I, too, am a hopeless romantic. I also play according to my RL Values. I have two game saves at this time, both of which I have restarted not a few times. Sometimes, it's just that something went wayward. Other times, it's because I want to take full advantage of the GP or EP that was just released. For instance when Parenthood came out, I KNEW I had to restart. I wanted my characters in this rotation save, to have those values. I have played the Sims franchise since 2005 starting with Sims2. I moved on to Sims3 and finally Sims4. In all of these ensuing years I can count on one hand the number of divorces in my game. The first one was I caught the Dad making improper and inappropriate advances with the live-in Nanny I'd created. So, I thought, this is a bad thing. Wife isn't going to put up with that for a minute. Then it occurred to me I could use this scenario to see how divorce is handled in the game. The five children cried for days and days. I'm a woman with a very strong maternal instinct and this broke my heart.
The other time a divorce entered the arena was in Sims3. My singer Sim (after several thwarted engagements) finally got married. His new wife conceived on their wedding night, but obviously this Sim wasn't cut out to be a mother. She clearly wasn't ready, that much is certain. She kept taking the newborn outside at night, leaving him on the lawn in the POURING rain. This she did autonomously, too. (No, it wasn't a routing issue, nor did she have a trait that would make her behave in such an insidious manner.) She had NO excuse for it. Luckily, my singer finished his gig and rushed home to rescue his little son. I had the parents argue, as that's surely a very normal, natural response to a situation such as this. What I wasn't prepared for was the Sim did it again. Of course, her new husband was a mega star by then playing huge venues and very popular. Perhaps, since this was another night he had to go perform, she was resentful of his absences? I can only surmise that or she was miffed beyond all reason that her career was interrupted by baby Nicholas. Who knows? I only know she did it again! Left that infant out on the front lawn, at night, in the pouring rain.
I paused for a bit to think about what I should do. I play my values. Could I sit at my desk and allow such child abuse? Even if it's only pixels? No, I could not. So, I had my singer forgo his usual after gig visit to the local lounge for some juice and dancing and come directly home. Once he'd put his son safely in his crib, the fireworks broke out between him and his wife. I was a tad shocked to see the 'break up' interaction in the menu. They must not have healed their relationship from the prior event. I only hesitated for a moment. I hit break up and then immediately went into Edit Town to place her in her own apartment. I wasn't about to allow her to move out with the baby.
I have brought this singer Sim (one I created myself) into Sims4. With the help of a mod, Road to Fame by Sacrificial, I do hope to be able to recreate his meteoric rise to fame.
So, yes, I play happy, large families. Over, and over, and over again. :)
