How do you play The Sims 3?

[Ricalynn]

I really like the goal-oriented nature of dynasties, and finding creative ways to have unique-looking spouses since the dynasty format almost seems to actively work against that (to Metro and company: I mean that in the best of ways, just so you know ).

Though I'm currently just relaxing with a casual legacy, and I'm finding myself spoiled by Twallan's Story Progression and generally doing things my way. It's a lot less stressful than actively pushing townies to have kids and getting dynasty goals done at the same time. Just ask a Grave.

Well it's not our fault EA broke their own story progression

[Turoskel]

Majority of my games are trying things out with my self sim, a lifetime wish or career i've not done yet, she's currently exploring Monte Vista. But she comes as a package with her other half, Dallas Shallow, although he's a townie they have married so many times I just can't see her with anybody else now so he also got a trip to Monte Vista.

I have done a few multi generational games with them, longest one was a wishacy challenge which is 7 generations, but mainly i'm a serial restarter, once the lifetime wish I wanted to try is done I start over with something else.  I often will change his lifetime wish so he can try something new as well after moving him in or moving in with him, that one is a trial living in the evil Shallow house but I enjoy the chaos sometimes 

Other than that I have a townie dynasty on the go and if I try any of the other challenges here i'll make a new sim for them, it's fun at the time but I still have the most fun with my self sim and Dallas, if they qualified for the dynasty challenges i'd use them for that, the Immortal one would be okay but he'd have to die while she lived on, the townie one suits my style better really but they don't qualify for that.

Goals do help though even if it's just completing a lifetime wish, if I have no goal I quickly get bored and start over, this Monte Vista game wont last long as I have no purpose there i'm just checking it out.

[JudesSims]

99.9 percent of my games are generational games. I seldom play fewer than five generations and mostly ten generations or more. My longest game was 22 generations. My game bogged down so badly I finally gave up on it.

[ViKtoricus]

99.9 percent of my games are generational games. I seldom play fewer than five generations and mostly ten generations or more. My longest game was 22 generations. My game bogged down so badly I finally gave up on it.

You must have been rich during the 22nd generation. Did you have a mansion by that time?

[shibamistress]

I like to make towns of Sims.  I have made a whole bunch of families, some favorites, and I kick out the Townies and put my Sims in there, then I alternate between playing different families.  I like building and decorating and creating Sims most, I think, so I spend far more of my time doing this than anything else, but sometimes I worry that my Save files, will get too overly complex and more prone to corruption given the fact that I end up modifying so many of the houses in a town, or bulldozing them and building new ones.  (I have no idea if this is a legitimate worry or not--it is just something I wonder about!).  Because I use some of Twallan's mods, I can make all my Sims friends, too, and leave on Story Progression and watch them interact.

That's my favorite way to play so far!

[Korva]

I'm a fiddler. I like to fire up a town and see what needs "fixing" to make it look and feel just right for me to play it. Usually that just means smaller changes, "quality of life" things like making sure there are decent beds instead of the cruddy cheap ones and likewise for stoves/fridges, moving some furniture around so the Sims have more room to move, and adding some decor and fun/skill items for recreation. Sometimes I make some changes to a house's layout because something annoys me. And every house that can possibly fit them has to have at least the basic items for cats and dogs since I love pets and want to see them around town.

I wish I was better at building from scratch and at choosing matching colors and patterns, but at least I can scratch my build-itch with renovating.

When it comes to actually playing a household, I usually start with 1-3 young adults (generally female) on the biggest empty lot in town and never move. They'll build their home bit by bit as money comes in, and adopt at least one cat and maybe a dog from the shelter once they can afford the pet-related items. The cats are usually elders since I want them to have at least some happiness at the end of their life -- and because townies seem to adopt kittens, puppies and foals (almost) exclusively, which is a crying shame. The pets get spoiled, the Sims get worked hard. I'm a terrible slavedriver and the in-game days are so short that I rarely feel as if I actually got anything done. I really need to remember to allow them more of a social life outside the household.

[Castaras]

Setting challenges for myself. If I'm in a buildy mood, I'll create a random family and build a house for them. If I'm in a legacy mood, I'll set up a game with a goal - most of the time challenges I find here adjusted to suit my playstyle/what I'm wanting to do at that time. And also adjusted so my laptop doesn't die (thank goodness for the new no memories option, makes my files actually playable to a decent length).

Currently got an evil couple. Staying in one 35x35 lot in Monte Vista, seeing how many generations I can do, with me choosing two out of the 5 traits for children, and 3 random ones. Aim is to get every single lifetime wish done over the generations, and have a gallery of photos of each sim that is part of the family (allowing change lifetime wish reward for people moved in who have the same lifetime wish as a current or previous family member).

[Odinsdottir]

I traditional make one adult and play them until they get their LTW and are married with a few kids... then wander off in boredom and do it again.  I also spend a lot of time building, rather than playing.

Am just getting into multi-generational play.

[RaiaDraconis]

I'm less of a create-your-own sim sort of player and rather like to play the ready-made townies. EA created such a diverse and interesting population in all of the towns and it's fun to play the characters and create their stories. I've even gone so far as coming up with backstories for some of my favorites. I'm also crazy picky about which townie winds up dating/marrying the other.

Perhaps it's just my own hopeless romantic side, but I love a good happily-ever-after.

Other than that, I'm a builder. I'm not terribly good at it, but I enjoy playing around with design ideas.

[heatherliz2002]

They way I play the most would be a multi-generational/legacy-ish game.  I did just start the decadynasty, so we'll see how that goes.  I like to see my sims pass on genetics, and to have the family history.  I also enjoy starting them out with almost nothing, and gradually building up wealth (and their house) as I go through the generations.

[Janna]

I do my own personal dynasties.  When I first started I tried to find a hubby for my sims (I always play a female), but got fed up with the hassle of trying to find one.  The only town that I have (so far) found one that I really like is George Dean in RV.
I get bored with just one game, one town, so I play different games and now create a married couple from scratch.  One will be a homebody type, doesn't matter whether it is the male or female.
They start their family right off.  Two or three kids and I try to get them with careers that alows for branching out.  Right off I give my sims a lot of money, build the house I wish I had for them.  Told my son they won the lottery, so shut up about cheating   . 
I am lousy at building homes, but have a lot of fun remodeling the homes.  Pick out a nice one, move it to a bigger lot, expand on it, and the move it to another lot that is bigger.  Finished, it is a mansion.   

I like to let the next generations explore careers that they don't have to worry about paying the bills, although they all work in some form.  Self-employed or a rabbit hole job for all adults who will continue the dynasty.  The first one who finds a mate continues the dynasty, the others get moved out to a very nice home, unless they have big time ticked me off. 

I have one family in SV, three in RV, and now three in MF.  One in AP to see if SN and the Seasons has made it more enjoyable there, just didn't like that town.  All at different levels in the advancement, some just starting the second generation, a couple of others who are starting their fourth generation. 
I like seeing the kids I helped raise to have a career, find a mate, see those kids grow up and have a career.  They all seem, no matter if the same traits, to have differences that can make them interesting.   

[sunnydays]

My play style has changed multiple times since I first started playing TS3 just over a year ago. After initially fumbling my way through a few nuclear families and basic careers, I found out about cheats, and had a blast making my sims ridiculously rich. Over time that wore off, and I tried my hand at playing legacies. Could never get very far, though - I'm also a chronic restarter. I usually get bored of a game once generation two become young adults. I've tried a couple of dynasties, too, but again never really got past two generations.

These days I don't like using cheats - for me, it takes a lot of enjoyment out of the game. I've used mods on and off and quite liked them, but after a while I get the urge to do a complete uninstall/reinstall - some part of me likes the "purity" of a new, unmodded game, even though it's not really logical. Sometimes I'll play a townie family for a while, try to achieve their LTWs. It makes me feel as though I know them, and hence that neighbourhood, so much better.

I'm not much of a builder/creator/decorator, but every now and then I manage to make a house that I'm somewhat proud of. The sims I make usually look the same, so I've started using premade sims and altering them a bit, so there's some variation amongst my households. There's so much content from the expansion packs that I haven't properly explored, so I've been trying to do skills, careers and LTWs that I've never done before. I'd love to be one of those people who have a specific sim (or simself) that they play with over and over again, but I've never fallen in love with a sim enough to do that.

[jasjam]

I might be new here, but I've been playing for a long time.

I start with one Sim and try out everything, like careers and skills. At that time I disabled aging.Of course, after a while I got bored and got two married Sims to give birth as many babies as possible and try to manage them as much as I can.

These days I play pretty randomly. Once I had a household with everything except the bathroom outdoors. Haven't tried it during the winter yet, though. Sometimes I just make Sims rich and look at how others build their houses. I don't copy their idea, but I get ideas there.

[RunAmokSims]

I'm always looking for the new skill to learn, the new adventure to embark on or the new situation my Sim can become involved in.

I've tried really hard but I just can't do generational games. I once made it to the third generation and I wanted to bang my head on my desk out of boredom.

It seems I play single homeless Sims, my own versions of something like the asylum challenge, putting a couple of Sims with extremely different traits in a household together or if I can't think of something I just spend time in town edit.

I play with opportunities turned off and I rarely work to achieve a LTW.

[cndneh]

I'm a chronic re-starter and micro-manager.  I have many games underway from homeless Sims to orphanage projects.  When I get bored I look through the forum at previous challenges and projects and see if there is anything I want to do.  I rarely follow all the rules though (I usually forget something) which is why I don't play long dynasties/legacies often (though I'm still trying my hand at my own Short Legacy Project!).  I'm not much of a builder since I get stuck doing boxes.

Currently I'm playing a 100 baby challenge (Featuring Amy Bull) and having fun with Twinbrook townie genetics.  I don't have to worry about getting bored because everything is changing with me constantly moving the YA kids out and having new babies, randomizing traits also make it an interesting household with 9 kids and 1 adult and lots of mood swings!  (yes I'm using a Mod to allow more than 8 people in the house.)  Being poor was terrible since we are still in the same house Amy Bull originally started in and having 4 cribs, 3 bunkbeds and 1 double bed doesn't leave a lot of room to do anything else hahaha!