Do you give your sims back stories?

Absolutely! Part of it comes from having a writing background (I have literally used the Sims for testing out and developing characters), but I also love taking the little bits of information we have about the premades and extrapolating from that. I also use Simstagram for storytelling as well (I have an account for Caleb Vatore), which isn't necessarily based on my actual gameplay, but uses it as a basis and is then further developed into a coherent narrative.

It's the main reason I play, honestly.

Hmmm, that's a good question. I give most of them back stories. And I try to do so when I upload them to the Gallery. But for some reason, if I write in my native language, which is Danish, I am told, that some words are not accepted. As the words are NOT pointed out, I can't tell what words I need to change, and I give up!

I usually do, but not always right away. A lot of times I create the sim, start playing with them, and a backstory will sort of unfold in my head as I go. Often, once I have settled on a backstory I will then create the other sims that are characters in the backstory, so that I can then go forward with some future drama supposedly driven by the backstory I imagined.

For example, in one of my games I started with a young man and his toddler son, simply because I wanted to play a single dad. I didn't, at the time when I made him, know why he was raising his kid alone. Then, as I played with him, I made up a backstory about his girlfriend who ran off with another guy and left him with their kid. So, then I made the ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend so I could have them run into each other and have some drama.

Yes, I always come up with back stories, sometimes simple and sometimes more complex. They influence how a character plays out. Yes, it is kind of a testing ground for writing but I also like how I can follow the characters through moments that would get cut out of a book or film.

I guess that developing a personality is also part of the back story for me. So, I might say, "This sim wants to have a stable life and so will react to all situations with that goal." "That sim wants excitement and has no specific plans." Those two sims will react very differently to the same scenario. Whatever ends up happening is generally based on having some basis like that for each sim. I refer to the back story to come up with direction for different sims.

I do kind of want more structured "things to do" that are still open-ended in terms of how they play out. I actually liked Strangerville for that reason, though sure, I could like something even more open-ended than that.

The whole thing is not a soap opera, though yes, some households are. Sometimes an event will impact a bunch of households such as Gunther Munch now dying and leaving behind a younger widow as well as several kids from his two marriages. I determined that legally, his teen daughter needed to move in with her evil mother now that her father had died. So, there is a situation that kind of created itself.

I don't think it's possible for me not to come up with some sort of backstory when creating a new sim. It may not be very in depth, but unless I'm just making random sims as filler like my random caster households, every sim has at least some story. Even the sims in my testing saves.

Yes. Considering I'm playing out the lives of the family I created for my O/C in the mini-series I wrote (see siggie) they already have a backstory, of sorts. Things really fell into place when ST in Sims3 came into being. And now with GF and the Road to Fame mod, my Sims are back on track, again. :)

I didn't really used to, but I'd like to do it more. I only did once when I got Get Famous. I think backstories make playing more interesting. I've got one I'm planning for if they ever overhaul babies.

I come up with little back stories for all of them on the fly and continue thinking about it as I'm creating them. Helps keep me busy while I'm choosing a full wardrobe.