SIMS4 Traits vs Points

An excellent post by threadsandpaper on her tumblr. An interesting read - what do leefishers think of traits versus points?

http://threadandsandpaper.tumblr.com/pos...ith-traits

I agree with her. When it comes to the game engine - I much prefer the points to the traits. I found when I did play Sims3 I tended to assign traits along similiar lines to the point system in TS2.

However... the beauty of the Sims is that it's not just the game engine that dictates how a sim acts, and which things they pursue - so the other side of this is, it's the sims personality as perceived by it's sim-handler that counts. And for that traits is interesting used in tandem with points in Sims2. Because the traits are handled by the Sim-handler rather than the game engine.

On the other hand - people who've played 'prosperity hoods' in sims 2, tend to play their game that way in Sims3 as well. So again, it's not so much the game engine that assigns motivation for things (like shyness) or so on, but the sim handler. And then it's a matter of how much does the game engine get in the way of how they play, and how much does it enhance it?

There are a lot of articles amongst these hoods about how they play their game, and other sorts of assignment and using RoS (Random Occurence Scenarios) with these out-of-game traits. I made a thing a few of years ago that I used with Sims3 that randomly assigned a sim a Myers-briggs Personality Type, and had traits that were inheritable. That made the game interesting to play, and added depth (for me) when I played. Now I'm back in Sims2, my intention is to still use it.

Yeah, that was an interesting read and it makes sense. Personally I didn't play TS3 long enough to get much of a feel for the traits system. But I do know that in TS2 the points system can create remarkably accurate personalities. I once made a selfsim and she acted a whole lot like me, right down to her wants and fears. Most of my other sims are based on TV characters and with the points I give them, they act a whole lot like those characters too.

Bahaha! Fansee, I misread that as "a selfish sim who acted a whole lot like me".

As to points vs traits. I think a blending would be wondreful. I like the traits in TS3 and TSM, but also like the points. In TSM you are forced to chose a negative trait as well, so I always have a ton of drunkards as its one of the easiest ones to deal with, lol. Just have to always make sure your sim stays a little buzzed or they get a negative moodlet.

My TS3 sim is boring. I don't even remember what all of her traits are, but I think I built them around her purpose which was to collect stuff. She's still afraid of mummies even though I gave her a brave trait! I don't pour much heart into the game, so this might be why her traits are unnoticeable in the game. I love the point system. My TS2 sims are very unique, but at the same time, I'm pretty invested in each of them so I really pay attention to their quirks. I will never forget my romance sim who seduces most of the neighbourhood, has a younger protege working under him. He is attracted to her, and she is super duper attracted to him, but because the story is set up so that he doesn't mess around with the people he works with, they can't date. When I put them in a room together and they are both working rather than interacting, he will have little thought bubbles (kiss) .... and then .... (face of the girl sim).... and I find it soooo endearing. He also has a sister who he used to live with and who (from a hack) had a twins and then a miscarriage shortly after. She was super depressed and overwhelmed with the twins and right then guess who drops by out of the blue and rings her door bell?! Her brother had such perfect timing that it was eery. I made him selectable and he helped his sister out and then when her husband came home I made him unselectable and as she prepared dinner the two guys talked about family (on their own). These behaviours that happen in TS2 really is why this video game is my substitute for watching TV. I cannot help but be endeared to their personalities. I don't know if they behave this way because of points or simply because EA/Maxis did such an amazing job with *everything* in TS2.

EA talks a lot about emotions and personality in TS4, but I worry that they will be so over the top that I won't be able to connect with the characters. I don't walk like an idiot when I'm sad, and I don't want my Sims to walk funny either. I would have preferred that they spent more time in the base game differentiating teens from adults than animating silly walks. To be fair, I use a hack to remove any funny walks in TS2, so I'm totally biased. If there are sanity hacks for TS4 like there are for TS2 then the emotions that affect facial expressions and movements won't be an issue. I often forget that TS2 is a bit over the top without the sanity hacks.

Sorry, I digressed a lot here... but ultimately I guess I want to say that I love the points system, but there is so much going on in TS2 that makes the characters unique, that I wonder if it is just a better thought out game entirely.

I was hoping they might use both points and traits, so I am rather disappointed just by the traits. Sims 2 were a whole lot more than just their points, they were also influenced by their interests, which dictated what they would talk or argue about, but if they argued right away or not was also based on how nice or not they were. To me a lot of Sims 3 traits and now Sims 4 seem limited. many are nothing to do with personality, but are extras. I watched a Let's Play yesterday here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMfqSPyN9M where she reads through each trait. I agree with threadsandpaper, I don't think the sims will feel fleshed out, just like the Sims 3 sims felt soulless, I think these sims 4 will have a soulless feel to them as well. I hope I am wrong.