Wants and fears

Wants and fears

The Wants and Fears panel of a pre-University Sim

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 some good vacation.

Fulfilling Wants and Fears

When a Want (or 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^[TS2:S], hobby enthusiasm^[TS2:FT], and many other things. Below is some examples out of 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 want to do child-related activities, such as making friends, playing games, selling lemonade, and so on; and fear their parents breaking up or death.
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 to many Sims and develop relationships to them, but fear of lifelong commitment. Fortune Sims want to gain promotion and earn a lot of money, but fear of Repo-man and burglary.
Relationships can also trigger some Wants and Fears. Sims, particularly with 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^[TS2:FT] with them. They sometimes fear of losing them as friends and becoming enemies with them. Sims who are in a romantic relationship, particularly with Family aspiration, will want to have commitment to be engaged and married, while Romance Sims prefer to have as many lovers as they can. Sims will also fear of the death of their friends and lovers.
Personality can determine some Wants and Fears, but usually they are just minor types. For example, neat Sims fear to use communal toilet, sloppy Sims will fear to change diapers.
Some special or recent events can trigger several Wants and Fears. For example, Sims who are recently abducted by Aliens will roll either Want or Fear to be abducted again, as well as their relatives. A recent fire or burglary will trigger the Wants to purchase fire and burglar alarm, if the household hasn't yet owned one. Or, when pets do certain behavior, such as scratching the furniture, the Sims will sometimes want to either praise or scold them^[TS2:P].
Certain hobbies will roll particular Wants that are unlocked 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 ballet barre. Nature hobby will produce wants such as collecting bugs, catching butterflies, gardening, hiking, and so on.^[TS2:FT]
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.^[TS2:S]
Young adults have certain Wants and Fears that are related to college life. This is mostly gained by Knowledge Sims. They will usually want to go to classes, do group research, write term paper, complete academic years, and graduate. They also fear to be put on academic probation or expelled.^[TS2:U]
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 a certain life state will also want or fear to become one, and usually to cure them. Either it's a Want or Fear depends on Sim's aspiration; whether it's Knowledge or not.
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 two conflicting aspirations from the secondary aspiration.

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 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.