiting for people to come by and read her stories! Well Rose, you won't have that problem anymore! I'm going to let everyone know just how fabulous All Hail Mt. Olympia really is!

All Hail Mt. Olympia tells the story of the Elliott family. Rose is following the rules and guidelines for the Legacy Challenge, and so far she is doing very well! The family is already on generation 2, and generation 3 is not far to follow! The legacy founder, Alan Elliott, is one skill away from reaching his lifetime want, and his wife (whose name I will not mention..go see for yourself!) has almost reached her lifetime want of making 100,000 simoleans! Those are some pretty hefty wants, and Rose has almost achieved them so early on!

Another very interesting thing about All Hail Mt. Olympia is its Parade of Homes. Rose loves to design, build, and decorate homes for The Sims 2. She currently has 2 homes featured in this parade, and they are beautiful! One is an elegant mansion complete with a courtyard and gazebo for formal parties and gatherings. The other is a woodsy lodge perfect for those more mountainous, adventuring sims! With more homes to come, I'm sure you will love Rose's Parade of Homes.

I asked Rose where she gets her inspiration from for her stories and her homes. "I get my inspiration from other blogs and books," she tells me. Her vision for the future of All Hail Mt. Olympia is to have all Sims 2 blogs know about her site. Well Rose, this is definitely a good start! All Hail Mt. Olympia is a brand new blog and already it is showing much promise for the future. So, head on over and check it out! And don't forget to leave some encouraging words for Rose and her simmies!

Get ready to be blown away by the awesome blog, Sariana's Sims. This blog was created back in May of 2005 by a very talented Sims lover named Vicky (also known as Sarianastar or Sariana).Vicky has been a Sims fan since the beginning days of the Sims, even as far back as Sim City! When the Sims 2 first came out, she was excited to hear about The Legacy Challenge, and joined the yahoo group where she was amazed to find people posting stories about their sims. "First of all, I had no clue how to take decent in-game pictures. So my first ten generations of the Primogen Family were not blogged," says Vicky. She finally decided to capture the lives of her sims on film and post them for everyone to see when the University expansion pack was released. At that time she created a livejournal to tell her sims stories. "Livejournal was great, except it was too difficult for the reader to keep clear what they've read, where they should start reading, and so on," she says. And so she decided to start her own website to tell her stories. And Sarianastar's Legacy Families was born. Recently her site has undergone a makeover and has become the Sariana's Sims that you see today. (Click the banner above to go see it with your own eyes!)

Sariana's Sims features two legacy families and the stories of their adventures through 10 generations of fun and excitement. You can also find all of Vicky's custom content that she has created, most of which is Hello Kitty items at the moment, which of course are available for download. Vicky has also started the Asylum Challenge, which is coming soon and promises to be highly entertaining. She will also be posting her work in a friend's story and her participation in a Link Exchange with other Sims 2 bloggers. And what else is going on at Sariana's Sims? "I am currently learning how to make videos with the Sims. My first efforts of this can be found on the front page of the Primogen Legacy..." Vicky says. For a direct link to this video click here.

I also wanted to know where the inspiration for Vicky's stories and creations come from. Her answer: "I am inspired by so many Simmers out there...There are so many that inspire me to go beyond my comfort zone, and to not be afraid to take my Sims places that I'm sure many people wouldn't have thought Sims could go." She also gives a lot of credit to a yahoo group that she belongs to called Qosmicsims which is a group that discusses creative ideas and stories for the sims. And there is another source of inspiration for Vicky: her readers. "Those who read and comment on other people's stories, are what creates inspiration. That's what holds true for me. Knowing that there are people who enjoy what I write, what I create, it makes me want to strive to go further, and do more in my game play. So thank you to those who have inspired me, and made creating Sariana's Sims a worthwhile endeavor."

And what about Vicky's vision for the future of Sariana's Sims? "I envision my site to become a place where people can not only read about my Legacy Families, but to find unique content recolours, enjoy funny stories, Sims outtakes, and to find links to many wonderful sites and blogs out there." Well Vicky, I think you've done just that. Sariana's Sims is an extremely entertaining blog, a great place to find links to other great sites, it provides cute and wonderful custom content, and a lot of promise for the future. Go check it out and don't forget to leave your piece of inspiration for Vicky!

Welcome to the first installment of Taffy's Terrific Tales! In this section I will be highlighting some fantastic Sims 2 blogs, created by Sims players just like yourself! Each week I will put a new blog on display. So, here's the blog of the week:

For those of you who have never visited "A Moment in Time", what are you waiting for?! You are truly missing out. This blog was started almost one year ago by an avid Sims 2 fan named Ashleigh. She was a student at the University of Central Florida at the time and was inspired to create her very own Sims 2 blog from scratch after taking a beginner's course in XHTML. That's right, she built the website all by herself after only one semester's worth of instruction.

She started out with the Legacy Challenge and her family made it to generation 4 before the game got to be too buggy and she had to uninstall the entire game. She was unable to save her legacy family, but she was able to save her prize project. And what is her prize project, you ask? Well, it's not a challenge of any sort; other than the fact that it has definitely been a challenging project to create. Ashleigh is having her sims act out her favorite book! "I wanted to see the book come to life...it started as a project for my eyes only, but once my legacy challenge died and I had nothing else to post about, I decided to see if others would enjoy it as much as I do." The book is a novel by Philippa Gregory entitled "The Other Boleyn Girl." And according to Ashleigh, "...my readers absolutely love it, at least, they say they do!"

So, I went and checked out this "Boleyn Story" for myself. And I must say, I rather enjoyed it. So far she has about 7 installments posted on her site and the 8th "should be done any day now." The novel is about the famed court of King Henry VIII and how he defied anyone who stood in the way (including the Church of Rome) of his love for Lady Anne Boleyn. The story is told from the eyes of Anne's sister Mary, who was the King's mistress before Anne. The way Ashleigh captures her sims in action really adds to the whole effect of the story itself. She leaves out no details, even down to the very facial expressions of her sims. This is definitely a story worth reading; it almost makes me want to go buy the book! But I think I'll just follow along as Ashleigh acts it out for me! Ashleigh's also got other projects in mind, "I may try one of the new OfB challenges, but I'm still undecided." For now, she'll just keep working on the "Boleyn Story."

Go read it now so you won't have much back-reading to do! Acting out a novel is no small thing, and you don't want to get left behind! So, Ashleigh, keep up the great work!