I hope I'm not out of place starting this thread, but after playing this game from the minute it was launched, reading reviews & many many threads, I thought I'd put across a theory on why it's caused a few players to give it up way too early & be disappointed, while I read in amazement as I'm loving every minute of the game.

The game is actually much more complex than it appears. The peeps are all individual, much more individual than the villagers. So, due to this, they require much more training. They will walk around doing all sorts of things you don't want them to do if you just let them. You need to praise the things you want them to do repeatedly & discourage things, good or bad, that you don't want them to do. Some of the peeps are more determined to do what they want to do, than what you want them to do, so they require even more time to train. That's part of the fun & I think one of the intentions behind the game, otherwise it would be boring with nothing to do.

Playing for a 1 hour trial really does let this game down, as you cannot ever hope to achieve this in a small time frame.

I know there are a few genuine issues some of you are having, most of which have been addressed with updates, but your families will start to function as you want them to after a day or two of training. It's not going to happen in one or two hours, so try not to get frustrated if they won't do what you want them to do shortly after starting a new family. This is one area I really wish for a slow speed, as you do spend time training the family member for them to go to college or pass over. I'm sure that with time, and patience, you can have a happy fully functioning family that you want. I've tested a few methods, and the above is what I have discovered as the best to get the most of your family. Playing five families all at one time might be too much at the start. Maybe start with one or two families and put the effort into training them, and start to see they do perform many tasks you want them to.

As has been mentioned, a lot of what was being asked for before the release of the game, day/night, parents, family trees etc has been included in the game. The villagers were almost all little robots with similar minds, and with the tick of a box in their details, they mostly performed their required task over & over, with little to no effort from the gamer player. Family members have to do multiple tasks and it's up to us to let them know which ones we want them to do.

I hope that some of the people who are disappointed, find something here helpful to make their VF game more enjoyable. And I would like to add, I'm not biased, I actually find the VV series a little boring after I've finished the puzzles. VF continues to hold my interest, as when a new generation starts, so does the training which requires me to put the effort into the game again, which I find fun.

I expect some of you to totally disagree, that's okay, as I know it's not perfect, and it's not everyones cup of tea.

I just hope that people who have purchased the game & given it away may give it another shot and enjoy it as much as many of us here are.

I see many threads on different ways to train different families, and they are great ideas, so perhaps reading some of those threads will help make your game more enjoyable too.

Bren, great post!

I totally agree with you that it is a wonderful game with so many variables that make it different for each of us. I think I said in another post that people have given up too early and I was having a really hard time understand why there were issues with training. I am right there with you on that one! I truly love it and all the tweaks have added even more interactions that are great - I find new things all the time and love to try different actions.

I understand the day/night desire, I just wish the work/non-work hours were able to be user specified or trained through interaction. There can still be day/night with that dynamic. That would make it the most absolutely perfect casual game in my eyes.

Thanks SoulSmilen.

Yes, the day/night function is one area that the game player needs to work out what works best with them. It is probably very difficult for the programmers of the game to allow us to set a specific time for our families, but the best solution I've had to date, and has been mentioned on various threads, is a day & a night family. I leave the night family alone after checking if anyone is sick during the day, and leave the day family alone at night. I find I check the family, change over to the one I'm going to play (day family during the day and visa versa, then exit the game and reopen the game). This is working out wonderfully for me.

It's actually one issue I forgot to mention, so thanks for your post.

I assume a lot of people do download their games at night, so they immediately start playing when the game is at slower speed, and the peeps don't want to do all these tasks you want them to do. Hopefully they will find the reverse time option if they download at night to see how eventful the peeps really are.

I usually switch my families to day mode for 3 hours in the evening make them sleep for a short while they refresh quicker then before i go to sleep i switch them back to day mode they seem fine with it and if they sleep during my imposed day mode they quickly change from exhausted to tired to elated. Im not sure if it affects them at all but it makes them happily eat work and play after 20 minutes or so when i switch back to night mode i just put them all to bed. Has anyone else tried anything similar? Causes less eye strain too.

I keep them on the same schedule as me. Before I go to work I make sure the fridge is stocked and they are fed to the max. When I come home, I check on them, feed them, take care of whatever needs to be fixed, then put them in the background while I go about my normal evening stuff, checking on them now and again. Has worked for me so far this way.

you know bren, you have said in this post everything I've been thinking everytime I read about someone giving up. The best advice I could give anyone for this game is simple, treat them like children! lol I'm spending everyday of my life right now babysitting my niece who just came from a very bad babysitter who gave NO discipline, and I find this game is a lot less frustrating than 'training' my niece everyday lol.

I truly hope some read this and instead of give up, take your advice, because it really is a great game in the end.

I have been underwhelmed in some areas of the game, but never enough to give up on it...I still enjoy it much like I enjoyed an ant farm...observing the peeps...

I have had NO issues with the training at all. In fact that's the easiest aspect of the game. I praise a lot and they are 'eager to please' -- my issues with it are of a different nature...but an underwhelming LDW game is still better that most games out there...I'm still a huge fan.

I do the same as Jo take care of their needs in the morning and again at night. During the day they are free to run about their world...;)

What I find disapointing is that once you get all the repairs done and collecting the only thing left to do is sit there and click on them with the gloves. All of the puzzles can be solved with the first generation. That leaves future generations with nothing to do except work, collect some extra items to sell online and try to make babies. There is no challenge after the first generation. It doesn't even matter whether or not your family makes it to the highest in career because the next generation starts over at level one. Saving up money to buy things from the store would be worth it but most of the stuff really doesn't affect your family at all. Sure they enjoy the patio but the enjoy the barbucue too but there is no difference or no extra actions from buying them.

I would like to see different and more difficult puzzles with each generation. I would also like to see the ability for the children to inherit some of the skills from their parents if they'd like to go into the same career. They might have the choice to start a new career. Make some of the puzzles and objects only available for certain careers. For instance, make the barbacue available only to kitchen careers and as their level goes up make the barbacue more valuable. Have the person be able to cook food and store it in the fridge. As you get better and better have the food be more filling. By the time you make enough money to get the kitchen upgrade there isn't anything left to do.

Don't get me wrong I love this game but after playing it for almost a month it will sit in my computer unopened because even though the game seems endless it really is not. The boring factor comes up pretty fast.

This is very true, and needs to be worked on in future incarnations of this game (I assume there will be).

Villagers lasted for tens of generations, and still there were things to do. It was a struggle to finish within one generation, and I for one never have.

Families has potential, the cuteness factor is really good! But the game play is extremely limited after a certain point...there are ways to make it entertaining (I've been modding like crazy, and making fanfiction/art).

However, most of the things I've been doing to amuse myself with the game are not contained in the game itself - something I Never had to do with Villagers, the game play amused me enough by itself.

The upgrades to the 3 work areas cost $60,000, so that will take some time to earn. They increase their potential & how fast they progress through their careers.

The other items, such as treadmills, pools etc all add activities they can do, so they are off doing other things.

When a new generation starts, you have to wait for a potential marriage & then try for kids all over again.

I understand where you are coming from, but I find the replay factor higher in VF than VV who more or less looked after themselves once food was set up. You can even set them up to produce kids for you so the game could be closed for weeks or longer and keep going. If you close VF up for longer than a week, it's going to stop.

Wouldn't want to turn this into an "us against them" (those who think the game is PERFECT as is and those of us who think it needs improvement) -- I don't think the game sucks, but I'm a little more on the side of 'it lacks something' -- I agree with Suzi -- once one generation has passed, there really isn't anything too exciting to look forward to. The upgrades don't cost $60K @ $15K each it's $45K - I got them all in Gen2 and now it's just an ant farm.

I have a few upgrades to buy (pinball and Treadmill) but as I've read on the threads they don't affect the actual game play that much...it's simply a decoration.

It's a great game, I give it a healthy B -- but I think a lot of us see greater potential for future incarnations, hoping there is VF2.

Love, hugs and kisses

It's not an us and them, I just replied with the options that keep the game more interesting to me.

The level 2 upgrades cost $5,000 x 3 = $15,000, then $15,000 x 3 = $45,000 totalling $60,000. You must have had high paid earners by gen 2, as I've only been able to upgrade level 2 ($5,000 each) in 2 career rooms. I haven't been that lucky.

I said earlier, I understand where you're coming from, I just find it more entertaining to me. I don't think it's perfect either. I'd like to play at night (their night) during the day, but it seems they get too exhausted by doing this. That is a bit of a downside, but I guess it comes with the territory of having day & night. I'd also like to see them move faster when they reach 55. And I'd like kids to stick around longer than 18, so there are things I'd like to see that I put in the suggestions thread.

If you buy the treadmill (don't know about pinball yet as I'm saving my cash ) and praise them, they get on there and run really fast. It's quite funny. They do use all the options you buy, feed the birds, fish, relax on the hammock so they are worth buying if you haven't tried them out. It gives them more leisure activities and adds more excitement to them walking around.

I haven't seen how to feed the birds or fish. How do you do that?

I totally agree with Bren. I am a HUGE LDW fan and own all the games vv1, vv2, vv3, FT, PT (my fav) and VF. I like to cruise the the forum to see how others play and experience the games and the thing that make me laugh the most is people who are looking for cheats so soon after the game is released. These games are not meant to be quick plays and I think if people had to wait a little longer and try to find out how to solve the puzzles, rather than get the cheats they may find the games more enjoyable.. I have a very stressful job and I enjoy some of the little quirks that these games present especially after I play them for a while. While solving the puzzles and collecting are a fun way to keep you engaged in the game; as Bren stated the peeps will not do everything you want them to do. My husband plays as well and used to get very frustrated when the peeps did not want to just work, and as I explained to him, how would he he feel if his boss only wanted hime to work and not have down time. So my advice to everyone is these are virtual peeps try and get to know and enjoy them. On another note, I would like there to be more options of upgrades to work for and the ability to have more than 6 kids per generation. Just sharing my thoughts

Boy, your store most have all the good stuff come around in the first generation if you can get everything done the first time around. I'm about half through the second generation in one of my families, and I'm still waiting for that darned tape!

Guess I never thought about it but yes, most of my repair stuff does come along in the first generation.

I found the game a bit (a lot) slow, for my tastes, so I just started another family and then another. With 3 families, I find that I spend as much time as I want, or don't want, with them, and don't get frustrated as easily. I do wish, however, that the messages sent to the player (me) were more varied. Oh, and the big one for me? People who are 50 years old do NOT walk slower than people who are 40! LOL I KNOW, well, almost. Will be 50 later this year. Slow them down at 60 and let them live a while longer.

Hmmm....lots of fodder for thought here. So - to add my own, here goes. I agree about the bordedom issue. I felt that way at first. Then, I realized that I had to learn how to train my family in the most effective manner. I had been praising some good behaviours that became a real nusuiance later on. How many times does someone need to dry their hair???? ha ha ha

I am still puzzled at how my peeps will find their career. How does this become set? My oldest child just went off to college - with no input from me. Believe me, I am sooo glad. I totally believe in college...(can you tell I'm a MOM?).

I have also found that my peeps second child is really quite good at school work. She seemed so NOT into it, maybe the scolding and rewarding (candy & fruit included) worked.

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE WHAT LIES OUTSIDE OF THE GATED YARD. LDW, I feel disloyal to even suggest it. I cannot fathom how much work went into designing interactive games. Boggles my mind, which is why I love to BUY your hard work & talent...

Ideas for the next versions (please don't get a headache for my even suggesting it...)

1: Could the parents visit the kids at college, orperhaps take them on an outing - musuem, park, etc. Make it cost plenty so the rewards are there.

2: Loved Plant Tycoon. I would like to see a garden shed where a florist/horiculturist could plant some flowers around the yard. Perhaps one of the peeps could go to college and learn how to come home and plant organically - which would lead into an organic Farmer's Market career. Naturally, it wouldn't be as difficult as Plant Tycoon, just the same type of challenges the peeps have now.

I am truly enjoying this game. I was really tired of the others and this one came along! I am so glad I played through the slow part of the game to get to where I am now - still in my 1st generation, mind you...but I am enjoying all of it.

Thanks LDW. May your minds stay fresh & full of "magic".

They go get bread from the side of the kitchen to feed the fish & birds. If you've only just bought them, the kids may not do it just yet, but they will. If you praise them too many times, they will feed them a lot!

They call the birds too, and bother the fish, so there's quite a few extra activities with the fish & birds. They are so cute when they call the birds.