6 WAS as far as I had ever gotten in Sims 3 but then I started playing the Drifter Challenge in Sims 4 and I have made it 8 generations...going on 9 as soon as I finish this one challenge I started.
I like starting out poor and once my Sims have everything I am done so the Drifter Challenge pretty much starts each new generation poor which appeals to my gameplay. Also, I have MC Command Center by Deaderpool from MTS which puts story progression in my game which keeps me interested.
Edited to add: Oops didn't see that you all have MC Command Center already. I love that mod. Keeps my game playable for me.