How do you play your Sims?

[Benie]

Ok. So typing this is rather depressing/embarrassing for me (and I also feel it's pointless), but a friend told me to go on and do this.
Anyway, My main question is, how do you guys play your Sims? I've seen a lot of users in here doing public stories with their Sims, and that's fine. Yet, no one seems to play it like I do which is pretty depressing. Yes, everyone has their own style of play and no one can tell me how to play my Sims. And to say "maybe this game isn't for you" doesn't really help my situation, unfortunately(but I do understand).
But... am I doing it wrong?

So, "my Sim", who I try my best to do, I try to make him like, well me. And if you've been following my many threads on how to raise a child and then eventually moving out of that house, all because I, not my Sim, just can't handle this new life. I feel I didn't do the right thing. Which goes back to how I've seen "normal" gameplay. Just, hear me out here.

Which is, to leave Aging on, and not feel you've spent so much time perfecting this one Sim's skills and then finally getting their LTW, only to "throw it away" via death. To me, that just feels like wasted time and effort, and a desire to not want to play this game. It doesn't feel fun.

How do you guys do it? Is there any special technique you use to ignore all the work you put into your Sims, or do you just follow the whole "it's just a game" rule? Because, I have a lot of trouble with said rule.
I've been a big fan of The Sims since the first game, and got all the EPs of The Sims 1. But this has always been my playstyle since Day 1.

[kellie13]

I don't think there is a "right" way to play the game. I get attached to my sims also, and have on occasion turned aging off so I don't have to see them die of old age. Of course, there's always electrocution, meteors, etc. to deal with...end game without saving! I've done it more than once     The purpose of the game it to have fun with, don't ruin it for yourself because you don't play it like you think everyone else does. Dare to be unique!

[LivvieLove]

Everyone has their own way of playing Benie, there's no "right" or "wrong" way to, and quite frankly, even if there were - games are about having fun. If you're not having fun, then why play by those rules?
I play very differently from you. I've always enjoyed generational challenges where my Sims don't seem to get old fast enough!
When I first started playing the Sims 3 (once upon a time, long long ago haha) I started with a single Sim. I'll never forget her. I think I named her Aqua, and I literally just played with her in Sunset Valley for many, many years with aging off. I just wanted to enjoy the game and all the features it had in it, and in order to do that, I had needs static and took a very long time to explore her career because I was just so fascinated with the beach among other things.
Since then, my playstyle has changed greatly. When I joined this forum my playstyle changed again.

Don't feel embarrassed or sad about how you enjoy your game. Also, there is a thread with a similar topic that this might do well to be merged with.

[Benie]

Understandable. Everyone does have their own way of playing, yes. And I'm more than aware of other ways your Sim can die, but I've taken care of all of those by making sure Sims that can catch the house on fire, don't cook. Or Sims that can possibly die of electrocution, don't repair stuff.

My problem is, I'm faced with two dilemmas.

1. What's the purpose of having children, when the parents don't die of old age? There's no generations happening, which makes the Generations EP (for me) a waste of money. Sure, the objects are nice. But the purpose of the EP is to have generations of your family. Aka, a large family tree. I mean, sure that your sons and daughters can get married and have their own families. But the original founding family never ages. Yet I don't want to lose them either.

2. Why skill up and get a Sim's Lifetime Wish, only to lose it to old age death? It seems like a waste of time and effort to me. I'm sure this is different to others.

Lastly, I didn't see a topic similar to this. My bad, then. I thought I was the only one who played like this.

[LivvieLove]

The questions about how you play are different from the thread, which was simply asking how other players like to play the Sims 3. And really, what you do with those expansions is up to you. If I were to answer your questions (and I will, just to give my best at a full-coverage answer) you may not agree with the same reasons I have for lifetime wishes or generations.

1. The purpose of having children can be numerous. For me, I usually have children because my Sims wish to have children. I like to make my Sims happy (this will tie into my answer for number 2). Some people have children to explore more options to the game whereas others, like possibly yourself and definitely like myself when I first got the Sims, like to explore the game with just one or two sims. Sometimes people have children for challenges or to see how far the line can go. Really, children are just another aspect of the game that can be played through and enjoyed. I, after going through my one-sim-exploration phase, liked the idea of creating myself, but I wanted to start from when I was younger - to give myself the head-start in life! So letting myself have the opportunity to raise skills and meet other Sims as a child sim on up to young adult gave me a new perspective of the game. When you have a set of people you don't want to die maybe you could try having the kids grow up and do something vastly different from what your main sims did - move them out and when you feel like playing differently you can switch to the children to try something different and leave your main sims to live on until you return? Just an idea, doesn't mean it's right or wrong.

2. I think of LTWs as the dream of your Sim. I usually want my Sim to live a full and happy life, as I would like to live myself one day. So I encourage them to skill and reach their lifetime wish so that they can be very happy until the end.

[KRae]

I think there's a thread about Sims playing styles. If you can find it and read it, you'll find out that people play in all sorts of ways. I play different files, in so many different ways, but what I do doesn't matter. Just do what you enjoy.

[Benie]

Thanks guys, very much. I guess my major upset is my Sim, he's got the Great Explorer Lifetime Wish. And I went through heck to get Pangu's Axe (mostly due to the two day downtime of being forced to go back home, even with the perks to give him more days and a higher Visa level), and then the Athletic and Martial Arts skills to help him defeat mummies.

Would feel like a complete waste to lose all of that progress due to old age death. I mean, sure, I could look at this as "Your Son will take over". Yet that child once he grows up, will have to go through the same hell as my original Sim did to get to the level he is. Tombs reset per Sim, I think. Or is it per save? If it's per save, then maybe it might work.

On the other hand, what Livvie said for the first answer to my dilemmas, the end of just playing as that child when he grows up and be in his shoes instead of my main Sim.. yeah. I actually never thought of doing this. I've also seen people with these challenges, that they don't train their toddlers. I think this gives them random traits? That would mean a Sim I never messed with, which would spice up my gameplay.
But is there any consequence of not raising their kids up right? For example, not having all 5 traits? I remember there was a Sim on the online dating thing who only had 4 of 5 traits.

[LivvieLove]

Thanks guys, very much. I guess my major upset is my Sim, he's got the Great Explorer Lifetime Wish. And I went through heck to get Pangu's Axe (mostly due to the two day downtime of being forced to go back home, even with the perks to give him more days and a higher Visa level), and then the Athletic and Martial Arts skills to help him defeat mummies.

Would feel like a complete waste to lose all of that progress due to old age death. I mean, sure, I could look at this as "Your Son will take over". Yet that child once he grows up, will have to go through the same hell as my original Sim did to get to the level he is. Tombs reset per Sim, I think. Or is it per save? If it's per save, then maybe it might work.

On the other hand, what Livvie said for the first answer to my dilemmas, the end of just playing as that child when he grows up and be in his shoes instead of my main Sim.. yeah. I actually never thought of doing this. I've also seen people with these challenges, that they don't train their toddlers. I think this gives them random traits? That would mean a Sim I never messed with, which would spice up my gameplay.
But is there any consequence of not raising their kids up right? For example, not having all 5 traits? I remember there was a Sim on the online dating thing who only had 4 of 5 traits.

Tombs reset per-save.
No, there isn't a consequence that you can't fix by any standards. Sometimes when a Sim ages up and you pick a trait it doesn't "go through" (so to speak) and just disappears. That's a glitch (and not a gameplay aspect) that can be fixed by adding the cheat: testingcheatsenabled true and then shift-clicking your Sim and "modifying traits" to add the missing one.
If you wanted to randomize traits without not raising your child correctly there is a random button (that looks like dice) that will randomize the trait your sims toddler/child or you could pick it instead in case it rolls one you really wouldn't want.

[smartburn]

I think everyone here pretty much said what was on my mind reading this post, so I won't add much to it. Just a quick note about Generations (which is not my favorite EP though I'm glad I have it), if you want to keep some people around forever but don't care about the rest of town so much, it does have the Freeze Aging potion - it costs a lot of LTHPs and you can't create it from the chemistry table like Young Again, but your sim will be around to accumulate more for longer. Then again, there have been reports of glitches after a long while so eventually it might need to be supplemented with tattoos, makeovers or ambrosia.

Also, I had to chuckle when you said you make your sim like you and you don't want them to die. I still use my simself from time to time, and when I first got the game, I created her, plopped her in Twinbrook, had a short-lived relationship, got her to be a Star News Anchor, maxed a couple of skills, and eventually had her move in with an old friend (one of the Baker brothers I think). She became an elder, I played for another sim week or so, and I never picked up that save file again because her friends were dropping like flies and I couldn't bear to see her go too. While I do like to keep aging on for my sims, my simself is not allowed to die, and if I'm playing a game that requires everyone to die eventually, she doesn't get to participate. 

[dharmagoddess]

I've found my sims always look a bit like me. One was a near exact match and I didn't really see it until later. I also find myself choosing traits similar to myself. I also use the money cheat. My husband ribs me for it, but it's not as fun for me to watch my sim struggle and be poor. That's like...life, and I play to have fun, not be reminded life is hard.  I have my sims live fabulously so I can live vicariously through them.
I've been really interested in trying a legacy. Not sure if I can handle it, though. It's intriguing to me, so I may decide to do it one day.

[KhaineGB]

It varies.

I don't see skilling up a sim and completing their LTW as "a waste of time." I see it as completing a portion of the game. Your main sim achieved their life goal, and when they die, they meet Grim and politely shake his hand rather than begging for their life. That, to me, seems like a really nice way to close their life. The sim died happy, and that's pretty much all any of us could ever want from Real Life, or for a digital life.

Then the sim's kids take over. The nice thing about having the kids take over is they typically have a few skills from being a child and a teen. So attaining LTW's becomes a lot easier. They also have the property the family lived in, which means they don't have to work up to a big house (though you can always work them up to a BIGGER house if you want). Then there's always the option of learning the Ambrosia recipie and bringing your deceased sim back from the dead. Since there's a wish that can be rolled to "Resurrect" someone, that's always an option and another goal to work towards.

Finally, there's the Age Freeze potion, which I do occasionally use (Anna, Kahlee and Kerry instantly come to mind!)

[T3H3ND1NG]

I just am a homicidal Sims player! Anyone else?

[dharmagoddess]

I knew a therapist that used the game in treatment. This was before 3 came out. She had one patient who took all the doors off the house so the Sim couldn't leave.  A friend of mine worried me a bit, back in the day when babies just showed up, she would just leave the baby on the lawn until the social worker took it away. I guess she didn't want kids. I do think that using the game therapeutically could work-like with kiddos who don't open up and such, they could build families and give the therapist lots of insight.
I have a problem with marrying my sims off too soon. I guess I just get caught up in the moment and run with it. I don't know what that says about me. I also try to max out as many skills as I can in my sims, so I suppose I'm kind of a perfectionist (perfect skills.)

[Alakazaam]

I make my sims have children mostly because I want to see how big I can get their family tree. I'll usually pair them up with a husband or wife, set the course for them to have kids, and move them out. That way I know they'll have children too and I'll be able to invite them all over for a huge family reunion.

The way you play the game isn't wrong. There's no wrong away about it. Keep aging off forever and only age up when you choose so or shorten their lifespans to see how much you can get done in the limited amount of time, or anything in between is right. As long as you're having fun, it's fine. There's nothing wrong with going out of your comfort zone either. I never have mean sims I control, so sometimes I make a new save just for the purpose of having a mean sim who gets everyone to hate him or kills off someone for no reason.

Maybe you should try making a random sim a few times and giving them random traits to see how that is. Having a sim that's basically you means you'll probably be pretty attached to them and not want them to die. A random sim with a random name might be easier to handle. Throw birthday parties when they need to age up, embrace the gray hair and wrinkles, and have plenty of grandchildren to tell stories to. If you want to branch out, just make a point to not have them sitting at home or the library getting their skills up. Just go by their lifetime wishes for a while and see how that goes. At any rate, it's a game! Play it how you want.

[bossycarl]

I never, ever, EVER have a single sim. I need to have my sims get married, even if they don't have kids. It's weird. Also, I do usually have kids, so the game doesn't end. Also, I rarely play challenges. I like making my own stories