The Sims 5: Personality System Revamp Suggestions
(These suggestions are targetted at The Sims 5 because it's probably too late for The Sims 4, and adding them to The Sims 4 would be such a drastic change that it would completely change the game.)
The traits system in its current form is very limiting. You choose from up to 3 predefined traits which have specific effects and you can't really customize them beyond that. There are other features for defining a Sim's personality (some new, some already included in TS4 or previous games) which, when used together, could replace "traits" altogether, making them redundant.
By combining a bunch of other features - either the ones above or something just as good - you get a lot more control than with traits.
The traits system in its current form is very limiting. You choose from up to 3 predefined traits which have specific effects and you can't really customize them beyond that. There are other features for defining a Sim's personality (some new, some already included in TS4 or previous games) which, when used together, could replace "traits" altogether, making them redundant.
- A Sim's likes and dislikes could be chosen through a UI similar to creating a club in The Sims 4 Get Together, perhaps with the addition of being able to assign an emotion to an activity.
- The Sims 3 had "Favourites" and The Sims 4 allows you to set preferences for weather (Seasons) and movie genres (Movie Hangout). This could be taken a step further by allowing the player to set emotions for features like TV stations, music stations, venue types and more.
- The Sims 3 University Life had a "social groups" feature where there were three social groups - Jock, Nerd and Rebel - that Sims could fit into by performing activities and socializing with other Sims in the group. This would replace the effects traits have on how they react to the traits of other Sims. Perhaps they could function like clubs and holiday, where we could create our own and choose preferred activities for them, and set how well they get along with other groups.
- The Sims 4 has weaknesses (Vampires) and fame quirks (Get Famous). These should be brought over to normal Sims in some way. The simplest would be to have the Sim gain aspiration points for accepting them, but I'm sure someone else can think of something better.
- The Sims 4 Parenthood has Character Values. These could be brought back in a new way: where parts of a Sim's personality can gradually change over time by performing certain interactions.
- Other parts of a Sim's personality, that don't fit in with character values (like how they respond to jokes, how much they like to flirt, etc.) could be set using a system similar to the personality system in The Sims 1 and 2.
- The Sims 2 had Turn Ons and Turn Offs. These could be brought back, but also effect things other than romance, like how a Sim feels around certain age groups, etc.
By combining a bunch of other features - either the ones above or something just as good - you get a lot more control than with traits.
