Please revamp the whims!!

"MissNightOwl;c-16424439" wrote:

"xitneverendss;c-16424311" wrote:

"MissNightOwl;c-16424098" wrote:
I agree that the whims system could be done better, but I don't really understand why everyone praises so much the one in TS3. Either I haven't played that iteration enough or I'm missing something. 'Meet a vampire' as soon as there any vampire nearby, 'Use the festival tickets' as soon as they enter the festival place, 'Throw a party' as soon as there's any season holiday - they're no better than in TS4.

Sure there are those repeat whims you get for certain events but the whims in TS3 get so much more in depth than that. If your sim has a close friend or family member they'll get a whim to hang out with that specific sim. Or if they just met someone they have chemistry with, they might roll a whim to go out on a date with them. They'll get whims go see a movie or go to a concert or teach their children to drive. The list goes on. The whims are 100x better, varied, and more interesting than TS4 could ever dream to be. I doubt they care to ever fix it.

Sure, but I get some of these in TS4 too - to joke with somebody, to be friendly, to be mean, to have babies, or to flirt. I don't know, maybe they're more noticable in TS3 because there's more of them in general. I kind of get your point, but in my opinion the whims are not that different, and just poorly done in both iteration.

It's limited to household Sims though. Like, my Sim mom of 6 never got the whim to even see her kids again after they moved out.

I find myself ignoring the whim system at times because rarely do whims pop up that are relevant to the sim I am playing, other than the emotion that they are currently feeling. What kind of whims they get should be driven by their traits. If I give a sim a trait, I want them to live out their life according to their personality. They should want to do certain things.

This system feels like your computer randomly suggesting things to do, not ideas coming from your sim.
Long ago I suggested that one of the bubbles should be dedicated to trait related whims, like emotions has its on thought bubble. The third bubble could be dedicated to other miscellaneous whims.

"Francl27;c-16424785" wrote:

"MissNightOwl;c-16424439" wrote:

"xitneverendss;c-16424311" wrote:

"MissNightOwl;c-16424098" wrote:
I agree that the whims system could be done better, but I don't really understand why everyone praises so much the one in TS3. Either I haven't played that iteration enough or I'm missing something. 'Meet a vampire' as soon as there any vampire nearby, 'Use the festival tickets' as soon as they enter the festival place, 'Throw a party' as soon as there's any season holiday - they're no better than in TS4.

Sure there are those repeat whims you get for certain events but the whims in TS3 get so much more in depth than that. If your sim has a close friend or family member they'll get a whim to hang out with that specific sim. Or if they just met someone they have chemistry with, they might roll a whim to go out on a date with them. They'll get whims go see a movie or go to a concert or teach their children to drive. The list goes on. The whims are 100x better, varied, and more interesting than TS4 could ever dream to be. I doubt they care to ever fix it.

Sure, but I get some of these in TS4 too - to joke with somebody, to be friendly, to be mean, to have babies, or to flirt. I don't know, maybe they're more noticable in TS3 because there's more of them in general. I kind of get your point, but in my opinion the whims are not that different, and just poorly done in both iteration.

It's limited to household Sims though. Like, my Sim mom of 6 never got the whim to even see her kids again after they moved out.

It's limited rather to Sims that are nearby. I quite often get whims related to friends, enemies or love interest when they show up in the neighborhood. I didn't really pay attention to whims when children move out, but I assume it still depends on the actual presence, so I can give that one. Still, for me it's little too little to see TS3 as superior.

The Whims should be give a sims want that depends on a sim life events, relationships, career, skill, memories, etc. It should be about progression of a sim through his life and not an feature to put new content right into your face. Got the latest C&D expansion? Prepare yourself with pet whims. Got Vampires? Prepare your sims to those repetitive whims regardless of their traits and personality.

I don't think I've ever used the whims once in TS4. Design-wise they don't make me want to complete them, because they aren't very noticeable. In TS3 they were very present, you couldn't ignore them they're were right there in the ui, they were fun to complete and they contained some story progression in the lives of your Sims.

"Simsfan99111;c-16423058" wrote:

"alan650111;d-938253" wrote:
Why are the whims in Sims 4 so repetitive and shallow? I constantly get the "Cook pet food" or "Buy a pet ball" or "Buy a swimming pool at least 1X1" Sims 3's whims system was more in depth and made sense. There was a feeling of progression and they were well thought out. These are just nonsensical most of the time and seem to have no rhyme or reason. Who else agrees??

I actually would be quiet happy if they did away with them completely in the next game. I don't use them, never did in the sims 3 either. But having said that if they did what they did with aspirations in the sims 2 where you basically had to complete your sims wants or the sim goes crazy then id love that! Plus the aspiration reward objects in the sims 2 were the best!

Not even for Lifetime reward points?

"Sk8rblaze;c-16425047" wrote:
Yeah, I don't bother looking at whims at all. They're a useless gameplay feature, unlike TS3 and especially TS2, where it felt more closely designed into the core gameplay.

In TS2, whims were called wants, and were very relevant to your Sim's personality, surroundings, financial standing, social standing, etc. You had to keep up after their wants, otherwise they'd get depressed. They'd change every day, numerous times per day. The fear system was the opposite of this system, and obviously had various things your Sim had to be sure to avoid. The Sims 3 got rid of fears, made a new system called wants, which was very similar to TS2, except more optional. The rewards felt more useful, too.

Akctuallllly, they're called Wishes in TS3.

"fullspiral;c-16421740" wrote:
The whim system basically ruined the sims game and took away what the sims was about. They should have stuck with the wants and fears of Sims 2.

Do wants and fears cover a wide range of interests, based on both traits and on what you make your sims do? If not I very much prefer whims Sims 3 style but I’m not very familiar with wants and fears in 2 (I kind of ignored them when I played the game but maybe I shouldn’t have).

ETA:

"Simsfan99111;c-16423058" wrote:

"alan650111;d-938253" wrote:
Why are the whims in Sims 4 so repetitive and shallow? I constantly get the "Cook pet food" or "Buy a pet ball" or "Buy a swimming pool at least 1X1" Sims 3's whims system was more in depth and made sense. There was a feeling of progression and they were well thought out. These are just nonsensical most of the time and seem to have no rhyme or reason. Who else agrees??

I actually would be quiet happy if they did away with them completely in the next game. I don't use them, never did in the sims 3 either. But having said that if they did what they did with aspirations in the sims 2 where you basically had to complete your sims wants or the sim goes crazy then id love that! Plus the aspiration reward objects in the sims 2 were the best!

That sounds pretty mandatory for a sandbox game...

"MissNightOwl;c-16424098" wrote:
I agree that the whims system could be done better, but I don't really understand why everyone praises so much the one in TS3. Either I haven't played that iteration enough or I'm missing something. 'Meet a vampire' as soon as there any vampire nearby, 'Use the festival tickets' as soon as they enter the festival place, 'Throw a party' as soon as there's any season holiday - they're no better than in TS4.

You haven’t played that iteration enough and you’re missing something. Wishes in Sims 3 react to what the player does. So, the game starts with wishes like the ones you mention. When you grant the wish, the game will come up with a following wish (in case of skill based wishes always a bit harder than before). If you ignore the wish, it won’t come back, even when it was a wish that was based on one of your sim’s traits. So let’s say you play a virtuoso who rolls a wish to play the guitar but you decide to ignore that and make him mix drinks, the next wishes that will pop up will be about mixing drinks, not playing the guitar. With that system the game hands you ideas, but at the same time follows the player (which for me at least is very important, I don’t want the game to dictate things).

"JoAnne65;c-16429122" wrote:

"MissNightOwl;c-16424098" wrote:
I agree that the whims system could be done better, but I don't really understand why everyone praises so much the one in TS3. Either I haven't played that iteration enough or I'm missing something. 'Meet a vampire' as soon as there any vampire nearby, 'Use the festival tickets' as soon as they enter the festival place, 'Throw a party' as soon as there's any season holiday - they're no better than in TS4.

You haven’t played that iteration enough and you’re missing something. Wishes in Sims 3 react to what the player does. So, the game starts with wishes like the ones you mention. When you grant the wish, the game will come up with a following wish (in case of skill based wishes always a bit harder than before). If you ignore the wish, it won’t come back, even when it was a wish that was based on one of your sim’s traits. So let’s say you play a virtuoso who rolls a wish to play the guitar but you decide to ignore that and make him mix drinks, the next wishes that will pop up will be about mixing drinks, not playing the guitar. With that system the game hands you ideas, but at the same time follows the player (which for me at least is very important, I don’t want the game to dictate things).

I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced anyway. Yes, TS4 has a lot of 'to buy' whims', but I get the skills-related whims sometimes too. I'm not saying the TS4 whims are better though. They're both rather poor in my opinion.

"NickSims;c-16429083" wrote:
I don't think I've ever used the whims once in TS4. Design-wise they don't make me want to complete them, because they aren't very noticeable. In TS3 they were very present, you couldn't ignore them they're were right there in the ui, they were fun to complete and they contained some story progression in the lives of your Sims.

Being hard to ignore is actually something I don't like. Especially when it comes to whims related to festivals or supernaturals. In TS3 I don't like also how long-term the whims are. I mean, that one is a bad thing and a good thing at the same time. It's interesting idea for sure, but it annoys me a little that they take a slot and take so much time. I just sometimes feel that I could fullfill more smaller whims in the meantime, and gain more points as the result. Maybe it'd be nice to have two systems for that: one for short-term whims, and one for long-term.

But whim by definition Is a sudden wish or idea, especially one that cannot be reasonably explained

Ea would probably argue the whims repeating are justified. Whims to me are not long term. In real life you never hear many people say “we decided to get married on a whim or we we decided to have a child on a whim.

Wishes and wants were so much better because they covered both short and long term desires. The sims 4 is very much in the present. Occasionally it gives insight to the long term with wants to try for a baby or get married but I’ve found that unless you manipulate the lot with certain lot traits those whims are few and far between.

Whims are just awful. My commitment phobe sim should not be getting urges to have children or get married.