I play rotationally, but most of my households consist of families. Even if they're single at that moment, they will most likely eventually end up with someone and have a family.
Sometimes these families are broken or don't stay together, but for the most part they are big happy families.
I do a rotational play, so I play families, singles, roommates, I even have a couple with servants that I have added to the household, so they are playable.
I usually start out with a single Sim or couple. They eventually have a family but I hardly ever play a family all the way through the teen years. Since uni came out I start with a teen so they can join scouts and get an A in high school before they go to uni, meet someone and have a family. I love toddlers but it becomes uninteresting with kids and I can't stand the teen mood swings. Yeah, parenthood kind of ruined kids and teens for me. Kids are repetitive. We need some new aspirations for them and would love a way to opt out of the parenthood system like we can for fame. Yeah, I play with families but quickly opt for a new household because it's boring with kids and teens.
I play families pretty much exclusively because I like playing legacy challenges. I like exploring genetics etc (I just find it satisfying for some reason)
Same! I almost exclusively play families. I've done two legacy challenges but even when I don't it's just more fun to play with families and genetics.
I have to play with families, otherwise the game is mind-numbingly boring. With a single sim, the laundry basket takes forever to fill, I cook one 8-serving meal once a week, nothing gets dirty, and my sim just stands there in the living room questioning their existence.
All my houses have multiple children, and I usually turn aging off so I can enjoy the toddler stage longer.
I don't play families anymore. I tried it a few times though.
A couple of years ago I set up a test save that I still use to create family households to replace or fix the families that the game generates. When I first set up this save, I played each family long enough to get each member a few basic skills like cooking, charisma, comedy, and handiness, plus whatever skill they needed for their aspiration or career. They drove me nuts.
I found that things like work tasks and homework took almost three times as long to get done. Parents would constantly interrupt each other to chat, flirt, hug, flirt some more, tell a joke, and flirt again. When the parents weren't pestering each other then they were pestering the kids. A kid or teen would take several hours to get homework done because mom or dad or siblings would interrupt them to hug or chat. It was constant. Now I only play that save with autonomy off and only long enough to use MCC to cheat their skills up to level 2 or 3 so I don't have to deal with family nonsense anymore.
While playing those families I found out that there are very few activities for teens and kids. About all teens can do is socialize which they don't seem to have much fun doing unless it involves romance or mischief. Maybe that's why there are festivals geared toward those two things. If that's the case, then why are those festivals over-populated by adult married couples and San Myshuno weirdoes? Where are the Young Adults and Teens?
Children have very little to do except socialize, of course. They can paint on a kid's table, play a kid's violin, use a kid's science table, and talk to stuffed toys. But they can't harvest or water a plant?
I tried a family with toddlers a grand total of one time. Nasty business. I'll never do that again. The toddlers were cute though.
So, no. I don't actually play families anymore because they're too nerve-wracking for me.
It's mostly a Yes from me because I enjoy family play and that is an essential part of a life simulation game. It's also a No because there's barely any family play/activities in The Sims 4. The lack of CAS choices for toddlers and children is disheartening. Toddlers are fantastic in The Sims 4 and I actually much prefer this version over the rest. Although, they seem a bit too independent and that drives me to have the need for an "infant" life stage of dependency (After newborn and before toddler).
I play them about as much as I play other household types, don't know if that is considered "often". My main focus is on roommates though, I get bored by single sims pretty quickly.
To give you an idea what my gameplay is like, I move sims around very liberally. Like drafting an expedition from several households and then playing the (T), YA, A and E expedition members household for a few weeks. Many of them will have families that they'll leave behind for the duration of their assignment (and who will give my active household calls to stay in contact ). Families definitely add to my immersion, without them my game would be neither believeable nor satisfying.
I predominantly play families. Nuclear families, single parent, and grandparents raising their teenage granddaughter. I have a couple of single Sims I play, but the families are more fun to play.
The only single and childless sims I play are occults, and even then only sometimes. Most of my sims are in 4-6 sim households with multiple generations.
I love my families! But I love my singles too. I have everything from single young adults to elderly married couples to giant groups of eight unrelated Sims sharing a household to siblings living together to best friends sharing a house, etc.
I play all the premade families in game with all the packs installed and a few of my own making as well. I love them all. I find bigger families to be more fun as they keep be busy and I very much enjoy seeing them interact with one another. I would love to see more things for all the other age groups that aren't young adult and adult and I would love for babies to be improved and upgraded to actual sims, not just objects.
I prefer playing as a single woman. I motherlode her and give her the best Sims life has to offer because why not? I almost never play with men - the women are cuter and more fun and easier to dress. I only have one single family in 4 now that I will occasionally play, and I adore them. Other than that, families are too much for me.
Tbh, I mostly play with single fsims, but have tried family play multiple times. Unfortunately, everything is so samey & boring that I've only once managed to stick with a family from baby to almost teen stage. CAS & BB are also challenging to manage (and not in a good way).
With every pack (excl parenthood & kids room stuff), toddlers-teens seem to be ignored, and it's so sad because there are many opportunities the devs could use to create some family gameplay . Supernatural family players (like me) are imo the worst off, as even with all the supernatural content, toddlers/kids are ignored for gameplay, and even CAS - the biggest reason why I haven't bought ROM yet!
I use this trick when I get tired of families - I move out the members that I'm tired of for a while, and put them back in when I feel ready. Aging off, of course.
Origin ID: Nindigo79
A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear
Time enjoyed is never time wasted
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Sometimes these families are broken or don't stay together, but for the most part they are big happy families.
Same! I almost exclusively play families. I've done two legacy challenges but even when I don't it's just more fun to play with families and genetics.
All my houses have multiple children, and I usually turn aging off so I can enjoy the toddler stage longer.
A couple of years ago I set up a test save that I still use to create family households to replace or fix the families that the game generates. When I first set up this save, I played each family long enough to get each member a few basic skills like cooking, charisma, comedy, and handiness, plus whatever skill they needed for their aspiration or career. They drove me nuts.
I found that things like work tasks and homework took almost three times as long to get done. Parents would constantly interrupt each other to chat, flirt, hug, flirt some more, tell a joke, and flirt again. When the parents weren't pestering each other then they were pestering the kids. A kid or teen would take several hours to get homework done because mom or dad or siblings would interrupt them to hug or chat. It was constant. Now I only play that save with autonomy off and only long enough to use MCC to cheat their skills up to level 2 or 3 so I don't have to deal with family nonsense anymore.
While playing those families I found out that there are very few activities for teens and kids. About all teens can do is socialize which they don't seem to have much fun doing unless it involves romance or mischief. Maybe that's why there are festivals geared toward those two things. If that's the case, then why are those festivals over-populated by adult married couples and San Myshuno weirdoes? Where are the Young Adults and Teens?
Children have very little to do except socialize, of course. They can paint on a kid's table, play a kid's violin, use a kid's science table, and talk to stuffed toys. But they can't harvest or water a plant?
I tried a family with toddlers a grand total of one time. Nasty business. I'll never do that again. The toddlers were cute though.
So, no. I don't actually play families anymore because they're too nerve-wracking for me.
To give you an idea what my gameplay is like, I move sims around very liberally. Like drafting an expedition from several households and then playing the (T), YA, A and E expedition members household for a few weeks. Many of them will have families that they'll leave behind for the duration of their assignment (and who will give my active household calls to stay in contact
With every pack (excl parenthood & kids room stuff), toddlers-teens seem to be ignored, and it's so sad because there are many opportunities the devs could use to create some family gameplay . Supernatural family players (like me) are imo the worst off, as even with all the supernatural content, toddlers/kids are ignored for gameplay, and even CAS - the biggest reason why I haven't bought ROM yet!
A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear
Time enjoyed is never time wasted