Lady Ravendancer Goth's Book O'Spells Sims 3 Premium Content Review

The Book of Spells conflicts with the Hidden Springs world and does not work, I repeat, does not work if you have Hidden Springs installed. Why haven't EA fixed it? Because they hate you and laugh whilst you buy content they know is broken before you click the 'purchase' button. It amuses them.

Premium content is the newest addition to The Sims 3. There are four or so pieces of premium content currently available, but I only had eyes for one piece - Lady Ravendancer Goth's Book O'Spells, which is purported to add magical elements to the game. I was very excited by the prospect of being able to perform magic in The Sims 3 (real life has been terribly disillusioning in that respect,) so I spent the 500 sim points and bought the book. Here's what happened next...

First things first, you should be aware that the book isn't just a book. It's also a book with a fancy stand, so your sims are going to have to perform all their magic standing up.

Second things second, the book costs a cool 72,000 simoleons. So, you're either going to have to cheat that much money into the game or have your sim marry a bunch of rich sims and knock them off when they least expect it. Method #2 is slightly less charming, but more in keeping with the spirit of the game I feel.

How To Use Lady Ravendancer Goth's Book O'Spells

Using the book is simple. You simply click on the book and select 'Learn Spell'. You'll then be given a choice of different magics to choose from, Summon, Summon Acquainted, Mood Elevatus, Unleash Animale, and Enchant. These spells all have different effects, which I'll run over now.

Summon

Summons a random sim into your sim's presence.

Summon Acquainted

Summons a sim you already know.

Mood Elevatus

I reckon you can probably work out what this one does on your own. In case you can't, it's a mood elevating spell.

Unleash Animale

Is supposed to turn a room full of sims feral. In reality, activates one of the infamous sims status notes and makes the sims itch themselves a little bit more than usual, which is never.

Enchant

Basically does nothing at all - yet is the most important spell in the book. Purists would disagree with this definition, but I saw no real effects. It's basically an activation spell, though it is not marked as such.

The Sims 3 Spell Book Doesn't Work – Why?

PRO TIP: You (apparently, according to some sources) MUST use the 'Enchant' spell first, otherwise your spell book won't appear to work at all and you will hate life. Once the book is 'enchanted' the pages will turn by themselves and you'll get a 'making magic' moodlet. This is not explained anywhere with the book and is completely ridiculous given that anyone who doesn't choose to enchant the book in the course of fiddling with it will be unable to use the item at all.

It's also possible that if you've bought the Hidden Springs expansion pack, the book won't work either. This is because of a conflict between the Fountain of Youth and the Spell Book. This is a known conflict that EA have still not fixed, in spite of peddling their so called 'premium' content.

So Is The Sims 3 Spell Book Worth It?

I'm going to go with no, mostly because the functions are a) fairly boring and b) badly laid out. As I mentioned above, the book will appear broken until you google around for half an hour to work out why it isn't doing anything. Once you do get the thing working, it is fairly underwhelming. Given that this item costs 500 points, the effects are far too limited to be truly satisfying. The book also appears to be broken for many players, which is a fairly shameful state of affairs for an expensive piece of DLC.