Hello, thank you for hosting this and listening to us.
What I want from the Sims is much more complex, detailed, and individualized personalities and relationships. I want each sim to have their own unique psychology that alters how they react and interact with events, each other, and the world around them.
Lifestyles and sentiments were a great addition and part of what got me back into playing recently (the other was cottage living). Likes and Dislikes were great too. I think there are still gaps and missed opportunities that can be improved by at least doubling the number of personality traits and continuing to improve the existing ones.
Many times when I've recreated non-sim characters in the sims, I'll find one or two traits that really match with their personality, and then be at a loss when picking the others. Not because I don't have a good idea of who they are, but because there just aren't any traits that fit. I didn't have that problem with TS3.
For example, I have a character who is kind, actively generous, peaceful, and rarely lets her emotions show or get the better of her, except for when she cries at weddings. She's mentally tough and not at all squeamish. She sometimes feels tempted to be selfish or evil, which she hides out of shame.
TS4 traits that correspond with that are: Good. Just Good. (And Compassionate, but that's a Parenthood character value)
I wasn't sold on the three CAS trait limit when the game came out and I have to say it's still not working for me. Especially because we have traits that don't affect personality (like animal lover or vegetarian). Right now they're just taking up a slot from that would otherwise make the sim feel more like an individual. Maybe there could be a separate category for CAS traits like that? I wholly approved of the update that added a separate category for lot challenges—limited benefits; unlimited challenges, each with visible changes.
Someone once said they play the sims like it's partially an RPG, and I'd never thought of it like that, but it really makes sense to me (when it comes to working towards goals like reaching the top of a career). Some RPGs will let you choose character modifiers that increase difficulty or alter gameplay in a meaningful way (e.g. you get a permanent -10% to perception unless you wear glasses, which now give you +20% perception).
I think there should be challenges that range in difficulty from casual to something that takes time strategy. FFXIV comes to mind; what you can choose to do in that game that range in difficulty from casual minigames to dungeons that take months of preparation and practice to complete, and it's all optional. It's the same game, but everyone picks their level of difficulty by the content they gravitate towards.
Completing TS2 lifetime goal felt like an accomplishment, but in TS4 they're so simple they don't interest me much. I also miss TS3 opportunities, I feel the only thing really driving the gameplay/story forward in TS4 is my own imagination (which should be a big part, but not the only part).
(It's kind of the middle of the night for me so I'm going back to bed now lol)
Community Manager
