Why Physical Media is Important
A couple of years ago, I packed all of my Sims 2 and Sims 3 discs, and all my Prima guides, into a plastic storage box, and the box went out into the garage. I was discouraged over both games and thought I was done with them. Plus Origin had just put out S2 Ultimate edition, so I was playing that and didn't really need the discs anyway. But then, last year (probably around the time I went to Michigan), Origin pulled their support and all of my saved games and game data just disappeared. I was pretty upset. I had been slowly working on a Build-A-City with the leftover O'Toole kids (from the Service Legacy RR, aka the Mushroom Kingdom) and was yet again rebuilding Eridanos. All of that was wiped out.
So, fast forward to now. I can still play S3 through Origin, but the game itself screwed me after I'd built up quite a long story and got invested in the characters, so I really don't want to play that anymore. And S4 is... okay. I only picked it up because Target had the base game and a bunch of the expansions for 50% off. It's fine, but has just not grabbed me. I missed S2, so so much. And my Eridanos characters and WTiS characters have never left me alone. Those are stories I want to tell. So I really wanted S2 back.
But it can't be had through Origin anymore, and I've not had good luck with pirated copies. I have all the discs! But over time Dino had piled all of his electronic stuff into the garage and the box with the discs was buried. Every time I went out to look for it, I couldn't find it. I actually found a copy of the base game in a thift store, never opened or played, and I bought it for 50 cents! I thought maybe I could go online and see about buying the rest of the packs and expansions, maybe getting them cheap since the game was old. But nope! They can be had, but they are NOT cheap. I got more and more fustrated and sad. My current life is pretty stressful and S2 has always been my escapism game of choice.
So last night, my wonderful husband risked life and limb, probably quite literally, to go through the area of the garage that we thought the box was in, and dig it out from under layers of electronics and old computer parts, for me. *LOVE* It was harrowing, but we did it! I was so happy to see all those discs, I just wanted to cry. And today, I have performed the Dance of a Thousand Discs, and reinstalled it all. And THAT is why physical media is important. If I did not have those discs, I would not be able to have my game back. I know that everything is digital downloads these days, and that really sucks, because digital copies can be taken away, deleted and lost so easily. You pay all kinds of money for a game, and it's like you're just renting it. But I own every one of those S2 discs, and as long as I can lay my hands on them, I can install them! Screw digital downloads.
Right now I'm in the process of slowly adding back defaults, mods and custom content. I found some old saves of the Mushroom Kingdom and Eridanos, and I've put them in. It doesn't look like I've lost much, if anything, of the Mushroom Kingdom, but Eridanos may be another story. Once I have all the CC back in, then I can evaluate. But here's hoping! And starting over with something, even if incomplete, is better than starting over with nothing!
So, fast forward to now. I can still play S3 through Origin, but the game itself screwed me after I'd built up quite a long story and got invested in the characters, so I really don't want to play that anymore. And S4 is... okay. I only picked it up because Target had the base game and a bunch of the expansions for 50% off. It's fine, but has just not grabbed me. I missed S2, so so much. And my Eridanos characters and WTiS characters have never left me alone. Those are stories I want to tell. So I really wanted S2 back.
But it can't be had through Origin anymore, and I've not had good luck with pirated copies. I have all the discs! But over time Dino had piled all of his electronic stuff into the garage and the box with the discs was buried. Every time I went out to look for it, I couldn't find it. I actually found a copy of the base game in a thift store, never opened or played, and I bought it for 50 cents! I thought maybe I could go online and see about buying the rest of the packs and expansions, maybe getting them cheap since the game was old. But nope! They can be had, but they are NOT cheap. I got more and more fustrated and sad. My current life is pretty stressful and S2 has always been my escapism game of choice.
So last night, my wonderful husband risked life and limb, probably quite literally, to go through the area of the garage that we thought the box was in, and dig it out from under layers of electronics and old computer parts, for me. *LOVE* It was harrowing, but we did it! I was so happy to see all those discs, I just wanted to cry. And today, I have performed the Dance of a Thousand Discs, and reinstalled it all. And THAT is why physical media is important. If I did not have those discs, I would not be able to have my game back. I know that everything is digital downloads these days, and that really sucks, because digital copies can be taken away, deleted and lost so easily. You pay all kinds of money for a game, and it's like you're just renting it. But I own every one of those S2 discs, and as long as I can lay my hands on them, I can install them! Screw digital downloads.
Right now I'm in the process of slowly adding back defaults, mods and custom content. I found some old saves of the Mushroom Kingdom and Eridanos, and I've put them in. It doesn't look like I've lost much, if anything, of the Mushroom Kingdom, but Eridanos may be another story. Once I have all the CC back in, then I can evaluate. But here's hoping! And starting over with something, even if incomplete, is better than starting over with nothing!