Poor Quality control
:hotbounce
I got my FIRST CD version of Sims2 as a xmas gift & DISK 3 was bad. It has a sub-surface defect (a smooth white arc) that you can just barely see if you hold the disk at the right angle under bright light. Disks 1 & 2 read & installed fine; Disk three 'installed' for about 15 minutes and then crashed. In their wisdom Maxis decided that all install problems should be fixed by just starting over from the beginning. I tried all the EAGAMES tech support suggestions - clean disk, copy all disks to hardrive to install, different PC's - but no luck. SECOND CD version, DISK 4 was bad - same crash during loading - slightly different subsurface defects (a few "dots" on the disk). I finally got it loaded by using a good DISK 4 borrowed from a friend (the 16-digit install key apprently only checks DISK 1).
I've checked several other forums & disk read problems are common.
Now I can get game loaded, but it randomly locks up. If I wasn't so stubborn, I'd have quit by now. SIMS (1) and all the upgrade packs always loaded rightaway. Did Microsoft quietly buy Maxis when I wasn't looking and start writing their software?