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Should we have real fears back in The Sims?

I am talking proper fears. Not 'scared of being cheated on' but actual 'phobia' type fears.

I shall go first:

I am terrified of lofts especially if there is a water tank it it. I still think that a tank is a large monster waiting to eat me even at the age I am now.

Spiders do not bother me. I could hold a tarantula with no problem but going into a loft not matter how big or small then I have issues. It is not the darkness but the look of them. The wooden rafters, insulation, fiberglass on pipes and the noise of a water tank hissing away.
Something like this:

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There seems to be no trigger. Our loft had no water tank and was not that big. Where my parents live now used to be my Grandparents house and the loft is in the eaves. An original water tank was in there and I can still remember the sound it made even though it has not been connected since 2006. I decided that I did not like lofts more than 20 years ago for some reason and stuck to that fear for some reason.

..........................................

Now that is what I want in The Sims. I want Sims to fear something and then try to figure out why they fear it. I want them to shiver at the thought of facing their fears. That is what it should mean by 'deeper personalities' or whatever. I want a Sims game that causes the Sim so much fear that I fear the same as them as well.
Simbourne
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Comments

  • BabykittyjadeBabykittyjade Posts: 4,975 Member
    edited February 2020
    Having no fears is one of the biggest annoyances.
    My fear is spiders and dogs.
    I know someone who fears the dark and cannot sleep without a nightlight. I would love to have a sim like that, would add a lot to their personality.
    Imagine a sim afraid of dogs? I still go running when I see one. Been chased many times 😆😆😆

    There is so much opportunity here. It would even be nice for a way to overcome certain fears.
    And in general we need more scary things!!!! This game is so happy joy joy. No scary ghosts, no graveyards, the haunted house trait is not haunted. I would love more creepy things to add to their fears. Nothing extreme. But much more than we have now. That's the only thing that I find boring about this awesome game. Lack of fear and danger. Life Is about both and it's missing that balance. And as a story teller they are making it hard to work with.

    And gosh I pray they give Casper an upgrade. 😖
    Zombies, oh please oh please give us zombies!! :'(
  • SlusjuSlusju Posts: 3 New Member
    I wouldn't want actual phobias in the game but it could work as a mod. That way you could choose whether you want this feature in your game or not. I want the fears like in ts2 to return though
  • JoAnne65JoAnne65 Posts: 22,959 Member
    edited February 2020
    I'd like fears but on the other hand it would depend what they'd do with it. Like, yesterday my sim went to the toilet and his dog was in the same room and apparently the flushing freaked the dog out so he ran away. That was nice for as long as it lasted but I was glad it didn't last too long, because he had become uncontrollable. Too scared to be controlled (couldn't click away the icon). And some time later they were walking outside in a thunderstorm and again the dog freaked out and broke loose when lightning struck and he ran away. And ended up at the other end of town. I did like it, but again, it shouldn't last too long and maybe there should be a bit more to it.

    (this was Sims 3 by the way)
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  • AnthonydyerAnthonydyer Posts: 1,197 Member
    Maybe. I didn't mind the sims 2 system, but I found many of the fears in the game were ridiculous. For example fear of using the public toilet. I find the fear system in the sims 2 is overpowering in which the sims' aspirations will tank over trivial things.
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    I don't want them. i think they'd be too over the top like the sims afraid of thunder. however, if it was optional and we could give sims fears or not, I'd be happy for them to add them in.
  • LiELFLiELF Posts: 6,439 Member
    I am 110% with you, OP. I have been campaigning for a Fear emotion and proper fears and phobias for five years now. I've said this a bazillion times, but if you're going to make the main focus of the Sims be emotions, don't leave out a huge chunk of the emotional spectrum. We have an excess of positive emotions but something as basic as Fear is completely missing. How could this be overlooked?

    God. It still really burns my - I mean, HOW?!

    *Clutches fistfulls of hair, tries to calm down.*
    #Team Occult
  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    Provided they are implemented properly, yes. They are part of real life and part of TS2. There is no justifiable reason for them to be missing. Especially in a game version that is emotion centered.
  • king_of_simcity7king_of_simcity7 Posts: 25,102 Member
    Maybe. I didn't mind the sims 2 system, but I found many of the fears in the game were ridiculous. For example fear of using the public toilet. I find the fear system in the sims 2 is overpowering in which the sims' aspirations will tank over trivial things.

    Fear of using a public toilet might not be uncommon. When I was younger and under the age of 7 at least I was scared of urinals.

    I remember while staying in Devon in the 90s I tried to avoid them. I went back to the same areas many years later and they where still there but did not bother them. I am certain that one of them is these:

    old-fashioned-mens-ceramic-urinals-in-public-toilet-in-plymouth-uk-KGFT0X.jpg
    Simbourne
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  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    The emotions system is a huge flaw. It’s suited more for a MMORPG game rather than a life sim game - the “buffs” and all that. It affects only the Sim so trivially that if there’s something happening around them that is opposite of their trait, it’s completely ignored. Some moodlets are so overpowered that whatever happens, it doesn’t affect the Sim. Specifically the “happy” emotion.

    There is no “true fear” in The Sims 4.

    What makes the Wants & Fears system from The Sims 2 flawed, was because of the lack of traits. It’s centered mostly around what their chosen aspiration is, rather than their personality points.

    I still enjoy the negative traits that The Sims 3 offered which gave unique reactions and interactions between each Sim.

    I wouldn’t mind a reimplementation of an improved Wants & Fears system along with traits that are meaningful. I prefer this over a personality points system any day.
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  • king_of_simcity7king_of_simcity7 Posts: 25,102 Member
    @Hestia wrote: »
    The emotions system is a huge flaw. It’s suited more for a MMORPG game rather than a life sim game - the “buffs” and all that. It affects only the Sim so trivially that if there’s something happening around them that is opposite of their trait, it’s completely ignored. Some moodlets are so overpowered that whatever happens, it doesn’t affect the Sim. Specifically the “happy” emotion.

    There is no “true fear” in The Sims 4.

    What makes the Wants & Fears system from The Sims 2 flawed, was because of the lack of traits. It’s centered mostly around what their chosen aspiration is, rather than their personality points.

    I still enjoy the negative traits that The Sims 3 offered which gave unique reactions and interactions between each Sim.

    I wouldn’t mind a reimplementation of an improved Wants & Fears system along with traits that are meaningful. I prefer this over a personality points system any day.

    In TS3 if family orientated Sims witness cheating then they would get a 'witnessed betrayal' negative moodlet. I also like how evil Sims get a positive moodlet for being in the presence of an enemy :D
    Simbourne
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  • SintheaSinthea Posts: 29 Member
    I would love some fears but only if it's implemented with several options and levels of severity, perhaps in partner with a likes and dislikes system. I'm all for things that add depth to the game play but there has to be more neutral options for players who don't want it to affect their game in a major way.
    It's just one of those days...
    Remaking the Apocalypse Challenge
  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    @king_of_simcity7 The greatest thing for me about The Sims 3 is definitely the traits system and how much it affects gameplay + emotions. ❤️
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  • CinebarCinebar Posts: 33,618 Member
    edited February 2020
    I can't imagine how fears would work in TS4. Let's see, fear of using public toilet. Ok Sim uses toilet then laughs and talks to toilet and forgets about their fear? lol Fear of being turned down for a hug? Which Sim in TS4 will refuse a hug? None of them. Fear mother or father dies? ROFL, I don't think so, it will never happen. :( Fear they will be robbed? lol, no, they can't be robbed. Sorry for the sarcasim ;) but I don't think the core has the inner guts to make it work. Look what would happen because anything they could fear would never happen. :/

    How do I know they can't do it? Because in their university pack the Sims want/wish for things they can't even do at a dorm. They didn't even program that out while at dorm rooms. So, in my opinion sure they can add fears but the core doesn't have many things they would need and wouldn't even bother to make sure the programming had what they would need for a fear.
    "Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
  • SERVERFRASERVERFRA Posts: 7,108 Member
    I agree we need fears in the Sims 4.
  • CamkatCamkat Posts: 2,329 Member
    We do need fears for sure. However, as some have pointed out, what will they be afraid of exactly? Losing a job? I've never known a sim to be fired or demoted... I guess it could happen if I tried hard enough? (How backwards is that, I just show up to work enough and get promoted but have to actually try to be fired... no wonder some of the younger ones I work with seem to think they are just owed something for doing nothing...) *shudders*

    Back on topic! Thunder and storms I guess could be another. Certain types of pets. I had a friend who was terrified of my cat. These things to be afraid of are out of expansions though. To add fears it would also need a lot more focus on base game because not everyone has every pack. It should be cross pack compatible though. Death I guess could be another. I do struggle to find anything base game to be afraid of. It does bother me that the emotion system is so unfinished though and they really only focused on the sunshine and rainbows and not the other side of it. I think this could help with that, but then, they'd also have to allow us to have bad situations happen and sometimes surprise me with it. It also annoys me how I constantly have to fight my game to be anything but perfect.
    Origin ID: Peapod79
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,284 Member
    Yes. I want the ghosts to be ghosts again and not named Caspar, as in the Friendly Ghost, either. I am afraid of fish. It's an honest phobia. While I used to be able to body-surf in the ocean (grew up in Southern CA in a Beach Town), if I got far enough out that the water was over my head I'd start to panic. (Imagine someone stepping on your chest and you can't breathe.) I can swim just fine. And the more salt content in the water the more buoyant you are. But, the ocean belongs to the fish, that's their home. Whereas the land is my territory. I can outrun them easier than out-swim them, does that make sense?

    I was around age 5 when friends of my parents took me to Pacific Ocean Park, POP, as it was called. Think of Sea World. Near the entrance they had these large tanks where only the wall around the top was above ground. I was hanging on to the lip of said wall, and apparently almost fell into the tank. (I must have leaned in too far.) The fish in there looked like ordinary fish but they were really, really, REALLY big. I'm told they were Groupers. I was saved when one of the adults grabbed me by the bow on the back of my dress. I never hit the water. But, I have an innate fear of fish to this day. I'll be 65 soon, so that's a long time.

    I would enjoy real fears in the game. I am currently using a mod called Slice of Life. Sims go through a variety of moods, if you will and it's added a nice something to the game I didn't even realize was missing. Anything that augments would be helpful. I think it's sad that Sims can't get killed, randomly, more easily than they do. In Sims2, a Sim could be scared to death by a ghost. Mind you not always. But in Sims4 (and really it began in Sims3, part of what I call the dumbing down of the game) it takes twice for a Sim to be electrocuted. Once to be dazed, and then they have to continue on in that state in order to be electrocuted to death. Your Sim can be struck by lightning and just dazed and scorched. Were they to randomize it, since in RL not everyone who gets struck by lightning is killed, that would lend a bit of suspense to the game. My Sims are currently afraid of thunderstorms, but why? Where are the repercussions? This is a life-simulator, is it not? The first time a car came at one of my Sim kids riding their bike (Sims3) I panicked. The car literally just clipped through my Sim. It was still startling to see, but no repercussions from the action. The game it way too tame. I'm not into the whole violent blood and guts thing. I tried one mod but that was a bit much for me. I'm not desensitized, nor do I wish to be. But the lack of random deaths in my Sims3 game, drove me to experiment. I was willing to sacrifice Aaron the eldest Cantrell kid by having him try to fix the broken dishwasher. Normally speaking, I'd have a Sim mop up the water first, since everybody ought to know you don't stand in water while attempting to fix anything electrical. Didn't have an effect. No, instead, after my singer Sim moved out into his own place he was the first random death in my game! Poor Erik. He just wanted to fix his Jacuzzi — who mops their lawn? Standing in a puddle of water on the LAWN, he bought the big one.

    Given such scenarios, our Sims should be afraid to step outside of their houses, avoid stepping in puddles and a pregnant Sim should never, never, EVER take out the trash. Since our Sims can have first their lights and then their water cut off, if they don't pay their bill in a timely manner, perhaps they should fear that? Nothing worse than standing all sudsy and your very long hair full of shampoo when the water cuts off. :open_mouth:
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  • GardeningSimmerGardeningSimmer Posts: 41 Member
    I would love to see fears return to The Sims!
    They used to cause so much drama in my game, for example my sim would get into a relationship with another one, get engaged, only to find out the other's sims fear is marrying her. It made things really dramatic!
  • king_of_simcity7king_of_simcity7 Posts: 25,102 Member
    This should scare my Sims: :no_mouth:

    89710516_10157049174526497_2812985437491036160_o.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=e007fa&_nc_ohc=0tnvwNYcPcwAX-pAzQx&_nc_ht=scontent.flhr4-1.fna&oh=b59710590bcb0d0ec2d683718402c18c&oe=5E8FD046
    Simbourne
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