I recall ts3 fame to be gained easily when i played with it long ago which caused me to turn it off. I dont know if they have changed something later since i cannot pinpoint when was it that i tried it, but i have played with it recently after a long time and it is such a grind to achieve 5 stars, i have considered to just drop that save because it was getting frustrating. It could be because i was using opportunities to advance and those might raise it slower than networking? anyway, Sims 4 fame does not feel as grindy to me so far in comparison and also seems easier to be more versatile and thus more fun, but like it was stated by another user, it had a whole dedicated pack so it benefited from that. Overall, i think it is well made so my vote goes to it but i have to state that i have not played sims 1 so i cannot give an opinion on how its fame system ranks.
