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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 6:50 PM
Default How do you determine a Sim's Aspiration(s)?
Do you pick based on their personalities? Maybe you think about their life so far and select what you think would fit them considering their circumstances? Do you put a lot of thought into it, or do you just pick whatever feels right at the moment?

I use random.org. I put in numbers 1-6, roll it twice, and call it good. I use the order of the Aspirations on-screen and I count clockwise to the number that was rolled. I'd have a very difficult time choosing my Sims' Aspirations if I didn't do it this way, and I feel like there'd be a lot less variety in my 'hood.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 7:00 PM
I put some thought into it. Personalities, what sort of wants they rolled in their childhood, sometimes just a gut feeling.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

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Lab Assistant
#3 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 7:00 PM
For the current game, I'm being very specific with my initial characters. I know who I want them to be, and I've chosen their aspirations and changed their LTWS with the Sim Modder to get what I what. With their kids, I'll probably go based on their childhoods, and where I think they've been heading prior to that point. Personality, relationships, etc...

I've never been happy leaving things up to a randomizer. I tried it once and stopped before I even started. So, I guess I didn't actually try it. lol What's the point of the sims if I can't be all unholy controlling with my little people?

AKA. Anora Acadian
Lab Assistant
#4 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 7:03 PM
Generally I try to develop my characters in a certain way, so I make the decision once they grow up to teen and then try to stick with it. Sometimes it becomes pretty obvious that the aspiration doesn't suit the sim so I change it, either through university or just by using the aspiration reward machine. Very often though, I avoid popularity and especially pleasure aspirations, just for the reason that the wants that these sims roll aren't usually things I constantly enjoy doing - e.g. throwing parties and going on dates to Downtown, and since I'm not fulfilling their wants, their aspiration bar is always barely green.

Although, in my current hood I have decided to try and put in as much variety as I can, in every aspect - appearance, personality, aspiration, etc. But I'd never randomize any of it, I'm too much of a control freak for that.
Scholar
#5 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 7:37 PM
I mostly go by personality:

Neat and Serious = Knowledge
Neat and Nice = Family
Active and Outgoing = Fortune
Funloving and Lazy = Pleasure
Outgoing and Nice = Popularity
Outgoing and Grouchy = Romance

Of course, not all Sims fit neatly into the pattern, so I'll take into consideration the kinds of wants they've rolled as a child, what aspirations the parents have, and which of the options I prefer - Knowledge and Popularity are my favourites, and Fortune is okay as long as it's a hood where earning money is an option; I tend to avoid Romance unless there really isn't anything else that fits. If I forget to check their personality stats before they grow up to a teenager, I just make them Knowledge and let them change at the end of their sophomore year at college.

Secondary aspirations are usually given last, unless a Sim is really on the cusp when they become a teen, in which case I might give the secondary right away. When given last, the secondary is always Knowledge, unless they have that for a primary, in which case it's Popularity.

Grilled Cheese never makes the cut - it's just too boring to play.
Theorist
#6 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 7:43 PM
It depends on a mixture of 1)What I have planned for them, if anything, 2) what fits their personality and/or the wants the Sim had during their childhood 3)Whether there's a shortage or overpopulation of a particular Aspiration int he neighbourhood 3)What I think would be most interesting in their situation/family and 4)What aspiration I feel like giving them at the moment.

Practically never have Pleasure Sims, because I find them annoying.
Field Researcher
#7 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:05 PM
I roll a d6, but I don't like Romance and Pleasure that much, so every now and then I'll cheat and reroll if I get them.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:28 PM
I randomize aspiration for my legacy, or if I'm stuck deciding, but usually I go based on personality. I won't torture super shy sims by making them Popularity, for example. And I will pay attention to how they act and what they want as a child... my sim Yuki didn't have many nice points but she was really sweet to her toddler brother. She'd sit with him and talk to him and play with him every day when most of my child sims barely take notice of toddlers unless they're teasing them, so I made her Family. When I get sims with kind of indistinct personalities I'll sometimes give them an aspiration one of their parents has, like the trait runs in the family.
Theorist
#9 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:34 PM
I mostly roll for aspiration unless I feel that a sim should get an aspiration of my choice.
Forum Resident
#10 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:35 PM
I use random.org, which I also use to choose their attractions with 1-32.
I like to see where they might wanna go, plus playing stuff I never have played before is nice to do.

I build small houses *^*
Forum Resident
#11 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:40 PM
I look at all sorts of things, make a short list (2-3) of possible aspirations, and then normally roll to see which they get - sometimes the rolls are weighted with one aspiration being more likely than the others. One of the other possibilities is likely to become their secondary aspiration. Rarely, there is a sim that has a clear single choice for aspiration, and those sims will get that choice but I'll not give them a secondary right away. I'll play them for a while to see if their character suggests what the secondary should be. If they still don't have a secondary as adults and I feel they are too limited with just one aspiration, I'll roll a six sided die and in the UI count clockwise from their grayed out aspiration to determine their secondary. I do have a couple of sims that never get secondary aspirations, though.

I pause the game as the sim ages to teen; there's a short time between their interests being adjusted and the window for choosing their aspiration, and I look at how the interests have changed. I use the interests to eliminate some possible aspirations. For example, sims with low interest in money or work aren't going to become fortune sims, and ones with no interest in entertainment or toys are less likely to become pleasure sims. I also look at the wants they roll on becoming teen - if they roll a want to get the extraterrestrial reparations scholarship, they are more likely to become knowledge, and wants for a first kiss or a date are more likely to get romance or pleasure. I also look at the things they did as a child - the sim that constantly rolled wants to play with their toddler sibling, get a puppy, or have a new relative is more likely to be family, while the sim that had lots of wants to make friends or brought someone home from school frequently is more likely to be popularity.
Field Researcher
#12 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:48 PM
My heart determines their aspirations. I used to choose based on personality, but now I just... look them in the eye and say: you, my dear, will be a gold parent/lover/friend/student/worker... or just a gold digger.

It is complicated, but the moment they grow up, I just... know their aspirations without prior thought. Of course, this does not mean they cannot change with the passage of time. For instance, Popularity is usually just a phase in my game. Though I do have a few Popularity adult sims, most of them change their minds when it comes to life after or during college. I see this as maturity (not that wanting friends is immature, but I believe there is a point in life where you understand you cannot befriend everyone), so probably age has something to do with my decision.

Also, secondary aspirations count. And a lot. Allowing sims to have their minds in more than one thing feels very nice.

They grow up so fast :')
Mad Poster
#13 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 8:53 PM
I note down what they roll as a child, their circumstances, parents and grandparents and friends aspirations, personality etc. If I run through all those and still don't know, I choose randomly.

Sometimes though I have to use secondary aspirations too, because I end up going "well they could be X or they could be Y? Maybe I'll make them an X Sim with a secondary Y?"

~Your friendly neighborhood ginge
Scholar
#14 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 9:46 PM
Unless there's a specific reason to choose an aspiration (such as a sim version of a RL person, or a particular aspiration would work for that character's story) I use Phae's Random Aspect Generators. A single click on the Teen GrowUp Generator and you've got aspiration, two turn-ons and one turn-off... For the secondary aspiration I simply click the button a second time, and if the aspiration doesn't change, that indicates Grilled Cheese!

Randomization, single click method

No need to use my full name, "Selly" will do just fine.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#15 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 10:02 PM
I go by their personality, what they have rolled over childhood, sometimes their hobby and how their family life is.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Theorist
#16 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 10:23 PM
Totally one for randomizing all things when creating a sim.

So, I roll a die for Aspirations (primary and secondary), do a blind pull from an envelope that contains little pieces of papers with the Astrological Signs on them, roll a die to determine Turn-Ons/Offs, and roll a die to determine how many predetermined personality points I can adjust. However, personality point changes are not allowed to alter the random Astrological Sign they are given.


“Seize the time... Live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.” ― Jean-Luc Picard
Scholar
#17 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 11:58 PM
I used to randomize, until Daphne Beaker (Loki and Circe's daughter) got Family. She was grouchy and joyless, never rolled a single Family want, and her children were thoroughly neglected - she never interacted with them autonomously, except to lecture, and was getting constant Social Worker warnings about how nobody was paying enough attention to them. Even if I told her to talk to them, she'd walk away three seconds later. That's when I decided to go by personality.
Mad Poster
#18 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 12:03 AM
I used to pick based on their personality, interest points, and overall wants they got rolling in their childhood.
Turquoise Dragon
retired moderator
#19 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 12:49 AM
I either go with my default, (family or perhaps knowledge) when I first start a neighborhood. or if I have a particular story in mind, I will pick what is appropriate, like my Roswell story where so many knowledge sims seem to have these little green babies... If they are based on real people, then that is what they receive, is what fits that. However, once my hood is going, I will go by what I observe, and only go back to my default if I am unsure. For instance, i had one sim one time that rolled NOTHING but skill wants as a child. Naturally when he grew up, I chose knowledge. I think he had almost maxed all skills by the time he grew up, or perhaps had. He did before the night was out, at any rate.
Alchemist
#20 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 1:44 AM
thread title "decide"/"choose"/"pick"/etc might fit better than "determine".

like others, I went by personality in past times playing.
Neat: Family
Outgoing: Popularity
Active+Serious: Knowledge
Playful: Fortune
Outgoing+Playful: Romance
this time playing; might give a number of Outgoing&Playful sims Pleasure.
Lab Assistant
#21 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 4:08 AM
I randomize! I had a comment some time ago about this process, why I do it, and the results I've gotten, but in short: Randomizing aspirations makes for more complex characters, in my opinion. I always mind my sims' wants and habits, and if they persist well into adolescence, I will typically choose a secondary aspiration for them in accordance with what I've found. I also try to fulfill a variety of my sims' wants to encourage unique interests and desires, as well as emphasizing on social interaction, unless they're completely asocial. I've had a lot of curious experiences playing this way, and I feel like it helps me get to know my sims better, and differentiate the personalities of people with the same aspiration. For example, Patricia (formerly Wan) and Julien Cooke are both Popularity sims, but have completely different approaches to how they go about fulfilling themselves. Patricia's a fiercely independent workaholic who wants to be defined by what she does and who she knows while Julien likes to put his whole day on pause to chat up a stranger and treats all his friends like family. He especially loves for all his friends to get to know his wife and kid, his pride and joy.

It's fun! I highly recommend it!

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The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#22 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 12:22 PM
If it's a born in game sim, I pick depending on what they've been like as a kid. I often use what I'd call the 'immature' aspirations for teens - romance, pleasure and popularity - and change them at college (assuming the sim goes). If it was a non-college going sim and I wanted them to 'mature' into one of the others, I'd use a hack for that. Having said that, if a sim as a kid has consistently played chess and read books, they'd get knowledge at teendom - or if they'd played a lot with their younger siblings and been interested in tidying up the house, they might get family and so on. Depends.

If it's a CAS sim, I pick based on the character I'm trying to create.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Mad Poster
#23 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 12:32 PM
Mine is simply based on their OTH:

Nature = Family
Science/Tinkering = Knowledge
Sports = Popularity
Fitness = Fortune
Film & Lit/Arts & Crafts = Romance
Games/Music & Dance = Pleasure
Cuisine = Family & Grilled Cheese Secondary, or, Grilled Cheese & Family secondary (Preferably 'Family & Grilled Cheese secondary' since GC doesn't really have a wide variety of wants. Mostly wants about eating GC, making it, etc... So, it can get annoying when you want them to roll certain wants like 'Have a baby', 'Get a job', etc... when they don't.)

Twins who receive different OTH will have the other twin's aspiration as their secondary aspiration and vice versa.

That's about it.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 12:57 PM
Most of them make it quite clear to me what they are before I have to choose

Child has around 10 friends already - popularity.
Child has earned a lot of skill points - knowledge
Child is very good at selling lemonade - fortune
If none of the above is true, I roll the dice

(Edit) - that does prevent me from giving all of them the knowledge aspiration
Field Researcher
#25 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 3:26 PM
How I pick isn't set in stone and I will change it at any time, if I feel the one given no longer fits. A female sim might decide after having a baby that she would really rather get a job and make lots of money. Another sim might after making a bunch of money, realize that it doesn't really make him/her happy and so maybe considers other things, like a family.
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