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I don't want to have to do as I am told.

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  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    In Sims 2 i always had balanced sims because that was what i wanted. I'ld play as I want, then complete a couple of wants, then i would complete a fear, yeah i completed fears once in a while, cause people can't always avoid their fears... and i rarely had a platinum or a depressed sim...
  • mustenimusteni Posts: 5,405 Member
    texxx78 wrote: »
    In Sims 2 i always had balanced sims because that was what i wanted. I'ld play as I want, then complete a couple of wants, then i would complete a fear, yeah i completed fears once in a while, cause people can't always avoid their fears... and i rarely had a platinum or a depressed sim...

    I also preferred having balanced sims. The platinum mood and especially the permanent platinum mood you received from completing lifetime goal was too much for me. I often found myself playing against the game to keep my sims normal. I enjoyed wants and fears, but not how the platinum mood worked.
  • mercuryfoammercuryfoam Posts: 1,156 Member
    I play sims both as a gamer and storyteller since sims 1. I literally bought every single pack up until sims 4 and consider myself a collector until kits came out. :joy: Still have sims 1 and 2 installed alongside sims 4 on my pc. (and Civ VI etc.)

    I agree that earlier versions are much more needs-driven. Sims 3/4 are much easier to maintain and I can divert my focus to more stimulating dialogue and drama without micromanaging or use cheats. Awesome for 8-sim households.

    On the subject of ts2 aspirations, you actually have a lot of control in influencing its direction. The game rolls Wants and Fears based on your decision. If you speak to Mortimer a lot, you'll get a 'Befriend Mortimer for 3000 points'. If you read a cook book, you'll get 'increase cooking skill - 1000 points.' I personally felt that I was in control of the sim's desires than the game making me jump through hoops. I love it when I influence a sim to the point that they roll the aspiration I intended for them. ('Set Romance as simxxx's aspiration.' Yep! Otherwise, ignore and it'll disappear.)

    Another thing that makes Ts2's hoops worth it is it's memory system. So you've gained 8,500 aspiration points for a mega life moment. It's not the end of story because your sim remembers them! Accessing the sim's memories and reading how you've helped craft this sims journey all the way to the next generation, their first kiss, bffs, first love, break up and marriage is incredibly rewarding. You feel a strong sense of achievement, which is what games provide.

    Conversely, Ts4 is more like a sandbox/dollhouse than a game. Everything is predictable and too dependent on players to make connections to feel any sense of purposeful direction. I.e. Ts4 has Whims, Aspiration, Traits, Emotions and Sentiments systems, but they do not communicate well if at all with each other. Packs break each other. The latest dust kit introduces dust, but brooms in the magic pack cannot be used to sweep them up. Ts2's game system collaborate with players to make sims feel like a game. Ts4's systems lack communication and become predictable, so simmers who like challenge and novelty will be underwhelmed by the repetitiveness in each sim.

    I'm excited for trait improvements. Hopefully it makes traits connect better with the other systems we have. Now that's something Ts4 needs! Expanding deeper, not wider.

  • haisinhaisin Posts: 948 Member
    I don't know. I played TS2 for years and then had a break and when I returned to it I didn't want to jump through the hoops anymore. I had done quite many of them and it started to be repetitive, I guess. So I started to ignore them more and make my own interpretations and I didn't like some of the forced reactions sims had.

    Then a couple of years ago when I started playing TS4 it was easy to adapt to the dollhouse gameplay and I quite liked it. Finally I didn't have to fight with the system that much! Well that was until I learnt the new system and its own shortcomings :D

    I guess it's hard to find balance, but I do prefer TS4 and being able to better tell my own stories and decide how my sims should react, though I'd like to see for example a bit more independet reactions and actions based on their traits.
  • foxybillyfoxybilly Posts: 231 Member
    It sounds like I would hate Sims 2, my first game was Sims 3, and I loved it, I prefer the dollhouse type game I dont want traits or whims, my sims do what I make them do and thats it. I use the same traits for each sim cheerful, self assured and outgoing, their main goal is money, and it doesn't matter if they reach their goal or not. I dont use cheats or CC either
  • Sunflowergal227Sunflowergal227 Posts: 305 Member
    So i have played the sims 2, and the sims 3. My favorite will always be the sims 2, because of the motivation and reactions of other sims. For instance, an aunt of my sim heard that their child got an A+- they will send 1,000 to the child/teen with the A+. It is also rewarding to make memories for the sims. For instance, they will always remember that their child got taken away. They will always remember their marriage, even their failed kiss! I also like when sims build their skills and reach their goals in their life.
    However, i like the sims 4 in the sense that it does involve some of the things that i mentioned, however it may not affect them as much. For instance, in my first time i played i had a rejected kiss. The sim felt funny afterwards, but however, after a day or two the bad emotion was gone and was able to marry the couple. it is good, but it is also bad in the sense that they don't remember the horrible event.
    Favorite EP/SP
    Sims 2 (All EPs/SPs)
    Sims 3 Showtime
    Sims 3 Generations
    My Sims 3 profile page: https://mypage.thesims3.com/mypage/Sunflowergal227
  • MarinuttonenMarinuttonen Posts: 165 Member
    wickichick wrote: »
    We have people who are not mentally healthy. I avoid them like the plague in real life but in a virtual world it is harder.


    I'm sorry I could not take anything you said seriously after I read this bit, wow, just wow.
    Where are the pet bunnies, Sims 4 ?! :'(
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,953 Member
    The Wants/Fears in TS2 felt very inflexible to me. In Sims 4, you can easily X out a whim if you don't care for it or change their aspiration without cheats. In Sims 2, the fears you roll are the ones your Sim has even if they don't fit your conception of your Sim and they can't be removed. I just wish that the whims in TS4 were less random. I think TS3 had a good balance.
  • NationalPokedexNationalPokedex Posts: 829 Member
    edited March 2021
    haneul wrote: »
    The Wants/Fears in TS2 felt very inflexible to me. In Sims 4, you can easily X out a whim if you don't care for it or change their aspiration without cheats. In Sims 2, the fears you roll are the ones your Sim has even if they don't fit your conception of your Sim and they can't be removed. I just wish that the whims in TS4 were less random. I think TS3 had a good balance.

    Wants/Fears go away though. They’re not permanent. They are not as random as Whims, in my opinion. They are linked to the Sims personality and environment and life experience thus far.

    Aspirations in TS2 were changeable, just not as easy as in TS4. In TS2, there is gameplay involved to achieve the change. In TS4, there is not gameplay involved to change them.

    I don’t see either of these as inflexible. The first, to me, is not inflexible at all. The second is just asking the player to put in more effort to achieve the goal they want as compared to TS4 (which requires no effort).
    Post edited by NationalPokedex on
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,953 Member
    haneul wrote: »
    The Wants/Fears in TS2 felt very inflexible to me. In Sims 4, you can easily X out a whim if you don't care for it or change their aspiration without cheats. In Sims 2, the fears you roll are the ones your Sim has even if they don't fit your conception of your Sim and they can't be removed. I just wish that the whims in TS4 were less random. I think TS3 had a good balance.

    Wants/Fears go away though. They’re not permanent. They are not as random as Whims, in my opinion. They are linked to the Sims personality and environment and life experience thus far.

    Aspirations in TS2 were changeable, just not as easy as in TS4. In TS2, there is gameplay involved to achieve the change. In TS4, there is not gameplay involved to change them.

    I don’t see either of these as inflexible. The first, to me, is not inflexible at all. The second is just asking the player to put in more effort to achieve the goal they want as compared to TS4.

    My problem wasn't with how long Wants/Fears lasted, but just that they were immersion breaking and couldn't be clicked away if I thought they didn't fit my Sim. I had to play in a certain way to avoid triggering them, even when they were ridiculous for my Sim.
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    haneul wrote: »
    haneul wrote: »
    The Wants/Fears in TS2 felt very inflexible to me. In Sims 4, you can easily X out a whim if you don't care for it or change their aspiration without cheats. In Sims 2, the fears you roll are the ones your Sim has even if they don't fit your conception of your Sim and they can't be removed. I just wish that the whims in TS4 were less random. I think TS3 had a good balance.

    Wants/Fears go away though. They’re not permanent. They are not as random as Whims, in my opinion. They are linked to the Sims personality and environment and life experience thus far.

    Aspirations in TS2 were changeable, just not as easy as in TS4. In TS2, there is gameplay involved to achieve the change. In TS4, there is not gameplay involved to change them.

    I don’t see either of these as inflexible. The first, to me, is not inflexible at all. The second is just asking the player to put in more effort to achieve the goal they want as compared to TS4.

    My problem wasn't with how long Wants/Fears lasted, but just that they were immersion breaking and couldn't be clicked away if I thought they didn't fit my Sim. I had to play in a certain way to avoid triggering them, even when they were ridiculous for my Sim.

    @haneul But that's not an issue with the concept of wants and fear but their execution.
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • haneulhaneul Posts: 1,953 Member
    haneul wrote: »
    haneul wrote: »
    The Wants/Fears in TS2 felt very inflexible to me. In Sims 4, you can easily X out a whim if you don't care for it or change their aspiration without cheats. In Sims 2, the fears you roll are the ones your Sim has even if they don't fit your conception of your Sim and they can't be removed. I just wish that the whims in TS4 were less random. I think TS3 had a good balance.

    Wants/Fears go away though. They’re not permanent. They are not as random as Whims, in my opinion. They are linked to the Sims personality and environment and life experience thus far.

    Aspirations in TS2 were changeable, just not as easy as in TS4. In TS2, there is gameplay involved to achieve the change. In TS4, there is not gameplay involved to change them.

    I don’t see either of these as inflexible. The first, to me, is not inflexible at all. The second is just asking the player to put in more effort to achieve the goal they want as compared to TS4.

    My problem wasn't with how long Wants/Fears lasted, but just that they were immersion breaking and couldn't be clicked away if I thought they didn't fit my Sim. I had to play in a certain way to avoid triggering them, even when they were ridiculous for my Sim.

    @haneul But that's not an issue with the concept of wants and fear but their execution.

    True. If the execution was more flexible and in line with how Sims 4 whims can be clicked away, I wouldn't have minded.
  • PlumbeebPlumbeeb Posts: 619 Member
    As a kid, I used to be obsessed with the Sims 2. I'd play it all the time and I loved every second of it. I never had any DLC for it either, I was pretty content with just the base game.

    Years later, they gave away the Sims 2: Ultimate Collection on Origin for free. I was actually pretty lucky to get a copy, since the time that I asked for one, they technically stopped giving them away, but an EA/Maxis employee was kind enough to give me a code anyway. I was so excited to get back into playing it again! I played in compatibility mode, and never had any issues running the game on my Windows 10 PC.

    After a couple hours of gameplay, I was getting bored, frustrated and annoyed. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any enjoyment out of playing it like I do with the Sims 4. It kinda dawned on me that I had never once left the home lot and have my sims go and do other things because of how demanding their needs were. I owned all the DLC for the Sims 2, and felt like I didn't have much chance to try it all out because I'd do one thing, and then they'd be hungry again, or have low fun, or be uncomfortable, and it would happen so quickly. In the end it just felt like a losing battle lol, so I just stopped playing. I didn't fancy spending 90% of my time simply making sure my sims ate or whatever.

    One of the things I really appreciated about the Sims 3 (and the Sims 4) is how easy it is to care for our sims. I don't mind a bit of a challenge, but I'm not that type of player that plays video games to challenge myself. I think it's nice being able to do all these fun activities, like go to festivals, parties, skiing etc, and not have to worry that much about their needs.

    I know it's different for everyone, but that's just my take on it lol.
    Sims 4 Wish List:
    • > Option to toggle on/off random townie generation.
    • > Turn vacation worlds into residential worlds.
    • > Option to purchase separate worlds or a world pack.
    • > Sleepwear kit.
    • > Atomic age kit.
  • NationalPokedexNationalPokedex Posts: 829 Member
    edited March 2021
    haneul wrote: »
    haneul wrote: »
    The Wants/Fears in TS2 felt very inflexible to me. In Sims 4, you can easily X out a whim if you don't care for it or change their aspiration without cheats. In Sims 2, the fears you roll are the ones your Sim has even if they don't fit your conception of your Sim and they can't be removed. I just wish that the whims in TS4 were less random. I think TS3 had a good balance.

    Wants/Fears go away though. They’re not permanent. They are not as random as Whims, in my opinion. They are linked to the Sims personality and environment and life experience thus far.

    Aspirations in TS2 were changeable, just not as easy as in TS4. In TS2, there is gameplay involved to achieve the change. In TS4, there is not gameplay involved to change them.

    I don’t see either of these as inflexible. The first, to me, is not inflexible at all. The second is just asking the player to put in more effort to achieve the goal they want as compared to TS4.

    My problem wasn't with how long Wants/Fears lasted, but just that they were immersion breaking and couldn't be clicked away if I thought they didn't fit my Sim. I had to play in a certain way to avoid triggering them, even when they were ridiculous for my Sim.

    @haneul But that's not an issue with the concept of wants and fear but their execution.

    I think ultimately players who enjoy the more dollhouse/blank canvas aspect of TS4 are fine with the lack of Wants/Fears because Wants/Fears, in their eyes, assign personalities to their Sims that they don’t always agree with. The mere existence and execution of them is what bothers them. It will never matter how they are executed because if the game presents a Want of say, Attend University, if the player feels that they don’t want the Sim to attend university at that time, it’s encroaching upon their freedom of choice (and to ignore this Want in TS2 will ultimately result in the game reacting in some way [a decline in Aspiration points which is directly related to the Sim’s level of overall contentment in life*], which is also what the player doesn’t want). In TS4, Sims react to things and it’s shown via Emotions, but they are not reacting to things they Want/Fear because they do not have Wants or Fears.** They react to what they do or what happens to them in a way that is detached from their own desires. These desires belong to the player (as the player has imagined the Sim’s Wants/Fears to be).

    *In TS2, choosing to ignore a Want/Fear will result in a new one being rolled without negative effects, but the lack of achieving any Wants will inevitably lead to a decline in Aspiration fulfillment.

    **Wants/Fears are tied into traits, but without a Memory system, and an Emotions system that is fleeting, the Wants/Fears do not have lasting effects on Sims. A family oriented Sim might want to have a baby, but after having the baby, the fulfillment they achieved will eventually go away and the only evidence that it happened is the baby itself. Without a system for lasting fulfillment, there is no consequence for not achieving Wants or indulging in Fears, which players don’t want.

    Post edited by NationalPokedex on
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    Am I the only one who doesn't find Sims 2 needs demanding, like at all? I find Sims 4 needs too easy to manage so I get bored pretty easily. At this point the needs could just not exist.
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • EllupelluelluEllupelluellu Posts: 6,914 Member
    Am I the only one who doesn't find Sims 2 needs demanding, like at all?
    Nope, you are not. (but I am just so used to that game still, so maybe it is that)

    Talking of demanding needs, TS1! :)

    My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
    Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
    My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
    Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..

    My Story:Villa Catarina
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    edited March 2021
    Am I the only one who doesn't find Sims 2 needs demanding, like at all?
    Nope, you are not. (but I am just so used to that game still, so maybe it is that)

    Talking of demanding needs, TS1! :)

    @Ellupelluellu YES. TS1 needs were a nightmare but I think it was made this way since it didn't have that much to do so it needed to keep you busy. But my Sims were always miserable :D
    Only thing I complain about is that eating a meal doesn't fill Hunger in the Sims 2 fully, so often you'd have to make sims eat like 3 times. So that's one that I understand.
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • EllupelluelluEllupelluellu Posts: 6,914 Member

    @Ellupelluellu YES. TS1 needs were a nightmare but I think it was made this way since it didn't have that much to do so it needed to keep you busy. But my Sims were always miserable :D
    Only thing I complain about is that eating a meal doesn't fill Hunger in the Sims 2 fully, so often you'd have to make sims eat like 3 times. So that's one that I understand.
    I don't have that problem as I always use fresh ingredients for meals. In game ones or custom. So even grilled cheese filled their whole bar.

    My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
    Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
    My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
    Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..

    My Story:Villa Catarina
  • StrawberryYogurtStrawberryYogurt Posts: 2,799 Member
    edited March 2021
    Am I the only one who doesn't find Sims 2 needs demanding, like at all? I find Sims 4 needs too easy to manage so I get bored pretty easily. At this point the needs could just not exist.

    Ts2 are needs are so easy to manage. I played uni with 6 different sims. 3 were from my custom neighborhood/my families so had quite a few skills up. The other 3 were townies so zero skills. THEY ALL got honors in university every single term. And balancing their wants & social life!! It does take some time to get good but its not really difficult. Now TS1 on the other hand...that is SERIOUS time management. TS4 might as well not have motives at all. Ts3 is the perfect balance imo.
    The Sims has currently lost its identity. Bring it back for TS5

    FixedCoarseFawn-max-1mb.gif

    Personality,depth,humor,consequences,lore,customization.
  • Sara1010PSara1010P Posts: 891 Member
    Sims 2 is still my favorite in the series, but I tried taking 6 Sims to college and forever regretted it. It is a much more challenging game that 3 or 4, enough that I eventually started using cheats, yes I admit it. Even so, I loved the gameplay and the depth of the Sims themselves so much.
  • EllupelluelluEllupelluellu Posts: 6,914 Member
    edited March 2021
    THEY ALL got honors in university every single term.
    This is what I needed to have a mod, TS2 uni is my favorite pack, but so ridiculously easy to graduate with honors.

    My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
    Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
    My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
    Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..

    My Story:Villa Catarina
  • SharoniaSharonia Posts: 4,853 Member
    Am I the only one who doesn't find Sims 2 needs demanding, like at all? I find Sims 4 needs too easy to manage so I get bored pretty easily. At this point the needs could just not exist.

    I played the Sims 2 a few weeks back and I didn’t find their needs to difficult to keep up with but I definitely felt that it was more often they needed to take care of things compared with the the Sims 4. I actually prefer it in the Sims 4. I don’t ever use cheats for the sims needs and it gives me more time to do other things with my sims before something needs to be taken care of.
  • NationalPokedexNationalPokedex Posts: 829 Member
    edited March 2021
    I never found TS2 need fulfillment to be too difficult in the sense that it never overwhelmed me to the point that it turned from a challenge into misery. But this is the kind of micromanagement challenge that I find engaging in games.

    Honestly, this thread has been kind of an eyeopener for me to understand why others don't like TS2 and like TS4 (in this particular regard of choice and challenge), and the root of the issues I have with it.
  • simgirl1010simgirl1010 Posts: 35,862 Member
    I use Merola's Single-Tile Painting or Monique's computer to manage needs when I play Sims 2. Just like I use UI Cheats in Sims 4. I really don't like taking care of needs.
  • EllupelluelluEllupelluellu Posts: 6,914 Member
    @simgirl1010 , you can also add testing cheats on at userstarup file, so the game will always start with testingscheats on, and you can drag everything (skills, needs, hobbies, all ) even without those mods :)
    My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
    Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
    My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
    Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..

    My Story:Villa Catarina
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