The Sims™ 2: Open for Business expansion & Official Trailer

The Sims™ 2: Open for Business is the third expansion pack for The Sims™ 2, released on March 3, 2006, which allows Sims to run a home or community lot based business. I think it is the most challenging ep out of all Sims™ 2 expansion pack and good fun.

Your Sims Get Down To Business

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?

OFB (short for Open for Business) brings a new neighborhood the Shopping District called Bluewater Village which is also the name of a British shopping center.

Major additions are businesses and talent badges. Also now we can build elevators in homes and community lots. New business-oriented things like cash-registers, shelves, elevators, and crafting centers that Sims can use to create things to sell.

New npc’s: reporters & barbers.

Also is the addition of the Servo, a household robot, which can perform basic tasks and function like a Sim. Servos also appeared in the original game’s expansion pack The Sims: Livin’ Large.

New career: shop employee

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. 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 salesman 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 before it has been purchased. This is raised by restocking items.

• Salon: The salon badge increases the chance that an employee in a barber shop will successfully cut hair. Bad haircuts reduce customer loyalty.

• Flower Arranging: It allows a Sim to make a bouquet of flowers. The flowers are then sold, given as gifts, or used to improve the room score. A higher level badge increases the types of flowers that can be arranged.

• Robotics: It allows a Sim to make robot toys and devices. The robots are then sold, given as gifts, or used for fun and services. A higher level badge increases the types of robots that can be built.

• Toy Making: It allows a Sim to create toys. The toys are then sold, given as gifts, or used for fun by children. A higher level badge increases the types of that can be built.

Check out this mod to gain skills faster….

With OFB it is all about getting good ratings to get a successful business and get good critiques…

The cash register is one of the talent badges I would work on first because sims customers get really aggravated when your cashier takes forever to charge an item and often leave the shop angry which affects your business ratings.

If you have University, customers will often start pillow fights in the store which can also affect your business ratings.

The Sims 2 Open for Business: Prima Official eGuide