Whims... A thing of the past?

No. I like them, they are just not well implemented in TS4 specifically. I love the concept since TS2.

I agree that many of the whims feel random and change too easily based on mood. I especially find it annoying when my sim (a retail owner) constantly has whims to go hang out with one of her customers. I think whims would be better if they operated more like in TS3, where they would appear, and you could decide on 4 to work towards. I especially think it was more satisfying when baby-themed whims appeared for pregnant sims and mid life crises made it so you either had to ignore all or pursue all related whims. However, I do think whims are an essential part of the game and the rewards, for me, are worth the frustration. There are some that are actually interesting for developing gameplay, but it would be nice if they didn't shift so often or seem really out of character for a sim.

P.S. My username has nothing with whims in TS4 (although it's a funny coincidence). I picked it a long time ago as my Steam username.

Conceptually, I like whims. The problem is there aren't enough of them and they often don't make sense.

Yes. Whims have always been fairly generic and there’s no significant benefit to fulfilling them. Aside from reward perks they do not integrate into the game very much. Sims 3’s wishes aren’t much better in that regard.

Eh, they're not that important but I leave them up and use them to grab reward points when I get the chance. I use rewards all the time.

I'm still a fan of whims as an extra way to move my sims along. Obvs there are some issues, but I just ignore the whims I don't want to carry out. Really, if they all made perfect sense for each sim's traits and lives, it would take some of the fun out of it for me.

It took me a good 30 minutes to realize that they were off when I played again! I just wish they were well implemented in the game...

Oh I never knew they came with the patch/new pack. I got so confused. I took out my mods and cc and tried to find a fault lol I definitely missed them. i don't always follow them but it gives a little challenge.
but I wish the rewards were something that fadedover time so you'd have to keep completing whims to earn the rewards again. i love a challenge and goal oriented gameplay.

Whims are kinda meh for me especially for someone who has played with the same sims since release. It gets repetitive since some of the whims are based off the traits of the sims. And you only get satisfaction points from it.
I think if the whims were more like the fears and wishes in TS2, it will be more interesting cuz the fears can have an impact on your sim and maybe affect their mood, etc.

I like that they're hidden now, never even used them.