First off, let me assure everyone that I love LDW games and have been playing them since VV1 was released, back in 2006 I think. I'm not trying to pick on anyone or cause distress to anyone that thinks the game is perfect the way it is. I'm hoping it's just that I'm missing something.

Right around Mother's Day I discovered LDW had released VF2. I was very excited as the gaming world releases so few of the type of game I am interested in and I had been bored for quite a long time. My son bought the game for me as a gift. I started playing that day. But it didn't take me long to realize that VF2 wasn't going to fill my desire to play a game. You might think I should know that since I played VF1, but either I had forgotten, or I was a lot more tolerant in those days!

After just 1 day of playing all I was required to do was ... well, not much. They pretty much do everything on their own. So after a few days of diligent playing I thought I would try an experiment. I did this with 5 families at a time so I could see if there were differences.

The first morning I set everyone up so it was all perfect for them making sure they had full stomachs, no one was sick, put the parents to work, etc. Then I didn't check on them again until 12 hours later, before I went to bed. Some of the family members were sick, so I gave them meds, fed them, stocked the fridge, and put them all to bed (the ones that would go, anyway).

The next morning I did the same thing: fed them, medicated them, put them back to work. Seeing as how they didn't require my assistance in a 12 hour period I didn't return to the game until the next day, 24 hours later. No big deal. They didn't seem to miss me.

Most of my families were getting older by that point so I paused my experiment until the next generation came to be (about a day later), then I started the process again.

The first day I fed them, medicated them, put them to work, stocked the fridge, got them a kid or 2 or 4 (naturally and/or adopted) ... the normal things. Only this time I did not go back for 48 hours. Still no big deal. Most were ill, but I gave them their meds, had them make a meal, and put them back to work.

Boiling it all down, I do not see VF2 as a game to actually PLAY. Just start up your family, give them kids (if you want more generations) and that's pretty much it. You can try to finish all the challenges, but that's not "hard," just takes time (waiting). It's probably perfect for people that don't have much time to spend playing, but I find that to be very unfortunate. The families should NEED us, REQUIRE us to take care of them, to teach them, to whatever. But more than just starting up the game, feeding them, giving them medication, and then shutting it down again. I would like things to DO, goals to achieve that are more than just waiting or luck, to WANT to start up the game to play and be involved with my families.

How do YOU play VF2? What do you do to keep YOURSELF busy with the game?

I agree that the virtual villagers take more active time. Remember how long it took to get a Master builder in the early games? And the time it took to clear alter blocks and convert the heathens. I too wake up feed my peeps and do my daily chores. I usually check on them at noon and bed time. For many of us the fun has been decorating the house.

Compared to VF1 the children are much more active! Finding the connection with the toys has been interesting. If you want a spoiler ask. I know of two set now that the children interact with differently when they have both.

You will find some fun discussions about how to lay out the furniture early on before you have enough beds for all your peeps. But it is a much slower game than everything out there. In my case I am working on learning how to mod the rooms. Geeze is that wall paper ugly! and working on my real life projects. In my case I have 3 quilts going.

BTW - I love petting and feeding my Kitties.

You'll probably enjoy Virtual Villagers more, have you tried it? I hated it because the people were too dependent on me, I lost half my village in a matter of hours even though they had food when I left. VFam is more my type.

InPinkClover VF2 is perfect for people like me. I get to interact with little peeps who seem kind of real and very cute. They surprise me as I play the game. I love that.

My main focus during game play is fixing up and decorating the house. But I find the little peeps grow on you too. In fact I was just like you the first few days of playing VF2. I was sure I would delete this game pretty soon. Well it has been over 4 months now and it is the only game I play every day.

Something happens while playing this game. It becomes a part of you. At first it seems more like a chore. Then it feels more like they are a part of your extended family. That may be why when one of my little peeps who I had really become attached to died of old age, I cried real tears for several days.

On another fourm I found that I was not unique this had happened to others. This is also why I hope they remove the ability for children to die in VF3. I didn't know that was possible in this game until I read about it on a forum post here. But, the creators need to know that is way too much for a game. I have been through that in RL and could not stand reliving that kind of pain through a game.

It has been said this game reminds some people of the sims. Not for me. I would never want a game that seems too much like real life. The whole point of playing is to escape from RL. The fact that the little peeps are just cute enough and their homes are just this side of realistic is perfect.

You become engaged in the game while keeping the aspect of fantasy in play. It is very relaxing and comforting. As Thandi said, you may want to try the Virtual Villager games. For me they were just way to complicated. I didn't want to work that hard to play a game. But, some people need the challenge. If so then those games are for you.

As for VF2 it is just right. I do wish there was an obvious end to the game though. It would be great if the game ended with the little peeps meeting the next door neighbors they keep interacting with via email. And I wish there was something else we could look forward to purchasing once we saved over 100 million dollars. I do love it that my little families are multi millionairs. But, I want to spend that money on something and the houses are already decorated. I would love to redecorate, but there are some issues with that too {the dreaded red line}.

So yes, there are some flaws in the game... but I believe I read somewhere that VF2 is the most popular game of it's kind out today. I can see why and to be honest I can't wait for VF3.

It fills a nitch for people who want to use their game time to relax but who want more than point click and find tiny objects placed near rubble and trash.

I do hope the creators stop by some of the other forums and read some of the wish lists for VF3 before they make it. BF and iW would be good places to start. There are some fantastic posts and ideas there.

I am sure many of those folks tried posting their ideas on this forum as I was asked to do by other posters on other forums. They thought I had some pretty good ideas I should share here.

But, it was soooooooooooooo hard to join this forum. It took me 5 tries over several weeks. I am not sure some others would have the determination to keep trying and to write letters as I did. Finally, it worked and I am here. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

But to you InPinkClover I say don't give up. Give it a little more time and you too may get bitten by the VF2 bug. :-)

I've only had the game for a couple of months and I'm bored stiff with it! I open it every couple of days, fill up the fridges and that's that! Houses furnished, gardner and maid in each family, so nothing more to do.
I would like some of the millions in my bank account though!!

All to soon the game becomes pretty repetitive! Not unlike the job of a homemaker! My family decided to take a hiatus, perhaps indefinitely.