I don't really play Sims to have a challenge in the difficulty field. For me there needs to be a good balance between the game aspect and the storytelling aspect. It must be a game for sure and I don't want things to become too easy or fast, but when it becomes too much of a time management thing, dictating what I really should do next or my sim will die or be miserable, that's when I lose interest. I like challenges but I have to be allowed to fulfill them any time I want to and as fast or slow as I want to. Or not at all and when I don't fulfill them, that should be fun too. Like, I've always regretted there is no actual gameplay attached to a sim that fails in school or university. No real consequences.