I had about a dozen families with the original Sims. With Sims 2 (my favorite of the series) I had hundreds of families in my rotation. I ended up skipping over Sims 3 because my rotational style and the game's story progression just weren't compatible. Now, with Sims 4, I did have 40 families in rotation, but I wasn't enjoying it as much. Some of the gameplay is more shallow than Sims 2 and the storylines weren't as strong. (I allow my sims to create their own stories through their aspirations, their whims, their careers, and their relationships, with only a little nudging from me, usually based on a throw of a die.)
I was getting close to the 200 sim limit, so I recently did a lot of "re-structuring" of my Played and Unplayed families. I'm now keeping only 36 families in active rotation, although those might change with each round because of evolving story lines. Yesterday, for example, I moved an older, empty-nest couple to Unplayed status, and moved a new family to that rotation spot because of one young woman's pregnancy. She's having a relationship with one of my regularly played sims, and I hope they'll decide to marry. So, I currently have 36 active families and another 18 families who are marked Unplayed -- but who are peripheral characters in storylines that are building.
My plan is to never have more than 36 families in my rotation. That will mean making a lot of tough decisions at times, but I think it will work better for me to move out single elders as their spouses died off, or older couples whose children are now starting their own families. I'm essentially a "fall in love, get married, raise a family" type of player. I love seeing how different parents raise their children.
(On that note, I have to say that I love the "Parenthood" pack. It is perfect for a player like me.)
