What kind of game style is your favorite in Sims 3?

I've never actually switched households in an active game, except of course to peek at other sims' traits (and then quit without saving) before I had mods. Whether I start with a single sim or a couple, the goal is always to build a dynasty, populating the town with my main household's offspring and their families. I don't really develop any interest in sims, be they townies, NPCs, or the children of sims I raised myself, unless I play them, so I have no trouble ignoring most of the town's population. I move on whenever it feels like there's nothing interesting left for my founding family to do.

All my stories tend to turn into legacies...or long-lasting multi-generational sagas. Even though I'm in the first phase of my "Selfacy" I've got it on Epic Lifespan (which means that I have almost 100 chapters in the first generation and they're not even half-way done their lifespan. :D

A combination of all of the above.

Sometimes I play a save that is for nothing more than developing new Sims.
That save is also where I initially build and test all lots before I put them in another saved active game.

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This. I regularly do this, I kind of hope to make it a long-lasting legacy, but it doesn't really happen so I just see where it goes.

I like to play a long-lasting single household over generations. Unfortunately I can never get as far as I would like before I need to move everyone to a new save and I have several such families waiting to move but it's so much work setting everyone back up again it doesn't always happen.

I play many different games involving legacies, large and small families, adventurous sims. I've done survival, rags to riches, variations of a few challenges because I don't follow all the rules. I enjoy the variety that you can play with Sims 3 sims. :)

"Generic storytelling" would be a great option too. Because I like generational play when I'm playing but I foremost use the game as a screenshot tool.

This was the closest choice for me. I don't really try or want to try to play the whole town, but I do move out kids from my main family and like to play them and their families if they have them. Tied right in with all that for me is the city building option. I really enjoy starting "empty" and either filling things up as I go, generation by generation, or maybe I'll fill up the map pretty much with community lots and some houses before I start. Just depends on if I want them to feel like deprived rural farmers at the outset. :p

I don’t do challenges but playing a legacy is so much the core of my playing style that I have to choose that. With that legacy I play many different games exploring different situations, towns, EPs, etc ;)

In the last couple of years, I've been focusing on legacy style challenges.