Played vs Unplayed

"Rouenpucelle;c-17504321" wrote:
My understanding is that unplayed characters may be autoculled.

Used to be like that, but now it's favourited households that don't get culled. Not sure if being played matters anymore.

For me the difference is mostly with who I want to age and when. If I want my sims to age when the "age unplayed households" box is ticked then I make them unplayed. If I want to take care of their aging on my own, then they're marked played. (I play with aging on for active household only.) I know there's some stuff that can happen with their careers etc. but I rarely see those things so they're not a deciding factor for me. I also feel like unplayed households get their relatioships culled more radically, but that thing is a pain anyway, so again not a huge difference.

Here are the differences between played and unplayed households

• Their aging settings can be set differently.
  
• Unplayed sims change their jobs to either be co-workers or fill in a service sim spot (maid, vendor etc). Played sims will never change their jobs on their own.
  
• In university, unplayed sims will re-enroll on their own while played sims will wait for the player to re-enroll them.
  
• Building in houses owned by unplayed sims will not spend their money. Instead you'll be in free build mode (infinite money, no household inventory) like when you are building in an unowned lot.
  
• To make sure there are sims in the Realm of Magic, unplayed sims may be turned into spellcasters.
  
• Only unplayed sims' houses and community lots can be crime scenes.
  
• Unplayed sims' phone skin may get set to default.
  
• Unplayed toddlers', children's, and teens' character values may go back to neutral (spot where they started off).
  
• While unplayed sims won't lose skills, they may suddenly become a master in one when they become a service sim.
  
• Unplayed sims will get more relationships culled.
  
• If the game is forced to generate a new club (happens when you have less than 10 clubs in game), it will be filled with unplayed sims.
  
• Many have mentioned culling. All sims who are in My Households section won't get culled. While all the played sims are in that section (putting them to other households will also make them unplayed), unplayed sims that you want to protect must be put there.

The main benefit of unplayed households is that you can edit their house for free. The main drawback is that they change a lot without players help.

Something nobody said:

If you visit magic realm (Realm of Magic GP), unplayed sims are available to turn spellcasters

Nevermind.

"Mindofy;c-17505473" wrote:
Unplayed sims not in world will be culled. Unplayed in house will not be culled. Aging effects unplayed when not playing them.

Since the patch for Cats and Dogs, no, it doesn't. From then on, only that whether the household is in My household section (hearted) or not matters.

"leo3487;c-17505461" wrote:
Something nobody said:

If you visit magic realm (Realm of Magic GP), unplayed sims are available to turn spellcasters

Sorry for bursting your bubble, but...

"EgonVM;c-17505328" wrote:

• To make sure there are sims in the Realm of Magic, unplayed sims may be turned into spellcasters.

But it is true.

"EgonVM;c-17505549" wrote:

"Mindofy;c-17505473" wrote:
Unplayed sims not in world will be culled. Unplayed in house will not be culled. Aging effects unplayed when not playing them.

Since the patch for Cats and Dogs, no, it doesn't. From then on, only that whether the household is in My household section (hearted) or not matters.

"leo3487;c-17505461" wrote:
Something nobody said:

If you visit magic realm (Realm of Magic GP), unplayed sims are available to turn spellcasters

Sorry for bursting your bubble, but...

"EgonVM;c-17505328" wrote:

• To make sure there are sims in the Realm of Magic, unplayed sims may be turned into spellcasters.

But it is true.

I didn't know this. Thanks for the correction.

@Mindofy Here's a thread that teaches about culling.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/905991/culling-relationship-culling-decay-current-status/p1

Thanks for all the information. You guys have been very helpful.

Can someone clarify the difference between unplayed/played and 'my household'/'other households' in terms of what will happen to those sims please? I've created a large group of sim characters, some who I want to stay in the jobs I've set them, others who I want to fill the service sim spots, and I don't want any of them (or their relationships) to be culled. I've only recently got the MCCC mod and I'm a little overwhelmed with what to do with the settings to sort this! Also does the 'total number of households' refer to the NPCs/other households as well, or just 'my households'? Sorry if this has already been covered.