Over-Emotional Trait

[Tealeaf]

Interesting to get some hard data on the question.  Thanks, Pam!

     I think that it is clear the Over Emontion is a good trait to have as long as you manage your sim's life in such a was as to take advantage of the benefits.  But I'm not sure I believe it is universally better than say one of my favorite traits, neurotic.  With that one a sim can check the nearest sink and then freak out, both giving near instantaneous moodlet bonuses.  Of course the check sink one is minor and fades away quickly, but I think the freak out moodlet is pretty substanial. 

   So which is the better trait?  I'm going to guess that answer depends on who is playing that particular sim.  We aren't all the same person, and we don't all have fun the same way.

[Metropolis Man]

So which is the better trait?  I'm going to guess that answer depends on who is playing that particular sim.  We aren't all the same person, and we don't all have fun the same way.

Absolutely. You're spot-on there. That list that I threw up for the best traits for career Sims is obviously what I do. Almost any combo of traits works for Sims if you're diligent. By the way, what kind of moodlet does Freak Out provide and how long does it last?

[TGBlank]

Don't have a neurotic with me to test, but it lasted more than 4 hours and it was at least a +20 (tho i don't remember if that sim was also over emotional).

One thing i noticed with a neurotic perfectionist painter (who may have been either over emotional or hopeless romantic) i made once is that she got 250 LTH wishes to do the dishes almost on every meal, Plus sink-checking and stove-checking ones.

[Metropolis Man]

One thing i noticed with a neurotic perfectionist painter (who may have been either over emotional or hopeless romantic) i made once is that she got 250 LTH wishes to do the dishes almost on every meal, Plus sink-checking and stove-checking ones.

Yeah, I'm wondering if this is one of the tricks used by the leaders in the Perfectly Happy tourney. There's been some great happiness points racked up in that event. For more than I've ever accomplished.

[Tealeaf]

I just created a brand new, standing in his empty lot sim to play the Centurian challenge.  He is neurotic and neat, not over emotional, and his first tranqil moodlet from freaking out was +10 mood for eight hours.  Not as big a boost as from the OE trait, I suspect, but near instantaneous, and the neurotic and neat traits do combine to give some killer lifetime happiness point.

[Metropolis Man]

... and the neurotic and neat traits do combine to give some killer lifetime happiness point.

I know. That's gotta be the big secret in Perfectly Happy. Or at least one of the techniques some of the big players are using.

[Carl]

These results are interesting indeed, but I'd like to offer a couple of observations for criticism from you guys. Although Pam's original test was to see how OE affected career performance. I think in these cases Over Emotional can serve a major role regardless because they will require you to do less to reach that coveted green mood bar and green career mood smiley. For a pro player going after a career, they will have to do less to achieve each of these benefits. Once the career mood metric smiley is green, it's done. It can't get better. In some instances if you can keep the mood metric fine without going out of the way OE can be ditched, as far as careers go.

Someone on the forum also told me that there's a difference in lifetime happiness point generation the higher the mood bar. With these results I question that idea. Consider this: Pam is a pro player, she's very good at the game and can maintain consistency throughout two tests. The clumsy Sim managed to earn more points. This seems odd, because the over-emotional Sim must have always had a higher "happiness score" given the same moodlets and I know Pam wouldn't let them stay unhappy, negating the potential negative effects of the trait.

This results in a  1/5 higher mood bonus no matter what the OE Sim does. While we can chalk some of this up to random variation in the wishes offered to the Sim, I must wonder if meeting the positive happiness gain on the mood bar is actually inferior to having a maximized mood bar. True, sometimes the two Sims in the test would be equal, but over that course of time the OE Sim would have to, on average, have a higher mood total yet clumsy won.

I'm reevaluating my stance on this trait because of this, unless someone can provide concrete evidence that having the mood bar completely maximized makes a real impact on happiness point generation. However we all know that the bulk of lifetime happiness will come from completing wishes.  From here, it looks like meeting "green" on either career or mood is quite enough and the only role OE could serve is requiring you to perform fewer tasks to reach either of those "greens".

[e^(pi*i)]

Here's my take on it- Being clumsy makes people happier and more successful.

Maybe this should have been tried with never-nude.

(joke post is joke)

[Metropolis Man]

Someone on the forum also told me that there's a difference in lifetime happiness point generation the higher the mood bar.

That would have been me.

With these results I question that idea. Consider this: Pam is a pro player, she's very good at the game and can maintain consistency throughout two tests. The clumsy Sim managed to earn more points.

You dare question me!   No, seriously, I was surprised at Pam's results as well. Here's the concrete proof you need, my friend. And this is really the only way it can be measured. Once you start throwing in wishes and everything, and stretching things over weeks, forget it. There's too many unknowns.

Okay, the test couple in question are my brand, spanking new Zeus and Hera for the nectar challenge.

Test A. Put Zeus and Hera to bed immediately and have them Woo Hoo upon waking up. Run the clock til 12PM. Lifetime Happiness points accumulated: 384 between the 2 of them.

Test B. Take out the sleeping factor and just have them Woo Hoo. Run the clock to 12PM. Lifetime Happiness accumulated between the two of them: 311.

So, what's learned: they were elated in both situations. But, the extra Well Rested moodlet added more LTHP to the total. Fulfilling wishes obviously has a much larger impact. But, the higher the mood, the faster you'll earn happiness points. No question about it.

[Swede1992]

No questions whatsoever that it maybe makes a difference, but in the big picture, how much difference? Pam's excellent research on this shows that it may just be a superficial bonus, so we may be stuck here for months trying to argue if you could do it differently to better see the difference before someone actually can prove it with several full-scale games .

[TGBlank]

Ok, after digging the interwebs for some experimental data, i've got a good idea of how mood bar affects skilling.

Mood bar between 0 and bubble: standard skilling rate, it doesn't matter if you're starving and on fire or if you're happy but not in the bubble, you skill at the same speed.

Mood bar inside the bubble: increase the standard skill rate by how much in the bubble you are, so full mood bar means +100% skill rate.


Also a note on neurotic: having the freak out moodlet stops any and all fun drain due to stress. I can see this trait being teh awesome for workers and writers.

[Swede1992]

Also a note on neurotic: having the freak out moodlet stops any and all fun drain due to stress. I can see this trait being teh awesome for workers and writers.

Really? I barely play with neurotic so I wouldn't know, but if that is true, then you can skip workaholic because its best effect can be duplicated with neurotic! Neurotic sims can also get these little mood boosts now and then, so I would believe that it's better than workaholic. Maybe in combination you could create the perfect Peter Gibbons!

[jestina]

Neurotic is one of my favorites. Not only is it entertaining but also useful. Just freak out before work and you're tranquil for the next eight hours.

You also get opportunities with it like check the stove, wash hands three times, brush teeth, clean and so on.

[Pam]

I just played an Neurotic Sim and the tranquil moodlet is only 10 points.  The moodlet for checking a sink is only 15 points.  I may have these reversed, but I'm positive of the values.  So, is it really worth it to have these moodlets?

[jestina]

Well there's no negatives, except for like maybe your sim becoming anxious to check the sink and every little bit helps before running off the office in the morning. When the neurotic is stressing, the sim can just freak out to get rid of it.

You have to factor in all the little opportunities that pop up for neurotics too. Those add up for lifetime rewards.

I guess if you're min/maxing though you'd probably want workaholic but it's not as much fun to play as a neurotic.

As long as you're in the bubble, that's all the matters. Some people just have different ways of getting there, like Carl's love of over emotional. I've never really used that trait myself.

Oh, one thing I should note...it looks like the traits guide doesn't mention that brave can give you a better chance at getting promotions. That's probably my most favorite trait to have.