I'm not sure if this is really a bug, but since I downloaded v .04 it happens. When I drop an office peep to the desk, he/she begins to work for career, but then just in the middle of the action, changes his/her mind and suddenly begins to do some other (random) action. It always happens when they stand at the corner of the desk, and no failure warning occurs; they just suddenly forget they're working and leave.

Hm...I would test that, but currently my office worker is taking care of her baby.....sorry As soon as the baby is a kid I will try it and comment as well.

You might check the router, to make sure that it's OK first. But that also happens when a peep gets stuck temporarily and can't complete a task. It's a minor issue that we're keeping an eye on.

It's done that long before the update. They're just lazy!

It's not a problem for me. My rocket scientist just worked on her career and there were no problems. I am also using .04.

Yes, the reuter is working properly. And it's not just for one family, it happens in four different families. I think it's more frequent when both parents work in the office; maybe the office is too small for two

Anyway, it's not much disturbing actually; I didn't see it happen if they start the action by themselves, it always happens when I initiate. I just thought I should report it.

Oh, you didn't mention before that there were two office workers. That makes a difference, especially when there are kids (who often use the computers). When a peep can't get to a computer, because they are both in use, it will often cause them to abandon what they're doing.

Mine abandon their work no matter what their job is! I swear, no matter how I try to praise them and get them to have a good work ethic, they're never interested in working until they can no longer have children. Until then it's a constant fight with them. And they're always whining about money being tight or not enough variety in food.

so that's the reason. Funny, same happens when me and hubby try to use our study room at the same time.

And Jami, that's true, but I'm a bit emberrassed to complain, since I'm also playing a game right now instead of working in the office

It just annoys me, Mis, because they send e-mails complaining about money being tight, but don't try to earn any money!

It's very odd, Jami, that you are the only one having those issues with getting your peeps to work. Are you saying that they never work, and never earn money?

I'm not sure whether it's a mistake or a feature, but it doesn't make sense to me:

They only work when I force them to repeatedly - even when I praise them/give them treats for working. Otherwise they're always walking away and doing other things, goofing off, and telling me "No" when I try to make them work. The only time they show interest in working is when they're in their 50s or when they have six kids.

As stated by Vampress in this thread Day Traders have a fluctuating salary, just as the stock market fluctuates

Thanks, Xay! Now it does make sense.

Jami, is this the only family that you have, or are you using multiple player slots? If you have more than one family, are they all like that?

I'm using all five and yes, they're all like that. Only the ones over 50 or whom have six kids will stay at their jobs more then two seconds.

They're also like this for home repairs. I have to constantly stay on top of them when doing walls and floors otherwise they will walk off to "clean kitchen counter" "warm feet" etc.

They will do that for the house repairs - that's working as intended. It is odd that your parents won't work. Would you mind keeping a log of their activities for about 15 minutes or so, and we can examine it to see what they're doing. Also, it would be helpful to see what their job is and their current career level.

Jobs vary - some are tech people, video game programmers, dress makers, candle makers, ketchup bottlers. I've got some couples that both work in the office and some where one's in the workshop, another in the kitchen, or one's in the kitchen and another in the office.

Like right now, family one, Akur, who's 30 and beginning programed is "fixing the computers" while his wife Pennesse, 28, novice magazine editor, is in the hammock. I've been trying to get them to have a baby with no luck. And then I try to put them to work and she wants to go work out and he wants to dust!

Edit: Finally got them to breed. Put him to work. A second later he was off calling the birds!

Family two: Bluff, tech guy, put him to work, a second later he's walking off to put away some shirts. Put him to work again and he wants to go get a drink. Meanwhile wife Sandrette is working on her candles. For how long I don't know. I should note however that they have 5 kids, working on #6, and like I said when they get to a certain point in age or kids then they're interested in sticking to their jobs. Otherwise forget about it.

Oh, she just walked off to get a drink too. And Bluff's off to check his weight. Neither of them earned any money first.

Family 3: Logic, male, video game designer. Camden, female, art critic. She's actually working. *Gasp* He's dusting. Again though, they have five kids. That does seem to make a difference, and they always work more then they have six. (I've gone through a few families already.) Edit: After an unsuccessful attempt for baby #6 I put them back to work. He wanted to wander off to admire his tools. Since he's hungry I decided to make him make a meal instead.

It would really help if you could be more specific with your descriptions. I have never seen any peep abandon a task within 1 second.

Without being able to somehow record it I can't see how I can be more specific. All I know is I put them down, they go to work, then suddenly they'll get up and leave - or sometimes they'll have that puff of smoke first then leave. All I know is unless I force the issue they rarely stay to make money.

Family four both parents are in their 50s, so they actually stick to their jobs. In fact I've had to tear them away because both were weak and I was trying to make them eat.

Family five, also in their 50s, and had six kids, so they tend to work more. Though the wife, the ketchup bottler, doesn't stay in the kitchen as much as her husband, the dress maker, stays in the workshop.

I think that perhaps the problem here is recognizing the difference between this game and Virtual Villagers. This is a life simulation where the peeps are not programmed to slavishly stay at the research table racking up tech points. The scolding glove is also very useful for discouraging other activities.

There are some very useful strategies in this thread.

Jami, you can watch them start a task and count the seconds that they remain on the task. Write that down and either see what they do next, or move to the next person. Continue for each activity and person.

I personally have never had a problem with my people working. Just like when you are first training villagers, a few aborted attempts are normal. When I have a new peep, I put him/her down to work and IMMEDIATELY praise them twice. I watch to make sure they work. If they walk off, I'll drag them back and praise them twice again. In short order, they are willingly working on their own, with no problems.

They do wander off to do other things occasionally, but who doesn't? They *always* go back to work. This morning my 57 year old was a Master in his field, so was his wife, and I had 10k in my family bank.

It's not that I'm confusing it, it's that they refuse to make money. I can even close the game and come back later and find they still haven't gotten over $200, and then send me e-mails whining about money being tight. (Which is why I'd like to be able to e-mail them back!) And I'm serious when I say they'll wander off after one, maybe two seconds. No matter if I praise them, give them candy, etc. If they'd stay long enough to earn a little money I wouldn't be complaining. But they always want to go off to excercise or something rather then working.

The only other thing I can think of is to see if they dislike working. If so, use

Maybe they just don't like Jami.

Hi Jami! I've never had what I'd call a lazy peep. You just have to start them off right. I'll give you a few pointers you can try with your next new game or new generation:

1. First thing I do is get my adoptee to make herself/himself a meal and eat. If they're hungry or sick they can't concentrate on work.
2. After they eat I put them in the shower, as they're always 'not feeling fresh' at the beginning of a game.
3. Then if there's candy (not the bad candy...Lol!)and fruit in the store I buy it and start my peep working on their occupation. When they start working I give them a pat with the praise glove. If they try to walk away I just put them back to the chore. After they succeed in making some money..if they start to walk away I put them back to work and give them a piece of candy or fruit and a pat with the praise glove. After they succeed a second time I repeat the above (without using the praise glove..just give them the candy or fruit, as they run away from the praise glove if you use it too much.)

After you do the above you should never have trouble getting your peeps to work again. You may want to praise them (either with the glove, candy or fruit, or both) after coming back in the next day when she starts working just to reinforce their good work habit.

Good luck!

One more thing to check is your timing on the praising. Are you actually praising them when their activity message says "Working on Career" or praising them AFTER their focus changes to whatever other activity is going to happen? Remember their focus can change while they're at the end of one activity before they're actually walking to the new activity. That seems to be a big possibility since all 5 of the families are doing it.

If this is inadvertently happening, they are being rewarded for leaving work, so yes, they will keep it up because they've been trained to do so.

Maybe? Seems like it's the only explanation... (dunno )