☢️ Let's talk accountDataDB.package and the ongoing Happy At Home fiasco. - 87% important information, 13% toxicity. ⚡10/1/2024 - I just learned something new.
THIS POST IS NOW LESS A RANT AND MORE IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE ONGOING HAPPY AT HOME FIASCO. Yes, I did initially create a whole new post for accountDataDB.package before remembering this one existed. I apologize.
The bit concerning Happy At Home has been overhauled for clarity.
To EAxis' credit, they have finally learned the secrets of ACCOUNT-BOUND event rewards, meaning we don't have to worry about losing Reaper's rewards if we do the event.
Don't fret though, my FOMO Unlocks aren't going anywhere because ACCOUNT-BOUND only matters if we can all actually complete the event:
However, the issue of lost Happy At Home rewards is still ongoing.
In case you missed it, after almost three months of bullshit, EAxis has finally acknowledged there's a Happy At Home lost rewards problem and allegedly intends to unlock it for someone or everyone, I'm not 100% sure who. This is a rant: https://www.patreon.com/posts/112966221
But that's not the whole story. In that rant, I included this paragraph:
I suppose this is a "I'll believe it when I see it" type deal because right now everyone's harping on about the accountDataDB.package file and how our HAH entitlements are now in there instead of in UserSetting.INI, BUT THAT'S ONLY IF YOUR INI CONTAINED THE STRING OF CODE THAT UNLOCKS THE HAH REWARDS. If you lost your items and you never knew about that INI modification, accountDataDB don't do !@#$ for you. At least it didn't do !@#$ for me.
We need to talk more about this accountDataDB.package file and what it's for.
From what I understand, accountDataDB.package and it's various functions were created specifically for Reaper's Rewards and future Live Events.
I've been told it does something for Reaper's Rewards (though it doesn't for me), and I know for certain it does something else for Happy At Home. Beyond that, I have no idea!
For these elaborate ACCOUNT-BOUND Live Events like Reaper's Rewards, I've been told it saves your LIVE TASK PROGRESSION - this is the Live Mode quest tasks like reading mail and summoning Big Grim and planting pretty flowers with which to poison and devour your foes.
Deleting this file is supposed to reset your task progression but not your event rewards progression. I've been told this by AHQ volunteers and various simmers who said it did for them, however, it doesn't for me.
That's the extent of what I've been told about accountDataDB.package as it relates to Reaper's Rewards.
For half-arsed DEVICE-BOUND Live Events like Happy At Home, accountDataDB.package is the new home of your reward entitlements. However, the entitlements aren't automatically generated or permanently added. No, that would be too easy for EAxis to do. Instead, accountDataDB.package detects the HAH entitlement code in your UserSetting.INI file and adds it to itself.
IF AND ONLY IF your UserSetting.INI file contains the string of entitlement code that unlocks the Happy At Home rewards, THEN AND ONLY THEN will it be added to accountDataDB.package the next time the game is launched, removing the need to backup the UserSetting.INI file, but creating the need to backup the accountDataDB.package.
If you already lost your HAH rewards because you lost your UserSetting.INI file any time during the three months this nonsense has been ongoing and no one pointed you in the direction of the INI modification, accountDataDB.package will not magically give you back your rewards.
This is some of the dumbest round-about nonsense I've seen in a while.
All they did was remove the dependency from the DEVICE-BOUND UserSetting.INI and toss it onto the DEVICE-BOUND accountDataDB.package.
⚡ 10/1/2024 - BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! accountDataDB.package not only pulls entitlement data from UserSetting.INI, but it also immediately removes that entitlement data from the INI, so if you lose your accountDataDB after your entitlement data is moved but manage to retain your INI, you're absolutely, positively, !@#$ed! Thank you EAxis!
Unless consoles protect this file automatically, which I assume they don't, console simmers will still lose their HAH rewards if their consoles go wonky.
Here's how I tested this:
I lost my HAH rewards. I created FOMO Unlock mods partially because I couldn't be bothered to modify the INI every time I deleted it for troubleshooting. So, I...
Removed my unlock and added the code that unlocks the HAH rewards to the INI.
Launched the game and verified the HAH rewards were available.
Exited the game and deleted my INI file, then launched the game and verified that yes, the HAH rewards were still there because the entitlement data was now in accountDataDB.package.
Exited the game again, removed accountDataDB.package, launched, and as expected, the HAH rewards were gone again.
Repeated these steps a few more times to verify.
Why this round about nonsense with accountDataDB.package and HAH if it doesn't actually solve the problem?
Are they intending to do more impermanent FOMO events?
Is it really so hard for EAxis to just unlock the HAH rewards for everyone instead of playing this game with us?
This is why I'm confused about that EAxis statement I linked to and provided screenshots of in the other rant. They know this problem exists, they knew this problems exists. So why did they invest time into this bullshit with accountDataDB.package and Happy At Home when they could have just unlocked it in Update 9/18/2024?
Is there actually communication between Answers HQ and anyone capable of making any decisions on the Sims Team or is AHQ just a shield between us and EAxis, leaving the AHQ volunteers to put out the fires and take the flack?
I truly hope Happy At Home is resolved this week so I can put this to rest and start hounding them about the damn Deformer Maps !@#$ing up our bodies. For goodness sake, I fixed that in 7 days and spoon fed them the solution, why is it taking so long?!
Now I can refocus. Yes? Yes!
The next time we talk about Happy At Home I want it to be an announcement that we no longer need my Happy At Home FOMO Unlock. Am I asking too much? I feel like I'm asking too much. 😹
