Due to players having so many ideas for pack refreshes, let's call this idea discussion a mountain.
I'll start it off.
Here are my ideas for sim traits and lot traits and challenges.
Lot traits:
Alien Repellent -Get to Work- This deters alien visitors and aliens will never abduct sims there. Aliens cannot use their special powers there and will get a tense moodlet.
Secure Lot -Get to Work?- This lowers the chance of burglars significally, but it also features a huge chance of getting arrested when your sim is doing a crime (stealing, hacking, spamming etc).
Perfect Hangout -Get Together- A lot trait that boosts club point gain to clubs gathering there. That's it.
Pet Friendly -Cats and Dogs- Encourages both cat and dog owners to visit the lot with their pet.
Stray Hangout -Cats and Dogs- Encourages both stray cats and dogs to visit the lot.
Animal Paradise -Cats and Dogs- Pet owners will visit the lot with their pets and strays will also visit the lot.
Temperature Immune -Seasons- Sims indoors are safe from heatwaves and freezing temperatures without needing any thermostats.
Spared by Storms -Seasons- Sims and objects on the lot are safe from lightning during thunderstorms for some odd reasons. It still rains though.
Fishy Visitors -Island Living- More mermaids visit the lot. In addition, mermadic kelps are more easily found around the lot. In addition, trying for baby in midnight will increase the chance the chance of having a mermaid baby.
Magical Energies -Realm of Magic- Spellcasters often visit this lot due to it's good energies for magic, which reduces the charge gain, chance of overload, and increases the experience gain. In addition, it also increases the chance of having a spellcaster child.
Lot Challenges:
Frequent Illnesses -Get to Work- This lot challenge increases the chances of sims getting sick.
Hidden Treasure -Get to Work?- According to rumors, the lot your sim lives on has a hidden treasure, attracting more burglars to visit no matter how valuable the lot is. In addition, it attracts guests with kleptomaniac trait or criminal career who can steal from the lot. However, if your sim is lucky, they could find it themselves...
Lame Hangout -Get Together- Slows down club point gain and may encourage sims to break the rules.
Temperature Prone -Seasons- Temperature starts affecting sims indoors when it's hot or cold.
Thunder Terror -Seasons- During thunderstorms, lightning seems to strike the lot more often. So if you happen to be outdoors, get indoors ASAP!
Unruly Children -Parenthood- For some reason, toddlers, children and teens seem to act up more and react negatively to discipline and encouragement. Getting a positive character value is definately an achievement on the lot...
Strange Lot -StrangerVille- For some reason, this lot is under constant surveillance, making sims feel uneasy. What could be going on there? Why are some sims near it acting strangely? What are those fruits randomly appearing all around the lot?
Lot... Trait or Challenge?:
Alien Interest -Get to Work- This attracts more aliens to the lot and increases the chances of alien abduction and alien pregnancies. If it's on community lot, simply going there at least once will increase the chance of abduction a little (combined with the chance increase that happens when interacting with aliens and the chances can go high). Paranoid and erratic non-alien sims will get a special tense moodlet while aliens while aliens will get a special moodlet.
Not for Stars -Get Famous- Celebrities will almost never visit the lot, thus when one does, sims on the lot just can't get their eyes off the celebrity.
Changes to existing lot challenges:
Cursed - With Realm of Magic, have spellcasters have increased chance of spell backfires and getting cursed, thus decreasing the chance of them visiting. In addition, with Snowy Escape, make it easier to get injured on that lot. Then there are much more misfortunes that could happen on the lot, for example vampire break-ins, being poisoned by bug attacks (Jungle Adventures), murphy beds malfunctioning etc.
Grody - With Dine Out, have the chances of food poisoning increased after sims eat at restaurants with this trait.
Filthy - With Bust the Dust, have the floors become dirtier faster.
Additionally, I'll put here some links to other pack refresh idea discussions here (there are a lot of there, so I'll put them under spoiler tag):
Fun fact: some of the trait ideas I've posted here are my suggestions from the other thread I've posted in.
Please feel free to suggest more ideas on what packs should get a refresh and what should be in the refresh.
Comments
And add cars with mechanics!
Dine Out: Counter service (fast food), ability to be your own chef/hostess, ability to use bar height tables as dining spots.
Parenthood: Prom as a social event with goals of slow dancing, fast dancing, etc., more afterschool clubs, more dress up play, tag, and hide and seek.
Realm of Magic: Elemental magic (wind, water, fire earth), lunar cycles, more witch tattoos.
Get to work: Patients who sit in the waiting room at the hospital, being able to visit the hospital when sick or to build a working clinic in other worlds, something teen friendly that alludes to a safe injection site / needle exchange / outpatient care; burglars, being able to visit the police station. Fire stations.
Cats & Dogs: Pet grooming, nails, hair cuts, etc. Work from home careers involving pets, such as dog walker, dog trainer, etc.
Get Famous: A fourth, beach front neighbourhood. Bands, and active music career. Surfers. Recording studio. This one is likely too big for just a refresh.
Also, anywhere: exercise bikes, ellipticals, microwaves on shelves.
Agreed. In fact, one day I even suggested pet care career which branches off into veterinarian and pet trainer.
Edit. Maybe also have pet-walker part-time job.
Bug fixes
"Area 51" lot trait (Aliens are more likely to come to this lot or abduct sims)
"Shady neighborhood" lot challenge (this increases the chance of sims's house getting robbed)
"Empty closet" lot challenge (sims will have to buy clothes at retail in order to unlock them)
Burglar and police NPC's
Burglar alarms
Sims can check out at the cash register
Cash register animations
Sims will hold shopping bags for a short period of time after buying an item from a retail store
Retail now has the a costumer star rating system
Burglars have the ability to rob retail stores
Changing room object
Changing room woohoo
Clothing rack retail object
Produce stand object
Frozen isle object (sims can buy milk, cheese and meat with Cottage Living and fish from this object when placed at retail stores; if owned sims have to restock it)
Crafted items can only be restocked if the same object is within the sim's or household inventory
Surgical face masks
Sims can visit sick friends at the hospital
Hospital emergency treatments/surgeries
Doughnut delivery service
Chasing burglars
Alien furniture for Sixam's alien bar lot
Alien's now have brain power instead of energy
New scientist inventions: jetpack, hoverboard, teleportation pad, holographic tv, hover bed, etc.
- I would like more interactivity with Familiars. They are cute but they're just kind of there. Talking to the familiar, maybe petting or feeding it, actually gaining something of a relationship with a familiar. Maybe having a higher relationship with a Familiar can help increase the XP earned whilst practicing etc, and maybe having a bad relationship with a Familiar could possibly cause the chance for spells to backfire onto yourself or something. Maybe you can gain or lose relationship by winning (or losing) duels?
- Or maybe different familiars would like/dislike different actions. (Maybe the Skull or Hex Doll would gain relationship with you for Mean interactions, and maybe the Dragon would gain relationship by seeing Untamed spells since they're generally considered relentless creatures.) Would be fun if the orb familiars could be Sent to Forage as well, or possibly give you gifts of potion ingredients, wands etc. if you are Good Friends with it or something.
- I would like more varied spellcaster duel animations. It'd be cool if the Heated Duel animations were different especially, and looked different from the Friendly Duel, to actually show that it's one not between friends or that it's not just sparring.
- Improved spell animations would be awesome, especially for Untamed Magic. A near-uncontrollable power ought to look the part, so it'd be cool to have some of the more powerful spells have more complex animations.
- I'd really love a revamp on a particular item of clothing and that's Morgyn's Sage robes. I love the dress that the female Untamed Sages get, it looks fitting for an Untamed sage, but the robes not so much. They'd look nice if they were a bit fancier, maybe with designs of some kind, or some sort of gold or silver trim.
- Definitely more lots in Glimmerbrook! I don't usually have a problem with 'empty worlds' but Glimmerbrook feels especially so for some reason.
- It would be cool if there were a way to actually fix (or at least improve the situation of) the physically-broken-up Magic Realm somehow. They set up the whole thing about the realm being torn apart by the vortex and then never went anywhere with it really.
- Ability to train your spellcaster children's Magic abilities, and upon growing up they can learn certain spells upon aging as soon as they become Teens if they've trained enough. Maybe Children can learn to cast some simple Practical or Mischief spells before aging up though.
- A little cross-pack Idea - Strangerville Spoiler
Ability to select a pet and see their traits and skills in the UI
Cats and dogs contests/shows
Judge NPC's
Pet contest hall venue
Dog houses
Pet beds
Contest ribbons
Fur/pet allergies
Vets can put a chip on pets to make them easier to find if they run away
Rope toy for dogs
Frisbee
I'll add some more ideas on after-school activities that could appear for children and teens. While I could suggest many of them to Discover University, but as this pack focuses on university, I thought of other packs. Packs I'm unsure of end with question mark, so if you wish, you could suggest another ones. These after-school activities should have positive effects on future careers and helps to get into distinguished degrees.
Anyway, here's after-school activities for children and teens.
I'll end with suggestion to improve Drama Club. Compared to scouting activity (which offers a trait and a scholarship for sims), drama club doesn't have everlasting effects except gaining fame (which will fade when you don't work on it and will go to waste if sim stays out of spotlight) and an award (which cannot even be put in sim's inventory as I know and can be easily lost). Well, it does build acting/creativity skill, but these can be learned without having to go to the activity.
Thus I'll suggest that reaching top of drama club activity helps in actor career (easier auditions, start on higher level etc) and helps to get into distinguished Drama degree.
A new lot challenge to Dine Out:
Foodie Birds
This lot challenge makes it so when sims go outdoors to eat, some birds will fly on the table and look at the food. Sims can give their food to them or try to shoo them away, but should they leave their food unattended for some time, it'll be gone. Also some birds may be more aggressive and will get a bite out of the food even after the best attempts to shoo it away. Some birds may also bring gifts to your sim after they get fed. There will be one problem though: the table will need cleaning from time to time.
In restaurants, some customers like birds and others won't. It will affect star rating...