It seems too random. Sometimes there are whims that come through die to what your sims are doing or what they like but they all seem too generalized. My sim has never been employed and its been like 80 days in game and he has never gotten a whim to find a job even when he was poor.
I think we need the wants and fears back. I guess the mods are the mods bar now but I feel like there should be a bar of overall lifetime happiness, kind of like the bars we got in childhood that are slow moving and manipulated by actions.
A low bar will make your sim prone to bouts of anger and sadness. Maybe they'll behave more mean or suddenly burst out in tears. They might have a harder time with stuff and possibly upon death family members can be extra sad due to the sims unfulfilled life.