A couple of hours ago, a chat was held on the official site about the Body Shop. Darren Futa (Producer) and Bruce Wilkie (Programmer) joined the chat and answered many (interesting) questions. Here are a couple of highlights:

calichica: "when will we be able to download from "showcase"?"
MaxisLucky: "We will be adding that functionality later. For now you can save out your Sims to your own server and share them."

kcstanton: "how many packs are there going to be?"

MaxisDarren: "The plan is to release more packs before The Sims 2 comes out, but we don't have a firm date yet. Right now everyone on the team is definitely focusing on getting the game as great as possible."

ananse: "There only seems to be one ear slider. The only way to get pointy ears is to pick the pre-fab face. Are there going to be updates with better ear sliders?"

MaxisBruce: "Currently, the modifiers you see in the BodyShop are all the modifiers we've created. However, it's possible for us to release more modifiers at some point, just a matter of time / getting them done."

emperorjess: "The preview of body shop only has a limited number of clothes and accessories (ie. make up, glasses, etc.) How many possible outfits, beards, cosmetics, etc. will there be when it is released with Sims 2?"

MaxisDarren: "I haven't counted recently, but there are many, many times more choices in the game. Body Shop is just a taste of the content goodness waiting for you in the game."

Twoyys4me: "When we buy Sims2, if we've already downloaded the Sim2Bodyshop, (who hasn't?!) will we need to delete that from our systems before loading Sims2?"

MaxisBruce: "After you install Sims2, and try to run the old BodyShop, you'll get a message telling you about the newer version, so while you don't *need* to delete it, you won't be using it any longer. The newer version included with the game will be the one to use."

Sims2_BodyMod2004: "Are there plans to allow users to modify/add to sim meshes in the future, including importing custom-made 3D models? If so, what 3D packages are planned to be supported?"

MaxisDarren: "The plan is to add mesh export/import capabilities, but that's in the future. When we do that, we're going to do our best to make them in a universal 3D file format, so it will be tool independent."

theevilwriter: "It seems that we can't make baby skins with bodyshop. Does that mean they'll all wear the same skin like in TS1? And if so, can we still make that skin custom like TS1 too?"

MaxisDarren: "Actually, when you export a Skin Tone, you'll notice that a baby skin is included. Change that skin, and when you bring that custom skin into The Sims 2, he/she will have it."

celtickitty89: "if i want an adult sim to have a beard, why does his teen self have to have one also?"

MaxisDarren: "Good question. When you're creating a Sim, the way you save them is how they will go into the game, so you really only have to worry about what the Sim looks like when you save them. There will be a way, though, to add something like a beard later on in life, if you decided not to give one to your Teen."

Deckmaster: "Why are the clothing files so large? 3mb each that's takes a lot of space on the hard disks.Can't you make them smaller??"

MaxisBruce: "Some are bigger than others - it all depends on what's inside. Things like custom skintones or hairtones have many textures - other things, like makeup, have only one, so they are smaller."

For even more, read the entire transcript of the chat.