@BylineBelifeThe game does not have any built in auto marriage option, even with neighbourhood stories enabled - it only goes up to auto engagements in my experience with phone calls that ask your permission. So if you're getting unwanted spouses - that's players using mods like MCCC which is all on them. Kids, pets and job changes are part of neighbourhood stories which can be disabled.
But, if I see my other played sims at the gym in the background chatting with other sims, I expect to see them gain fitness skill, lose fat and gain relationship points with whoever they are talking with while I'm not playing them.
If they add an option to disable those gains for players that don't want them, then that's fine as long as players who do want them aren't affected. As it's personal preference, it's feedback and not a game bug, hence this thread now existing in the General Feedback section and not the bug report section.
The whole appeal of The Sims 4 for me is that it feels more like a living world, with sims in the background actually living and learning stuff. I saw an NPC pick up a guitar for the first time at a festival, and they sounded terrible. But a few weeks later, I saw the same sim busking at a street performer station, and they were much better, after having learned in the background. I found that fascinating. Same with sims at the gym - I saw a fat sim get on a treadmill and weeks later saw them fit and jogging around the neighbourhood.
That's what I prefer in The Sims 4 over my experience with The Sims 2 where every household was isolated and frozen in time. There was no universal time, houses were out of sync even in days of the week and the world didn't feel connected or alive.
