Carl and Pam's The Sims Community
The Sims 3 => Sims 3 - Gameplay Help and Discussion => Topic started by: Honeymooners on October 11, 2009, 12:36:12 PM
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Who are you and how do you play?
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I'm a woman and I like to play families. I've got a 12th generation Legacy family who owns the entire town. When I'm not playing the Dreamweavers, I'm doing other challenges or playing through the Lifetime Wishes to write a walkthrough for Carl's site. I get bored when I play only one Sim. Two is not much better, but I manage to enjoy myself with at least two Sims. I'm not very good at designing houses. I do ok as long as I start out with a rectangle and add to it gradually, but I don't design and build the clever and creative houses.
I'm excited today because I finally got my first set of triplets!
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I'm excited today because I finally got my first set of triplets!
Congratulations on the trips Pam.
I'm a man and love playing multiple sims.
I'm not very good at the baby/toddler stage, but that's probably why I like it.
One sim is to boring for me, I usually create a single sim who gets a man/wife relatively soon.
(In the case of my legacy challenge it was a teensy bit to soon, but look what has come out of it ;))
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Wow Pam, being a little sleepy?
Sure you remember the Carpenters?
You've posted quite a lot in that post ;D
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Yes, just shoot me. I hoped I had removed my idiotic post before you saw it.
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What's going on here? Cover up! :o :D
Anyway, I'm a woman and I don't usually like families. I like to focus on one sim and max their skills, job, perfect their garden, whatever.
Then after doing that for a long time I might graduate to 2 sims. I like things like having a criminal and a cop in the same house, ha.
In Sims 2 I sometimes played a couple with a kid because then I could play a sim from birth. I'd send them off to college and play there and when they came back they could get a cooler job. Haven't had kids in Sims 3 yet.
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The next question is... how different are our Sims' lives compared to our real life? I've had a theory for quite some time now that we tend to roleplay fantasy games according to what our real lives don't have. For example, I don't have any kids in real life, so I usually play with a large family full of kids. I guess because it's so drastically different from what I live on a regular basis. And since I'm a complete sissy, I don't do killing and stuff. That mostly leaves raising kids as my fantasy world. And thank goodness it's fantasy because if I had triplet toddlers in real life, I'd be poking forks in my eyes by now. :o
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Ah well, I guess you are a little distracted for having triplets ;D
I guess you can say I play a life I don't have, even one I would like to have.
In my legacy family this doesn't apply, but in 'freeform' games I mostly play a successful writer with a medium family.
(mostly 1 or 2 kids)
As you might know I'm addicted to reading stories and I would love to be able to write them myself.
Maybe you have a point there Pam.
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Hmm, I'm sure that's true for some people but it doesn't really apply to me.
For example I like playing gardening/fishing sims, not because of something I personally like or dislike but because I just find that gameplay more entertaining. A writer just sits and types all the time, kind of boring to watch.
And right now I'm into self employed sims, I don't think it means I want to start my own business. :D I just like to play with all the different ways of making money in this game, the whole "go to work; get promotion" gameplay I've done lots of times before.
I guess I see the game mainly as a simulation toy and less as roleplaying or fantasy, I'm sure for others it can be the other way around. That's why it's a cool game, it can appeal to so many people for all kinds of different reasons.
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Im a guy and I play the Sims by trying to get them from 0 to hero. Like excelling at everything.
Or anything that I cannot do in real life.
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ok, I voted.
Female who prefers to play w/o raising a family. Although, since doing legacy, I do like to see how facial features form 2 different mesh together in the next generation.
After reading the previous posts my playstyle is a lot like PJSims. I prefer to focus on one sim at a time. I'm less likely to forget anything like opportunities and whatnot
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Hi there...I'm a lady simmer, actually a grandma lady simmer and I usually play both ways. In sims 2 I never got past the 3rd generation in a family because I don't know why. :-\
In sims 3 I'm currently on my 3rd generation and I love playing families more in 3 than in 2. But there is so much to do and to have simmies accomplish job and hobby-wise that I have sims who strictly fish and garden. I also have sims who strictly paint and write, and several combinations of both. ;D
Right now I'm hot into collecting everything there is. My lil kid who just aged to YA is going to be my "hunter." :)
Congrats on the triplets Pam...let us know how those kiddies do as I am thinking about taking the plunge. There was a post on EA's sims3 forum about a guide on how to take care of triplets and the main thing she said was have a 3rd pair of hands to help. :)
I am a squemish simmer and do not kill sims as I have this enormous guilt complex. :D As it is, I cheated and killed Christopher Steel to see how "trigger age transition" worked. It worked, lol.
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Hmmm... This is getting interesting! I know that Carl & Metro don't do a lot of child raising I just wondered if more people preferred playing w/o kids.
I play a lot like Pam. Even when I try to play with only one kid I usually end up adopting a 2nd because I like it when they have a little playmate and someone to do their homework with.
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I go back and forth, some families I am just drawn to more than others and then I will find single sime or make one and work with that more than others. I try not to stay too long on any one sim, just weird them doing day to day things without you, have had three or four get to their lifetime wish without me and others who cant even go to work or school, everyone is different, that is what makes it so interesting.
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My walkthrough for Surrounded by Family (http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/lifetimewishes/surroundedbyfamily.php) should help with anyone who wants to try triplets or a large family. There were no triplets in my walkthrough family, but there were six kids and I had 4 toddlers at the same time. I managed to do it without hiring a babysitter except for when the mother went into labor and one night when the parents went out to dinner. Just the two parents took care of all 6 kids.
The triplets are doing great. They are toddlers now, three blonde little girls. They are just so cute! I edited my town and put cribs and potty chairs at the library and the park. Now they can potty and nap even when the parents want to leave the house. I also keep teddy bears at the park for them to play with. The triplets are split on their sleeping schedule and so are the parents. Dad takes care of Lily and Daisy, while mom takes care of Rose. It just worked out that they are awake at those times. In between changing diapers and feedings and all the teaching, the parents do some gardening, fishing, cooking, and reading. Dad wanted to quit his job, so I let him. But remember, they go harvest the money trees from the garden on the family's estate. The parents want to have more kids, but I don't know where to put them. I'd have to expand the house or find a bigger one. Not sure how that will work out.
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I am male and prefer playing without a family. I like to play it like it's a solo role playing game of sorts. Start from poverty and lead them to wealth.
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Looks like more female players than male ones.
I wonder why...
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Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.
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Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.
It is more a life simulator than a virtual dollhouse to me
The ironic part is that there is not much about death in game.
Evil sims cant really kill (whether by arson or poison food doesnt matter) which is quite a bummer.
After all, death is a important part of life.
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I'm a guy — the Metropolis MAN kind of gives that away — and like Honeymooners accurately pointed out, I tend to go for just couples or singles when I play. I pretty much do only my own challenges and I'm looking forward to participating in other player's challenges, so I have no time to do stuff like a Legacy Challenge just for fun. I have 3 daughters in real life, so I know all about raising kids. But, it's not surprising to me that the poll would show much different results between men and women's play preferences — it's to be expected.
Carl and Pam threw up the new Baby Boomer Challenge yesterday so that is enticing. I feel obligated to support other player's effots to come up with interesting challenges, and for no other reason, I just want to see if I can beat Pam in an area of the game where she's a pro and I'm an amateur. We'll see. I have a couple more challenges to finish first.
EDIT: Oh, and Carl, I missed your post above mine. Let me assure you — Sims 3....all Sims games...without a doubt ARE a virtual dollhouse. Moreso for women obviously. That description is perfect for how my 2 older daughters play the game. Things like career advancement take a back seat when they play. They are much more interested in creating sims with certain appearances and houses arranged in a particular way. Obviously for female adult players like Pam, Sims 3 can become much more then a dollhouse and offer a lot of depth. It's a huge reason why the franchise is so wildly popular because it appeals to so many ages and can be played on so many levels. I've mentioned that I'm also a Diablo II fanatic. Well, in that game your options are a) go out and kill monsters and improve your gear, or b) go out and kill monsters and improve your gear. Probably a big reason why women just have 0 interest in Diablo.
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I've mentioned that I'm also a Diablo II fanatic. Well, in that game your options are a) go out and kill monsters and improve your gear, or b) go out and kill monsters and improve your gear. Probably a big reason why women just have 0 interest in Diablo.
I am a woman, and I like playing Diablo too!! ;D I like a lot of "guy games". When the last Madden Football came out, my guy friends absolutely flat out REFUSED to play with me because I whipped their behinds!! (One of them got so mad he threw the controller down and walked out of the room) Frankly, I thought that was hysterical but that's just me! :D
Probably why I'm single... hmmm... will have to think about that one!
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I am a woman, and I like playing Diablo too!! ;D
Oh, my god...can I have your baby?! Wait a minute....my wife looks at this forum now too, so scratch that last sentence. ;D
Seriously, that's really cool, Bogie. I know women Diablo players exist, but they're insanely rare. I've hosted around 30 D2 tourneys in the past 3 years and I'm guessing there have been 3 different women participate.
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I have to laugh about the dollhouse thing because my friends call my simming "playing Barbies" I always correct them and tell them that Sims are way more fun than Barbies!
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Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.
I agree, it's like calling a computer a typewriter. :P
The ironic part is that there is not much about death in game.
Evil sims cant really kill (whether by arson or poison food doesnt matter) which is quite a bummer.
After all, death is a important part of life.
True but at least the sims do die. In Sims 1 the sims never died and the kids never grew up, after a while it got weird.
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Female and prefer to play without families ( I also voted that way). However, with that said the game is new and that is my preferred way to play right now so I can explore the new game play. I also played that way in TS2 until I learned enough about the game and then was able to handle more than one person in the household.
I never played a legacy, it just seems to take me forever just to have a couple of generations. For TS2 I never got past the 2ND generation and most of the kids ended up being professional students at the University! :o ;D I did eventually start to get into the families just before the release of TS3. The genetics seemed more interesting in TS2, so at this point for my TS3 games I've only had a total of about five children born ( it would have been six, but my game crashed and I lost a kid. hee hee). :o
Oddly I've never thought of this as a "virtual dollhouse", since I never had one as a child. I just know whatever sex you may be, this game has something that interests everyone.! Ain't it grand! ;D
Happy Simming! ;)
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I'm female and prefer families. It's not really for the raising kids part though, it's more because I get tired of my sims and want new ones and (ta da) one action, three days, and some fun later, a kid pops out that I can now create into whatever I want.
Oh, and Metro, I LOVE D2. I had a level 70 necro before I moved and all my games got lost. By the time I had the money to buy new ones, I was too wrapped up in college/work/sims. =(
Oh, and the whole comment about the virtual dollhouse, I'm not sure if that's fair or not. In some ways, I do treat my sims like I did my barbies when I was a kid but in others, well Barbie never had a career in politics where she had the option to embezzle (sp?) money from her campaign funds and Barbie couldn't invest her money and buy the town. I think Sims is much much cooler than my dollhouse when I was a kid.
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I too am female, I tend to start with a single sim to get the feel of the game dymanics (have done this since sims 1) then move on to families.
Like several others I enjoy Diablo both 1 and 2 (with expansion), have played lots of other rpg's and once managed to win a map on half-life Counter Strike ;D.
I don't play on-line much having spent too much time using modems instead of broadband and because I am not naturally competitive but I have been known to join my hubby multi-playing when we can get the home network to function.
Hope this hasn't drifted too much off topic
Just realised that I tend to make single sims or founders female because I prefer playing my own sex when the game doesn't give males a big advantage. Do others prefer their own gender for these games?
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Well, I'm female, but I can't select either option. I play both ways. Sometimes as a single looking to achieve a goal (right now I'm playing to finish the Martial Arts and the LTW for level 10 Athletic/MA (no, they don't help each other :'( ) ) and other times I like to play families, I have 1 Legacy I finally liked the start of and I have another 'No-Goal' family that had 3 sets of twins back to back. I had to start using cakes to get a few to toddler, since I often play the open-ended ones with aging off or set to epic.
My husband plays with mostly setting silly goals (Try for Baby with every female sim in town type things) or just running through the game.
We both love building, and shamelessly plagerize each others' creations :-*
and in the spirit of topic drift, I don't play Diablo, but I have played MMORPGs for a decade.
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Do others prefer their own gender for these games?
I don't have a preference. I often play single Sims and I tend to switch between playing a male and a female Sim.
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I am a man, and I enjoy playing individual sims, preferably self-employment. My preference is painting. I play both male and female sims.
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I get bored of one sim cause if they work they spend ages where you just sit there waiting and when tehy sleep but with multiple sims they don't have the same schedual so they dop things at different times. If you understood that the you will realise I prefer families. ;)
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I'm a guy, and I prefer families. I usually play single sims, though, because I like to make one person and follow them through their coming into being and hoping they'll start a bit of a legacy. Unfortunately, what this usually means it that I'll get them to go out with one person and be like "The first person someone dates isn't going to marry them." so I get them to break up. I do this maybe once more if I can, but then I realize that I've expended all of the appropriately aged and gendered people that are also single in the game, so I get bored and start another. I only recently realized this, so I just started a couple, and it's going great. I like it because you don't sit around all day and study, and, when you do, it's actually interesting because you so rarely get to between caring for the babies. Never enough time, as opposed to single sims where you forever have too much time.
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I play families. I tend to start the game off with my sims having the life I have and then I go on with their kids making them do what I hope my kids will do.
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I'm female and I play with families. I usually create one Sim and then have them get married and start a family pretty soon. I find 1 or 2 Sims gets boring really fast! Like by week 2. And I create either a male or female Sim.
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Female here and I play with both options, but I chose the playing with families in the poll. When I play, I generally create one of the characters that I have in my head. Then I play with them for a while, until I either get bored of playing with just one sim, or I feel that she has grown up and accomplished enough to be able to settle down and raise a family. I become way too attached to sims and treat the game like it is a story or a movie. But yeah, in the end I always end up playing with families. To me, its sort of the natural flow of where the sims life goes. Unless there is an unfortunate accident.
I suppose I love playing the sims, mainly because I can create little stories and things.
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I'm a male (surprise surprise) and in most of my saves in both The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, I play families. Unfortuantely, I hadn't got close to the third generation yet. :(
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I'm male and I prefer playing more than one Sim. One at a time depresses me, possibly because I live alone in real life. I prefer the game to be different from my real life: I like to have a few Sims in the house and I find the female ones more interesting than males. I also like scenarios where there's some conflict, or at least, contrast, between the different members of the household.
I think one of the most interesting ways of starting a new game is to have a single parent and a son or daughter.
I love building houses! It definitely takes practice. My best advice in that department is to just look at houses in real life (or photos on the 'net) and use those for ideas or references.
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I'm a female, obvious from my name and I play more families than singles. In response to the post made by Metropolis Man, I do like playing Diablo (it was my first favorite game before Sims stole my heart away). I also like playing Tomb Raider and the latest versions of Command and Conquer as well as Spacecraft and Warcraft. But 90% of my game time is in Sims 2 or 3.
Part of the fun in Sims (starting from Sims 2) is the ability of the characters to have children and watch them grow, hence my proclivity to families. My free will is always turned high, sometimes I just sit back and watch the Sims do their own thing and it is fascinating to see how they conduct their own virtual lives. I only interfere with the Sims lives if I am on a challenge or a legacy. My Sims are created based on fictional characters (mostly from TV or the movies or books) and I would play out their lives the way I thought these characters would be if they had a plot/life different from what was written about them. My houses are based on model houses I have seen in interior decor/architecture magazines. I find it fascinating that I can simulate these houses in the game and have Sim characters live in it. I'm not too much into the Adventures and tombs because there are enough of those in the other games cited above (I just do the tombs because one of my Sims have this LTW of being a Great Adventurer -- the one I named after McGyver, the TV hero) ;D
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I'm a female, and I love playing families. Toddlers are my favourite age for Sims!
At the moment I'm not playing with too many kids (okay.. well too many to me is eight or more when focusing on an adult Sim.. I'm used to having 10+ children!) because I'm just finishing out trying all the new careers and professions on Ambitions.
I'm then going to try and complete every life-time wish in alphabetical order.
Then back to having lots and lots of kids!
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I'm female and enjoy playing with families. My main thing on Sims 3 at the moment is collecting. With a family you've got more sims, hence more collectors. One of my favourite things is to have the child of the family go to the park after school, do its homework and then whiz around town on its bicycle finding gems and rocks. Super cute!
I also get a big kick out of looking at the family tree of a big, multi-generational family. I always keep the heirs and kick out the spares so it's cool to see what they get up to outside of the family home. It's disappointing when they don't have any children. Or become vampires. The worst.
I go through phases though. Sometimes I'll quickly build a tiny but functional house to maximise gameplay time. Other times I'll wanna dress sims and become a stylist, moodlet-managing my pain away in order to fit in more makeovers*. Other times I'll get a hankering to do a bit of building.
*This is sometimes necessary though. I bought some clothes at the Sims 3 store and now it seems everyone in town is walking around in flippers or wearing a coconut bikini instead of a normal shirt.
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Haven't seen this topic before but I like it and was wondering about the same thing.
I'm a female but I never play families. Dynasty is my first and probably last multigenerational game in Sims, if I don't find some other challenge that include families. I was so disappointed with vanilla Sims that I uninstall it week after getting it! It was too boring, after I collected everything, perfected garden and aquarium and wrote and paint and wrote and paint etc. Only thing I loved about it was building. WA brought me back and since then, I always create one character, adventurous by template. My favorite game of all times would be GTASA (and I hate GTA IV for being so gray) and Diablo II. I'm very very surprised to see so many fans of this game, since I never met anyone liking it! All my friends find it boring, with poor graphic, to repeatable etc. Honestly, I never expected to see any fan of this game, not to mention this many!
Back on topic, I'm married with a child for a few years now, but that didn't change my game style, I put my son to sleep by driving in GTA and listening in a car radio (or by watching intro to SidMayer CivIV). In real life I lived alone almost a decade, and love it, and also am adventurous by nature too, so I guess I play myself in Sims. That's why I probably never marry and have children, since I have that in RL and love what I have.
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My favorite game of all times would be GTASA (and I hate GTA IV for being so gray) and Diablo II.
Did you know that Metro is a big fan of Diablo II and is also a moderator on a Diablo II forum?
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Yes, we exchange PM few days ago and I checked that site too. It did surprised me a lot to find a fan of 2 of my favorites games ever! And here I see many others like that game too. Very strange since I still have it installed but never in all those years thought of searching for other fans, now when I saw into what it developed I'm stunned, but Sims are still current occupation No1. Thanks for directions Pam!
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Well, I'm female, but I can't select either option. I play both ways.
Same here. It depends on what I'm doing with the family.
I also play when I can, but I play World of Warcraft primarily, so unfortunately, Sims has to fit around WoW.
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I don't quite know what to vote here either. I'm female and I have two basic way's of playing sims: either doing challenges or playing multiple households. In regular gameplay my sims usually have children but rarely more than two and I tend to switch house just after a child is born to avoid the baby to child stages or just age them up early.
I never have just one sim in the household because my game doesn't fast forward very well so I tend to keep some awake while some are sleeping. Also my favourite game type in general are single player RPGs so I have plenty of games to focus on one character and to go around killing monsters in. For some reason I never tried to play Diablo II yet but after checking some videos after reading this I think I might try it sometime. My favourite of all time games are TES Morrowind, Sims 2 and Civilization III and I’m currently playing Sims 3 along with Fallout 4.
Back to the thread question: how about the option "families but without actually raising children" :D
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Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.
Dear one, that's because you never played with doll houses! They become quite real and very, very Simish to those of us who have played with them.
I'm an elderly female raising the last of a bunch of kids. I've always wanted lots of kids and in rl I achieved that LTW. I also wanted to be a famous actress, archaeologist, artist and writer. Total fail at that, lol! I also love gardening and fishing in rl and so my Sims often are gardeners and anglers. I would so love in rl to live the life of the rich and famous, or anyway the very vulgarly rich, but alas, it is the ear wax flavor of every flavor beans for me. Not total poverty mind you, but definitely not able to use $$ as tp if I so wished. So I like to take my Sims from total homelessness, (ok, they maybe own a plot of land), to a faboo mansion in several lands. My Sims love to travel and so do I, but I'm physically unable to do so, so they travel for me. I'd like to be young and gorgeous, so my Sims usually are, and oh, do I hate it when they age up! (And I hate even more that EA has made aging a hunchbacked, lip smacking, big nosed, uglifier in bad clothes! Old folks are not all like that anymore!)
I voted that I like to play with families, but really I like to play both ways. The only thing I don't generally play is a male character, except for the spouse or son of my created female character. I just can't get into the whole male psyche so really don't know how they would act as a Sim. I like taking a single female and bring her up to full, feminine glory. Rich, gorgeous, has a great life and even manages to catch her man/men and sometimes progresses to being a mom, but not always.
When I do play as a family I am totally enamored of the nooboos. The toddler stage is my all time favorite and I hate it when they have to age up. When I'm not playing a legacy or dynasty, or some challenge, my Sims have very long lifetimes and very slow aging so I can enjoy my toddlers longer. They are just so adorable!
And my all time favorite way to play is no Sim at all. Just build and build and build.
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I am a female and I play with families. I have never ever played with just one Sim over a long period of time they always get married and have kids eventually.
My husband on the other hand always plays with one Sim and never has any kids.
I prefer to play long generational challenges such as dynasties and legacies. I get quite a kick to look at a family tree and see all the Sims I have created(in a roundabout way) from one founder Sim.
I also like seeing how certain genetics get passed down such as eye colour ,skin colour, hair colour etc.
Rachel
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I'm an elderly female raising the last of a bunch of kids.
Darling Joria, you must stop telling untruths. I know for a fact that while you may be wise beyond your years, you are not elderly.
Elderly people are clearly hunchbacked, lip smacking, big nosed, uglifier in bad clothes.
Since I know you are none of the above, you are not elderly.
Wise beyond your years. Learn it. Love it. I demand it. ;D
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I guess those 1920s generalizations never changed! Look at the mindset of all the women!
Could you explain exactly what 1920s generalizations you mean. I am also not sure what you mean by look at the mindset of all the women. Is that women in general or women who responded to this topic.
Rachel
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A majority of the women here play families as they'd rather more likely have one or be part of one. I think it fits women in general but I did note a few exceptions here but yet they majority play a family.
Final answer? Or do you care to cash in your Phone-A-Friend Lifeline?
;)
Tread lightly, my friend. I can assure you that any blanket generalizations will not be well received by the fine women at this establishment.
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A majority of the women here play families as they'd rather more likely have one or be part of one. I think it fits women in general but I did note a few exceptions here but yet they majority play a family.
I think it's a fallacy to assume that because someone likes to play families it must be because they like to be part of a family. As a female who prefers to play single sims, the type of game I play has little if anything to do with my own life. I like to play single sims because I am fairly goal-oriented and enjoy the challenge of achieving LTWs and other goals I set for myself. But if someone wants to play multi-generational games, obviously families are the only way to go unless you want to adopt simbots. There are many reasons why someone might prefer a certain style of play.
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Not that the results surprised me, but according to the outcome of it can I asume that most of us here is female? I'm the guy that like to play families in this game. It's not that easy to do, and 'not easy' will lure my interest in games mostly.
But man, that's a huge difference between male and female here! :O Or, at least it is a difference that has actually vote.
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I'm a female, nearing my prime might I add, and I love to start off with one Sim and have the marry someone and continue the family that way. Occasionally I'll make two Sims and start like that or on one occasion start with one of the families already there and pretty much trash it and make it into something better. I really only play one Sim for the sake of experimenting when I get a new expansion pack, when I want to try something (like collecting all the gems in every cut possible, I have a long way to go on that one still), when I'm in a cruel mood and need a life to ruin, but don't want to go to jail (we all have those moments), and lastly when I need to play test a house I built.
To me Sims is that dollhouse I never got when I was a kid (You know the one with the working lights and sounds). Nope never got it. When I got my hands on sims I was like "Woah...This is absolutely amazing." Best Christmas present ever! :D
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At this point, 33 females play with families and 13 play with single Sims. 14 males plays with families and 11 plays with single Sims. Now, sample is too small and not really representative to make any final conclusions about global trends among males and females, regarding their gameplay style. Not to mention deeper interpretation of that style.
Now about proportion, 28% of females who voted here are playing single Sims. That is not few exceptions. 56% males play with families. How about that.
Now what is wrong with playing families I really don't know. But I do know what is wrong with any sort of generalisation, and since you're very young, I'll just suggest to read and learn more, take a better look instead of seeing what you want to see, and be more carefull about what you say.
BTW I never had any sort of doll house, actually only had one or two dolls. I preferred playing with puzzles and reading, etc so I can't really say much about that comparison.
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Yeah I never played with dolls... I played with action figures! I still have yet to find the difference I made Gi Joe in sims and Gi Nurse (less popular) had them start a family and I'm male. But I never only play families or singles, I switch it up a bit.
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I'm female and have no idea what to click in the poll. Maybe families? I tend to start of with one sim (it can be male or female), eventually they get to meet someone & that someone will join the family - but I don't really like 'controlling' the other sims, I prefer to concentrate on one and be amused by the antics of the rest, only stepping in where necessary. (Those 'I'm surrounded by idiots' challenges are perfect for me... gosh, hope that the Sims isn't reflective of my real life as it makes me sound like a right patronising twerp.)
I generally don't get very far in generations in a family as I don't really like the Sims dying. (In TS2 I had a go at a Black Widow Challenge and felt so bad killing off the men :-[ ) Maybe it would be better in TS3 - after all, they come back as ghosts that could be playable. Hmm...
When I was little I preferred those little plastic animals (Britains Toys) to playing with dolls and dolls houses.
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As a male, I'm usually pursuing amasing solo sims, who gets tied down first when they reach that very rich/ambrosia-immortal stage and then live throughout the ages watching over their ancestors.
As for the male-female ratio, I checked now on the forum statistics and it said that there is a 1:2 gender ratio of the overall registered members, i.e. there is twice as many women here as men! What about that!? ;D
Seems unusual for a gaming forum... Shows just how different Sims is. :)
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When I do play as a family I am totally enamored of the nooboos. The toddler stage is my all time favorite and I hate it when they have to age up. When I'm not playing a legacy or dynasty, or some challenge, my Sims have very long lifetimes and very slow aging so I can enjoy my toddlers longer. They are just so adorable!
That's the one thing I'll never understand: I just can't stand the toddlers. All they do is whine and cry and they need so much attention because you have to train them three different things within a relatively short amount of time. And they all look more-or-less the same and have no personality to speak of.
They do have a few cute animations, though, like when they crawl inside the toy box. :) Also, did everyone know that children can read books to toddlers? It's super cute! I like the children a lot more than toddlers.
When I was a kid, I liked building models. That's why I like the Sims. I like the idea of having a lot of intricate detail within a small world you can look in at. To me it's not quite like a dollhouse; more like a model train set. There's obviously no train, but the appeal is the same, because you can construct all the buildings in the town, all of the landscaping, and then watch it "run."
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Well I'm a guy, and so far I've played one Sim single all the way, and I'm currently working on building a family with my next Sim. Interestingly enough, my wife is also a gamer, but she loves WOW where as I prefer the Sims and Spore.
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Just a note for those who have responded to SimManiac's comments that no longer make sense in this thread... SimManiac has been banned and posts were removed.
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I like playing both ways. I notice that once the family hits the 2nd generation I get bored and want to start over. So I have no idea what that means.
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I really like to play Sims with large families, but my big problem is that I get impatient and delete the whole family. To date, I've never had a Teenage or Elder Sim. I'm male, by the way.
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The same thing happens for me all the time ElectricMonk. I enjoy playing the families but I tend to get bored with them after a while.
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I'm a female and I play with families in TS3, but I never did in TS2. I always preferred to play with Don Lothario in TS2, and have him woohoo his way around town. Not sure what that says about me, I was only 12 at the time :o.
But now I've matured and managed to stick by a family for a whole seven generations, without a single affair. I am absurdly proud about this for some reason.
I love big families, because there's always variety, and I find single sims a tad dull. Hmm, perhaps I should visit Riverview and pay a visit to certain Mr. Lothario, see if that will change my mind.
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I'm a female and I play with families in TS3, but I never did in TS2. I always preferred to play with Don Lothario in TS2, and have him woohoo his way around town. Not sure what that says about me, I was only 12 at the time :o.
Don't worry about that. Most people play like that with Don Lothario. He's just the lady killer ingame so it's practical normal to let him follow his instincts. :)
But now I've matured and managed to stick by a family for a whole seven generations, without a single affair. I am absurdly proud about this for some reason.
7 Generations. That is nice! Absolutely something to be proud of.
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I am a new teenager, and I like to play with only 1 sim, and aging turned off. This is because I prefer my sims to lead a lonely life without anyone in the house. I also don't like to take care of big families. It is easy and enjoying to play with only 1 sim and make him a master rather than 8 sims and worrying about each of them
It is like "It is better to take control of one village and build it up, rather than 100 cities to worry about". (The quotation was made by me, and this is based on medieval phenomenon) :D
The things are different for my brother. He is only 8 yet, but he is completely different from me. He loves playing with families, and tries to make as big as he can, but he knows that no more than 8 sims can be in the house. He loves tomatoes, while I vomit on the site of it.
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I've mentioned that I'm also a Diablo II fanatic. Well, in that game your options are a) go out and kill monsters and improve your gear, or b) go out and kill monsters and improve your gear. Probably a big reason why women just have 0 interest in Diablo.
I am female and play sims like Metro plays Diablo: go out and get money and improve your gear. First thing I do when I get a new town is search for the most chaotic family. As soon as everyone is happy, everything is upgraded, major wants are achieded and money is pouring in, I get bored. That's why I almost jumped out of my skin when I discovered this forum and the challenges!
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Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.
Actually, I don't disagree with it. Not entirely anyways.
Allow me to tell you a little story:
A number of years ago, I dated a woman who had a 9 year old daughter. One summer day, her mother was at work and she was bored because she didn't have anyone to play with, so I agreed to play with her when she asked me to. But she didn't want to do anything I suggested we play, so finally I asked her "what do you want to do?"
"I want to play Barbies."
At first I was like: "Whaaaa?" But she had seen me playing The Sims on many occasions (Sims 1), she tells me "It's not much different from playing the Sims." And while I, too, thought it was quite different, I could see how she saw similarities. So I bit the bullet and agreed.
And really, it wasn't all that different...although I'm relatively certain that she did her best to cater to me in that respect, because she knew that I was reluctant to play with Barbies. I even played with her several times after that (although her mother thought I had lost my mind lol).
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I got Claire trying to steal Justine Keaton's husband Marty by dancing to "Dontcha" by the Pussycat Dolls in a skimpy outfit (short shorts, low cut top, knee high pointy toe steletto boots, that go up to the thigh) or a string bikini, but he refused, so she yelled at him, and slapped Justine.
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I am a female. I like playing as roomates, but have them all settle down (CAS, and me and my cousin simselves), I do go to all the different families and give them makeovers. Sometimes I'll sacrifice some, just to test out my mods. I turn aging off so my sim self can do what she wants, but will eventually settle down. (that's my plan I'm only 21-22) but I have no choice but to make sure the Ursine-Frio baby grows up properly living with her father Jared since her mother Claire is a nasty person and a terrible influence (and this is all based on past story progressions and the fact that she ALWAYS moves in with her father when I leave both the Ursine and the Frio Family alone) So really you should have made an "other" as my Sims 3 style is a little bit of both, plus giving premade sims makeovers to suit their personalities.
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Not to be offensive, but I've heard the Sims described as a virtual dollhouse. A description I wholeheartedly disagree with. I think this belies the depth of the game.
That was the official name of The Sims 1 and immediately the reason why Will Wright had decided to change the name to The Sims: No boy was willing to play a virtual dollhouse. :P
Hehe, I can't blame them actually.
Now let's get back to my virtual Barbie and Ken, I mean sims.
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I'm a woman and I play both ways.
I also disagree with the (virtual dollhouse) because it is so much more than that.
Now let's get back to my virtual Barbie and Ken, I mean sims.
That is so funny leto85.
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I also disagree with the (virtual dollhouse) because it is so much more than that.
Don't get hung up on labels. Some of the most complex type of play kids can engage in is imaginary play. I've called Sims a virtual dollhouse myself. There's really nothing trivial or demeaning in calling the game that because a virtual dollhouse takes on whatever meaning you want to attach to it. Just as when I watch my youngest and middle daughters play with each other and they incorporate dolls, etc into their imaginary play — each of them approach the games differently. The younger one will not be as involved and do more "surface" kind of playing whereas the 10-year-old will take on the role of a mother and get into emotions, teaching the dolls, etc. It's no different with Sims. Calling the game a virtual dollhouse is just a simple starting point — at least for me. You jump into the virtual dollhouse and the sky is the limit with where you want to go.
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I just don't see it that way because it's more of an escape for me being legally blind and stuck in the house, But I see your point too. :)
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I just don't see it that way because it's more of an escape for me being legally blind and stuck in the house, But I see your point too. :)
How do you see it than?
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Up close and personal. I have some vision just not enough to drive.
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Up close and personal. I have some vision just not enough to drive.
That's a good point of view in my opinion.
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True. :)
EDIT: That's why I see the game as an escape. Because my sims can do the stuff I can't do.
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Hey now, what is with the dollhouse comments. The game has cars. I played with cars as a kid. And buildings too, who did not enjoy their hand-me-down Legos or Tinkertoys? Honestly, if there was a "Randomize Clothing and Hair that is Fairly Reasonable" button, I would not spend any time dressing them. Okay maybe a little time. A lot less time!
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Hey now, what is with the dollhouse comments. The game has cars. I played with cars as a kid. And buildings too, who did not enjoy their hand-me-down Legos or Tinkertoys?
Barbie has a sports car, an RV and a "dream house."
What is the big hang up with the thought of playing with dolls? If you've ever played with an action figure, you've played with a doll. Don't get me wrong: I don't agree with the comparison 100%, but geeze, you have to at least admit to the similarities.
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I can see the similarities as I used to play with dolls, I just don't agree with the comparison.
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I can see the similarities as I used to play with dolls, I just don't agree with the comparison.
So, just out of curiosity, when you say you play Sims to "escape" are you referring to escaping into the realities of your Sims — i.e. becoming/identifying with your Sims, or are you using escape as to mean you're simply escaping the real life realities that we all face and are simply looking for a fun diversion?
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In a way both.
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In a way both.
Well, if it's a simple diversion, I agree with you about the game being something different for you than a virtual dollhouse. But, if you enjoy becoming the characters and identifying with them in some way — hey, that's exactly what kids do in their imaginative play, right? ;)
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Right, I like having my sims drive around cause that's something I can't do or have children. :(
But hey life deals a hard hand sometimes just got to live through it.
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I'm a female, started out playing with families. Nowadays I usually play a single sim until I can't resist the temptation to make a family, play that for a while and then I get bored because I can't bear to have them die or change without me controlling every single aspect of their lives... To begin with I played very straightforward, easy families but then I realised how much of the game content I was missing out on and changed my whole style, so to speak. Now I usually play one sim in different takes on the game, changing her traits around except for one - she's a loner, and I loooove her for it. So I suppose it's only natural that with a game as complex and multifaceted as the Sims you will experience changes in how you play from time to time?
One thing I find interesting though, is that I have little interest in male sims. I just find them incredibly boring, unless they have strong characters and don't look at all generic. I've been wondering if this is because I'm a girl and consequently identify better with female sims, but really I think it has to do with how you can personify female sims a bit more - they have more clothes, hairstyles etc, and maybe the game emphasises certain traits that are more feminine? I don't know, what do you guys think about this?
Either way, I definitely don't feel like I'm playing a virtual dollhouse when I'm simming. I certainly wouldn't be getting up to all the crazy things you can do in Sims if I was. xD
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I have already stated that I like playing with large families, to me it is so much more interesting to have little ones running around and then move the first kids out and see what they do with their lives not under your control. I have to admit, I have some sims that finished their LTW without me. Also, if you think about it, I played with a doll house when I was young, you have a house, you rearrange the furniture and you move your dolls around and dress them and pretend feed them. So, the way I see it, the sims are no different, except it is more modern and technical of course. I think I would agree that it is, to some extent, a virtual dollhouse and there is nothing wrong with that in itself. I know when I settle in to play, I really get into playing and am totally oblivious to things around me. I have had my daughter be talking away and I am not even paying attention. She doesn't even bother me now, lol. So many people play the game differently, so who is to say there is a right or wrong way, because there isn't, there is only one way and that is your way. Just from being on here for so long and talking with older members and moderators, you pretty much know how they each play and everyone has their own style, which that is what was intended with this game. No matter what, I love playing and if you play a certain way, then you stick with it, because if it makes you happy, then do it. Happy simming. :)
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I'm female and I play families, sort of like how PrincessBean plays. I'll start out one of two ways: with a single female sim, or with a couple. If I start with a single sim, I play for a week and make friends, find a romantic interest and move them in, then they get engaged, married, have kids. Or they don't get married and have kids. If I play with a couple they usually start out either married or dating and slowly work their way into financial security, and then they have kids.
A funny thing keeps happening though, if I move Cycl0n3 Sw0rd in before he's married to my Sim, he always rolls romantic wishes, get this, not for me or any other female Sim like Blair, but for his boss Conner Frio! But hey, love's love, right? Who am I to judge? ::)
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You know I'm glad I found this site. So way off topic. ;D
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I'm a married woman with no children but lots of dogs and cats. If there were an option for pets my sims would have lots of them. As it is I like to start out with a YA female sim (my females always turn out better looking than my males and I enjoying dressing them up - I also think I relate to them better) and hook her up with a male townie either for love or money (or preferably both) and let them start a small (2 kids max) family. Although nooboos are cute, they are a pain to take care of (probably why I don't have any kids in real life) and they don't start to get interesting until they are toddlers.
I tend to play my sims along the lines of my values. Premarital WooHoo is fine but babies wait until after marriage, and preferably after financial security/career success. For the current writing challenge [edited —Metro].
I haven't been able to bring myself to roll an evil or mean-spirited sim yet, although my dynasty founder is a kleptomaniac. I've had a lot of fun with this trait but I keep having to justify to myself why he is not a bad person. ::) I don't know if I'll ever actually be able to kill a sim on purpose. In one of my first games I kept talking to a vampire Tiara Evangelista until she died from hunger. I was horrified and felt so guilty afterwards.
My sims seem to spend a lot of time trying to get wealth, fame and amazing homes. With all our animals, nothing could be farther from my real life. I love to build and decorate, although I'm not so good at either one. None of my sims are much like me, although I may create a Sim-self. I think her traits will be neurotic, bookworm, computer whiz, genius, and couch potato. She'll probably end up playing TS3 all the time!
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Katluvr, I edited a portion of your post above because you mentioned a possible strategy for a current challenge. (A good one I might add) ;)
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Katluvr, I edited a portion of your post above because you mentioned a possible strategy for a current challenge. (A good one I might add) ;)
Whoops, sorry about that! And thank you!
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I am a guy and I play with families. I have one that is on it's fifth generation and another on it's fourth. It definately ads some fantasy aspects, I am not married have no kids rent a room in a nice house and work at a so so job that pays the bills. My sims live lives I can only imagine.
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I'm female. I tend to play a couple, or a couple with one child (to start). I like to max skills before I bring a child into the family, plus have enough money that someone can stay home with the offspring. I mostly focus on building and renovating.
Don't hate me but I use to collect Barbie dolls. Sooo..."Virtual doll house", yes it is, only the coolest most elaborate one ever!!!
Plus, I can do all my houses in black, white, and grey if I want to, they aren't all hot pink!
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I'm a guy, and I don't mind. I have about 4-6 games on the go, all with different situations. The single dad with triplets is HARD :P The 4some of 2 couples is fun, as I started off with 4 housemates, and let then just get on with it. I gave them all jobs fitting their lifetime wishes and let them have total free will.
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I'm a man, but I can change. If I have to. I guess... ;D
I tend to play Sims that are single or married without kids. Once there's more than two or three in a household, I have a heck of a time keeping up with everyone. I'll have to read Pam's guide, heh.
I do want to get the hang of playing with Aging off and raise a Legacy though. The biggest change I'd love to see is being able to create Sims with a few (maybe three to five) skill points to start with as a Young Adult. I hate that you have to start a YA Sim from CAS without any skills. To me, that's not very realistic. But, it generally doesn't take too long to build up a couple skills.
I also love designing houses. I'm not really good at it yet (some re-creations of Sims 1 and 2 houses mostly), though I have uploaded one house here and I'm working on another. My houses tend to be boxy, but I'm trying to put together things I've learned from the re-creations into building some more unique designs. I'm also working on a house design based on Don Lothario's place in Sims 2 (the flat roofed townhouse), and some houses based on designs from Grand Theft Auto IV. Some of the houses in Alderny (the game's New Jersey setting) are pretty nice.
Flynn
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The single dad with triplets is HARD :P
A couple with triplets is hard lol.
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I tend to vary my play, sometimes a single Sim sometimes a couple. I will also create Sims with the purpose of trying to achieve a particular LTW. As a mum who brought up three children and am now a Granny, I quite enjoy raising families both in RL and in Sims, and I've done the Surrounded by family a couple of times now. It's been interesting reading through this thread and seeing the variations in play, but we all love playing and that's what brings us all together!
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A couple with triplets is hard lol.
Triplets are just plain hard period! I usually play with families. If I make a single sim I want usually they get married quickly into the game. I might go on one vacation while they are single. Right now I have my legacy family with one baby. However I have another family I'm playing Hylarie and her husband have five kids all at home....and that game makes my computer lag badly! It's a challenge but fun.
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I played a single mother of 6, and the last two were surprise twins. I was trying to complete the "Surrounded by Family" LTW without getting married. That poor girl hardly slept throughout her young adult life. But all 6 kids made it to teenager, and she trained each toddler completely and each child an honor student. She had a job as a teacher, but she didn't actually have to go to work until the twins were toddlers lol. By that time, the oldest was a couple days away from being an adult, so they didn't really need a babysitter except for a couple of days.
Let me tell you: it's a real science to plan out pregnancies in order to keep from running out of maternity leave. But it kept her bills paid.
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Interesting survey results, especially to see an even distribution in male preferences, as opposed to what the social stigma might dictate.
I suppose in those rare occassions that I actually play the game I tend toward sending single sims off on wild (insert the goal of whichever expansion pack here) adventures... Dungeon crawling in the ruins of an Egyptian inventor's laboratory? Yes please!
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I'm a female player. I always play with a family. Most of the time my sims would be a married couple from CAS. Sometimes I don't have the patience to look around the town for a spouse so I just create one. If only I could do that in real life lol
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I'm female, and I usually start with a couple, they have a child (or two or three) and the child I like best moves out on their own when they become a Young Adult. They meet a spouse have kids, etc..., and the whole thing starts all over. I love to build though. It's my favorite part, so I set it up so that I get to build a new place every generation (and beautify my towns!).
I also try to experiment with jobs and traits in each new generation to get a feel for all of the game options. Inevitably, I spend at least some time in World Adventures with my young adult Sims. Tomb raiding is a lot of fun!
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It's my favorite part, so I set it up so that I get to build a new place every generation (and beautify my towns!).
What a fantastic idea! Instead of building one huge mansion that's passed down through the generations, the heir of each generation builds their own smaller house!
I think I'm going to do that with my next family.
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I’m female and I prefer playing with families. I usually start out with a single Sim, have him/her start a career, find a spouse, and have kids. I play with a lot of family oriented Sims. I try to limit the kids to 2-3 but, inevitably, they usually end up with 4, 5, or 6. :) I really love toddlers in the game and think they are ridiculously cute so at least one of my Sims usually ends up with the fertility treatment reward. My favorite family at the moment is about to bring in generation 9.
Families to me are more interesting. Single Sims get boring fast and Sims in my games rarely stay that way for more than a few Sim weeks. I love looking at large, sprawling family trees, as well. It is really interesting to see how the kids’ lives turn out once they have been released into the wild, so to speak. ;D
I'm female, and I usually start with a couple, they have a child (or two or three) and the child I like best moves out on their own when they become a Young Adult. They meet a spouse have kids, etc..., and the whole thing starts all over. I love to build though. It's my favorite part, so I set it up so that I get to build a new place every generation
This is how I like to play as well, have each new generation move out on their own and start anew. Once you get past a few generations, the family has so much money, I find it gets boring as there isn't as much of a challenge. And since I love to build, it gives me the opportunity since I tend to stick with one family for a long time.
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I'm a man and prefer to raise (small!!!) families. Especially after my disastrous attempt at Baby Boomers. (I wasn't a member then, but still gave it a shot.)
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I'm a man and prefer to raise (small!!!) families. Especially after my disastrous attempt at Baby Boomers. (I wasn't a member then, but still gave it a shot.)
We'll be having a Baby Boomer III challenge this year. ;D
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We'll be having a Baby Boomer III challenge this year. ;D
I know. I'm going to do it. And probably fail. But, I'll try.
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I'm a girl and i usually play to experiment,
usually gene pools and sims personal development.
I also spend hours making sims and houses and having crazy details on everything.
But i know several males that would play like this too.
Probably because of my line of work lol.
I do know one male who has a very bad habit with the sims 3 and his girl friend.
Every now and then he go's into her game, makes a flirty ect men and go's on a mission to get every women in the valley with child..
spreading his demon spawn.
Completely messing up her families and game.
She was annoyed the first two times but later she thought it was a good change to her sims perfect lives...
and her boy friend is much better at making male sims as she is so.. good genes streaming in lol.
[she's one of the reasons i decided to try this game, her stories amuse me so much]
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I am a female, and haven't played with families lately. I'm kind of getting bored with the toddlers, so I prefer to play with YA or older Roommate type of households.
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I'm a female and I play every way possible. I have single sims, roommates, small families and giant families. It really depends which side of my bed I roll out of on any given day as to how I play.
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I'm female, and like the poster above: I play it all.
It all depends on what I want out of a game I'm playing. When I want to test something out, or figure out new gameplay (e.g. with each expansion), I'll usually roll only one sim (sometimes two if I want to speed things up and am confident I can keep track of it all). When I got what I wanted they sometimes evolve into a family, but not always. Then I also play games with just roommates, it's a lot of fun (and craziness) to have 2+ sims under one roof who're all trying to find their way out of that house. When I play families I tend to start with one sim, but I'll usually make a sim of the opposite sex myself and move them into town, so I get just the looks, traits, and LTW I want. That way I can play from one sim to a lot (I love toddlers!), and sometimes even multiple generations. Elders are what I play least with, not entirely sure why, but I tend to switch to a new YA (kid, townie, or otherwise) when all the raising is complete.
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I'm female and I like to start with one sim and build up a whole (massive) family. :D I also like the thought of building a massively creative house but I haven't actually tried that yet..
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I am a male, and I like either making one sim and making a big family, or having him stay a bachelor forever and do a whole bunch of stuff by himself (traveling, clubbing, etc.)
I've tried starting families with a couple and 1-2 children, but for some reason, I just can't get into them.
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I'm male and play the genders pretty evenly. I do tend to keep families small and wait for later in life for sims to have children; that stems from a desire to keep things under control. Some chaos is good, but too much chaos can make a family unenjoyable. I also tend to let kids have free reign until they turn into teens, just so I have one less person to watch out for. The one gender-specific thing I do like is matrilineal families where a single female sim never marries, though she often has a single partner, he just doesn't reside with her and they don't marry. She has children until she produces a daughter to inherit the home and family. Any brothers move out when they become adults. This also keeps the family smaller, the number of sims in need of control as few as possible and allows for a little more difficulty as a sim raises children alone. If men could have children easily in TS3 (at least, as easily as they could in TS2), I would probably not be gender-specific with this type of family, but since the scenario favors female sims, I play them more.
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I'm a single female, and I usually play single female sims. Sometimes they'll get married, but only after they've gone far in their career or they've reached their lifetime wish. Somehow, I get bored with sims once they have a kid, and I've never played a family (or single sim) long enough to see the adults die a natural death (or even age to Elder!) I guess I like having my sims stuck in a youthful stage forever.