Fears



Fears are the opposite of Wants, in that they represent what a Sim most immediately dreads. All Sims have three fear slots throughout their lives.

Fulfilling Fears
When a fear is fulfilled, as with Wants, the slot it occupies will be re-rolled and a new one will take its place. Fears are also re-rolled together with Wants, at the beginning of a new day, usually after a Sim has just woken up.

Locking Fears
Fears can be locked in the same way Wants can, by right-clicking them. Pre-University Sims, or Sims who have not gone to College, can lock only one Want or one Fear. Sims who have finished College can lock two Wants or Fears.

Locking a Fear will prevent it from being re-rolled, which can be useful if it's particularly unlikely to ever be fulfilled. However, this use is tenuous at best, since one can never lock all the Fears, and doing so takes away from the much more desirable ability to lock the more valuable Wants.

Aspiration and Influence
Fulfilling Fears takes away aspiration points, and in some cases, influence, as well. Generally, the worse (more damaging) a Fear is, the more aspiration points will be lost if it is fulfilled.

Fulfilling Fears may lower the aspiration bar to the point of Aspiration failure, which is to be avoided.

Examples of Fears
Like Wants, Fears are generally influenced by a Sim's Aspiration, in that, for example, a Sim with a Romance aspiration will more often roll up Fears of rejection, and a Sim with a Knowledge aspiration will more often have a Fear of losing a skill point.

Types of fears include: being rejected for a social interaction, Sims dying, dead Sims returning as zombies, families breaking up, or events such as the appearance of the Social Bunny.

Changing Fears
As Sims grow, their fears change. A child Sim may fear their parents breaking up, whereas an adult may not. Relationships with other Sims will also change Sims' fears about them. Sims who are just becoming friends will typically fear being rejected for a simple social interaction; as the relationship progresses, this fear will be changed for a more complex interaction or fear of the sims death.

Fears can also change as various elements of a Sim's life change. For example, a Sim may fear having another child if they already have 4, or a sloppy Sim may fear changing a diaper if a baby is born.