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Do you enjoy "LONG" lifespan?

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  • mustenimusteni Posts: 5,403 Member
    I just switched from normal to long. I've switched back and forth before because normal is a little bit too fast for me but long is just too long. On normal I like the challenge and also that not every sim ends up with maxed skills or completed aspirations. I'm trying out long now because I have some complicated story lines, political groups etc. in my rotational save and normal really doesn't allow me the time to play those thorugh. I prefer to play without mods but also really wish there was a life span that felt right for me.
  • Stina1701AStina1701A Posts: 1,183 Member
    Yes. I play on long, with 28 days per season along with aging off EXCEPT in household I currently play in. I also rotate between over 20 household. Things are going very slow, but I like slow.

    I also make good use of manual aging whenever I feel the need to or when I feel things go too slow. For instance, all the toddlers that share the 1st rotational cicle will be aged up after I finish up with this rotational cicle. Next cicle they will grow up. I also have at least 4 Sims in YA stage that I will age up before their birthday.
  • orkhid22orkhid22 Posts: 2,226 Member
    keenow wrote: »
    I play legacy with aging set on "long". I absolutely love it. There's no going back. I can't go back to normal because the game feels too rushed. Sometimes (rarely actually) I'll feel their lives are *too* long if I'm not super into that generation, but usually I have tons of random parties for fun, get togethers, vacations, skill building days, etc. I typically manage to fill up their lives very well.

    I will say, if you play on "long" lifespan. The biggest "adjustment" is to have your sim keep friends as well. I think people who focus on "normal" are so rushed they just focus on their sims' lifelong partner and career only, but as someone who plays on "long" my sims have best friends, cousins, and exes that are usually thrown into the mix, too.

    I agree. Long allows you to focus on friendships and socializing with extended family. I frequently have child sims create clubs with their cousins. I send adult siblings to each other houses so they can meet their nieces and nephews and form relationships with them. So they help their nieces and nephews skill up, read them to sleep. I've even pulled off sleepovers with toddlers.

    By focusing on relationships outside of the home it keeps from getting bored.
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    I use long life span as I like the Sims I have now. I even sometimes slow it down more by setting them to not age but then it gets a bit boring as there is no progress to be made. Normal feels too short.
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    I also do the 28 day seasons.
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,294 Member
    I play on Long and I love it. Like you said, 'normal' length is too short to accomplish much. By playing on Long, I get to control things. (I should say I really loved Epic in Sims3, using those sliders to my advantage.) Since we don't have that or sliders, per se, I do the next best thing (for me). I age up my Sims when I'm ready for them to go onto the next life stage. So far, it's been great. My Global Superstar began singing as a child and continued on as a teen. He maxed out the singing skill so that once GF was released he began his career. I even had him quit school to pursue his dream full-time. He achieved his fifth star just after he became a YA, which was determined by the game (for a change). He's now just under halfway to adult and still looking for that right female to settle down with.
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  • duhboy2u2duhboy2u2 Posts: 3,290 Member
    edited January 2019
    I don't enjoy the long life span at all to be honest. I've only ever had one sim family that I felt the desire to keep around longer and for them, I increased to long life span then found myself increasingly bored playing them. For me, part of the joy of meeting my sims is seeing the new generations thrive and grow and I'm impatient so I play on short mostly, and when I'm doing rotational play, I play on normal lifespan but rarely (1 time ever) do I use long lifespan.
    Loving yourself is the most simple and complicated thing you can do for you.
  • PegasysPegasys Posts: 1,135 Member
    I get bored on Long. Normal can be rather short, but if I'm not playing a challenge that forbids age extension, my sims purchase Potions of Youth so they will have more time. I prefer that option, it gives more of a purpose to fulfilling whims as well.
  • ShadyLady89ShadyLady89 Posts: 908 Member
    I play on long. Sometimes I even use the age potion to keep sims a certain age on the long lifespan because I'm still not ready to let them go. I've not yet gotten passed the second generation as teens (mostly cause I'm waiting for a Uni GP/EP). I have like 85 different households though, so when I'm bored with one I switch to another. That's what keeps it interesting to me.
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  • PninaSimmerPninaSimmer Posts: 371 Member
    No I don't. It is way too long and I feel you can do everything you need to do before they age to Adult.

    I just set it to normal now, and turn off aging for everyone (played and unplayed) till I am ready to turn it back on :D I don't want the main characters to age when mine don't. Gotta keep the clubbers from aging (love Marcus and Candy)!

    I do this as well. Works for me.
  • ohSnapohSnap Posts: 66 Member
    I've just started playing legacy households. Before this, I've always had aging off. I thought I'd like long lifespans the most, since I'm used to them having lots of time to do whatever it is I'm trying to achieve, but actually I find that it doesn't move on fast enough... I get impatient waiting for the next life stage. So now I'm using normal. It might be a liiitle bit too short for my liking, but I think it'll suit me better.
  • JennyNoelleJennyNoelle Posts: 22 Member
    I usually just turn aging off for my sims, and then age them up when I feel like it's the right time to do so.
  • whimreaperwhimreaper Posts: 361 Member
    I always use long lifespan. "Normal" is far too short, as you described. While I agree with some others that it's almost too long, I simply age up all my sims early with a cake and work around it easily.
  • VentusMattVentusMatt Posts: 1,028 Member
    edited January 2019
    I use a custom aging as I find the default unrealistic but overall it's a semi long being 160+ days in total. Double the span of normal but half the time of long. Gives enough time to take my time and not rush my sims lives and actually have them make friends, go out, and have family moments but short enough that I don't go crazy from unneeded freetime. I mean I taking my time but I still need to feel some pressure to complete their goal in life.
  • gothprincess4evergothprincess4ever Posts: 2,130 Member
    I almost never play on the Long Lifespan because I get bored too easily and I want to see the generations moving before I switch off to a new family. However, there are many times when the Normal Lifespan seems a bit too short, especially with the newish addition of the Calendar and the seasons. Playing rotationally helps you deal with story progression and ideas.
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    I never let anyone die of old age, but I do want at least a bit of a challenge keeping my sims young, and I also want children to age up. (Well, mostly... I have one that is cursed to stay a little girl forever.) So instead of disabling aging completely, I play with the long lifespan, and as soon as a sim has reached the age I want them to be, I use life elixirs and other means to keep them there.

    The only life stage I age up prematurely is toddlers. Once they have maxed all their skills, there is little else I can do to prepare them for what is to come, and that's usually the time I get tired of them anyway. I mean, seriously... What are you supposed to do with a toddler for 30 days?
  • Dylan_BoiiDylan_Boii Posts: 3 New Member
    I feel like normal lifespan is much too short, but it really depends on how I'm playing. If I'm trying to grow my family and create a big family tree, I use long lifespan. If I make a couple of sims, and try to keep playing with just those sims and not procreate, I turn off aging completely.
  • invisiblgirlinvisiblgirl Posts: 1,709 Member
    Always normal. Since I'm playing a legacy family, I'm eager to get to the next generation.

    The toddler normal span is just enough - my toddlers always get to '5' in all their skills just before aging up. After that, there isn't much for them to do. My kids finish three of the four aspirations and max out all of the kid skills within a couple of days of aging up. The teen stage is much too long - there isn't enough for them to do, and once they get to max responsibility and manners and have an 'A' in school, I've been aging them up. That way, I can do some things without worrying about homework and school attendance, like taking vacations. I really wish we had home-schooling in the game - it would allow us to do so much more with our kids and teens.

    If I've got a Sim with a particular thing to achieve before aging up, I'll turn aging off. I'm thinking I might do this with my current kid - she's just about to age up, but I've never tried scouting (because homework plus aspiration requirements left no time for anything else).
    I just want things to match. :'(
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    edited January 2019
    @invisiblgirl Don't worry about it with your kid aging up, teenagers can still be scouts. ;) (Unless you're planning some other job or drama club for her teenage years - then maybe not, I haven't tried combining scouting with one of the paid jobs.)
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    I agree. I homeschool my own daughter, wish I could my sims haha. One of mine has about 12 days left on long to age up to a teen. She's got all a's for ages and we are just working on getting the last 3 scout badges before then, after that I'll give her something else to do as a teen.
  • bshag4lvbshag4lv Posts: 9,374 Member
    I have always played on long lifespan as the others are just too short. In Sims 3, I had the lifespan on epic and wish Sims 4 had the same. I don't even let my sims get married until they're well into adult stage and only then will I have them start building a family. I find it works out better that way. Young adult is for partying, skilling, developing their careers, dating, traveling all sorts of things you don't get to do a lot of when you have toddlers and kids.

    I'm just now getting into families, been a single/couple type player for many years but now I've figured out leave it on long lifespan and if I'm still not done with my sims I have them use the youth potion which gives me a lot more time.

    I love my long lifespan. :)
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  • izecsonizecson Posts: 2,875 Member
    No, because it's too long, playing toddler with long life span would be a nightmare I would say. Normal is just too short so I tweak some with MCC and it's kinda in the middle.
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  • Francl27Francl27 Posts: 761 Member
    I don't like playing with aging off because I want my Sims to grow up at the same time as their school friends etc... Really wish we could decide how long we want each lifestage to be.
  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    I use long lifespan and really enjoy it. But what I do is age up the Sims when I feel like I'm ready to move on to the next stage -- for toddlers it's when they hit either level 3 or 5 on the skills (depending on which reward traits I want), for children when they've finished at least two aspirations, and teens when they've either finished an aspiration or gotten as far as they can without being an adult (I try not to pick the aspirations that require adulthood for my teens). Often the teen aspiration will depend on what I've got planned for their career, so future painters get the painting aspiration, future athletes get the athletic one, etc. -- that way they've got skills for their future career. YAs and up normally get pretty well into their age stages before I age them up.

    I also have the settings for townies to age up normally but for played households only the current household, but I'm currently playing with aging off because I'm making a Sim to run a photo studio and art gallery, so I'm working on those skills -- I'm also doing the City Native aspiration because I've never finished that one and it takes a while because of having to do stuff at all the festivals and with Seasons I never know if one's going to be rained out. I may end up having to cheat money for him to build the gallery/studio when he gets to that point, then I'll leave him in my played households but not touch him so he'll live forever and the gallery will be open for my other Sims to visit. May do the same thing to build a clothing shop in DSV or maybe just cheat that Sim the necessary skills and money (I'd like to have access to all the new outfits that came with the Stylist career so maybe I'll just download a Sim from the Gallery that has them.)
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  • Pamtastic72Pamtastic72 Posts: 4,545 Member
    It depends on what I'm doing. If it's a main family save or a rotation save, I use long with 28 day seasons because it feels more real an immersive. But, if it's a challenge that requires a normal life span I use it because that's what makes it challenging. Trying to meet all the goals in a condensed time. In my legacy challenge however I compromised. I left all the normal lifespan lengths alone except adult which I doubled with MCCC. This seems more real to me. Childhood through YA are generally in real life pretty short, but adulthood lasts awhile, and elder also doesn't last very long on average. It just feels like a good sweet spot for this particular save.
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