I thought that Skadi had already created a new texture and added it to the game and it worked.  Plus we have the mods here that are in testing and we know that they have been successful so we know that custom content is possible outside of EA and I really don't see how they could get something in place that could somehow prevent us from being able to mod the game.  Pescado and others will have us playing an enjoyable and functional game soon enough.

Any word on Story Progression in the new version?  Maybe they got it working and Pes doesn't have to spend time messing with it.

Where and when did you get the game version you are running?  I understand thee are now different version out there and there has been some speculation that right now there is a "more complete" version out there.  Maybe yours is the newer version and this could help prove whether the original truly was a bad beta copy.

Thanks.  Very interesting.  I am loving all the pics. 

I love the pics.  Thanks everyone.  With the reports of limited items and difficult to navigate catalogs it would be neat to see pics of the catalogs and stuff. Anyone?

I am not running the Sims 3 (I will wait and see if it is even worth installing.)  I am also running an 8600 gt and never had a problem running Sims 2 but couldn't run Viva Pinata (my sons favorite) without using the Dual Core Optimizer.  Simply a crash upon loading.  After running the optimizer, no problem.  It is the only game I have had an issue with and from their forums I have found that it was an issue with that game.  I only bring it up now in case it helps someone else in this situation.

I am no tech expert but I recently installed a game and it crashed everytime I tried to run it and after checking some help forums I found that since I was running a dual core processor I needed to get a dual core optimizer to get it to run.  I googled it and found what they were talking about and it worked.  I just noticed that Galina's processor is Dual core.  What about the others that are having this problem?

Same with University.  Who has the patience to do that with each sim?

Kyna- The post you have quoted isn't the opinion of someone who wishes it were a beta version.  It is a quote from an EA spokesperson claiming that the game will ship with a second city and that the leaked game is a beta version.  I haven't claimed any proof that the bugginess proves it is not a final version.  EA is now making statements that this version is beta and that the final version has a second city that is not in the game that has been leaked.  This was not found in a forum somewhere but was a story that is being circulated as an Associated Press News release. 

Until the game ships all we have is our speculation and statements from EA and while I have read everything that is being said here and elsewhere about the game so far this is the first real statement about the leaked version of the game form them.  It is the only thing so far that is official and not speculation so far.  Whether or not it proves to be accurate or not we won't know until the game ships but your statement seems to put this into the category of more community speculation which this doesn't appear to be.

I am going to post this here since I am not sure where it should go.  I was on my isp homepage this morning and thy run scrolling news stories.  In the entertainment section they had a story about Sims 3 and there was an acknowledgment from EA about the piracy and they had this to say-

"EA said the pirated version "is a buggy, pre-final" version of the game.

"It's not the full game. Half of the world _ an entire second city _ is missing," said spokeswoman Holly Rockwood in a statement.

Not sure what to make of it but I haven't heard anything else like this yet so there you go.

Also, I downloaded some hoods yesterday that were created before AL and there are hundreds of the new "ponds" everywhere overlapping each other.  I assume that it is overwriting some kind of plant material from before.  I cant tell in the preview pics of the hoods what is supposed to be where the ponds are but it looks like maybe a light clumping bush of some sort.  Anyone notice this?

Like I  said before, I dont have the store thing installed or any other program and the spooky objects as well as the clothing and hair work fine for me.

Thanks a bunch.  I would rather have mods than extra copies of stuff cluttering up stuff.

Have you modified the originals or are these clones? 

Many of us dont have the "sims store" folder or matching program and the items show up just fine.  I am one of them.  I have all of the expansions.  I have all of the downloads that have been put up here and they all work just by putting them in my regular downloads folder. 

I have that in my game but it is only decorative.  It does not act as a stove or have any any function.  Still pretty though.

I just read somewhere this morning that this was happening to others and it may be another BV glitch (more work for Pes).  I havent checked my game yet but others were saying they were missing thier 'Invite 1 person over for right now ' interactin after installing BV.  Also no more trash bin for makeup or hair in CAS.