Wants and fears

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Wants and Fears are aspects of a Sim's life in The Sims 2. Wants indicate something that a Sim, well, wants. These wants can include having a child, wanting to get married, or just speaking with another Sim. A Fear however, is the downside to life. Sims gain aspiration points when they fulfill Wants, and lose them when they experience Fears.

Initially, a Sim is born with 4 Want slots and 3 Fear slots. However, when The Sims 2: University was introduced, it allowed Sims to get a fifth want slot as a bonus for completing freshman year at college, and to get a sixth as a bonus for graduating. If a Sim gets expelled, the Sim will receive a 4th Fear slot. Also, if The Sims 2: Bon Voyage is installed, a Sim can get an extra Want slot for 48 hours as a benefit from a good vacation.

Wants (but not Fears) return in The Sims 3 as wishes.

Fulfilling Wants and Fears
When a Want (or a Fear) is fulfilled, the slot it occupies, and sometimes others, will be re-rolled, and a new one will take its place. Wants and Fears are also re-rolled completely at the end of the day, usually early in the morning once the Sim wakes up. Wants will often be re-rolled when a Sim visits a community lot.

The Wants and Fears of children and teens may be rerolled when they return from school. Those of college students may be rerolled when they return from a class, and will be rerolled when they return from a final exam.

Locking Wants and Fears
Wants and Fears can be locked by right-clicking them, and once locked they will be exempted from re-rolls until they are fulfilled. A Sim can normally lock only one Want or Fear, but Sims who have completed their junior year in college receive an extra Want/Fear lock.

Aspiration and Influence points
Fulfilling Wants will increase the aspiration bar by a set amount, and in many cases will also increase the influence bar. Fulfilling Fears will, similarly, decrease the aspiration bar and influence bar. Wants and Fears which affect the influence bar will have a blue border. Wants and Fears that have a strong affect will have a yellow sunburst in the background. Generally, the more difficult a Want is to achieve, the more aspiration and influence points the Sim will receive for fulfilling it and 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.

Sims also receive aspiration rewards points as they fulfill their Wants. These points can be used to "buy" aspiration rewards. Aspiration reward points are only lost when used, they do not fluctuate with the aspiration bar. Influence points can be used to "buy" influence options.

Lifetime Wants
The Sims 2: University also introduced the concept of Lifetime Wants. Prior to The Sims 2: FreeTime, fulfilling a Lifetime Want will give a Sim permanent Platinum mood for the remainder of his or her life. Beginning with FreeTime, fulfilling a Lifetime Want will give the Sim Platinum mood, but it will not be permanent, though it will decay very slowly.

Examples of Wants and Fears
Each Sim will roll up different Wants and Fears. The type of Wants and Fears that rolls up is determined by many factors. These factors are mostly based on Sims' aspiration, age, and personality. They can also vary under certain circumstances or situations, such as relationship, events, seasons, hobby enthusiasm, and many other things. Below is a list of some examples of the many kinds of Wants and Fears in the game.


 * By age, toddlers will usually want to be taught toddler skills and interact with their parents. Children will want to do child-related activities, such as making friends, playing games, selling lemonade, and so on. Both may want to "Grow Up Well", meaning that their aspiration bar is in gold or platinum when they grow up. Both may fear their parents breaking up or a relative dying, though such fears are more common with toddlers.
 * Young adults, adults, and elders will roll Wants and Fears that are specific to their aspirations and secondary aspirations. Knowledge Sims want to gain many skills and be abducted by Aliens. Romance Sims want to do romantic socials with many Sims and develop relationships with them, but fear lifelong commitments. Fortune Sims want to gain promotion and earn a lot of money, but often fear the Repo-man and burglary.
 * Relationships can also trigger some Wants and Fears. Sims, particularly those with the Popularity aspiration, will want to befriend certain Sims, such as the ones they bring home from school or work. Once they're friends, they might eventually want to become best friends or BFFs with them. They sometimes fear of losing them as friends and becoming enemies with them. Sims who are in a romantic relationship, particularly those with the Family aspiration, will want to be engaged and married, while Romance Sims prefer to have as many lovers as they can. Sims will also fear the death of their friends and lovers.
 * Personality can determine some Wants and Fears, but usually they are just minor ones. For example, neat Sims sometimes fear using a public toilet, and sloppy Sims may fear changing diapers.
 * Some special or recent events can trigger several Wants and Fears. For example, Sims who are recently abducted by Aliens will roll either Wants or Fears of being abducted again; and their relatives and friends will also roll abduction-related Wants and Fears. A recent fire or burglary will trigger the Wants to purchase a fire or burglar alarm, if the household doesn't own one. When pets do certain behaviors, such as scratching or chewing the furniture, the Sims will sometimes want to either praise or scold them.
 * Certain hobbies will trigger particular Wants when Sims reach certain level of enthusiasm. For example, Sims whose hobby is Music and Dance want to do simple things, such as dancing, playing musical instruments, or buying a ballet barre. Nature hobby will produce wants such as collecting bugs, catching butterflies, gardening, hiking, and so on.
 * Seasons can also affect Sims' Wants. In Spring, Sims mostly want to do romantic socials, as well as going on a date. In Summer, Sims want to play water balloon fight. And in Winter, Sims will want to do many snow-related activities when enough snow is accumulated on the ground, giving gifts, and interact with relatives.
 * Young adults have certain Wants and Fears that are related to college life. College Sims, particularly Knowledge Sims, will have Wants to go to classes, do group research, do an assignment or write a term paper, complete academic years, and graduate; and Fears of being put on academic probation or expelled. Popularity Sims will often roll the Want to join a Greek house.
 * Life states also trigger some related Wants and Fears. For example, Sims will want or fear to become a Witch when they meet a High Witch and befriend them. The friends or relatives of Sims who are transformed into another life state will either want to cure them or fear that they will be cured, and may also want or fear becoming that life state themselves. These will be Wants for Knowledge Sims, and Fears for others.
 * In some cases, Sims might roll the same Want and Fear at the same time, such as having a baby, getting engaged or married, or becoming a particular creature. This is often caused by a secondary aspiration, though Family Sims may Want and Fear having a baby even without FreeTime.

The Sims Stories
Fears are completely removed in The Sims Stories. This was probably done so that the player can focus on the wants of the Sim)

Goals
Goals are a special feature in The Sims Stories that only appears in story mode. Fulfilling Goals can unlock story rewards and help the player progress to the next part of the story. Goals are worth about +250 Aspiration points.

Trivia

 * With University, if a Sim graduates college well, they will have 6 want slots. But if they get expelled, they will get 4 fear slots.
 * The want that possibly gives the most aspiration/influence points is maximizing all skills (with 30,000+ aspiration and 10,000+ influence). The fear that possibly takes away the most aspiration/influence points is having an accident (neglecting the bladder need) at a party (with 8,000- aspiration and 5,000- influence).
 * For some wants, like roasting a marshmallow over a fire jet or burning a bonfire, will not have a picture of it. It will be blank. But it can still be fulfilled.