There was a Sims Online game?
There was. I think even the Sims 4 was planned to originally be a multiplayer continuation of it under the codename Project Olypmus.
Izzzyzzz's video The Disaster of The Sims 4 talks about it at the 14 minute mark.
The Sims Online is also the basis for open source engine recreations like Simitone.
I plan to watch the video shortly but it's worth noting the Sims online still does exist in 2023 with FreeSO
Edit: The video does mention FreeSO. Nice!
How's FreeSO like? I've been somewhat interested in trying it out due to liking the idea of a multiplayer Sims game as well as the game's old-timey graphics, but I'm not really sure how hard it is to get into it, or if it's grindy to get enough resources to make a nice home and stuff like that.
I think it depends on your mentality going into it.
If you are hoping for an original Sims experience but with friends controlling other Sims you'll probably be really disappointed. It's been a few years but if I recall there's a decent amount of grinding required before you can even buy a house. Lots you visit that belong to players are frequently decorated erratically so other players have things to do or to show off what they have.
That said there's enough differences to make it a fun way to kill two hours and the people who play are quite nice. It's kind of like checking out a beta or cancelled title in a game series you really enjoy if that makes sense. For example playing Van Buren's tech demo so you can see what Fallout 3 might have been. It's neat to see what direction they could have gone in.
Death of a Game is a great series, I was introduced to it by nerdSlayer's video on Motor City Online (my beloved hyperfixation), and this one is just as good.
