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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 4:25 PM
Default Do you sim during storms?
So for context, I'm in Tampa and we're about to get slammed by hurricane Irma-gerd and I've been considering just playing Sirenfell or Exhaustion Valley until the power goes out. Everything is closed, it's already windy, and thanks to my uncle getting swindled into satellite TV, we don't have TV anymore. It seems like the perfect time to get some rotations in so why not, right? I play on a laptop so even if we lose power I can keep going but of course I'd close it so I could keep my phone charged using my computer.

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Mad Poster
#2 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 4:33 PM
Back up to an external drive first. Weird stuff can happen to electric things during storms, and though batteries are immune to most of it, you never know.

I'd read or play games with the other person in my household under these conditions, myself. But I'm not you. Stay safe.

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Mad Poster
#3 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 4:40 PM
Once, I heard a thunderstorm in the distance and decided to save my game and quit. About fifteen seconds after it saved, the power flickered and my computer turned off. I considered myself lucky. (Even though I had my rotational backup, you can't get events to happen the same way twice.)

Do you have a UPS or surge protector? If not, I suggest unplugging anything you don't want zapped. My video card's capacitors burst from a power surge, surprised the rest of the computer didn't go with it. I got a surge protector at the same time the computer came back from the shop.

EDIT: Should mention I use a desktop computer. Since you're on a laptop, it might be a bit different situation. Still watch for surges though.

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Mad Poster
#4 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 4:48 PM
I'll use my laptop during a storm (because I can plug it out without quitting if I really have to), but the battery is getting old so I'll not play the game on battery only. If the weather is bad enough, and particularly if there's thunder/lightning, I'll not use my stationary.
Alchemist
#5 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 4:58 PM
@Steffyn, I get your mindset; I'm the same way. Like Peni suggested, I'd do a back up first but then, sim on. And yes, find the board games and cards for after the power goes out.

Also, I gave you a 'love,' just for your siggy. I never noticed it before but it brought back good Sailor Moon memories for me, so thanks and stay safe!

"May the sunlight find you, thy days be long, thy winters kind, thy roots be strong." -Grand Oak Tree, DAO

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Turquoise Dragon
retired moderator
#6 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 5:36 PM
As long as you don't keep it plugged in, it would be ok but I would really not suggest it. (I have had lightning strike multiple computers, a house, a car..... and tv's before.) I even had an instance where there was no storm but the electrical company decided to do some work on the lines, and shut the electricity off, and I guess when they turned it back on, there was a surge, because it fried my computer! And that was with it just plugged in, and not on. Same thing happened to my daughter's here while back, plugged into a surge protector, just plugged in, not on, and a surge still took it and the playstation 4 out.

Beware of satellite dishes as well, a lightning strike hit mine directly one time (on my roof), went through my house, and took out about two thirds of the stuff that was plugged in to electricity at the time, including outlets! Fortunately my computer was unplugged, but my daughter's fiance at the time (now ex husband) left hers plugged in. It didn't survive. He thought I was being silly. (same place that a couple years prior a lightning storm had hit a tree in my yard three times, and my car happened to be parked next to it. 5000 dollars later my car was back to running.)

Yeah my family seems to have an unfortunate affinity for lightning I actually wonder if some of it is because the area we live in, has a lot of bauxite and bauxite and iron ore travel together, and I wonder if the iron attracts the lightning frankly. But I could be totally wrong. :P
Mad Poster
#7 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 5:40 PM
Are you in a generally flat area? If your house is higher than the surroundings that might be it. Think that's why they say to go into ditches if you're caught out in the open. Or maybe that's tornadoes.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Mad Poster
#8 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 5:50 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Steffyn
So for context, I'm in Tampa and we're about to get slammed by hurricane Irma-gerd and I've been considering just playing Sirenfell or Exhaustion Valley until the power goes out. Everything is closed, it's already windy, and thanks to my uncle getting swindled into satellite TV, we don't have TV anymore. It seems like the perfect time to get some rotations in so why not, right? I play on a laptop so even if we lose power I can keep going but of course I'd close it so I could keep my phone charged using my computer.


My prayers are with you. I'm on the other coast. We were in Irma's sights until yesterday. We are still supposed to have wide-spread power outages and right now we are already having some big winds and a lot of rain. Naturally, my cats just had a litter box incident that required my taking out the litter in the middle of it. As I was walking out the door, my tv buzzed with the alert that we are under a tornado warning as well.

To answer your immediate question. yes, I will play until the power goes out. Then my crappy computer, which came with a faulty battery that AMAZON refused to replace (thanks amazon! Don not buy from them) will turn off and I won't be able to play at all anymore. So, I'm off to play now.

I'm praying for you. Bye!

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 6:24 PM
Yes I would keep on Simming as long as it's not too crazy. Next option-read. Please be safe & prayers for you! Let us know how things go for for you.
Scholar
#10 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 6:39 PM
Since I'm on a desktop, I turn it off at the first grumble of thunder. On my old laptop, I would have continued playing, but not for long as the battery lasted less than two hours when Simming.

Praying for all of you in Florida.
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 6:43 PM
We don't get hurricanes, but during floods and heavy thunderstorms I do, because it's pretty relaxing. We get tornadoes, but I can't stay up in my room and play Sims during those...

I really hope you stay safe!!

"'Why is Shinji blushing over everything Kaworu does,' you ask? He's gay..... gay gay gay gay gay" -Actual Kaworu
Theorist
#12 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 7:53 PM
I'm in the Panhandle and stressing since I only found out Friday there was a hurricane out there. It's really creepy how there isn't a sound outside, I'm used to hearing birds every day prior to sunrise and all day long. There are even some birds here that make noise during the night and they seem to be gone. I haven't heard a thing for a few days, except crickets last night. I'm not even sure if any of the neighbors are around. It's creepy, really creepy. [eerie music playing in background] (8

When you forgive, you heal. When you let go, you grow.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 7:54 PM
I play only up to the point where the power starts to flicker. In thunderstorms I turn off the computer at the first first hint of thunder (because lightning is right behind it..) and pull the plug on the machine.
If you're in the hurricane, I'd suggest you unplug all your electrical devices and wrap them up in thick plastic, and store them in a safe place now.. Then hunker down and pray the surge isn't as bad as it's predicted to be.
Playing games is only for the time when the power stays on. This storm will not be over in a few hours...the electrical grid will be shut down for days if not weeks while they're fixing it.
Otherwise, take care, and we'll hear from you when it's all over.

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Forum Resident
#14 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 8:00 PM
I'd try to stay off, but at least back up before the storm and only play til you hear thunder.

Before a hurricane, I'd only play if I knew I wasn't putting pressure on the electric grid that should be saved for those that need electricity, such as those charging phones and those with medical devices that need it. Same reason I don't plan to stream video during the hurricane. (Don't wanna waste phone network bandwidth. Plus overage is expensive)

Since I'm in GA, Irma will come to me later. So I am simming while I can.

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Forum Resident
#15 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 8:32 PM
I'm no help with this topic. I'm in SoCal where rainstorms don't usually cause power outages. We sometimes get brownouts and the occasional blackout in the summer due to everyone running their air-conditioning. It's not something we can prepare for in advance -- and Edison usually gets that taken care of swiftly.

If you live in an area that is prone to outages, then I would heartily recommend you have your computer (fridge & other costly electrical appliances) hooked up to a surge protector at the very least. Some people also like to have a surge protecting battery backup so they can finish off what they were doing and save--but I think those are expensive.

If you are playing on a laptop, like I am, you should be good to go. As long as it's protected from a surge, it will switch to battery power. At that time, you should probably save and shut down.

My thoughts go out to all of you who have dealt with, are dealing with and will continue to deal with these heavy rainstorms. I had to stop reading the news reports on hurricane Harvey because it was so painful to learn about the deaths, missing pets and all those displaced people who've had to leave behind their family mementos are personal belongings when they had to flee their homes.

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Mad Poster
#16 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 8:48 PM
Quote: Originally posted by SIMelissa
If you live in an area that is prone to outages, then I would heartily recommend you have your computer (fridge & other costly electrical appliances) hooked up to a surge protector at the very least. Some people also like to have a surge protecting battery backup so they can finish off what they were doing and save--but I think those are expensive.


Surge protector cost me about $50, which seems like a lot (but is cheaper than replacing electronics that got fried). I'm in Canada, so it's probably cheaper in the US. Looked into getting a UPS (uninterruptible power supply - proper name for a battery backup) but they run rather expensive for what budget I have.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Forum Resident
#17 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 9:01 PM
UPSes were expensive for my budget too. I just backup regularly and turn off PC when I hear thunder.

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Mad Poster
#18 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 9:06 PM
Also suggest doing an off-computer backup. USB drive, external drive, or just burn to a disc. Hard drives are easy to break, which is why I'm a proponent of going back to punch cards.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Link Ninja
#19 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 9:17 PM
Yes, I sim in storms but its probably not a good life choice. For example, I've been simming while tornado sirens are going off a few miles away.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
#20 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 9:32 PM
That'd be me. Minus the tornado sirens, heavy temperature, floods, earthquakes.. etc. I live in a quite boring(?) place.

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Inventor
#21 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 10:04 PM
I actually wouldn't Sim on my laptop's battery life, since the game can drain the battery in a half hour.

During Harvey I only experienced two power flickers despite all the rain, and even our new DirecTV satellite held out fairly well. Throughout that hurricane's wrath I was simming and also playing minecraft. Unlike many places in Houston that went under feet of water, my neighborhood shrugged off all that rain.
Former Hamster
retired moderator
#22 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 10:15 PM
I do and don't, if it starts to get too bad out I'll get off the computer. I'm more likely to stop whatever I'm doing on the computer if it's really windy out. One of the power lines - not the line itself really, it's whatever holds it to the house - gets loose now and then and a good stiff wind can make our power flicker or go out for a few seconds. (Annoying as hell. But the electric company DOES come and "fix" it now and then. I don't know why they don't just change the thingy it's hooked up/in to!) I've lost hours of work too many times to even play around with high winds these days.

It could be worse. I could live across the street. I don't know all the technical names so bear with me and pretend I know what I'm talking about.. something about transformers and the side I live on using a different one than the other side and the one that side uses is older or something like that?? So when the power goes out on non-wind-flickering-outage-related days, ours comes right back on (usually) while the other side can be out for hours. (That's when I like to open the blinds and turn on every light in the house. Got power? Flaunt it baby, lol!)
Mad Poster
#23 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 10:25 PM
If I had a laptop like you, I might. I have one but I detest laptops and don't use it for simming. I always turn off my stationary during lightning storms, not worth the risk of it getting ruined. Usually forget to unplug it, should probably start doing that too. We don't really get hurricanes in Sweden. Only had three in the last 50 years as far as I know, and they don't usually hit my part of the country. Our main weather problem is snow, and that doesn't tend to interfere with electricity.

I hope Irma passes soon, and causes less damage than expected. Also hope there aren't too many floods and tornadoes following in her wake.

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Forum Resident
#24 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 11:02 PM
I use a laptop, but where I live in Tennessee, we tend to get some rather dangerous storms that sometimes result in tornadoes or freak wind storms (like the last one we had in July or 'Hurricane Elvis' years before). Depending on how hard the thunder is, I'll unplug my laptop while playing though I do have a surge protector.

Note: Just found out that Irma is visiting my area on Tuesday. Thanks Weatherman... (STAY STRONG FLORIDA)

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#25 Old 10th Sep 2017 at 11:22 PM Last edited by joandsarah77 : 11th Sep 2017 at 1:32 AM.
No I would save and turn off. We don't get things like hurricane here in inland Australia only regular storms, but the power going out happens pretty much anytime we get a storm. Luckily it doesn't storm much because we are such a dry place. Guess our power supply isn't too beefy or made to withstand storms.

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