I like having goals to work towards when I play, so I like making and playing out challenges. I have countless word documents on my laptop with detailed lists of goals and story lines. I'm currently working on a super sim challenge where I've mapped out everything they'll need to accomplish such as aspirations, skills, careers, etc, and how and when they'll do that.
I usually play with aging off unless part of the challenge in to accomplish something in a short amount of time. I'll usually end up playing with a full household, and I'll have a goal in the back of my mind for each sim, even if they're not my main sim. I like to tell stories within my challenges, and take cues from the sims when developing those stories. I usually randomize traits unless specified for a challenge, and I'll keep those traits in mind while telling my stories. I use cheats sparingly unless I need them to tell a certain story.
I like playing with occults, mostly vampires and spellcasters, but I also have my fair share of normal sims as well. I don't usually play with premades unless I marry them into my family, and I've never really played rotationally, preferring to stick with a single household for each save. I also have a lot of saves, and when I get bored of one I'll jump over into another one. I do enjoy building and even have one save dedicated to rebuilding all the worlds (it's slow going).