Do Playable Ghosts Matter?

They have never done ghosts right I feel. Not in sims 2 and 3 either. 3 did them the best probably, but they just aren't very fun to play.
In 4 they keep breaking things too, I just want to get rid of them when I have a ghost.

Just once, they should actually put as much thought into ghosts as in other super naturals, there's a lot of potential there. And sadly like in many things, Sims 4 is a downgrade instead of an upgrade over past instalments. If it wasn't the only sims game that's actually technically stable, it would not be played much.

A few things I think they could do with ghosts if they ever put them in a game again:
-They can't leave the location they died, they haunt it. Happiness/satisfaction could have a reward that lets them move around freely.
-They sleep in their grave or urn by day, and only are around at night. A happiness/satisfaction reward could let them be around by day too.
-They can be invisible.
-They get unique interactions as a ghost.
-Each of their traits has an effect as a ghost, enabling at least one extra interaction or a passive lot trait.

For example, a neat ghost would keep the place tidy. Anything dirty automatically becomes clean the moment the ghost wakes up.
A handy ghost would do the same with broken things, nothing will ever be broken while they are awake, it automatically repairs itself instantly.
A prankster ghost would pull harmless pranks around the house, moving stuff around like instruments or such.
A mean ghost could play meaner pranks, breaking things.
An evil ghost could be a real terror to any sim who is not a friend, not letting them sleep, spoiling their food, breaking things a sim is using, and they could even be the death of a sim in indirect ways. Like scaring a sim who is already very scared so they die of fright.
A vain ghost could constantly be seen in mirrors, your sims never get to see their own reflection. But can speak with the ghost through the mirror.
A family person ghost could look after children and maybe even play with them, like at a doll house making the figures move.
A clumsy ghost could be always breaking things.
A musically inclined ghost could have anything that plays music playing their favourite music all the time they are awake.
A lazy ghost could sleep more, being awake only a few hours at night.
A glutton ghost would always be raiding the fridge even though ghosts don't need to eat.
A natural cook ghost could have a breakfast ready for the household by the morning before they go back to sleep, and dinner ready when they wake up right after dark.
A loner ghost could actively avoid any interaction with the living, getting uncomfortable around them.
A snob ghost could destroy low quality objects to encourage their replacement with something better.
A daredevil ghost could enjoy playing around with Sims, like playing airplane with a child or causing big waves in a pool.
A jealous ghost could strongly attach themselves to one living sim and do mean things to whoever spends time with that sim who is not their friend.
A childish ghost could enjoy possessing stuffed animals and making them do stuff (which would no doubt entertain child sims.)

Stuff like that, there's so many possibilities to make ghosts fun.

Yes. Playable ghosts absolutely matter, but they sure need that Extra Ecto Lurv.

Ghosts require a major overhaul, plus a Ghost Realm / Underworld is long overdue, preferably one that comes with a Grim Reaper (currreerrr) Game Pack. Urns and Gravestones could serve as private entrances to that realm and can only be accessed by the owner. Graveyard Lots may require mausoleums. Graveyards could have a special, public portal ( mausoleum or tomb) that works similarly to the Sylvan Glades tree portal and secret mine entrance “quests” in basegame.
A sim can live in this realm, as long as they’re a ghost (or a Soul Reaper).

I do think a ghost’s needs and special powers should depend on how they kicked the auld bucket. I believe current ghosts are already somewhat tuned like this, but it’s not enough. They deserve a complete perk & curse tree. I have yet to play a ghost that died by Murphy Bed- they have this ability to possess other sims which I think is fantastic, but in general our current playable ghosts are just not that interesting. They should all be able to possess sims. They should have ghost specific aspirations, from resurrection (and make this more challenging plz) to becoming an Undead or a special kind of powerful ghost. Right now they’re only slightly more interesting than a plant sim. Slightly.

"rhalius;c-18316867" wrote:


A few things I think they could do with ghosts if they ever put them in a game again:
-They can't leave the location they died, they haunt it. Happiness/satisfaction could have a reward that lets them move around freely.
-They sleep in their grave or urn by day, and only are around at night. A happiness/satisfaction reward could let them be around by day too.
-They can be invisible.
-They get unique interactions as a ghost.
-Each of their traits has an effect as a ghost, enabling at least one extra interaction or a passive lot trait.

Great ideas. It would be interesting to have ghosts tied to a location right after they die, but as they work their way up the haunting skill tree, (I suddenly see a hauntingly beautiful visual of this perk tree in my mind’s eye…) they will gain the ability to leave the lot. This ability could already be available to sims that die on a lot other than their own home, or maybe not. It would be funny to play with a ghost that died in a restaurant. It would force a player to travel to the restaurant every time they want to play with that particular ghost and help it get it out of there. Don’t delete that restaurant lot or you shall loose your ghost!

Same thing re visibility and interactivity. This is usually the main challenge of “movie” ghosts. They have to find ways to interact with the world of the living and make themselves visible in order to bring a message across and / or to move on. Give us an incentive to play ghost sims.

In terms of cross pack gameplay, one of the perks could be the ability to shape-shift into one of those Paranormal blobbies ( Paranormal Stuff), a Night Wraith or even a Familiar ( Realm of Magic) or an Island Spirit ( Island Living) etc.

Resurrection gone wrong - which is something I really liked in Sims 3 - simply means that a resurrection ritual goes wrong and instead of being fully alive, a sim semi- resurrects into an Undead, except this time around zombie head doesn’t care for your sim’s garden. It won’t autonomously eat your sim’s giant melons or micro sprouts. It will simply cause havoc in many different ways. I haven’t fully thought this one out yet although it should be delicious no matter what. ?

There’s more I’d like to share but I’m currently at work, thinking about rather grim things and not exactly “working”.

Yes, playable ghosts would be awesome! I love my haunted houses and would enjoy making a ghost family (and playing with them) to live in them, like in Sims 3. We really need to be able to make a ghost/ghost family in CAS. @CAPTAIN_NXR7 I love your ideas for gameplay with ghosts and would buy a pack like that the minute it was available! The ghosts in Sims 4 definitely need improvement so we can enjoy having them in the game.

Yes please, to a ghost revamp. Have asked for it many times before and will ask again, thank you. :)

I'd like to get rid of the ghost needs unless under special circumstances, like, say, the friendly family ghost who thinks it's still alive and lives in the house doing what it always did in life. Eating at the table, showering, etc. But it should have a "startling" effect on Sims when encountering it, although can be befriended and made an "official" member of a household.

Otherwise, I love a lot of the suggestions in this thread and I'd really like to see some other ghost varieties. Haunters, wanderers, restless dead, Reapers... Maybe a few main varieties? These "types" could each serve a different purpose. For example, the Reapers, of course, would work for Grim and help gather souls (new career!) and could get their new "uniforms", sporting varieties of the classic, creepy death robes and withered look of Grim himself. The Haunters could be tied to the location where they died, possibly re-experiencing their death, scaring Sims, occupying empty lots and graveyards, but possibly have a way to be put to rest by a living (or Occult) Sims. The Wanderers could be like what we have now, NPC ghosts, but without the needs. The Restless could be the "family" type, who settle into their old lives but maybe also can reproduce like in Sims 3, so they can be played like regular Sims. And, of course, I agree with @CAPTAIN_NXR7 about botched resurrections and the return of "real" zombies, like in Sims 2. Oh, and also, please add a few appropriate cross-pack powers to the other Occults, like death/resurrection spells, special Occult ghosts, etc, and allow children and toddlers to be ghosts as well. o:)

There are so many ways Ghosts could be expanded. They have been in The Sims since the first game, haven't they? They deserve their proper place amongst the bigger, better Occults. Some extra things in CAS I'd love for them are ghoulish makeup, tattered clothing and shrouds, deathly skin types and textures, even strange faces or "heads" (or headless) like they did with Aliens in the Batuu pack. Ooh, now that I think on it, please, please, please can we have a headless effect? The Headless Horseman is one of my favorite "haunters". Would LOVE to play one without a mod. And also, some wispy and weird hairs and strange tattoos/body marks.

I love ghosts (if you haven't noticed). They scare the bejeesus out of me. I love them in films and books and stories, of which I have a collection. I live in a city that has a history with many haunted tales. Please give our Sim Ghosts some love. <3

I don't currently play with ghosts, but if they were to be improved I could see myself playing with them a lot.

Other people have already listed things I'd like to see, but one thing I haven't seen is adding psychics to the game. This could be a hidden trait that sims can randomly be born with and/or it could be a trait bought with satisfaction points. Perhaps Spellcasters and Vampires might be more likely to be born with this hidden trait and I could see it being hereditary as well.

Those with the psychic trait would be able to see and interact with ghosts, while those without it would only see objects moving about and get a scared moodlet. This would play out depending on which sim you have selected. If you select a psychic sim, ghosts would become visible, while having a non psychic sim selected would leave ghosts invisible. Of course psychics would also learn the Medium skill faster if you have the Paranormal pack, and perhaps living in a haunted house would make ghosts visible to all the inhabitants (but maybe only around a full moon?).

Psychics would also have special interactions with ghosts, helping them calm down, asking them not to break stuff, or, if they're a bit more devious, asking them to haunt another sim. They'd also automatically know how a sim died, and depending on how they improve ghosts, psychics would also have unique interactions in other areas as well. To make it even better, I'd love if Psychic sims would randomly learn something about living sims while conversing, such as traits, occult type, or their specific mood (ie. their top moodlet at that moment).

Well, this is getting a little long so I'll wrap it up, but yeah... psychic sims!

"rhalius;c-18316867" wrote:

A few things I think they could do with ghosts if they ever put them in a game again:
-They can't leave the location they died, they haunt it. Happiness/satisfaction could have a reward that lets them move around freely.
-They sleep in their grave or urn by day, and only are around at night. A happiness/satisfaction reward could let them be around by day too.
-They can be invisible.

I think these would be more effective as part of a Ghost skill tree. Maybe you have to perform ghostly activities to build ghost points. A mischievous ghost plays pranks that can give people a minor playful, minor angry or minor scared moodlet and has a chance of granting a bonus for building mischief and comedy. A tortured ghost does things to make people sad or causes them to fail at things. A benevolent ghosts engages in inspiring visitations that can cause people to be inspired or focused and helps them to be more successful at things. I'm honestly thinking of the three types of witches in Sims 2 Apartment Life and how behavior changes their orientation and appearance.

I've not played as a ghost yet, the fact they have physical needs is something that puts me off though.

As much as I love ghosts as a concept and storytelling tool in the sims games, they don't really offer anything unique compared to regular human sims other than the ability to walk through walls and interfere with objects in negative ways. Unless they get substantial changes they'll just stay as a really mediocre ""life"" stage/occult to me imo

I have tried with ghosts in my household. They constantly possess things and break them. Make food and don't finish it. Plus they have needs. If ghosts were overhauled, I'd add them to my houses more often. As it is now, for me personally, they're not fun to play. I'd love to see them get an overhaul.

I feel playing a ghost is just as needed as playing a Sim that is alive and if they need some improvement, then that needs to be done.