It really is hard to think of anything unique anymore with how many systems already exist in the game, but a few that I’d like to see:
Talents & Weaknesses—a hybrid of Lumpinou’s mod, The Sims 2: Freetime, and the ideas posed by NightwalkerArkanis and JustinB above.
In essence, there should be a random (or player-influenced) chance that your sim is either really good or really bad at certain skills. Not everyone is perfect (unless you want them to be).
As a talent:
Your sim gains the skill faster, produces better products/items/art, and can “overmax” the skill and gain additional benefits or enter “the zone” where their need decay slows down significantly while doing that skill so they can focus on it.
As a weakness:
Your sim gains the skill slower, produces worse quality items more often, and will have a hard cap on the level they can reach in that skill.
This allows for telling unexpected or really dynamic stories, like the sim who loves to sing but will never be good at it no matter how much they practice. Or the sim who is just strangely good at painting, and nothing else.
