@EeveeTinn--i agree. i often wish Sims could be more fleshed out, right out of CAS. when creating them, be able to set skills at a specific level instead of them starting as blank slates.
even being able to lock specific ones. for example, one of my characters is supposed to be a bad cook. so i have to keep cheating his cooking skill down. i think it'd be great if i could set it in a way it wouldn't improve, so he'd stick to easy recipes. it's not realistic to me when everyone becomes a top chef after cooking five meals. 😛
about traits, i also use the reward ones a lot. also makes sense to me because just like in real life, some people might need less sleep, or similar. so i do find them useful.
My problem is that I end up making perfect families; everyone is always happy, kids do their homework, no one ever fights, the house is always clean, a pretty unrealistic scenario :D Then I get bored. I need to find a good challenge to play.
